This olallieberry tart with chocolate frangipane is a my latest way to celebrate berry picking season. We’ve gone berry picking almost every summer, and it’s always a challenge each year to come up with some new way to use our bounty before it gets eaten up.
This time, I was inspired by Maja Vase‘s blackberry and chocolate tart. Berries and dark chocolate are always a delightful and sophisticated combination. Pair with a berry-forward wine like pinot noir or cabernet sauvignon and you have the perfect summer dessert course.
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This olallieberry tart has several components, all relatively simple to make: a chocolate pâté sucrée tart shell, filled with a layer of dark chocolate frangipane, and topped with a layer of white chocolate and berry ganache. Of course you can use blackberries or any other berries as well. From one of my original olallieberry posts: “Olallieberries are a cross between loganberries and youngberries, also berries that sound like they’ve been dreamed up in a farmer’s fervid imagination. Loganberries are a cross of blackberries and raspberries, while youngberries are a cross of blackberries and dewberries. So really, this gives the olallieberry a remarkably impressive pedigree – they’re kind of the ultimate berry! In reality, they are truly wonderful; surprisingly large (some almost half the length of my thumb), plump, wine-dark, and delicious.”
This olallieberry tart has about a cup and half’s worth of ripe berries, both pureed and combined with white chocolate ganache, and scattered across the chocolate frangipane to maximize the berry flavor. I particularly liked the bursts of intense berry you get from biting into one of the berries embedded in the chocolate frangipane.
For the white chocolate berry ganache, I like to use Valrhona’s Ivoire 35%, but you can use any good quality white chocolate – not white chocolate chips. After melting the white chocolate over a saucepan of simmering water, set it aside and combine the pureed olallieberries and cream in an empty saucepan, and heat to just before boiling. Strain this mixture into the white chocolate to get the seeds out so you’ll have a smooth ganache.
Stir the mixture vigorously with a rubber spatula to emulsify the ganache – it should look smooth and glossy. Try not to beat too much air into the mixture so you get bubbles; it’s better to stir the mixture in tight, smooth movements.
After a quick chill in the refrigerator to set the ganache, you should have this beautiful violet-hued tart ready to eat. The piped lines on top (I’m a little rusty!) are made by adding some food coloring to some more melted white chocolate, scraping into a piping bag or sandwich bag, and snipping off a tiny corner. Pipe whatever designs strike your fancy. This tart was a big hit at dinner with its combination of crisp chocolate tart crust, dark chocolate and berry filling, and sweet white chocolate ganache. This olallieberry tart may take a little bit of extra effort, but it’s a worthy celebration of berry season. Hope you are enjoying your summer!
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (50 g) confectioner's sugar
- ¼ cup (20 g) cocoa powder
- ⅛ cup (15 g) almond flour or ground almond meal
- ⅓ cup (75 g) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1-in cubes
- ½ large egg, room temperature
- 50 g 60%dark chocolate, roughly chopped
- ½ cup (50 g) almond flour or ground almond meal
- ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- ½ cup (60 g) olallieberries or other berries, washed
- 180 g white chocolate
- 60 g heavy cream
- 120 g olallieberries or other berries, washed and pureed
- 10 g lemon juice
- Combine flour, confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, and almond flour in a food processor and process until well blended.
- Add in the butter and process until combined and the mixture resembles crumbs.
- Add in the half an egg and process until just blended; scrape the bowl down as necessary. The dough will be very soft like cookie dough.
- Scrape the dough out of the food processor and make into a ball. Flatten out into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour until it is firm enough to handle.
- When you are ready to bake off the tart shells, take the dough out of the refrigerator. Roll out the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap to ⅛″ thickness and roughly round shape, to fit into an 8" round tart pan. If the dough gets too soft, place back in the refrigerator to firm up.
- Drape the dough gently over an 8" tart pan with removable bottom. Press the dough carefully into the pan and up the sides, being careful not to stretch the dough or it will shrink when baked. Trim off the excess and press the dough into place to form a clean edge. Place the pan into the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F while chilling the tart shell. When you are ready, bake shell for about 10 minutes. Make the frangipane while the tart shell is baking.
- Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and melt, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Remove from heat.
- Combine almond flour, sugar, and butter in a food processor and process until combined and creamy. Add in the egg and process to combine.
- Add the almond flour mixture to the melted chocolate and stir until well combined.
- Pour the frangipane into the partially baked tart shell. Scatter the berries evenly over the frangipane.
- Return tart to 350 degree F oven and bake for another 20 minutes or so until franigipane is puffed and set. Remove from oven and let cool completely on wire rack.
- Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and melt, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Remove from heat.
- Combine cream and olallieberry puree in a saucepan and heat on medium heat just until mixture is about to boil.
- Strain olallieberry mixture to get rid of the seeds, into the melted white chocolate and stir with a rubber spatula to combine.
- Add lemon juice and stir to combine. The mixture should look very smooth and shiny.
- Pour the ganache over the frangipane. Chill the tart in the refrigerator for a couple hours until the ganache is set.
Anita Chu, also known as pastrygirl, is a baker, writer, and photographer with a passion for pastry. She trained at Tante Marie's Cooking School and is the author of Field Guide to Cookies, Field Guide to Candy, and Lollipop Love. Anita lives in San Francisco with her husband, daughter, and dog Max. 
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