If you’ve been following this food blog for a while you know tarts and tartlets are some of my favorite things to make, especially when I have people to impress. I started with the classic ones like chocolate and lemon, but now I love to use more obscure or rare fruits as they usually give a flavor many have not tried before. These chokeberry tartlets are definitely one of those desserts people will remember.
Like with all tart or tartlet recipes, these chokeberry tartlets are comprised of three components. The shell, the filling, and the topping. In this recipe the shell is a simple pate sucree, or French style sugar crust. The filling is a curd and the topping is a rustic meringue.
This recipe is basically a single ingredient substitution with my popular gooseberry curd tart recipe, as both fruits are quite tart, pun intended. However once you get the hang of making curds you can change the filling to anything you feel like!
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What Is A Chokeberry?
A chokeberry is a type of small, dark-colored berry that belongs to the Rosaceae family. There are three main species of chokeberries: Aronia melanocarpa (black chokeberry), Aronia arbutifolia (red chokeberry), and Aronia prunifolia (purple chokeberry). These berries are native to North America and are known for their tart flavor, which can be quite astringent and slightly bitter.
Chokeberries are rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, making them a popular choice for health-conscious individuals. They are commonly used in various culinary applications, including jams, jellies, juices, and as an ingredient in baked goods. Additionally, some people cultivate chokeberry bushes for their ornamental value, as they produce clusters of white or pink flowers in spring and vibrant red or purple foliage in the fall.
This chokeberry tartlets recipe uses the black chokeberry, or aronia melanocarpa, which is shown in the photo above. I also have a recipe for a chokeberry danish if you prefer a pastry a little less time consuming.
How To Make Tart or Tartlet Shells
Since this chokeberry curd tart recipe is for dessert, you will want to use pate sucree as the base. This sweet tart crust is similar to pate brisee, but with a higher sugar content, giving it a more butter cookie feel.
Pate Sucree Ingredients
Fortunately, pate sucree does not require any odd or hard to find ingredients. In fact, I often make tart shells just because I have all the ingredients and figure I will think up a new tart dessert in a day or two. The one thing I recommend, as with all baking recipes, is to correctly follow the weight requirements of each recipe.
Ingredients List
- 150 grams Flour – All Purpose flour works well here. If you use cake or bread flour the crust may have unfavorable results.
- 50 grams Sugar – white granulated sugar is best in this recipe.
- 110 grams Butter – Use a quality butter with a higher fat percentage than standard American butter if you can find it. I recommend something above 82% fat (I use 82.5% fat butter for both my sweet and savory tarts).
- 1 large Egg Yolk
- 1 tbsp Milk
- 5 grams Vanilla Powder – if you want to use vanilla extract instead then measure out just a teaspoon.
- 1/4 tsp Salt
How To Make Pate Sucree Dough
Add all your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, vanilla powder, salt) to the bowl of a stand mixer and let combine. You can also do this with a whisk as it all combines pretty easily.
Next add in the butter and let run until you have a crumbly, sandy mixture. If you squeeze the mix together with your fingers it will press together, but will fall apart quickly. You want your butter to be colder than room temperature, but it does not need to be super chilled like many American pie crust recipes.
Finally add in the egg yolk and milk. Run the machine until you have a clumpy, almost cookie-dough consistency mix. In fact, pate sucree does make pretty decent sugar cookies if you wanted to do cut-out shape cookies to decorate with kids.
Remove the pate sucree dough from the mixer and form into a ball. Place in a bowl and cover with a lid or plastic wrap. Then place the bowl in the fridge to chill for a couple hours.
Baking Tart or Tartelette Shells
When your dough is sufficiently chilled (cold but not rock hard) remove it from the bowl and place it on a floured surface. Use a rolling pin to flatten it out to about a third of a centimeter (about 3-4mm).
If you are making a large single tart you will want to make the entire sheet quite uniform with no cracks or lumps. However if you are making tartelettes then you can divide the dough into smaller pieces which are easier to roll out.
Press the dough into your tart or tartelette molds so they are firmly compacted into shape. Then run a thin knife all along the edge to remove excess dough. I like to do this step already on my silicone baking mat so there is little movement. I use these Silikomart Tart Rings which are made of thermoplastic and very easy to use.
Dock (poke holes) into the bottom of the shells, and then line the shells with foil. Fill with pie weights, dry rice, or dry beans. Place the tray into the fridge to chill for 15 minutes. Preheat your oven to 180C or 356F.
Place the tray in the oven and bake for 12-14 minutes. Then remove the foil and rice and place back in the oven to bake for another 10 minutes. If you see the tart getting too dark earlier in the oven then you can pull them out, that means your dough was likely too thin and is already fully baked.
If you don’t want to use weights, you can freeze the unbaked dough for about 15 minutes, then bake directly for 20-25 minutes on the middle shelf of your oven. I actually prefer the freezing method for large tarts like my chocolate tart since it is so much easier than dealing with weights. These little tartlet shells work great for these chokeberry tartlets, but they can really be used for any custard, curd, or other filling. They also freeze beautifully for later use.
Making A Tasty Chokeberry Curd
The actual curd only requires a few ingredients, and outside of the chokeberry the rest you are likely to have on hand. You can use fresh chokeberries if you have access to it, but I buy frozen puree as it can be used any time of year and it’s much easier to work with. If you must, you can buy frozen whole chokeberries online.
Aronia Curd Ingredients
- 500 grams Chokeberry/Aronia Puree – You can also use whole fresh chokeberries and just blend them really well then strain.
- 450 grams Sugar
- 125 grams Butter, cold
- 100 ml Lemon Juice – You can use fresh but as this is a cooked recipe I often just use a squeeze bottle as it saves a bunch of time (and mess).
- 5 large Eggs – Beaten.
How To Make Chokeberry Tartlets
Place the chokeberry puree in a pan on medium heat. Bring it up to a simmer. Whisk in the sugar and lemon juice. Add the cold butter divided into 5-6 cubes and whisk it in as it melts.
In another bowl place the beaten eggs. Gently trickle in the hot chokeberry mix while whisking the eggs constantly to temper everything. If you pour too fast or whisk too slow you risk scrambling the eggs and that is not what you want to do. After it is combined, put everything back in the pan and set on low heat. Whisk until it thickens to a custard consistency.
Fill the tart shells with the chokeberry curd and place in the fridge to set. I recommend letting the tartlets chill overnight, but you can likely get away with 3-4 hours.
You do not need to top the tartlets with anything but I opted for a little bit of a meringue this time. A great easy meringue recipe I use is four egg whites, 100 grams of sugar, and a teaspoon of vinegar. Place the egg whites in your stand mixer and beat on high. Once the eggs get foamy start adding the sugar a tablespoon at a time until you have used everything up. Stop the machine when your whites are at the stiff peaks stage.
Spoon the meringue on the top of the tarts (you can also pipe it for a fancier appearance) and use the back of the spoon to make stiff peaks. Then hit the meringue with a kitchen torch until it gets nice and browned.
Can You Make This Into A Large Tart Instead Of Tartlets?
YES! If you prefer one large chokeberry tart instead of tartlets just bake your pate sucree in a larger mold. It is likely you will have leftover curd either way so you can actually do two large tartlets if you wanted to.
How Long Do Chokeberry Curd Tarts Last In The Fridge?
These tartlets will stay good in the fridge up to five days. The curd is thick so it will not make the shell soggy. However you may notice the meringue ‘sweat’ or melt a little as it pulls in moisture from the air. This is natural, but if you plan on serving these in a few days then just make the meringue right before.
Chokeberry Tartlets
Equipment
- 12 Tart Molds | or less and do multiple bakes. You can also make this recipe into a large tart if you want.
Ingredients
Tart Shell
- 150 grams Flour All Purpose flour works well here. If you use cake or bread flour the crust may have unfavorable results.
- 50 grams Sugar white granulated sugar is best in this recipe.
- 110 grams Butter Use a quality butter with a higher fat percentage than standard American butter if you can find it. I recommend something above 82% fat I use 82.5% fat butter for both my sweet and savory tarts.
- 1 large Egg Yolk
- 1 tbsp Milk
- 5 grams Vanilla Powder if you want to use vanilla extract instead then measure out just a teaspoon.
- 1/4 tsp Salt
Chokeberry Curd Filling
- 500 grams Chokeberry Puree You can also use whole fresh chokeberries (aronia) and just blend them really well.
- 450 grams Sugar
- 125 grams Butter
- 100 ml Lemon Juice You can use fresh but as this is a cooked recipe I often just use a squeeze bottle as it saves a bunch of time and mess.
- 5 large Eggs One whole egg plus four yolks. Beaten.
Meringue Topping
- 4 Egg Whites These are the leftover egg whites from making the curd.
- 100 grams Sugar
- 1 tsp Vinegar
Instructions
Tart Shell
- Add the flour, salt, sugar, and vanilla powder to the bowl of a stand mixer. Quickly whisk together.
- Add the butter and beat until you have a crumbly, sandy mixture.
- Add the eggs and milk and mix until you have a grainy, sugar cookie style dough. Remove from the mixer and place into the fridge to chill. Note: if your kitchen is very cold you might not need to chill the dough and you can go right on to the next step.
- Roll out your dough to about 1/3cm thickness. Drape it into your tart or tartelette molds on a baking tray and press the dough into the sides so it is evenly shaped. Poke holes on the bottom with a fork. Line the dough with foil and fill with pie weights, dry rice, or dry beans. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes. Preheat your oven to 180C or 355F
- Place the tray into the oven to bake for 12-14 minutes. Take out and remove the foil/weights. Place back in the oven to bake for another 10 minutes. To avoid using weights you can freeze the unbaked shells for 15 minutes, then bake for 20-25 minutes straight.
- Remove the tray from the oven and let the shells cool in the molds for a few minutes. Then knock them loose and place on a cooling rack until they come to room temperature. Fill with whatever you like and enjoy!
Chokeberry Curd
- Place the chokeberry puree and lemon juice in a pan. Turn the heat up to medium and whisk until some of the liquid has reduced.
- Add the sugar and butter and whisk until both have melted/dissolved.
- In a bowl whisk together the four egg yolks and one whole egg. Slowly trickle some of the hot chokeberry liquid into the bowl while whisking non stop. When the volume has doubled or tripled in size you can move the contents back to the pan.
- Continue cooking the chokeberry curd liquid in the pan on medium or medium low heat until the contents have thickened to a curd-like consistency.
- Lay your tart shells out on a board and carefully spoon the curd filling into the shells going right up to the rim. Move the entire board to the fridge to set completely. About 1 hour, but the longer the better.
Meringue Topping
- While the curd is setting you can make the meringue. It only takes a few minutes so don't start it until the curd is very nearly set.
- Add the egg whites to a stand mixer and start beating on high. When the eggs get frothy add the sugar a tablespoon at a time until well incorporated. Then add the vinegar. Beat until stiff peaks form.
- You can pipe the meringue over the tarts, or just use a spoon for a more rustic look. The decorating is up to you. After putting the meringue on top hit it with a kitchen torch to brown.
