These are some of the easiest tarts to make. First of all, the instant chocolate pudding makes the filling easy to make. You could use store purchased ready-made raw pie crusts or stir up your own crusts. I feel the homemade are so easy that they are well worth it with their homemade crispiness.
Make the crusts and cool them completely. Stir up the instant pudding and cool in the . refrigerator. Shave off a few curls off a semi-sweet chocolate bar and you have a delicious and easy to make dessert. A little whipped cream makes the entire dessert even more delicious!
I like to make the tarts and chocolate pudding ahead, refrigerating the pudding overnight until I’m ready to assemble them the next day. The tarts are easy enough to keep on a tray or platter in the cupboard. I don’t have a “pie keep” or “pie safe” like Gram used to have, but I still like to store my tart crusts on a plate in the cupboard to keep them until I’m ready to assemble.
This recipe makes 4-5 tart crusts, each one 4” in diameter.
Preheat the oven to 375F degrees.
Prepare your tart pans:
Make sure your tart pans have the removeable bottoms and are clean. No need to spread butter or oil on them since there is plenty of butter in the crust. I use 4" tart pans with non-stick surfaces. The crusts pop right after they have cooled.
Gather up the Easy Tart Crust Ingredients:
1 1/4 C Flour
3 T sugar
1/2 Salt
6 T Butter, cold, diced
2 T Shortening, cold (use a good brand)
1/3 C Water, iced
Gather up the Filling & Topping Ingredients:
1 Pkg 3.9oz Chocolate Pudding, Instant
Milk, according to the package instructions
Whipped cream for topping (optional)
Semi-sweet chocolate bar (for chocolate curls)
Mix and Cool the Instant Pudding:
-In a medium mixing bowl, stir the milk and dry instant pudding together according to instructions on the package. It’s that easy!
-Cover and refrigerate the pudding for the allotted time on the package so it can thicken and set.
-Do not fill the tarts with pudding until the tarts have been baked and completely cooled or your pudding can melt.
Mix and Bake the Tart crusts:
- Pulse the flour and butter about 10 times in your food processor.
- Add water and process until the dough comes together, with just a few more pulses.
- Place the ball of dough on a floured surface and form into a disc.
- Wrap the disc of dough in and chill it for 30 minutes in the fridge.
- Roll out dough and cut 6 circles to fit into and up the sides of each 4" tart pan. If you like the crust thicker, go ahead and cut 4 or 5 circles. Do not stretch the dough while pressing it in the tart pan or it may shrink during the baking process.
- Blind bake the tart crusts by lining each tart crust with a buttered piece of foil, butter side down. Fill the top of the foil with dried beans or ceramic or metal beads made especially for blind baking. The weight of the beans or beads help keep the crust from puffing up.
- Bake tart crusts for 10 minutes at 375 F degrees.
- Take the crusts out of the oven and remove the beans or beads and foil.
- Prick the bottom of each tart with a fork, about 4 times.
- Bake the tarts another 15-20 minutes until they are golden brown.
- Cool completely. The tarts will pop right out when you push up from the bottom of the removeable tin. Handle them carefully when filling with pudding.
Assemble the tarts:
-With the tarts on a serving platter or on small individual plates, spoon the chocolate pudding into each tart crust, filling each one almost to the brim. Set aside.
-With a vegetable peeler, peel curls off the chocolate bar onto a small plate or low bowl. Set aside.
-Place a dollop of whipped cream (store bought or homemade) on top of each pudding filled tart.
-Scatter the chocolate curls on top.
-Your Chocolate Pudding Tarts are ready to share and enjoy!
Storage:
-I keep the tart crusts (no filling) in the cupboard for a day or two until I’m ready to assemble them.
-For the pudding, I keep it in an airtight container, ready to go in the refrigerator for 1-2 days before assembling the tarts.
-The whipped cream, I like to make the same day I’m serving the tarts. Or, follow the best by date on the can of store-bought whipped cream if that’s the direction you go.
This is probably one of the easiest desserts to make. You can make them in stages if you like. Bake the tarts and stir up the chocolate pudding the day before and assemble the day you want to enjoy them with friends and family. Whenever you enjoy them, “Bake your own Memories!”