Black Forest Tart

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!

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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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!
4. 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.
5. 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!