This Chocolate Tart, the recipe of Tom Power, owner-chef of Corduroy, is an elegant and deeply chocolate dessert that will pass you off as a master patissier. It's not hard to make, despite its apparent length. But Chef Power says it's important to read the recipe right through before you begin.

Serves eight.

For the dough:
2 ounces sugar
4 ounces butter
1 egg
8 ounces pastry flour
Beans or rice for blind baking

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the sugar with the butter, then incorporate the flour. Add egg and mix
until incorporated, but do not overwork. Roll dough to quarter-inch thickness and place in an 8-inch, fluted oblong tart mold. Refrigerate the rolled-out dough for 30 minutes.

After refrigerating, line the dough with non-stick parchment paper. Fill the tart with beans or rice and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges of the dough get light golden brown. (This method is called blind baking.)

Take the tart shell from the oven and remove parchment paper with beans or rice (you can save this for your next blind-baking crust). The crust’s bottom should not have much color. Reduce oven to 300 degrees. Place tart shell back in for five to eight minutes or until crust becomes lightly golden.

For the filling:
1 egg
1 egg yolk
7 1/2 ounces heavy cream
3 ounces milk
10 1/2 ounces good quality semi-sweet chocolate (Power uses Belcolade 60 percent)

While the dough is blind baking, measure out the filling ingredients. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg and egg yolk. When you return the tart shell back to the oven, bring the cream and milk to a boil (Watch the pot! Cream and milk can boil over and make a mess). As soon as it comes to a simmer, remove from heat, add the chocolate and whisk until smooth, then slowly whisk the chocolate and cream into the eggs in the mixing bowl.

By now the bottom of the tart dough in the oven should be getting some color. If not, wait until it is just lightly golden, then add the chocolate mixture and return to the oven for about 10 minutes or until the edges are set but the center of the tart is a little underdone. Let the tart cool for about an hour before you try to cut it.

This tart is best served unrefrigerated, but the texture of leftovers can be improved with 20 seconds in a microwave.

This recipe first appeared in the Northwest, Dupont, Foggy Bottom and Georgetown Current Newspapers. 

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