Fudge Sweetarts

These miniature tarts pair a flaky, from-scratch pastry shell with a dense chocolate fudge filling that bakes up rich and glossy. Each one fits in a tea-sized paper cup, making them the right size for a dessert tray, holiday cookie exchange, or afternoon tea spread.

The pastry is a standard cut-in-butter dough rolled thin and fitted into tiny cups. Keeping those butter pieces pea-sized is what gives you flaky layers when they hit the oven. The filling is essentially a ganache with an egg stirred in: melted semi-sweet chocolate, sugar, a splash of milk, butter, and vanilla, bound together with a beaten egg that sets during baking.

A single pecan half pressed into each tart before baking crowns the top and adds a toasty crunch against the soft, fudgy center. They come out of the oven looking like something from a French patisserie.

Pro Tips

• Roll the dough just under ⅛ inch thick. Too thick and the pastry overwhelms the filling. Too thin and it crumbles when you try to fit it into the cups.
• Work the dough quickly and keep the butter cold. Warm butter makes the pastry tough instead of flaky.
• Don’t overfill the shells. A scant tablespoon is the right amount. The filling puffs slightly as it bakes, and overflow makes a mess.
• Cool completely in the paper cups before serving. The fudge filling needs time to set from molten to sliceable.

Variations

• Use dark chocolate instead of semi-sweet for a more intense, less sweet filling.
• Replace the pecan with a walnut half or a whole toasted almond.
• Add a pinch of espresso powder to the melted chocolate for a mocha fudge version.