Mango Curd Chocolate Tart

Luscious chocolate crust topped with a zing of mango and some dragon fruit art. # 88: Mango Curd Chocolate Tart

Kay guys, I’ve got a new favorite ingredient. MANGO CURD. I know I chatted about it a bit in my Summer Mango Tart post, but now I need to sing it’s praises. It’s rich, it’s tart, it’s sweet, it has a lovely texture, and it’s downright yummy. I started eating it straight while I was waiting for my crust to bake. No shame.

Also, it happens to be the same color as my car. It’s clearly a winner. Fun facts, I named my car Mango. I might have been influenced by a certain ingredient. We’ll never know.

As I discussed in my Summer Mango Tart post, curd is deliciously easy to make. It’s a nearly-dairy-free version of custard and it has a bright pop of fruit flavor that makes your tongue tingle. I literally whisk together all the ingredients (except the butter) and stir over a bain-marie for 10 to 15 minutes until it gets lovely and thick.

My oh-so-official bain-marie. If you’re going to copy me, make sure you use hot pads when touching the top bowl; it gets super hot!

Mmmm. I strained it because only smooth curd is allowed in my kitchen.

I threw some cocoa into the Tartine Bakery sweet tart dough recipe. It worked like a charm! I use dark chocolate cocoa to get that rich, slightly bitter flavor. I’ve found I like cooking with 72% chocolate or darker. I can always add my own milk or cream to dilute it!

It was toasty in my apartment so I had to chill this baby for a few hours before playing with it.

Rolled out, placed carefully and trimmed. Ready to chill! Popped it back in the freezer for 15 minutes or so to keep it from slumping too drastically in the oven.

I made a few different crust levels and this is the post-sauna shot of the one with the shortest sides. It’s not completely cooked, but I’ll be filling it up with mango curd and baking it for another 12 – 15 minutes. It all comes together like magic.

Voila! Fully baked.

Decoration time! All about that chocolate drizzle. I’m not excellent at getting it thin and elegant, but practice makes better. Plus, eye-catching fruit always helps. Enter dragon fruit.