Orange Chocolate Ganache Tartlets

Rich, buttery pastry, bittersweet orange marmalade, and luscious citrus-laced chocolate star in these adorable Orange Chocolate Ganache Tartlets. Bursting with zesty orange and deep dark chocolate flavor, these delicious mini-tarts have both a shortbread crunch and a creamy truffle filling. They are a lovely exploration of contrasting tastes and textures that’ll have everyone clamoring for more!

⭐ Why You’ll Love This Recipe 

As a trained pastry chef, there are few things I find more satisfying than creating a platterful of treats that could easily be sold in a French patisserie window next to slices of clafoutis, a frangipane tart and orange macarons. These beautiful Orange Chocolate Ganache Tartlets are my newest obsession!

Made with a simple, short pastry crust that is flecked with vanilla beans, then topped with a thin layer of orange marmalade and a thick layer of orange chocolate ganache before being topped with a dried orange slice, these little beauties are truly dressed to impress.

The flavor is simply divine: vanilla shortbread meets dark chocolate dipped candied orange peel. They’re to die for! Now, let’s get to the kitchen and get started.

Use my step-by-step guide for making homemade tarts for more tips and tricks!

🍴Ingredients

When you’re shopping for your orange chocolate ganache mini tarts, keep these ingredient notes in mind:

• Almond Flour - While you can’t make the swap if you’re making another pâtisserie favorite, like raspberry macarons, you are welcome to use coarser almond meal here instead.
•  All-Purpose Flour & Bread Flour - Bread flour has more protein in it than all-purpose (9-11% vs 11-13%, respectively). More protein helps to provide extra gluten (read: structure) to your shells. If you don’t have bread flour on hand, feel free to use AP instead, but opt for a brand with a higher protein content if possible.
• Orange Zest & Slices - The zest on citrus fruits is loaded with essential oils, giving this chocolate orange ganache a super sunshiney flavor. Be sure to wash your orange prior to zesting.
• Orange Blossom Honey - I love the added orange blossom flavor in this honey, but you can easily substitute your favorite honey brand and add a teaspoon of orange blossom water if needed.
• Dark Chocolate - Since ganache is made with so few ingredients, you should be sure that they are high quality. Valhrona, Callebaut, and Guittard are all very reputable brands to consider. You can also opt to use semi-sweet, milk, or even white chocolate if you prefer a different flavor profile.
• Grand Marnier - This French, orange-flavored liqueur is made from a blend of Cognac brandy, distilled essence of bitter orange, and sugar. Feel free to swap in another high-quality orange liqueur instead.
• Orange Marmalade - Store-bought is fine! I tend to reach for either Bonne Maman or Dickinson’s brand.

⏲️ Substitutions & Variations

While these orange chocolate ganache mini tarts are pretty perfect as is, there’s always room for customization. Here are a few ideas to get your wheels turning:

• Dairy-Free. Swap in your favorite plant-based butter and full-fat canned coconut milk for a deliciously dairy-free version of these scintillating Orange Chocolate Ganache Tartlets.
• Make it big. Don’t have mini tart rings or tartlet pans? Swap in a large format tart pan or even a springform pan instead. Add fresh orange zest and chocolate shavings and you have yourself a deliciously rich tart. 
• Nut-free. If you are allergic to almonds, feel free to swap in other nut flours, sunflower seed flour, or flaxseed flour instead.

⚒️ Equipment

Making these chocolate orange tartlets requires a few specialty items:

• Electric Mixer - If you do a lot of baking, do your arms a favor and invest in a sturdy electric mixer. 
• Rolling Pin - While there are many varieties of rolling pins on the market, I’m partial to a plain, wooden rolling pin; if it’s good enough for the French pastry masters, it’s good enough for me! In a pinch, you can make an empty wine bottle work, too.
• Mini Tart Rings - I personally find that mini tart rings are perfectly easy to work with, despite not having bottoms. If you have tart tins or tart molds with false bottoms like a regular-sized tart shell, those will work just as well! You can also feel free to swap in one large-format tart pan instead.
• Pie Weights  - If you don’t have dedicated pie weights on hand, dry rice or dry beans will do the trick nicely. You can use the rice/beans repeatedly as pie weights, but note that they should not be cooked to be eaten after they are used in this manner.
• Immersion Blender. I’ve found that using an immersion blender is the easiest, most surefire way of ending up with a perfectly smooth ganache.

📖 Step by Step Instructions

While the process of making these mini tarts is a bit lengthy, remember that you can easily break up the tasks into smaller projects. Make the dough and freeze it for up to 2 months. Baked tart shells can also be frozen for up to 2 months. Orange chocolate ganache can be made and stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. Be as leisurely as you want.

Also, remember that none of the steps are particularly difficult, they just take patience. So if you’re getting overwhelmed, take a step back, take a deep breath, maybe pour yourself a cocktail, and remember: you’ve got this!

Making the Tart Shells

Mix the dough: In a stand mixer using a paddle attachment, start by mixing sugar, butter, vanilla paste, salt, almond and all-purpose flour, mixing until combined. Take a moment to scrape the large mixing bowl to ensure all butter and flour are incorporated. Add room temperature eggs one at a time, mixing between additions. Add bread flour, making sure to not overmix. Turn the machine off as soon as the flour is *just* incorporated.

Chill the dough: Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap or cling film, then place in the fridge to chill before using for at least one hour. I tend to make my tart dough ahead of time so I throw it in the fridge until the next day. If using this method, remove your dough from the fridge 30 minutes before you plan to roll it out – you’ll find that it will be MUCH easier to work with!

Roll and form the tart dough: Once your dough is rolled on your work surface to the desired thickness (about ¼ “), press gently into the bottom of your mini tart pans or rings, poking the bottom of the tart LIBERALLY with a fork, and place in the freezer to chill for 20-30 minutes. This is essential – your tart shells are less likely to shrink while baking if you take the time to freeze them.

Bake Mini Tart Shells: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare your baking sheet with parchment paper. Line the shells with parchment paper and baking rice/beans/pie weights to further prevent the dough from puffing up. Blind bake until edges become ever so slightly browned - this should take about 20-25 minutes - then remove from the oven and allow to cool. 

Filling and Assembling the Tarts

Make Orange Chocolate Ganache: Add orange zest, heavy cream & Orange Blossom Honey to a small saucepan and bring to a slight boil. Remove from heat and pour over the finely chopped dark chocolate. Stir to combine as the warm cream starts to melt the chocolate. Add the butter into your warm chocolate mixture and, using an immersion blender, blend the rich chocolate ganache until the butter has fully incorporated and your mixture is smooth. Then, fold in the Grand Marnier. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature before assembly.

Assemble. Layer a spoonful of orange marmalade on each mini tart base. Top with orange chocolate ganache, then garnish with a slice of dried orange, chocolate covered oranges or candied orange slices. Refrigerate for approximately 30 minutes, or until the ganache is set. Serve with a cup of tea and enjoy!

Looking to create delicious and homemade garnishes to elevate your creations? Try adding Sugared Flowers, Candied Rose Petals, or Sugared berries!

👩🏻‍🍳 Expert Tips

When it comes to my orange chocolate ganache, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Zest carefully, then slice thinly. Be sure to only remove the bright orange part of the peel; once you get into the white pithy part, it takes a very bitter turn. Also, no need to waste the zested orange; slice it thinly and turn those into pretty dried orange wheels as a garnish!
• Chop the chocolate for easy melting. Taking a few moments to roughly chop your chocolate into small pieces will allow for the hot cream to easily melt your chocolate. This leads to a lovely ganache texture and mouthfeel.
• Quality is Key. Since there are so few ingredients in ganache, I’d highly recommend using quality chocolate & butter as the flavors and textures will shine through!
• Heat the cream thoroughly, but don’t scorch it. The cream’s temperature needs to be hot enough to gently melt our chocolate. Your cream is ready to pour over chocolate when it comes to a slight boil over medium heat. 
• Using an immersion blender to make ganache will help to make sure that all the ingredients are properly mixed together!

If you’re new to making tart dough, head on over to this Tart how-to-guide!

💭 Recipe FAQs

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