chocolate easter egg tart with a tim tam crust

chocolate easter egg tart with a tim tam crust

• 3 Apr 2023

Easter is just around the corner so I decided to make a no-bake chocolate easter egg tart. Last year I saw Elizabeth Hewson make a Hot Chocolate Tart on an episode of The Cook Up. The base was made from Tim Tams, my all-time favourite chocolate biscuit.

The Tim Tam crust was something I wanted to try and it seemed the perfect vehicle for a smooth chocolate ganache filling I spied on Claire Saffitz's YouTube channel. I made the tart, then topped it with unsweetened whipped cream, a few crumbled Easter eggs and a dusting of Tim Tam crumbs to make this Easter themed no-bake tart. I don't think I've ever made a no-bake tart before and I was a bit worried it would fall apart, but once chilled I could cut a neat slice.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 4 cm deep 17cm tart. For all my recipes, I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C. 

Chocolate Easter Egg Tart with a Tim Tam crust - the tart can be made up to two days ahead. Keep, covered, in the fridge and decorate the tart with cream, biscuit crumbs and cocoa just before serving.

Base
1 x 200g packet Tim Tam biscuits
30 g unsalted butter, melted
Pinch sea salt flakes

Filling
150g finely chopped dark chocolate (64-70%)
Pinch sea salt flakes
250mls cold thickened cream, divided
50g melted unsalted butter

To serve
125mls thickened cream, softly whipped
2-3 small Easter eggs
Cocoa powder

Method
Grease and line a 17 cm flan tin with baking paper. Process the biscuits in a food processor until finely crushed. Reserve a tablespoon for decoration then transfer the remaining crumbs to a large bowl. Stir in the melted butter and the salt flakes, then press the mixture over base and up sides of prepared the tin. Refrigerate while making filling.

Filling
In a large heatproof bowl, combine the chopped chocolate and a generous pinch of salt and set aside. In a small saucepan, heat 150mls of the cream over medium heat just until you see gentle bubbling around the sides. Remove the saucepan from the heat and set it aside for 30 seconds to cool slightly, then pour it over the chocolate. Cut butter into 1 cm pieces and add to the bowl. Let the chocolate mixture sit undisturbed for about 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt. Whisk the ganache gently, starting in the centre of the bowl and working outward, until the mixture is completely smooth. Set the bowl aside while you whip the cream.

In a medium bowl, with a hand mixer, whip the remaining 100mls cream on low speed then gradually increase the speed to medium-high as it thickens, until you have medium peaks. Set the bowl aside.

Beat the ganache with the hand mixer (no need to wash after whipping the cream) on low speed and gradually increase the speed to medium-high until the ganache thickens and holds the marks of the whisk, about 4 minutes. Add the whipped cream and gently fold through the ganache until the mixture is streak-free. Spoon the whipped ganache into the tart shell then using an offset spatula, smooth the surface working it to the sides in an even layer. Set the tart aside uncovered at room temperature for at least 15 minutes, then refrigerate until serving time.

To serve, place the tart on a serving plate. Decorate the tart with dollops of cream and a few crumbled Easter eggs. Dust with sifted cocoa powder and the Tim Tam crumbs.

I took this into work and shared it with my chocolate mad workmates. It was declared an absolute hit with it's smooth creamy filling and intriguing salt flecked crust.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Wishing you all a Happy Easter.

Bye for now,

Jillian