This 8-ingredient chocolate orange tart is incredible. It’s silky and richly chocolatey, with a bright burst from the citrus and a graham cracker crust.
This chocolate orange tart is the perfect dessert. It’s simple to make, insanely delicious and so gorgeous if you’re baking for a crowd. And the whole recipe uses only 8 ingredients.
This chocolate orange tart has one of the best combinations out there: rich dark chocolate and bright orange. We start with a graham cracker crust as the tart shell, top it with a silky filling made with chocolate, eggs, cream and orange zest. We then smooth on top an optional (but recommended) ganache to cover any bubbles that pop up during baking.
If you’ve never made ganache before, we use the technique twice in this chocolate orange tart recipe. But don’t be intimidated! It’s MUCH easier than it sounds and is a great skill to have in the kitchen as a baker.
This post is all about the best chocolate orange tart.
The Best Chocolate Orange Tart
Ingredients
- Graham crackers. Our tart shell is a graham cracker crust! Graham cracker crusts have a perfect flakiness and touch of cinnamon that balances the silky and rich chocolate filling.
- Unsalted butter. We use unsalted butter in the graham cracker crust to bind the crust together. If you only have salted butter, you can omit the extra salt in the crust.
- Granulated sugar. We use a little bit of granulated sugar to sweeten the crust. There’s actually no sugar in the filling, with the only sweetness coming from the chocolate!
- Kosher salt or another coarse salt. I always bake with Kosher salt or coarse salt rather than fine table salt. It has the optimal texture and flavor for cooking and baking. If you only have fine table salt, you can reduce the salt in the crust to a heaping 1/4 teaspoon and reduce the salt in the filling to a pinch.
- Semi-sweet or dark chocolate (anything from 60%-80% cacao). The lower the cacao percentage, the sweeter the tart will be. My personal favorite chocolate for this recipe is 72%. You can use milk chocolate if you’d like, but it will be quite sweet. Since there is so much chocolate in this tart, opt for a quality chocolate bar – I am a fan of Ghiradelli. If needed, you can also use chocolate chips. Also, we use only chocolate in this recipe, no cocoa powder needed!
- Heavy cream or heavy whipping cream. We use heavy cream in the filling of this orange chocolate tart to make it super silky. We also use it in the chocolate ganache that tops the tart. Since we use so much heavy cream in this recipe, go for the best quality cream you can.
- Eggs. Whole eggs (not just egg yolks) also help make the chocolate orange filling smooth and silky!
- Oranges, of course. We use orange zest in this dark chocolate orange tart (no orange juice) and sliced oranges to top the tart. You can go with blood oranges if you’d like – they’re a little sweeter and have a richer red color when topping the tart. Opt for an organic, quality orange that smells nice and fragrant. This will give you the best flavor!
How to make this chocolate orange tart
This recipe is a great way to learn or practice some an important baking skill: making ganache. It sounds fancy, but I promise it is so straightforward.
1. First, you’ll make a graham cracker crust as the tart shell. You’ll mix together crushed graham crackers (you can crush them in the bowl of a food processor or mash the crackers in plastic bag with a rolling pin), melted butter, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Then press it into your tart pan, give it a quick 10-minute blind bake and set out to cool.
2. Next, you’ll make the chocolate orange filling. This is where you get to practice a technique that sounds hard but is secretly so simple: making ganache. You’ll chop up your chocolate, add hot but not boiling cream. Let the cream and chocolate sit together so the chocolate warms up, and then whisk until silky. Then you’ll whisk in the eggs, salt and orange zest to the ganache. Pour the filling into the par-baked tart shell and bake it until the edges are set but the middle still jiggles.
3. After the tart bakes, you’ll make another ganache to smooth over the top of the tart. This is optional, but it helps cover some small bubbles that come up during baking and it’s a great way to practice your ganache-making skills.
5. Now you can then style the tart however you like! I like to add some orange slices and more zest to make the orange flavor clear. I also make chocolate curls by shaving a room temperature bar of chocolate with a peeler. Flaky sea salt is also a nice balance to the rich chocolate.
6. Serve at room temperature!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Typically you’d bake this in a 9-inch tart pan. The real benefit of a tart pan is that they usually have a removable bottom, which makes the tart easier to remove and slice. I love this one from Amazon.
A cake pan, pie tin or 8×8 or 9×9 baking tin will all work. Anything larger than that (like a 9×13 pan), will make the tart too thin. Just keep a closer eye on the oven, as your tart may bake slower in an 8×8 dish and faster in a pie tin that’s larger than 9 inches.
Heavy cream has a slightly higher fat content than heavy whipping cream. Both can be used interchangeably in most cases, including this one!
A chocolate tart is fully baked when the edges are set but the middle is still jiggly (it will set as the tart cools). You may also start to see bubbles pop up. This means the tart is done and starting to over-bake.
You can store a chocolate orange tart at room temperature for a day wrapped in cling film / plastic wrap and in the fridge for 5 days.
If you make this chocolate orange tart, please tag me on Instagram or TikTok at @loaves.and.such and drop a review below! I love hearing from you. Happy chocolate baking, friends <3
The Best Chocolate Orange Tart
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minutesThis 8-ingredient chocolate orange tart is incredible. It’s silky and richly chocolatey, with a bright burst from the citrus and a graham cracker crust.
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Ingredients
- For the crust
1 sleeve (9 crackers) graham crackers, finely ground
4 TBS. unsalted butter, melted
2 TBS. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. kosher or sea salt
- For the filling
8 ounces chocolate (60%-80% cacao), chopped
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/4 tsp. kosher salt or another coarse salt
Zest of one and a half large oranges, or two small oranges
- To top
2 1/2 ounces chocolate (60%-80% cacao), chopped
1/4 cup heavy cream
Zest of half an orange
Half an orange, sliced, to top the tart (optional)
Flaky sea salt to top the tart (optional)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- First, we’re going to make the graham cracker crust. In a medium-sized bowl, add the finely ground graham crackers, butter, granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir together until evenly combined.
Press the graham cracker mixture into an ungreased tart pan. The crust should cover the middle and go halfway up the sides of the pan. The flat end of a quarter-cup measure is really helpful for pressing in the crust. If your pan has a removable bottom, place it onto a sheet tray to make sure no crust comes through while baking.
Bake the crust in the oven for 10-12 minutes until it’s just turned golden brown. Set aside to cool while you make the filling. - To make the filling, add your chopped chocolate to a large bowl.
Heat the heavy cream in a small sauce pot on medium heat. You want the cream to be hot but not yet boiling, so keep a really close eye on it. Remove the cream from the heat and pour over your chopped chocolate. Let sit for three minutes and then whisk until completely combined and silky.
Add the eggs and zest of one large orange or one and a half small oranges. Whisk well until you have one evenly mixed, fragrant filling. - Pour the filling into the crust and bake for 20-22 minutes, until the edge of the filling is set but the middle is still jiggly. The tart will finish setting as it cools. You may also start to see bubbles pop up – this means the tart is done and starting to over-bake.
- While the tart cools, make the ganache topping. Heat the heavy cream until it’s hot but not boiling. Pour it over the chocolate, let it sit for two minutes and then stir until silky.
- Once the tart is at or very close to room temperature, pour the ganache over the top. Smooth the ganache with an offset spatula or knife, being careful not to cover the graham cracker crust edge. Top with the zest of half an orange, orange slices and flaky sea salt if you’d like.
Serve at room temperature and enjoy! You can store at room temperature for a day and in the fridge for 5 days.
