I’m a huge fan of chocolate and lemon together. I had a friend who was looking for a nice, smooth and intensely flavored tart for a new menu and we came up with this.

The shell is made with a pate sucrée, one of the most incredible crusts in the world in my opinion. The filling is done with a high percentage dark chocolate. Somewhere in the range of 62 – 65 percent. The contrast of the lemon with a lower percentage chocolate is a little too cloying for me.

To make the pate sucrée:
500g AP flour, sifted
375g unsalted butter
175g sugar
75g blanched almond flour
75g 10x sugar
6g salt
100g whole eggs
1 van. Bean, scraped

Cream Butter, salt, van. seed and sugar together in the kitchen aid until just malleable. Add almond flour and 10x sugar and combine. Add eggs and flour, alternating ending on flour. Be careful not to overwork the dough. Wrap and refrigerate. Roll, portion and bake, blind, in a 350 degree oven until golden brown.

For the ganache filling:
225g 61% chocolate
225g cream
25g trimoline
10g liquid glucose
60g butter, soft
26g lemon juice

Heat cream, trimoline and glucose until it just reaches a boil. Pour over chocolate and stir to emulsify. Add softened butter and stir to melt and incorporate. Add lemon juice. Pour into shells and refrigerate to set.

For the salted caramel sauce:
50g sugar
200g cream
125g white chocolate
15g butter, soft
2g salt

Mix sugar with a little water and cook in saucepan until it reaches a light caramel. Heat cream, and whisk into caramel. Pour over white chocolate and stir. Add softened butter and salt. Refrigerate.

For the chocolate sauce:
300g sugar
300ml water
200g cream
125g cocoa powder

Heat water and sugar to a boil. Pour over cocoa powder and whisk smooth. Place back on the heat and bring to a boil. Strain into ice bath and add cream. Refrigerate.

For the candied pistachios:
Pistachios
Salt
sugar

Place pistachios, sugar, salt and a little water in a bowl. Stir and place over heat. Constantly stir with a wooden spoon. Be careful not to burn nuts. As the sugar melts, scrape onto sides to allow crystallization. When the sound of sand appears, remove from heat and continue stirring until it crystallizes fully. Cool and pulverize in a coffee grinder.

For the whipped crème fraiche:
Crème fraiche
10x sugar
1 van. bean

Whip crème fraiche, enough 10x to sweeten and the seeds from 1 vanilla bean until stiff. Refrigerate.

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