Chocolate Pecan Tart

Ingredients

• 1 prepared pastry crust
• 2 cups pecans
• 8 tablespoons salted or unsalted butter, cut up into pieces
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 ounces good-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar, for sprinkling
• 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom
• Ceramic pie weights or dried beans, for blind baking the crust
• Wide metal spatulas

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 375F. Dust your counter lightly with flour, then roll the pastry into a 12-inch round, turning it a quarter-turn every few passes with the rolling pin so it doesn’t glue itself to the counter.
2. Drape the pastry over your rolling pin and settle it gently into the tart pan. Using floured fingertips, work it into the corners and along the sides. Trim the upper edge with scissors or kitchen shears so the dough rises about 1/2-inch above the pan, then fold that top 1/2-inch back onto itself to form a little rim and crimp it.
3. Place the tart pan on a rimmed baking sheet and chill it until the crust is firm and cold but not frozen: freeze for 15 minutes or refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
4. Prick the cold dough all over. Fit a piece of foil over the tart, shiny side down, pressing it neatly into the edges, then fill it with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes, until the edges are beginning to brown. Lift out the foil and weights or beans carefully, then bake for 5 minutes more, until the surface is starting to look baked.
5. Let the tart crust cool off to the side, and keep the oven on.
6. Spread the nuts in a baking dish or on a baking sheet. Toast them in the oven for 8 minutes, stirring several times, until they smell fragrant. Keep the oven on.
7. In a large saucepan over low heat, melt the butter only until it covers the bottom of the pan; don’t let it brown. Stir in the granulated sugar and brown sugar, and cook until the sugars dissolve into the butter and the mixture turns smooth. Add the chocolate and keep stirring until it melts. Take the pan off the heat and let the mixture cool until it is lukewarm.
8. Stir the eggs into the lukewarm chocolate mixture one by one, then mix in the corn syrup and vanilla.
9. Keep the tart shell on the baking sheet from the chilling step. Scatter the toasted pecans evenly over the bottom of the shell, then pour the chocolate filling over them and spread it out to the edges of the crust.
10. Bake for 25 minutes, until the filling is set in the center and slightly puffed, and the pastry is browned around the edges. If the crust looks as if it is browning too much, loosely cover the edges with foil. Transfer the tart to a rack to cool.
11. Set the cooled tart over a bowl so the outside ring drops away. Using 2 wide metal spatulas, carefully lift the tart off the pan bottom and move it to a large platter. Dust with powdered sugar and slice.
12. If you’re serving it the next day, cover the tart loosely with foil and refrigerate it. Let it come to room temperature before you serve it.