Hazelnut Hot Chocolate Tart

5 from 1 vote

Made of a thin chocolate crust, a hazelnut praline past, a chocolate hazelnut pastry cream, and topped with a vanilla meringue, this Hazelnut Hot Chocolate Tart is silky smooth and full of flavor!

Prep Time1

Cook Time30

Chilling6

Total Time7 30

Course: Afternoon Kaffee, Dessert

Cuisine: American, German

Keyword: Chocolate, hazelnut, hot chocolate, meringue

Servings:

Calories: 405kcal

Equipment

9" tart shell

Ingredients

Candied Hazelnuts

220 grams hazelnuts unsalted, peeled
80 grams dark brown sugar
50 grams granulated sugar
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
100 grams water

Chocolate Crust

65 grams salted butter
40 grams granulated sugar
20 grams cocoa powder natural
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
85 grams all purpose flour

Chocolate Hazelnut Cream Filling

20 grams corn starch or arrowroot
400 grams whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 egg yolks large
120 grams 60% chocolate

Meringue

4 egg whites large
200 grams sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

Instructions

Candied Hazelnuts

If not yet peeled, preheat your oven to 350 F.
Pour the hazelnuts onto an unlined baking sheet and bake for five minutes. Take the pan out of the oven and give them a quick toss, then bake for 2-3 more minutes until the skins start to flake off.
Leave them to cool for a few minutes and then pour onto a kitchen towel. Use the towel and the friction of the hazelnuts against each other to rub the skins off- it's ok if about 10% is still on.
Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
In a medium stainless steel pan, add in the brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon and water. Set over medium low heat and bring to a simmer. Stir occasionally until bubbling all over and the sugar has dissolved.
Pour 200 grams of the hazelnuts into the pan and stir to coat the hazelnuts.
Continue to cook and stir, allowing the water to evaporate until it starts to dry out and looks like sand coating the hazelnuts.
Turn the heat down to low and allow the sandy sugar to begin to melt again.
Stir occasionally until about 50%-60% of the sugar has turned back into a liquid.
Turn off the heat and pour the hazelnuts onto the lined baking sheet.
Leave them to cool while you make the crust.

Chocolate Crust

In a medium mixing bowl, melt down the salted butter in the microwave. Add in the sugar, salt, vanilla and cocoa powder and whisk to combine.
Lastly add in the flour and mix until just combined.
Press the chocolate crust into the tart shell. Press it first into the sides of the pan and then into the base. Use the bottom and sides of a metal measuring cup to smooth out and really press the crust into the pan. It should reach all the way to the top of the pan. If using the same pan.
Place the pan on a baking sheet. Put it in the freezer for 10 minutes to set while you preheat the oven.
Preheat the oven to 350 F and place a rack in the middle of the oven.
Bake the tart for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake for another 5 minutes.
Take the pan out of the oven and leave to cool completely.

Hazelnut Praline

In a small blender add in 200 grams of the candied hazelnuts plus 1/4 teaspoon of fine sea salt. Blend until a smooth liquid paste forms.
Pour 150 grams of the paste into the cooled chocolate crust, spread into an even layer and place in the fridge.
Don't clean out the blender.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cream

Roughly chop the chocolate and then add it into a medium heat safe bowl.
Pour 350 grams of the milk into the blender along with the remaining hazelnuts, another teaspoon of vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and blend until smooth.
In a medium sauce pot add in the corn starch along with 50 grams of milk and whisk into a smooth paste.
Pour the hazelnut milk through a fine mesh sieve into the pot with the corn starch slurry.
Whisk to combine and then add in both egg yolks.
Place the pot over medium low heat whisking constantly until the mixture thickens. It will first look a little lumpy but just keep whisking and it'll smooth out.
Once thick and it has started to bubble, turn off the heat.
Pour the hazelnut cream over the chocolate in the bowl and let sit for a minute.
Whisk the chocolate into the cream until smooth.
Carefully spoon the cream over the hazelnut praline base of the tart and smooth into an even layer.
Cover the surface with a sheet of parchment to prevent it from forming a skin. Place it in the fridge to set for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Meringue

In the bowl of a stand mixer (a hand mixer will work too, it will just take ages), add in the egg whites, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine.
Place a medium sauce pot with 2" of water onto the stove. Bring the water to a simmer.
Set the mixing bowl with the egg whites and sugar over the bowl of simmering water and turn the heat to low. The water shouldn’t touch the bottom of the mixing bowl.
Whisk the egg whites and sugar constantly until the sugar has fully dissolved into the egg whites. To check and see if the sugar has dissolved, pinch and rub some of the mixture in between your fingers and feel if you still feel any of the sugar granules, if not you’re good to go. If you do just keep cooking a bit longer.
Once the sugar has dissolved, turn off the heat and remove the bowl from the water. Leave it to cool off for about 10 minutes.
Using your mixer, whip the egg white mixture first on medium and then on high speed until fluffy, shiny and stiff.
Add in the vanilla bean paste (vanilla extract will work too!) and whip again until combined.
Once set, remove the plastic wrap from the surface of the tart and carefully press the tart base up and out of the shell.
Loosen along the edges where the base and edges of the tart shell connect, if you press just from the center you have a higher chance of the crust breaking.
If you're nervous about removing it from the base you can always leave the tart on the pan base.
Either with a piping bag and tip or a big spoon, top the tart with the meringue.
If you have a kitchen torch you can lightly toast the surface of the meringue.
Slice with a big sharp knife straight down through the tart. Clean the knife between each cut to get beautiful clean slices.

Notes

Tips for making Hazelnut Hot Chocolate Tart

The crust is thin and at first it won't seem like enough dough but trust and it will be - take your time with this because it's really the foundation of the whole tart.
If hazelnuts aren't your vibe you could either swap them for another nut or make it a nut free tart by leaving out all of the hazelnuts and multiplying the chocolate filling by 1.5.
It will take a bit of patience to turn the candied hazelnuts into a paste but don't fret, it will happen. The smaller the blender or food processor the better for this!
Be sure to use high quality chocolate for the chocolate filling. Chocolate chips include additives to hold their shape which means they won't melt properly.
When the pastry cream starts to thicken it will first look a little lumpy but if you whisk vigorously it will smooth out - don't stress you didn't split it.
If you don't feel like topping it with meringue, serving it with a pile of lightly sweetened whipped cream on top would also be delicious!

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