If you've not made chocolate pastry before, then this Chocolate Orange Custard Tart is a great place to start! The filling is a rich baked chocolate custard, it's flavoured with orange extract which is the best way to get a good orange flavour without comprimising the texture of the custard. Orange extract is pretty easy to get hold of, I get it in my local supermarket. I've decorated the Chocolate Orange Custard Tart with whipped cream, and Terry's Chocolate Orange slices, because they're awesome! This would be perfect anytime of year, but chocolate orange is very Christmassy, so I think this Chocolate Orange Custard Tart would be a great Christmas dessert for either the day itself, or any parties you're hosting!
For the full recipe with measurements, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.
How to make a Chocolate Orange Custard Tart
To make the pastry, rub butter into a mixture of plain flour, cocoa powder and caster sugar. Add milk and form a dough. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then roll the pastry out and line the tin, gently pricked the bottom of the pastry with a fork.
Blind bake the pastry case for 15 minutes, then remove the baking beans and bake it for another 10 minutes.
To make the filling, heat double cream, then add dark chocolate and stir till it melts. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar and orange extract. Combine the two mixtures to create the custard filling.
Put the pastry case in the oven and pour the custard into it. This ensures it doesn't spill.
Once baked, the custard will puff up, but it will sink down again as it cools. Once it is fully cool, decorate the Chocolate Orange Custard Tart with some whipped cream and slices of Terry's Chocolate Orange.
For the full recipe with measurements, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.
Can you use shop bought pastry instead?
Yes! I've never seen a ready made chocolate shortcrust pastry, so you can use regular shortcrust pastry instead if you want to use a ready made version.
Can you use orange juice instead of orange extract for the custard?
No. Orange extract is a concentrated flavour, so it's much stronger than orange juice. This means you can get a good amount of orange flavour without having to add too much additional liquid to your custard. Adding too much liquid will affect the custard so I don't recommend using orange juice. You could add orange zest to the custard instead, but the custard won't be as smooth as there will be bits of zest throughout it.
Tips for making the Chocolate Orange Custard Tart:
- When rolling out the pastry, use a light dusting of plain flour to ensure it doesn't stick to the work surface or to the rolling pin. A silicone mat with pie tin measurements on it is also helpful as a guide so you know how big to roll it out to.
- To avoid nail marks in the pastry when you are lining the tin, use a little ball of leftover pastry to push the pastry into the edges of the tin.
- If you don't have baking beans to blind bake the pastry case, you can use dried rice or dried beans. Just don't forget to line the pastry with baking paper before pouring them in!
- Place the baked pastry case on the oven shelf and pour the filling in using a jug, then slowly and gently slide the oven shelf in. This means you can fill the pastry case with as much filling as possible, and avoid any spills carrying it over to the oven.
Recommended equipment & ingredients*
- Tart tin
- Mixing bowls
- Cooling rack
- Electric hand mixer
- Kitchen scales
- Terry's Chocolate Orange
- Orange extract
- Baking beans
- Rolling pin
- Silicone mat
- Piping bags
- Wilton 2D Piping nozzle
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More chocolate orange recipes...
- Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake
- Chocolate Orange Fudge
- Vegan Chocolate Orange Cheesecake
- Chocolate Orange Biscotti
- Chocolate Orange Baked Donuts
- Terry's Chocolate Orange Cheesecake (No Bake)
- Chocolate Orange Brownies
- Chocolate Orange Pancakes
- Chocolate Orange Cake
- Chocolate Orange Drip Cake
- Chocolate Orange Cookies
- Chocolate Orange Ice Cream (No Churn)
- Chocolate Orange Cupcakes
- Chocolate Orange Rocky Road
- Chocolate Orange Traybake Cake
Chocolate Orange Custard Tart
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 100 g Butter
- 210 g Plain flour
- 20 g Cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp Caster sugar
- 45 ml Milk or water
For the filling
- 5 Eggs large
- 125 g Caster sugar
- 3 tsp Orange extract
- 120 g Dark chocolate broken into pieces
- 215 ml Double Cream
For decoration
- 200 ml Double Cream
- ½ tbsp Icing sugar
- ½ tsp Vanilla extract
- 13 Segments of Terry's Chocolate Orange
Instructions
- To make the pastry, put the plain flour, cocoa powder and caster sugar in a bowl and stir together
- Add the butter in chunks and use your fingers to rub the butter and flour mixture together until it resembles bread crumbs
- Add the milk little by little (you may not need it all, or you may need a little bit more) and form into a dough
- Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes
- Pre-heat your oven to 180C Fan/200C/350F/Gas Mark 5
- Using a light dusting of flour on your surface and rolling pin, roll the pastry out to fit a 9" tart tin
- Smooth the pastry out in the tin and prick the bottom with a fork
- Scrunch up some baking paper and cover the pastry, then add baking beans. Bake it for 15 minutes
- Remove the pastry from the oven and remove the baking paper and baking beans. Put it back in the oven and bake it for 10 minutes
- Once it comes out of the oven, reduce the temperature to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4
- To make the custard filling warm the double cream in a pan on a low-medium heat
- Once it starts steaming, take it off the heat and add the chocolate. Leave it for a few minutes, then stir until smooth and all of the chocolate is melted. Leave to cool for 5 minutes
- Whisk the eggs and sugar together, add the orange extract and whisk in
- Slowly pour the chocolate and cream mixture into the egg and sugar mixture whisking as you pour. Once mixed, transfer to a jug
- Put the pastry case on the oven shelf first, then pour the filling in using the jug
- Bake for 30 minutes, then leave to cool completely before decorating
- To decorate, whip the cream with the vanilla and icing sugar using an electric whisk
- Pipe onto the tart, or spread on with a spoon
- Decorate with some Terry's Chocolate Orange slices if you like
- Serve immediately, store leftovers in the fridge and eat within 2 days
Nutrition
If you like this, check out more of my Sweet Tarts & Pies recipes!
NB. This post is NOT sponsored by Terry's - I just love their product!
Kate Glutenfreealchemist
Wow! Love the idea of orange custard. I have to have some of that!!
Kat BakingExplorer
Thanks Kate! It's really delicious and the perfect combination with the chocolate crust.