Chocolate Coffee Mascarpone Tart

Tart with two slices cut, on a grey background with napkin and plates nearby

This chocolate coffee mascarpone tart was the happy third outcome of my late summer mascarpone cheese impulse buy. Earlier this summer I ended up with a 5 pound (2.2 kilo) tub of mascarpone cheese that I brought home on a whim from the restaurant supply store. The self induced pressure of using up that much soon-to-expire dairy led me to create a handful of desserts with mascarpone, including lemon mascarpone ice cream with currant swirl, and also honey blackberry mascarpone ice cream. You can find them both in the ice cream section of the blog.

Sliced chocolate coffee mascarpone tart on plates with grey background behind

In addition to the ice creams, I also put together this espresso mascarpone chocolate tart. It features a sweet shortbread crust (pâte sucrée), a rich layer of silky chocolate mascarpone, and a piped topping of just-sweet-enough coffee mascarpone. Dusted with a layer of cocoa powder, it hits all the key flavors of a tiramisu minus the sweet Marsala wine usually found in the dessert.

Tart resting on a grey background with bowls and piping bag nearby

I think this is one of my favorite recipes to date. The combination of coffee and chocolate is such a classic pairing, and with good reason. They simply work so well together. The contrasting textures help make eating this tart a truly pleasurable sensory experience: there’s the buttery crumb of the crust, the dense creamy chocolate layer, the airy whipped coffee mascarpone, and the powdery layer of cocoa on top.

Chocolate coffee mascarpone tart on a grey background with cocoa powder and piping bag nearby

I bake so often that I usually end up sharing the majority with friends, family, neighbors and office colleagues. However, after I’d finished slicing and photographing this tart, I carefully wrapped it up and placed it in the very back of the fridge, behind the mayonnaise and pickles. There was no way I was giving it up. For an entire week, I’d sneak a slice when no one was looking. Not from any shame in eating it – because I had none – but simply so that I wouldn’t have to share. The girls discovered it once, but I shooed them away due to the coffee content (probably not enough to affect them, but it was a convenient excuse).

Tart with slices cut out of it with slices resting on a plate nearby

So fair warning to you – this impressive chocolate coffee mascarpone tart is wonderful for a festive dinner with friends and family – but you’ll be sad when it’s gone. I used up the last of the vat of mascarpone cheese making this recipe. I’m already thinking I might need to buy another.

Four plates on a grey background with slices of tart and forks on plates

RECIPE NOTES

Make ahead – I wouldn’t label this an “easy” recipe due to the amount of steps involved, but it’s certainly doable! If you’d like to break the recipe up over several days, you can:

Make the pâte sucrée dough ahead of time, roll it out, place it in the tart pan, wrap well, and freeze it unbaked. This could be done several weeks in advance. No need to let it defrost before baking.
Blind-bake the tart shell a day in advance, let cool, then (while still in the tart pan) wrap tightly in plastic wrap to maintain freshness. Be careful – after baking it can be quite fragile.
Fill the baked tart shell with the chocolate mascarpone the day prior to serving, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

It’s best to add the mascarpone coffee cream and cocoa powder the day you’ll be making the dessert. This will maximize freshness and prevent the topping from being damaged by an accidental smoosh from plastic wrap or tin foil.

Espresso powder – I used instant espresso powder to flavor the coffee mascarpone filling. It’s far more concentrated than instant coffee. This is the brand that I buy at my local grocery store. You can read more about instant espresso powder and its uses here. It’s my go-to when baking with coffee.

Pâte Sucrée – For the tart shell, I used David Leite’s excellent Pâte Sucrée recipe, which is an adaptation of a recipe from Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery in Boston. If you want to try a chocolate tart crust instead, feel free to substitute the chocolate sable dough from this Sour Cherry Chocolate Tart recipe.