Whenever I taste hazelnut it reminds me of Nutella. Growing up, I had Nutella on French crepes as an afternoon snack and it was perfect. Afterwards, I would eat Nutella by the spoon without never getting tired of it. Breakfast would also be sometimes toast with Nutella – and those kind of breakfast were sometimes extended until lunch. So this is probably why the taste of hazelnut reminds me of Nutella. I wanted to make a sweet little treat, that you can share (or not), with a chocolate filling but that is not too sweet. I like dessert but I also like to limit the amount of sugar I use when I am baking, this way I can really taste the combination of each ingredients without being overwhelmed by the sweetness. 

For the crust:

• 1 cup of flour 
• 1/2 cup of ground hazelnut 
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup of sugar 
• 8 tbsp of margarine or butter
• A pinch of salt

For the chocolate filling:

• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1/3 cup of water
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 cups of heavy cream
• 1 tbsp of vanilla extract
• 10 ounces of good quality chocolate

To make the tartlets: in a large bowl, mix together the flour, ground hazelnut, egg yolk, salt and sugar. Add the margarine or butter one tbsp at a time and mix by hand until the dough becomes homogeneous.

Grease 12 little tart molds and preheat the oven to 375. Press the dough on the bottom of each mold, pick with a fork and bake for 35min.

In the meantime, prepare th chocolate filling. In a large pan, heat up the sugar mixed with the water and stir gently with a spatula, until it becomes bubbly and lower the fire. Beat the egg yolks and stir in the pot along with the heavy cream. Add the chocolate and vanilla extract and mix slowly with the spatula. Keep on a low fire for about 10 to 12min, making sure it’s not burning. 

When the tartlets are ready, pour a little bit of the chocolate mixture in each and bake for 15min on 350. Refregirate 4 hours before serving.