Amazing sweet cherry tart with chocolate. The pastry crust is made with ground almonds. Thanks to this addition, it has a wonderful nutty taste and is beautifully tender. The filling is very simple – I combined sweet cherries with bitter chocolate and seasoned them with cinnamon and nutmeg. These spices complement cherries flavor really well. The preparation is also simplified – there‘s no need to blind bake the crust. It will crisp up nicely, the cherries don‘t release too many juices and are mixed with cornstarch, which turns the fruit juice into jelly. This cherry tart is really super quick to make and tastes just amazing. Give it a go!
Ingredients:
Cherries – I used my favorite sweet cherries for this tart, so adding a lot of sugar is not necessary. You could also use tart cherries but you would need to add more sugar (without testing the recipe I can not say exactly how much).
Spices – The cherries are seasoned lightly with cinnamon and nutmeg. You can omit the spices or add even more if you wish. Instead of spices, you can add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Pastry crust – this pastry crust is made with lots of ground almonds, is has a wonderful nutty flavor. You can also use any other pastry crust recipe that you like, but I think that the almond flavor of the crust pairs with the cherries perfectly. You can ground the almonds yourself if you like in a food processor. Make sure to pulse with intervals, if you will mix it for too long you’ll get almond butter. You can use peeled or skin-on almonds (I used skin-on).
Chocolate – since I used sweet cherries, dark chocolate pair with them perfectly but you could also use bittersweet or milk chocolate or omit the chocolate.
How to make cherry tart step by step:
STEP 1: MAKE THE ALMOND PASTRY CRUST:
Mix the flour with ground almonds, salt, and powdered sugar. Add the cubed butter, rub with your fingers with the flour mixture (or use a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment) until pea-sized crumbs form. Add the cold water, mix the dough until combined. Don’t overwork the dough! Shape the dough into a flat disk, wrap in plastic foil, and put in the fridge for 1 hour.
STEP 2: MAKE THE CHERRY FILLING:
Pit the cherries and toss with cornstarch, sugar and spices. Put in the fridge.
STEP 3: LINE A TART TIN WITH THE PASTRY:
Divide the dough into 2 parts: larger and smaller. Use the larger part to line a 9-inch/23cm tart tin – using your palms and fingers, press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pan. The smaller part of the dough goes in the fridge.
STEP 4: ADD THE FILLING:
Arrange the cherries on the dough, stick small pieces of chocolate between the cherries.
STEP 5: MAKE THE LATTICE:
Roll out the smaller portion of the dough, cut into strips and arrange on top of the cherries. Brush with the egg wash.
STEP 6: BAKE
Bake at 190 °C / 375 °F for about 40-50 mins.
ENJOY!
Storage:
You can store the tart for up to 3 days. The tart tastes also very good the next day but it’s a little more softer.
It can also be frozen but it will be much softer than freshly baked.
More summer dessert recipes:
Cherry tart with chocolate
Ingredients
pastry crust:
- 1 ½ cups (7oz/200g) flour
- 1 cup (3.5oz/100g) ground almonds
- 1½ sticks (6.3oz/180g) cold butter 82% fat, unsalted
- ⅔ cup (2.8oz/80g) powdered sugar
- a large pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon very cold water
filling:
- 4 cups (21oz/600g) sweet cherries weighted with pits
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- a big pinch of nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch 22g
- ¼ cup light brown sugar 50g
- 2 oz (60g) dark chocolate
egg-wash:
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
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Instructions
pastry crust:
- Mix the flour with almonds, powdered sugar and salt together.
- Add diced (about 1-inch/2cm pieces), cold butter.
- Rub the butter with the flour mixture, using your fingers or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, until the butter pieces are about pea-sized.
- Add a tablespoon of very cold water and quickly knead the dough until a smooth ball forms.
- Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap it in plastic foil and put in the fridge for 1 hour.
filling:
- Pit the cherries (it‘s best to use a small handheld cherry pitter). Mix in a large bowl with cinnamon, nutmeg, potato starch and sugar together. Put the bowl in the fridge.
baking:
- Prepare a 9-inch/23cm tart pan.
- Preheat the oven to 190 °C / 375 °F / Gas Mark 5.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide it into 2 parts (one part should be slightly larger than the other).
- Place the bigger part of the dough in the tart pan (put the smaller part back in the fridge). Press the dough with your hands into an even layer on the bottom and the sides of the pan (you can use the bottom of a measuring cup to help flatten the dough).
- Arrange the cherries on the dough (they should lay tightly next to each other).
- Break the chocolate into smaller pieces, stick it between the cherries.
- Make a lattice from the other part of the dough. As there are a lot of ground almonds inside the dough, it‘s not as easy to handle and less flexible than an all-flour dough. It‘s important that the dough is very well chilled. Roll it out on a piece of baking paper and sprinkle with a lot of flour. Roll out the dough to a thickness of approx. 1/4-inch (5mm), cut strips of dough and arrange on the filling. I found it helpful to slide a large offset spatula under the strip and transfer it this way. Don't worry if the strips are tearing, just transfer them carefully onto the tart and pinch them together, the egg wash will 'glue' the torn parts. Alternatively, if you have less time, you can simply divide the dough roughly into pieces, flatten them, and spread on the filling.
- Egg wash: beat the egg and with milk, brush the top of the tart.
- Bake the tart for 45-50 minutes, until the dough is baked through and browned, and the filling bubbling. After about 30 minutes, check the dough – if it's already nicely golden cover it loosely with a piece of aluminum foil.
- Wait about 10-15 minutes before slicing the tart, so that the filling can thicken up a bit.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Ingredient notes:
- Cherries – I used my favorite sweet cherries for this tart, so adding a lot of sugar is not necessary. You could also use tart cherries but you would need to add more sugar (without testing the recipe I can not say exactly how much).
-
- Spices – The cherries are seasoned lightly with cinnamon and nutmeg. You can omit the spices or add even more if you wish. Instead of spices, you can add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
- Pastry crust – this pastry crust is made with lots of ground almonds, is has a wonderful nutty flavor. You can also use any other pastry crust recipe that you like, but I think that the almond flavor of the crust pairs with the cherries perfectly. You can ground the almonds yourself if you like in a food processor. Make sure to pulse with intervals, if you will mix it for too long you’ll get almond butter. You can use peeled or skin-on almonds (I used skin-on).
-
- Chocolate – since I used sweet cherries, dark chocolate pair with them perfectly but you could also use bittersweet or milk chocolate or omit the chocolate.
- Storage: You can store the tart for up to 3 days. The tart tastes also very good the next day but it’s a little more softer. It can also be frozen but it will be much softer than freshly baked.
- Calories count = 1 serving (1/8 of the recipe).
Did you make this recipe? RATE THE RECIPE or tell me in the COMMENTS how you liked it! You can also add a photo of your dish. It would make me very happy and will help other readers. Thank you!!
4 Comments
Luna
3 May 2021 at 16:03LOVE this tart. I was looking for a cherry tart that used almond almond flour and I found Alessandra’s recipe which is perfect and super delicious. I also love the fact that it’s not too sweet, I usually use a lot less sugar than the recipe calls fo but didn’t have to do it here. My version had no chocolate, less cornstarch and the addition of blueberries as I wanted an all-fruit filling with a very soft consistency.
Aleksandra
3 May 2021 at 18:11I’m glad you liked it, thank you for the comment!
Luna
6 February 2021 at 19:58Love this recipe. I slightly modified it by using whole meal flour and adding the yolks of 2 eggs, but it was still very delicious!
Aleksandra
6 February 2021 at 20:01Oh, I can imagine it was delicious. Whole wheat goes well with cherries and chocolate and the egg yolks always help make a great dough. Thanks for commenting!