Earl Grey Chocolate Mousse Tartlets

*I’ve partnered with Sharffen Berger to bring you this post – all thoughts and opinions are my own, naturally.

Last year I made a chocolate ganache that was infused with earl grey tea and was absolutely smitten. Flavoring heavy cream by steeping it in a strong tea as a means to flavor creams, custards, and mousses is borderline genius, no? I had to try it again, this time in the form of a chocolate tartlet, all crisp, light chocolate pastry and creamy, decadent mousse.

You know how I feel about chocolate and a chocolate on chocolate dessert is no place to skimp on quality.  Sharffen Berger 100% unsweetened Cocoa Powder brings a rich depth of flavor to these little desserts, as well as unmatched quality. Since they source their beans from countries notorious for producing the worlds best cacao, the end product is pure and true in flavor. Not only does the cocoa powder turn the tartlet shells into a robust and crisp vehicle for the earl grey mousse, but it looks so beautiful dusted over the top of the tart, giving it a velvety look and adding just a touch of pure, bitter chocolate flavor to foil the sweeter mousse.

If tartlets seem a daunting bake, split the process up by baking the tart shells a day or two ahead of when you want to serve them. They will keep well  in an airtight container for several days, or several weeks in the freezer. I like to use earl grey to flavor this mousse, but you could try steeping other teas(hello lavender!) for a different take.

Earl Grey Chocolate Mousse Tartlets

 

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Serves: 8-9 tartlets

Ingredients

• FOR THE TART SHELL:
• 1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons Scharffen Berger unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1⅓ sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• 1 large egg
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• FOR THE MOUSSE FILLING:
• 2¼ cups Heavy Cream
• ¼ cup loose leaf Earl Grey Tea
• 4 Egg Yolks
• 3 T. Sugar
• pinch of Salt
• 1 t. Vanilla Extract
• 7 oz. Semi-sweet Chocolate chips
• Sharffen berger Cocoa Powder, for dusting
• Creme Fraiche
• Kumquats(candy them, if you desire)

Instructions

1. FOR THE TART SHELL:
2. Add the flour, cocoa powder, sugar and salt to a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.
3. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add the egg and vanila and pulse until the mixture starts to come together to form a dough.
4. The dough should still be crumbly, but stick together when pressed in.
5. Dump the dough crumbles out on your work surface and bring together to form a ball of dough.
6. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
7. Remove the dough from the fridge and let sit for 5 minutes.
8. Roll out the dough to a ⅛" thickness on a lightly floured surface.
9. Cut out circles of dough that are 1 inch larger in diameter than your tartlet tins.
10. Place the dough circles in the tartlet tins and press the dough into the bottom and sides of the tin. Repeat process until all tartlet tins are filled.
11. Place the dough lined tins in the freezer for 1 hour.
12. Remove the tins and line the dough with tin foil. Fill the tin foil with beans or pie weights and bake in an oven preheated to 375.
13. Bake the tarts for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully take out the tin foil and beans.
14. Place the tarts back in the oven for another 5-7 minutes, or until the centers of the tarts no longer appear dark and wet.
15. Remove the tarts from the oven and let them cool completely in the tins. Once cool, remove the shells and store them in an airtight container until ready to use.
16. FOR THE MOUSSE FILLING:
17. Place 1 cup of the cream and loose leaf tea in a saucepan and heat just until the cream begins to steam. remove from heat, cover, and let the tea steep in the cream for 20 minutes.
18. Pour the cream through a fine mesh strainer, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids.
19. Bring the cream to steaming in the same saucepan over medium heat.
20. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and salt until well combined. Slowly pour the hot cream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly until well blended. Transfer the mixture to a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens into a custard. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and chocolate chips.
21. Whisk until the chocolate melts and mixture is smooth.
22. Let cool.
23. Whip the remaining 1¼ cups of heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Add ¼ of the whipped cream to the chocolate custard and whisk in well to lighten the mixture. Add the remaining whipped cream to the lightened custard and very carefully fold in until the mixture is well combined.
24. Spoon the mousse into a large piping bag fitted with a round tip and pipe the mousse into the baked tart shells.
25. Dust the top of the mousse filled tarts with a thin layer of cocoa powder.
26. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours or until mousse is firm.
27. Serve chilled with a dollop of creme fraiche and a sliced kumquat.

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Tart shell recipe via Pretty Simple Sweet.