My Favorite French Chocolate Tart

This post is for one of my favorite San Diego shoppers. It’s interesting that you can see someone on a weekly basis, but not always know them by name.  I know her as “Anna’s Mom,” and I promised her I would post the recipe for my favorite chocolate tart.  She is a serious foodie, as is her husband.  We compare notes on Italy, cooking and travel, and she brings me armfuls of lemon verbena from her garden.  And I will add I wish I were as impeccably dressed as she is, on a consistent basis!  She recently sampled my chocolate tart at the Sunday market, and proclaimed it the best ever; this is quite a compliment coming from her!  I use a shortbread crust, which I think pairs well with the tart.

The printable recipe for the tart is HERE. 

The printable recipe for the shortbread crust is HERE.  Special thank you to the amazing Yvonne from Stone Gable for telling us how to set up printable recipes; and to Kerry for setting these up for me!

I have been making this tart forever, in every size from one large to many minis, and I have never found a recipe my guests love more.  I have to say, my family prefers the individual tarts.  Especially when half the shortbread tarts are filled with lemon and half are chocolate.  As I mention in the recipe, the trick is not over-baking.  In fact I don’t think you can under-bake it; remove from the oven when it is still “trembling” or jiggly in the center half. 

If you try my recipe, please do report back on how it went; I can’t wait to hear what you think about it!!  This will be perfect for Labor Day too; it makes well a day ahead of time~

~bon appetit~