Pastry

Mulled Wine Chocolate Tart

Did you know that you can make a chocolate ganache with things besides chocolate and cream? All you need are chocolate (check!) and a liquid… like mulled wine! (check check!!). This would be fabulous for a special occasion like Christmas or New Years. The filling elevates a normal chocolate ganache tart with a bit of spice and a depth of chocolate flavor unlike any other.

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Mulled Wine Chocolate Tart

Make-ahead the tart crust, up to 7 days before! The tart can be assembled the day before just fine too!

As a chefs treat, I included a cup of mulled wine for you 🙂 If you’d like to make it for a crowd, just increase the amount of wine you add to the pot with the spices. Pour out how much you need for the tart, and then sweeten to taste.

To decorate the tart, I spritzed on gold dust and added some paper roses. You can decorate with chocolate shards, shredded chocolate, drizzled chocolate, cocoa nibs…. so many things!

Mulled Wine Chocolate Tart

To Make-Ahead, prepare the tart dough in advance. Store either in the freezer for one month (thaw in the fridge overnight before rolling out), or in the fridge for two days. The cooked tart crust can be kept at room temperature for 7 days in an airtight container or bag. The tart, once filled with the ganache, will keep for 2 days.

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Ingredients

For the pate sucree (makes enough for TWO tart crusts, you'll just need one, so save the extra dough for later)

2 ½ cups (340 g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
1/3 cup (30 g) almond flour (or meal)
½ tsp salt
14 tbsp (200 g) unsalted butter, cold
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp water (NOTE: do not add if using a flour finer than all-purpose)

Mulled Wine

2 cups (480 ml) inexpensive fruity red wine
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp groundginger or knob of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
Peel of 1 orange or 2 clementine’s
6-8 whole cloves
1-2 star anise (optional)

Chocolate Mulled Wine Ganache Filling

12oz (340 g) bittersweet chocolate (I prefer Ghiradelli, Lindt, Cocoa Barry, or Valrhona)
3 tbsp (42 g) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temp

Instructions

To make the tart crust (pate sucree):

In the bowl of the mixer, add the flour, sugar, almond flour, salt and butter. Using the paddle attachment, mix together on low speed for about 5 minutes until it looks sandy.
Beat together the egg, water and vanilla in a small bowl and then add to the mixer. Mix on low-medium speed, watching closely. The dough will start to come together and then form big pieces. As soon as this happens, turn off the mixture to prevent overmixing.
If there are a few crumbly bits on the bottom of the bowl that didn’t mix in, the best is to either smear those into the rest of the dough with a spatula. You can also pour everything out onto a clean surface, and then smear the dough across the surface in 2-3 strokes to further combine.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill at least 45 minutes (or even better, overnight).
Roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thick and form to a 9-9.5" tart pan (or 6 individual tart pans). Freeze for 15 minutes than put directly into a preheated oven at 165C/325F.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until evenly brown.
Cool completely.

Make the mulled wine:

Ina small-medium saucepan add the wine, cinnamon stick, ginger, orange peel and cloves. Simmer on low heat for 20 minutes to develop the flavors.

For the ganache:

Add the chopped chocolate to a medium sized bowl.
Strain the mulled wine and measure out 3/4cup (180 ml) (the rest is for you to enjoy, just add a tablespoon ofgranulated sugar!). Pour the ¾ cup (180 ml) of hot mulled wine over thechocolate and butter. Then stir in the center of the bowl with a spatula toform a ganache.
Tip into the baked tart crust. Let set at roomtemperature for 1 hour. Carefully move to the refrigerator to continue firmingup, which can take up to an hour more. You can also let the tart simply sit at room temperature until firm (4-5 hours) depending on the temperature of the room.
Serve at room temperature.