Who can resist the classic pairing of chocolate and strawberries? These Chocolate Strawberry Tartlets are the perfect dessert, consisting of mini chocolate tart crusts filled with cooked strawberries, topped with fresh berries, and generously drizzled with chocolate ganache.
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The combination of chocolate and strawberry is unmatched, at least when it comes to a certain love-filled mid-winter holiday. And that delicious combination is especially perfect when packed into a cute little mini tart. These tartlets are a handheld version of this Chocolate Covered Strawberry Pie. With layers of reduced strawberries (cooked down to intensify their flavor) and fresh strawberries in a chocolate pie crust and drizzled with chocolate ganache, these stunning pastries are perfect to serve at a gathering for those you love.
Mini tarts (just like mini pies) require a little more work up front to prepare, but that extra work pays off later when you can simply put them out and serve, rather than having to slice! Plus, they're so precious.
So, let's get to making them, shall we? The article below details all the information you need to know to make these tarts successfully, concluding with the recipe at the end. You can jump around using the menu below or skip to the end of the article for the full recipe.
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Ingredients Needed and Substitutions
Here is a brief overview of the ingredients needed. The recipe card lists the full recipe with quantities and detailed instructions (located below this article).
- strawberries (you'll need two quarts; you can use all fresh, or to save prep time and a bit of money, use good-quality frozen strawberries for the ones that will be cooked down)
- chopped chocolate (for the richest flavor, choose dark chocolate with a cacao percentage between 60% and 80%--I'll always push you to choose finely chopped high-quality chocolate bars when it comes to baking/cooking with chocolate, or at the very least a high-quality brand of chocolate chips like Ghirardelli or Callebaut)
- unsweetened cocoa powder (you can use either Dutch-processed or natural cocoa here)
- fresh lemon juice
- heavy cream
- all purpose flour
- granulated sugar + powdered sugar
- coarse kosher salt (this recipe was tested using Diamond Crystal coarse kosher salt. If you use Morton's kosher salt or fine salt, decrease by about half for volume, or use the same amount by weight.)
- unsalted butter
- an egg
The Mise en Place
This recipe is basically an assembly of a few delicious ingredients. Before assembling the tarts, you'll need to:
Make the chocolate pie crust.
Wash, dry, and hull the strawberries.
Cook half of the strawberries, then allow the mixture to cool.
Make the chocolate ganache, then allow it to cool.
Preparing the Mini Chocolate Tart Shells
These mini tart shells are super delicious, with a rich chocolate flavor and light, crumbly texture. The recipe is based on this Chocolate Pie Crust; if you are looking for a step-by-step tutorial on how to make it, be sure to check out that article and recipe.
To make this recipe you'll need mini tart pans, which can vary drastically in size and shape. For this recipe, I used "Egg Tart Molds” that have a fluted edge, a 3-inch diameter at the top, and about half that on the bottom. With this size, I was able to make 16 tartlets. Your tart mold will likely vary from this size, as the most common size for mini tart pans is a 4-inch diameter. If you don’t have mini tart pans, this recipe could also be baked in a muffin tin!
Here is a visual overview of how to prep the mini tart shells:
Step 1: Roll out the chilled chocolate pastry.
Step 2: Cut out as many rounds as possible using a circle cutter 1-½ inches larger than the diameter of your mini tartlet pans.
Step 3: Line the tins with the pastry circles, then chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Step 4: Blind bake the tart shells.
New to blind-baking?
Even though these are mini and chocolate, the same rules apply for blind-baking any pastry. Check out this Guide to Blind Baking for extensive tips and advice on successfully blind baking pastry.
Assembling the Tartlets
Here is a quick visual guide for assembling the Chocolate Strawberry Tartlets!
Step 1: Spoon the cooked, cooled strawberries into the blind-baked tart shells.
Step 2: Slice a strawberry, fan it out, and place inside of the tart.
Step 3: Generously drizzle the tartlets with ganache...
Step 4: ...and top with flaky sea salt before serving.
Make-Ahead Tips
These tarts are best served the day they are made. Because of this, feel free to take advantage of the various ways the components can be made ahead:
- Make the ganache up to 1 week ahead of time, though you'll have to reheat it before you use it.
- Make the reduced strawberries up to 5 days ahead of time.
- Make the chocolate pie crust up to 3 days ahead of time or longer if storing the raw pastry in the freezer.
- Roll out and blind-bake the tarts up to 1 day ahead.
Serving + Storing
Once the tarts are assembled, they can be served immediately, or they can be chilled and served a few hours later. They are definitely best when served within 24 hours of assembly. The longer they sit, the more the moisture from the strawberries will seep out, causing the beautiful presentation of the tartlets to deteriorate.
More Strawberry Recipes
More Chocolate Recipes
I am so honored when you make a recipe from my site! If you make these Chocolate Strawberry Tartlets, please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating with your experience! If you have any questions about this recipe, feel free to comment here and tag me on Instagram!
Full Recipe
Chocolate Strawberry Tartlets
These Chocolate Strawberry Tartlets are the perfect dessert, consisting of mini chocolate tart crusts filled with cooked strawberries, topped with fresh berries, and generously drizzled with chocolate ganache.
- Prep Time: 00:30
- Cook Time: 00:30
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: about 16 mini tarts
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For Chocolate Pastry
- 1 cup (120) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (56 grams) powdered sugar
- ¼ cup (28 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
- Pinch coarse kosher salt
- ½ cup (113 grams) cold unsalted butter, diced into 8 pieces
- 1 large egg
For Filling
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 quarts fresh strawberries, cleaned, hulled, and dried well, divided
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- ⅓ cup (75 grams) heavy cream
- ⅔ cups (180 g) chopped chocolate or high-quality chocolate chips
- ⅛ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- Maldon flaky salt
Instructions
Prepare the Pastry:
- Add the flour, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt to the bowl of a food processor.
- Pulse until combined.
- Add in the butter and pulse 7 times.
- With the motor running, add in the egg and let process until a dough forms together into a cohesive ball.
- Scrape the dough from the bowl onto a piece of plastic wrap. Form the dough into a disk and wrap it tightly.
- Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out until it stretches to the edges of the plastic wrap to ensure a tight seal.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.
- Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to ⅛ to ¼-inch thickness. Using a circle cutter 1-½ inches larger than the diameter of your mini tartlet pans, cut out rounds of dough. (See note about mini tart pans.)
- Place the circles of pastry in the tins, taking care to press the pastry into the sides and the bottom. Chill the mini tart shells in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375ºF and place an oven rack in the lower middle part of the oven.
- Once chilled, line each tart shell with a small round piece of parchment paper or a muffin liner, then add pie weights (I recommend dry rice or beans or lentils), making sure to push the pie weights to the edges.
- Bake on the lower-middle rack for 12 minutes, then remove from the oven and carefully remove the parchment and pie weights. Return to the oven and bake the tartlets for an additional 5-8 minutes, or until the pastry is fully cooked through. Set aside to cool completely until ready to use. This can be done up to one day ahead of time.
Make the Fillings:
- In a medium pot, combine the granulated sugar, lemon juice and half of the prepared strawberries. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the strawberries have reduced by half and thickened, 8 to 10 minutes, mashing the berries with a potato masher or a fork halfway through cooking. Transfer to a container and let cool.
- In a small pot, heat the cream over medium-low heat until it’s bubbling around the edges. Add in the chocolate and salt and stir together until the chocolate starts to melt. Shut off the heat and continue to stir until the chocolate is fully melted and the ganache is glossy. It will be very thick. Set aside until ready to use.
Assemble:
- Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the cooked strawberries into the bottom of each fully-baked tartlet shell.
- Slice one of the remaining raw strawberries horizontally while keeping the shape of the strawberry intact. Gently push down to fan out the pieces, then place in one of the tartlets. Repeat with remaining strawberries and tartlets. Depending on the size of the tarts made, they can each fit 1-2 strawberries.
- Generously drizzle the prepared chocolate ganache on top of the strawberries. The tarts can be served immediately, or they can chill in the refrigerator before serving. They should be served the same day they are made.
Notes
Mini tart pans vary drastically in size and shape. For this recipe, I used “Egg Tart Molds” that had a fluted edge, with a 3-inch diameter at the top, and about half that on the bottom. It resulted in a 2-3 bite tart that fit one whole fresh strawberry on top, and it yielded 16 tarts. Another common size for mini tart pans is a 4-inch diameter, which could fit about two fresh strawberries on top and would result in fewer tarts total. The bottom line is that this recipe is very flexible in the size of mini tart pan that you use. If you don’t have mini tart pans, this recipe could also be baked in a muffin tin! Or, you can make a whole tart using this Chocolate Covered Strawberry Pie recipe.
Let the strawberries drain and dry on a clean kitchen towel before using. For the fresh strawberries on top, It’s best to slice them right before adding them to the tarts.
Weighing your flour is the most accurate way to measure. If you aren't going to weigh it, make sure to spoon it into the measuring cup, then level it off. If you scoop the flour out with the measuring cup and then level, it could change the outcome of the final product.
This recipe was tested using Diamond Crystal coarse kosher salt. If you use Morton's kosher salt or fine salt, decrease by about half for volume, or use the same amount by weight. I used Maldon salt to garnish the tarts.
If your chocolate ganache has cooled too much during the assembly process before you get a chance to drizzle it, briefly heat it back up over low while constantly stirring. It shouldn’t be very hot, but it should be easy to drizzle onto the strawberries.
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