Tarte au Chocolate
for the cake
200 grams golden caster sugar
200 grams unsalted butter, soft
plus extra butter for the baking tins
4 large free-range organic eggs
200 grams self-raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of milk
optional: 500 ml double cream
4 tablespoons caster sugar
We make delicious Tart au Chocolat, a French chocolate cake, for Valentine's Day. With buttercream and chocolate shards and we also whip cream to go with it. Nothing is more Valentiny then a chocolate cake and this cake is very easy to make. It can be ready quite quickly, as it only takes 20 minutes to bake.
You make this cake in 3 phases: you bake the cake, make the buttercream and assemble the cake. Done! The whipped cream and the decorative chocolate shards are a choice. The cake tastes also good without. We opt for the chocolate shards and the whipped cream, of course!
How to make Tart au Chocolat
Preheat the oven to 190°C / 170°C Fan
Clamp waxed paper between bottoms of 2 springforms (20cm ø).
Place all cake ingredients in the mixer.
Add the self-raising flour with a dash of salt.
Beat it all together but not too long.
Divide the batter between the baking tins and smoothen it.
Bake the cakes in 20 minutes cooked, two at a time.
Let the cakes cool completely in the tins, on a wire rack.
To make the butter cream: 100g milk chocolate, 200g softened butter, 400g icing sugar, 5 tablespoons cocoa and 2 tablespoons milk
How to make the butter cream
Melt the chocolate au bain marie and let it cool.
Beat the soft butter 10 minutes then add the icing sugar.
Sift the cocoa, add salt and milk and mix it in briefly.
Add the chocolate, beat it in until you have a smooth butter cream.
How to assemble the Tart au Chocolat
Divide the buttercream into two equal halves
Spread half of the buttercream over the cake.
Press the other cake on top.
Spread the rest of the cream over the cake.
The Tart au Chocolat is now ready, you can make peaks in the buttercream with a spoon (we) or strike it on smootly (the French way). A mini-monster comes in to have a look and says: a hedgehog would be fun :)) We aim to please...
Do you want decorate your cake with chocolate shards? Then you need this: 50g dark and 25g white chocolate
How to make decorative chocolate shards
Melt 50g dark chocolate au bain marie.
Line a baking tin with waxed paper.
Pour the melted chocolate into the baking tin.
Tilt the tin to and fro so the chocolate can spread out.
Melt the white chocolate au bain marie.
Drizzle it over the wet dark chocolate.
Let the chocolate set and flip it over.
Trim the edges and cut the chocolate into shards.
Stick the shards into the Tart au Chocolat (or hedgehog).
The cake did not turn out as we planned. >< We never saw a cake that looks so little like Valentine, but ... is does say party! We did not make the shards in vain of course, but the mini-monsters think the hedgehog looks fun anyway ;))
Happy Valentine's day!