Testing an 18th Century Chocolate Tart

I recently decided to try an 18th Century receipt for a chocolate tart, and I am glad I did because it was better than any similar modern recipe. Here is the original taken from The Complete Confectioner, by Mrs. H. Glass (1800):

My modern interpretation is as follows,

2 tablespoons flour

6 eggs, separated

1 cup milk

8 oz dark chocolate, grated

A pinch of cinnamon

1 cup sugar

A small pinch of salt

Grated peel of one orange

A prepared pie crust

Put the flour, egg yolks, milk, chocolate, cinnamon, sugar, and salt in a pot and simmer until thickened, making sure to stir often so you don’t cook the eggs too quickly. Take off of the heat, add the orange peel and let cool. When cold, gently fold in the egg whites. Pour it into a prepared pie crust and bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 20-25 minutes.

The only real changes that I made were to add more chocolate and I substituted orange peel for the candied lemon. It is a very rich tart, but light and fluffy because of the egg whites. I used a plain pie crust, but I’m sure it would be really good with a puff pastry as well. I hope you try this recipe out and enjoy it as much as we did! If you do, please let me know what you think.