Chocolate Truffle Tart with Grand Marnier

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You know that silky, intensely rich and creamy center of a really good chocolate truffle? That's basically this entire tart.

The decadent dark chocolate filling is flavored Grand Marnier and set inside a crispy chocolate cookie crust. The best part? For all its elegant indulgence, the tart is so easy to make it almost feels like cheating.

A slice of chocolate orange truffle tart on a plate with a fork.

If you're going to make something with this much chocolate, it better be good.

This recipe requires 18 ounces of chocolate, so it's really important to use good quality chocolate. In general, the quality of the ingredients you use is going to make an impact, for better or for worse, on the final product of whatever you're cooking or baking. I feel that this is especially true for chocolate desserts, because in most chocolate desserts, chocolate is the entire point.

Let's take chocolate chip cookies, for example. The cookie part is important mostly because it's a carrier for warm, melty, chocolate. The same is true for fudge brownies and devil's food cake. Most of the other ingredients - butter, eggs, flour, sugar, etc. - are only there to turn really good chocolate into gooey brownies or moist chocolate cake.

There are some desserts in which the quality of the chocolate isn't as important. For example, I almost always reach for the generic store brand of chocolate chips for pumpkin chocolate chip bread or when I want to make a giant chocolate chip oatmeal skillet cookie.

But, don't even bother making a chocolate soufflé or THIS TART if you're not willing to use the good stuff.

A slice of chocolate orange truffle tart with candied orange peel on a plate.

What Kind of Chocolate Should You Use?

I almost always use Lindt chocolate bars. I buy them in bulk, ordering them from Amazon, and keep a few bars of these three varieties in my freezer at all times:

I find that with those three varieties on hand, I can achieve whatever level of dark chocolate I desire in a recipe. For this Chocolate Orange Tart, I always use 70% Dark Chocolate because I want the tart to be as deeply chocolate as possible without loosing all of the sweetness. If you want something slightly less dark chocolatey and slightly more sweet, mix in a couple ounces of milk chocolate. For example, you might use 14 ounces of 70% dark and 4 ounces of milk chocolate.

One word of caution - Don't add more than 4 ounces of milk chocolate to the filling for this tart or the filling won't set. Dark chocolate contains more cocoa butter and cocoa solids than milk chocolate, and you need those things to obtain a thick, sliceable filling for this chocolate tart. If you use too much milk chocolate, the filling will be runny and impossible to slice.

A chocolate orange truffle tart on a serving tray, decorated with candied orange peel.

About Grand Marnier and Candied Orange Peel

The orange flavor in this Chocolate and Orange Truffle Tart comes from a few tablespoons of Grand Marnier. If you're not familiar with Grand Marnier, it's a French liquor made from a blend of Cognac brandy, bitter orange, and sugar. It's slightly sweet, with vanilla undertones that smooth out the bitter edges without detracting from the orange flavor.

My favorite way to use Grand Marnier, besides using it to make a kick-ass Margarita, is to pair it with chocolate. There's just something about the contrast of chocolate and orange, how the fresh, sour, sweetness of orange balances the intensely rich and slightly bitter chocolate, that is so satisfying. (Ok. Addicting might be a more accurate word here. But, we'll stick with satisfying.)

Candied orange peel is one of my favorite things in the world and it's TO DIE FOR on this chocolate truffle tart. It's like a grown-up version of fruit flavored gummy candies. The process for making this tangy, sweet and sour treat is simple - I follow this recipe from Alton Brown. You basically dunk strips of orange peel in boiling sugar syrup and then let them dry.

But, you can also skip the whole process of making candied orange peel and just order some. I like these from Olive Nation. You can also use these sweetened, dried orange slices from Trader Joes.

More Recipes for Chocolate Lovers:

If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or take a picture and tag it #ofbatteranddough on Instagram.

Happy baking!

Chocolate and Orange Truffle Tart

Yield: One 11-inch tart; 16 slices

Prep Time: 35 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Additional Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

You know that silky, intensely rich and creamy center of a really good chocolate truffle? That's basically this entire tart.

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Crust:

1 large egg yolk
3 tablespoons (43 grams) heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups (150 grams) of all-purpose flour
¼ cup (21 grams) cocoa powder
½ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
¼ cup (53 grams) dark brown sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (141 grams) salted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces

For the truffle filling:

18 ounces (510 grams) bittersweet chocolate (70% dark)
9 tablespoons (254 grams) salted butter, at room temperature, cut into ½-inch pieces
1 ½ cups (340 grams/ 12 ounces) heavy cream
½ teaspoon salt
2–4 tablespoons Grand Marnier (to taste)

For Decoration:

Candied Orange Peel – purchased (see link below) or homemade

Instructions

Make the Crust:

Whisk the egg yolk, cream and vanilla together in a small bowl.
Add the flour, cocoa powder, both sugars, and salt to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the dough (pastry) blade. Pulse a few times to combine.
Scatter the pieces of butter over the flour mixture and pulse about 10 times – until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
With the machine running, pour in the egg and cream mixture all at once. Continue to pulse just until the mixture begins to comes together into a dough. Be careful not to over mix.
Dump the dough onto a clean work surface and knead a few times, just to ensure all the dry ingredients are incorporated. Pat into a disc, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes, and up to 2 days.
After the dough has had time to chill, roll it out on a floured work surface and gently lift into an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough into the sides and corners of the pan, allowing excess dough to fold over the edge of the pan. Use a rolling pin to roll over the edges of the pan, cutting off the excess dough. Cover and freeze for at least 30 minutes, and up to 2 weeks.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the pastry from the freezer and line with foil. Fill the foil-lined pastry with dried beans or pie weights and bake for 30 minutes.
Carefully remove foil and beans or pie weights from the pastry shell and bake for 5-10 minutes longer.
Remove the crust from the oven to a wire rack and allow to cool completely before filling.

Make the truffle tart filling:

Add the chocolate and butter pieces to a large bowl.
Heat the cream to boiling either on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Pour the cream over the butter and chocolate and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Stir the ganache until completely smooth. If, after stirring for a few minutes, there are pieces of chocolate or butter that have not yet melted, microwave the mixture in 30 second increments at half power until the ganache is completely smooth. Stir in the salt and Grand Marnier to taste.
Pour the truffle tart filling into the cooled pastry and refrigerate until firm – at least two hours.
If desired, top with candied orange peel. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 495Total Fat: 40gSaturated Fat: 25gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 88mgSodium: 311mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 6gSugar: 10gProtein: 7g

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Chocolate Truffle Tart with Grand Marnier

What Kind of Chocolate Should You Use?