How To Make A Crisp Chocolate Pastry Tart Shell (Pâte Sucrée)

If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to make a delicious Chocolate Short Crust Pastry Shell, also known as Pâte Sucrée, I’ve got a delicious and easy recipe that you can use to make all sorts of pies and tarts. It has a light and buttery texture and pretty much goes with any filling you can think of!

In today’s recipe we’ll be learning how to make a chocolate tart shell. This recipe is beginner friendly. It’s really easy to make and super impressive to serve up too. You need a few simple ingredients and simple equipment and you’re on your way to making a great bakery style tart that looks like it’s straight out of a French pastry shop!

Pâte Sablée VS Pâte Sucrée

The two tart shells are very similar in flavor. Slightly bitter, not overly sweet but the difference is in the method. Pâte Sablée (what we’re making in this recipe) is made by rubbing cold butter into the dry ingredients giving you a crumbly, flakey tart shell. Pâte Sucrée is made by creaming the sugar and butter together which gives you a slightly crispier tart shell. Both taste delicious and in my opinion, this recipe is easier to work with!

What Can I Fill This Tart With?

This is the thing I’m most excited about with this recipe! This is a base recipe that you can use with so many fillings! Just keep in mind, some fillings are wet, like my chocolate mousse so you need to brush the tart shell with melted chocolate before adding the filling.

• Caramel – I have a great soft and Chewy Caramel Candy Recipe that can be used as a delicious filling for this tart!
• Chocolate ganache – try my recipe!
• Chocolate Mousse! I have a lovely Chocolate Mousse Recipe on the site. Just make sure you brush your tart with melted chocolate before adding the mouse to stop it from going soggy.
• Chocolate Pastry Cream or Vanilla Pastry Cream – again, I have great recipes for those on the site!
• Chantilly Cream with berries – mine is especially delicious and stabilized so it would slice perfectly in this tart. Add your favorite berries on top for a super quick and easy filling option.

What is Blind Baking?

It’s actually quite a cool step of the recipe. Basically, we do the first round of baking with weights in the tart shell. This will prevent the pastry from puffing up as it bakes. It keeps it all nice and flat and in place. You do this by lining the unbaked tart shell with baking paper and then adding weight to it. I use dried chickpeas, rich people use baking beads (they’re expensive!) After you’ve done the first round of baking (20 minutes) you carefully lift the weights out from the baking paper and continue baking.

To bake for wet fillings that need further baking – bake for 5 minutes after you take the beads out. Then add your wet filling and bake as needed.

To finish baking for no-bake fillings – things like a set chocolate mousse, caramel or chocolate ganache, bake for a further 20 minutes, allow to cool and use as needed. Please note: some fillings can cause your tart shell to go soggy. To keep your tart shell nice and dry brush it with melted chocolate before adding the filling. Let it set, then add your filling.

Ingredients You Need To Make a Chocolate Tart Shell

• Plain flour – also known as all-purpose flour.
• Cocoa powder – Dutch processed cocoa powder is best for this recipe as it is alkaline neutralized and has a stronger cocoa flavor.
• Powdered sugar – also known as icing sugar.
• Salt – I used fine salt. Leave the salt out if you use salted butter.
• Vanilla extract – I have a great Home Made Vanilla Extract Recipe on the blog on how to make home-made vanilla extract but you can use store bought as well!
• Butter – I used unsalted butter for its flavor. You can use salted butter, just leave out the salt in the recipe. Make sure your butter is cold straight out of the fridge to ensure you get a nice flaky crust.
• Egg – one whole egg is all you need for this recipe. The whole egg helps result in a crisper tart crust compared to just using egg yolks.

How to make a Chocolate Tart Shell!

• Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of a food processor (recipe card includes making it by hands instructions). Pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until you reach pea sized pieces of butter.
• Add the egg and pulse until it begins to come together in small clumps.

• Bunch together on your workbench. It will form a dough disc.
• Wrap up in plastic and chill for 1-2 hours.

• Once chilled, allow to thaw for 10-20 minutes and begin rolling out. If any cracks form, pinch them together.
• Continue rolling until its 14-inches in diameter.

• Roll over your rolling pin, then lift up. Roll out over an 8-inch tart tin, then lift the dough up into the tart tin, don’t stretch it or it will shrink as it bakes.
• Use a rolling pin to cut away the excess dough.

• Use a fork to prick the bottom of the tart. This will help stop it from puffing up in the oven.
• Line it with baking paper that’s been scrunched up. Place inside the tart shell. Fill with baking beads. I used dried chickpeas. Pat down and bake for 20 minutes.

• Once it’s baked, take out the beads by lifting the baking paper up from the sides. I usually place my beads back into my container and leave the lid off.
• Bake another 15 minutes if using baked fillings and further 20 minutes for no-bake fillings.

How To Stop Your Tart Going Soggy

This applies to no-bake fillings. Things that just set on their own without needing to be baked. Use a pastry brush to brush with melted chocolate. let it set and then add your filling.

Tips and Tricks For Recipe Success!

• Measure out using kitchen scales – measuring ingredients out by weight and not cups is the best way to get consistent results every time! I wrote all about this in my post about using digital kitchen scales!
• Make sure you use cold butter and iced water for this recipe so that your pastry shell comes out buttery and flakey.
• When bunching the dough together to form a disc, try not to knead it too much otherwise you risk it shrinking when it bakes.
• When rolling out the dough, make sure your bench is well floured, rotate the dough as you roll and pinch any cracks that might form around the outside as you roll.
• The easiest way to transfer the rolled out dough into the tart tin is to roll it over the rolling pin, then roll out onto the tin.
• If you don’t have baking beads (really expensive) use dried chickpeas when blind baking the tart.

Frequently Asked Questions about making a Chocolate Tart Shell

How do I store the baked tart?

You can store the unfilled and baked tart in an airtight container for about a week.

Can I freeze the baked tart shell?

Yes! Wrap carefully in plastic and freeze for up to 2 months. I would transfer it to an airtight container so it doesn’t break.

Can I use this to make small tart shells?

Absolutely! You can use this for smaller 7-inch tart tins. Baking time will vary depending on the size of the tart shell.

How Do I Store the unbaked dough?

Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 3 days or double wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for up to a month.

What happens if my dough tears while rolling it out?

Totally fine. Just use excess dough to patch it up and flatten it with your finger.

Why is this recipe is in grams and not cups?

The short answer is accuracy! It is far easier, more accurate and you get more consistent results when you measure ingredients by weight, especially in dessert and bread baking! I wrote all about this in my post about using digital kitchen scales!

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How To Make A Crisp Chocolate Pastry Tart Shell (Pâte Sucrée)

Learn How To Make a rich Chocolate Short Crust Pastry Shell that you can use for so many different desserts!

Serves 1

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Author: Nick Makrides

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 40 minutes mins

Chill: 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Total: 2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Calories: 1.957kcal

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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
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ 110 g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
• ▢ 1 large egg, 55g, whisked

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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.
• If using for baked fillings – bake for a final 15 minutes. Once baked, allow to cool on the baking tray at room temperature until ready to use. Letting it cool before adding the filling is important as adding the filling in while the tart shell is warm can cause it to go soggy.
• If using for no-bake filling – bake for a final 20 minutes instead of final 15. Allow to cool before adding the fillings.

Notes

Dutch processed cocoa powder – is an unsweetened cocoa powder which has been treated with alkaline and potassium carbonate to neutralize the acidity that is naturaly found in cocoa powder. It’s darker in color and strong in chocolate flavor.

What exact size tart tin did you use?

My tart tin is 22.5cm 10-inches in width and 3.5cm / 1 1/4-inches in height. You can use this tart crust recipe for any size tart shell you like up to a 22.5cm / 10-inch wide and 5.5cm / 2-inches in height tart tin.

Don’t stretch the dough!

When you unroll the dough back into the tart tin, you must lift the dough to let it fall to the bottom of the tart tin instead of stretching. If you stretch the dough it will shrink as it bakes and become uneven around the top. 

Transferring the dough.

To easily transfer the dough from your workbench to the tart tin, simply roll it over the rolling pin then unroll back over the tart tin.

How to easily cut off excess dough!

Here’s a really fun tip! It’s my favorite part of making this recipe because it takes second and is so satisfying. Simply use your rolling pin and roll it over the top of your tart. It will perfectly cut it off!

Baking Beads

You can use dried chickpeas or rice instead of actual ceramic baking beads which can be expensive. Simply fill them as you would baking beads then once you’re finished with them, let them cool completely in a bowl before placing back in a container or zip lock bag.

Storage – This tart crust can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container for up to three days. 

Nutrition – is an approximate and is based the entire tart shell. Obviously, you’re not going to eat the entire thing. Just divide the nutrition information by about 8-10 which is how many people this tart shell would serve.

A note on measurements – this recipe is offered in weight measurements. This is in an effort to offer the most accurate way to get the best results. Cup measurements simply aren’t accurate enough for a recipe that needs precision and cup sizes differ depending on where you are in the world. Here is where you can learn more about how to measure ingredients using digital kitchen scales!

Nutrition

Calories : 1.957kcal

Carbonhydrates: 247g

Protein: 42g

Fat: 106g

Saturated Fat: 64g

Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g

Monounsaturated Fat : 28g

Trans Fat : 4g

Cholesterol: 400mg

Sodium: 677mg

Potassium : 1.448mg

Fiber: 33g

Sugar : 51g

Vitamin A: 2.987IU

Calcium: 178mg

Iron: 21mg

Nutrition Disclosure

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