Black Forest Chocolate Tart with Fresh Cherries
This indulgent Black Forest Tart is a decadent twist on the iconic Black Forest Cake! My black forest tart has a perfectly crisp chocolate tart shell, a layer of black cherry jam, indulgent and easy to make chocolate filling. It’s topped with freshly whipped cream, a light dusting of cocoa powder and fresh cherries!
Elisa ★★★★★
I was so susprised at how good it was !! The chocolate filling is so creamy and intense and nicely balanced by the whipped cream and the cherries !
My favorite thing about this tart is that as a chocolate lover, it really hits the spot! I love how fudgy this tart is. It’s a dense, fruity experience!
What does this delicious tart taste like?
Think of an intensely chocolate experience. The most intense chocolate experience you can have, then pair it with fruit. I mean do I need to say more? It’ beyond delicious. And it’s beyond just the flavour. It’s about texture too! That crispy chocolate tart shell is a wonder!
What do you need to make this Black Forest Tart?
Tart Shell
All-purpose flour – this is regular plain flour. No need for pastry flour here.
Powdered sugar – using powdered sugar will ensure the tart shell has a finer crumb and no grains of sugar.
Cocoa powder – this helps add an even stronger chocolate flavour to the tart shell.
Unsalted butter – regular unsalted butter here. Make sure it’s chilled, straight out of the fridge and cube it up to make sure it pulses into the flour properly.
Egg yolks – The egg yolks are a binding ingredient in the tart shell and give it an even richer flavour and crispier texture.
Filling
Eggs – You’ll use 4 whole eggs in this portion of the recipe and only one egg yolk. The egg yolk is left over from the egg white you used to brush on the finished tart shell.
Caster sugar – You could use granulated sugar in it’s place but it won’t dissolve as quickly. It will take longer which can risk over whisking the egg mixture.
Vanilla extract – pure vanilla extract is the only way to go here. Even though it’s a chocolate mixture, it really does make a difference in the final flavour of the filling.
Cherry jam – You can use any type of jam in place of the cherry jam if you wish.
Pitted cherries – I used fresh cherries, but if they’re not in season where you are, use canned or jarred cherries. You want to make sure you drain the liquid they come in well.
Whipped Cream
Heavy cream – heavy cream is also known as whipping cream. You want to make sure it has at least 30% fat content.
Crème Fraiche – This adds a slight tangy flavour to the whipped cream. It also helps stabilise the whipped cream which means you can make this ahead of time without it deflating.
How to make the tart.
Tart Shell
1. Add the flour, cocoa powder and powdered sugar to the bowl of a food processor. Blitz to combine.
2. Add the chilled and cubed butter and blitz until you reach pea sized crumbs.
3. Add the egg yolks and blitz for another 30 seconds to combine.
4. If you can bunch some up in your hand and it forms a dough, it’s ready!
5. Pour the crumbly mixture out onto your work bench. I used a pastry mat which makes bunching it together much easier
6. Bunch together to form a dough disc. It’s important you don’t knead the dough as it will develop gluten and shrink as it bakes.
7. Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for 40-60 minutes.
8. Dust your workbench with flour.
9. Use a rolling pin to slowly roll out the chilled dough
10. Pinch any cracks in the dough that may form as you roll.
11. Once rolled out to 14- inches wide, roll over the rolling pin.
12. Lift and drape over the tart tin.
13. Encourage the rolled-out disc to natural fall into the tart tin without stretching. Stretching can lead to shrinking as it bakes.
14. Use the rolling pin to cleanly cut the top of the tart shell.
15. Prick the bottom with a fork to create holes. This will prevent it from bubbling when it bakes.
16. Scrunch up some baking paper and place in the tart shell.
17. Fill with baking beads, dry rice or dry chickpeas.
18. Bake for 15 minutes on 180°C fan / 355°F.
19. Take out of the oven and carefully lift out the baking beads. Lift from each corner of the baking paper. Bake for a further 10 minutes.
20. Brush with egg white once baked and set aside to cool. This will ensure your shell stays crisp.
Filling
1. Place a heatproof bowl over a pot of bubbling water making sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the water.
2. Add both chocolates and the butter. Stir until melted and combined. Set aside to cool.
3. Add the eggs and egg yolk to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk for 10 minutes.
4. Add the vanilla extract and whisk for a further 10 minutes. The mixture will be pale and frothy.
5. Add a spatula full of the mixture to the cooled down chocolate mixture and fold through.
6. Add the chocolate egg mixture to the remaining egg mixture and fold through until well combined.
7. Sift in the flour and cocoa powder and carefully fold through as to not deflate the mixture.
8. Add cherry jam to the bottom of the baked tart shell and spread around evenly.
9. Add the filling and spread around.
10. Place 10-12 pitted cherries on top and bake for 20-25 minutes. Once baked, allow to cool completely and then chill in the fridge.
Whipped Cream
1. Add the cream, vanilla extract and crème fraiche to a large mixing bowl and whip to stiff peaks using an electric hand mixer.
Decorating
1. Take the tart out of the tart in and place on a serving plate. Add half the cream on top of the tart and spread around.
2. Dust with cocoa powder and swirl using a spatula or spoon. Repeat with the remaining cream
3. Finish with fresh, pitted cherries.
Gave this a go? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok for more great recipes!
Tips for making the tart.
- There’s just one step to making sure the tart shell remains crispy: brushing it with egg white. Yeah, you can skip it, but trust me, you don’t want to skip a delicious crispy shell with that dense chocolate filling.
- Make sure you give your tart shell time to rest in the fridge before rolling out. The reason being is because it’ll give the flour time to get to know the eggs which will hydrate the flour. That’ll make it easier to roll out.
- Using a pastry mat to bunch the dough together before it chills makes this process much easier. I bought mine on amazon. You can do this without, but if you love baking then this is a worthwhile investment!
- make sure when. Bunching the crumbly dough mixture together to form a disc that you don’t knead it. This will develop gluten and can lead to your tart shell shrinking as it bakes.
- Make sure that when putting the rolled-out dough into the tart tin, you let it fall in there and you don’t stretch it. This can also lead to it shrinking in the oven.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @thescranline on Facebook and Instagram!
Black Forest Chocolate Tart with Fresh Cherries
My Black Forest Tart features a crisp chocolate shell, luscious chocolate filling, and whipped cream, topped with cherries for an indulgent dessert.
Serves 12
Ingredients
Chocolate Short Crust Pastry Shell
- 200 g all-purpose flour, plain flour
- 40 g Dutch processed cocoa powder
- 50 g powdered sugar, icing sugar
- 1/4 tsp fine salt
- 7 g vanilla extract
- 110 g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1 large egg, 55g, whisked
Filling
- 150 g dark chocolate
- 150 g milk chocolate
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 5 large eggs, 1 separated (55g each)
- 170 g caster sugar
- 7 g vanilla extract
- 75 g all-purpose flour
- 25 g cocoa powder
- 150 g cherry jam
- 10 pitted cherries
Chantilly Cream
- 250 g heavy cream, cold (see notes)
- 40 g powdered sugar, sifted (see notes)
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract, see notes
- 250 g mascarpone, cold (see notes)
Decorations
- 200 g pitted cherries
- 50 g cocoa powder, to dust
Learn How To Make it! [VIDEO]
Instructions
Preparing the tart tin
- Line the bottom of your 10-inch tart tin with baking paper by removing the bottom, tracing around it on some baking paper and then placing on top of the bottom. This will stop the tart shell from sticking to the bottom of the tart tin. An issue I found I had in my testing. If you have a non-stick tart tin, sticking shouldn’t be an issue.
Crust (food processor)
- Combine dry ingredients – Add the flour, cocoa powder, powdered sugar and salt to the bowl of a food processor and blitz for 20 seconds to combine.
- Add butter and egg – Add the vanilla extract and butter and pulse until you reach lentil sized pieces. Add the whisked egg and blitz until small clumps of dough form.
Crust (by hand)
- Combine dry ingredients – Add the flour, powdered sugar and salt to a large mixing bowl and use a whisk to combine.
- Add butter and egg – Add the butter and use your fingertips to rub into the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs that look like they’ve been flattened. Add the whisked egg and vanilla extract and use a spatula to mix in until the dough begins to clump together and becomes too hard to mix with the spatula.
- Form dough ball and chill – Turn the mixture out your workbench and bunch it together (without kneading). Form a rough disc shape and then wrap in plastic. Chill for a minimum of 1 hour.
- Roll out dough – Lightly dust your workbench and rolling pin with flour. Place the chilled dough disc on the workbench and lightly dust the top with flour. Use a rolling pin to slowly roll dough disc out to 14 inches wide. Turn your dough as you roll and pinch together any cracks that might form around the edges as you roll.
- Transfer dough over tin – Carefully roll over the rolling pin and then transfer and unroll over a 10-inch tart tin with removable bottom.
- Form the tart – Carefully lift the dough over the tart to allow it to naturally fall into the corners of the tart. You don’t want to stretch it or it will shrink as it bakes and become uneven. Roll the rolling pin over the excess dough to cut clean. Discard excess dough.
- Dock the tart – Place the tart tin on a baking tray. Use a fork to prick holes into the bottom of the tart shell. This is called ‘docking’ and will prevent your tart from puffing up too much as it bakes the second time.
- Chill your tart – place the formed tart in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat a fan forced oven to 150C / 300F (170C / 340F for no fan).
- Blind baking your tart shell – Scrunch up a large piece of baking paper and then un-scrunch it. Place on the inside of the tart tin. Fill with baking beads, dried chickpeas or dry rice. Bake for 20 minutes. Take it out of the oven, carefully and slowly lift out the beads using the corners of the baking paper. Place them into a bowl or container to cool down for re-use. Brush with egg wash and bake for a final 5 minutes.
Filling
- Turn the oven temperature up to 180C / 355F (210C / 240F for no fan)
- Melt chocolates and butter – Add both chocolates and butter into a heatproof bowl and place on top of a pot of gently simmering water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. Gently stir until the two ingredients are melted and combined. Set aside to cool slightly, about 10 minutes.
- Whisk eggs and sugar – Add the 4 whole eggs + 1 egg yolk and the sugar to a large mixing bowl. Use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment to whip until fluffy and pale. About 10 minutes. Add vanilla extract and whisk for 30 seconds.
- Fold through eggs – Add a spoonful of the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture. Use a spatula to gently fold through. Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and fold through.
- Add flour and cocoa powder – Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl and fold through until well combined taking care to mix from the bottom as well.
- Layer the dessert – Add the jam to the cooled tart shell and spread around evenly. Add the chocolate filling and spread evenly using a spatula or spoon. Add the cherries on top.
- Bake – Bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool at room temperature. Chill for 2 hours.
Chantilly Cream
- Prepare mascarpone cheese – Add the mascarpone to a large mixing bowl (glass or metal) and use a spatula to stir and break up as some brands can be firmer than others. This helps break it up a little to prevent lumps in your whipped cream.
- Whip remaining ingredients – Add the cold heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla to the mascarpone. Use an electric hand mixer fitted with beaters, or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment to whip on medium high speed until you reach stiff peaks. This usually takes about 3 – 4 minutes to achieve and looks stiff enough to hold its shape but still appears smooth. What you’re looking for is a smooth but stiff whipped cream, not one that looks split. If it looks split or separated, congratulations, you’re on your way to making butter and you’ll need to start again.
To Decorate
- Take the tart out of the tart tin and place on a serving plate. Add half the whipped cream and spread around. Dust with cocoa powder and use a spoon or a spatula to swirl into the cream. Add the remaining cream and repeat. Finish with cherries on top.
Notes
Storage
Tart can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days.
Eggs in the filling
You’ll use 4 whole eggs in the filling, but one egg yolk. The egg yolk is left over from the egg white you use to brush the tart shell.
Nutrition
Calories : 684kcal
Carbonhydrates: 56g
Protein: 11g
Fat: 45g
Saturated Fat: 27g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g
Monounsaturated Fat : 10g
Trans Fat : 1g
Cholesterol: 174mg
Sodium: 111mg
Potassium : 384mg
Fiber: 6g
Sugar : 27g
Vitamin A: 1168IU
Vitamin C: 1mg
Calcium: 92mg
Iron: 5mg
Nutrition Disclosure
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4 comments
I was so susprised at how good it was !! The chocolate filling is so creamy and intense and nicely balanced by the whipped cream and the cherries !
I used black cocoa instead of regular cocoa (it works perfectly).
In the future I will use a mixture of dark chocolate 70% and 55%, no milk chocolate. I personally think it was ever so slightly too sweet. And maybe add a pinch of salt as well.
Thanks Nick !
Hi Elsa, I’m so glad you enjoyed the tart! Black cocoa sounds like a fantastic twist, and I love your idea of using darker chocolate and adding a pinch of salt to balance the sweetness even more. It’s always great to hear how readers make recipes their own. Thanks for sharing your tips! N x
I’m excited for this recipe, but I realize my tart pan does not have as tall of sides as yours so I have extra filling. Is there a way to use the extra filling to make little fudgy cakes in ramekins or something?
Hi Sadie, you can absolutely use the extra filling to make little fudgy cakes! Just grease some ramekins or small oven-safe dishes, pour in the filling, and bake at the same temperature as the tart (180°C / 355°F, or 200°C / 390°F for no fan) for about 10–12 minutes, or until the tops are set but the centers are still slightly wobbly. While I haven’t tested this, it should work beautifully. Hope you enjoy the recipe! N x