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This tart has me at a complete loss for words.
It’s so different from anything I thought I would ever make. I mean lemons and ricotta mixing with my chocolate? That’s just weird, for me at least. You all know I really do not like mixing my fruit and my chocolate, my one exception – bananas, in which case I stinking love, but the truth is, if you ever see any raspberries (strawberries, blueberries, etc) alongside chocolate it’s pretty much guaranteed I put them there to make things look pretty. Just sayin. BUT citrus and chocolate?
I never knew it could be so good – and really, it is so good.
So why the sudden urge to play with citrus and sweets? Three reasons:
One, I saw the prettiest photo of a lemon tart and I kind of just wanted to make one so I could take photos of the lemons (more on this later).
Two, I made this Toasted Coconut Lemon Bread with Salted Honey Butter last year and LOVED it. I also added chocolate chips to half the loaf. I guess this is really when I realized what an awesome combo lemons and chocolate can be.
Three, I am semi going crazy with the citrus over here. To put it simply, I ran out of savory dishes to add citrus to and decided to start experimenting with sweet ones….which yes, means I hope to share even more soon!
I know that this week was supposed to be all about football, and I really did have this other thing I was going to post today, but then this tart happened and I just had to share it. To me, anything lemon ricotta, or really even any tart, doesn’t exactly scream Super Bowl, BUT it is winter, and citrus is here now too, so I decided, why not talk about it NOW.
Plus, I sort of despise these photos and I knew if I didn’t share them soon that I would never share them. Again, my thoughts and my brain really just make no sense, but I am learning to accept my insaneness because it’s me and I have been this way for way too long to try and change now.
So today is Lemon Tart Day. Don’t worry though, promise I still have a lot more Super Bowl eats to share the rest of the week.
So after all that, let’s finally talk about this chocolate fudge swirled lemon ricotta tart. I actually made it twice in one day. I kind of do this a lot these days since lately I have been having a really hard time with my baked goods. It happens.
Anyway, I made this twice. The first time with a traditional flour tart crust and the second time with a graham cracker crust. For some reason, the flour crust just wasn’t doing it for me, so I tried the graham crackers. SO good, it just worked really well with the flavors, and let’s be honest, it is a heck of a lot easier than working that butter into the flour to make the tart dough. Other than that, I didn’t do anything differently the second time.
I ended up giving the first tart to my carpenter and he thought it was pretty awesome, but then again, I never know if those guys are really ever telling me the truth. I feel like they would never say anything negative in fear of hurting my feelings or something. You know?
The filling is pretty simple, it’s hot fudge sauce (yum) swirled with lemon, ricotta and mascarpone – so cheesy and chocolatey. Wow, just like that I even found a way to work cheese into my desserts. Geez.
Also, if you would have seen this tart in person, you would know that it’s so much prettier than these photos make it out to be. AND sorry for the lack of process shots, this day was kind of a bad one for me. I had a bunch of unexpected workers show up wanting to finish a few loose ends in the kitchen….only the kitchen was a mess and I was in the middle of shooting. So yeah, it was a little crazy (and umm, cozy, but not in a good way) in the kitchen.
Good news is, things are actually looking good, and dare I say… almost finished (yes!)?!
So once again, the point of this post?
Chocolate Fudge Swirled Lemon Ricotta Tart.
Servings: 8 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 678 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Tart Shell
- 9-10 graham crackers
- 6 tablespoons salted butter melted
Filling
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 4 teaspoons vanilla divided
- 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- 8 ounces mascarpone cheese softened
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- zest of 2 lemons juice from 1
- whipped cream for topping (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a food processor, pulse graham crackers until finely ground (to yield 2 cups). Add butter and pulse until crumbs are evenly moistened.
- Transfer crumb mixture to a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press firmly into the bottom and up the sides. Place tart pan onto a baking sheet; bake crust until lightly browned and set, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven. Reduce the oven to 350 degrees F.
- To make the fudge sauce, stir together cocoa powder, brown sugar, milk, salt and half of the chopped chocolate. Place in a small sauce pan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until chocolate is melted. Cook mixture at a low boil, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Remove sauce pan from heat, add remaining chocolate, butter and 2 teaspoons vanilla and stir until smooth. Any leftover sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container, just reheat over low heat, stirring until melted or heat in microwave, on 30 second intervals, stirring frequently.
- In a food processor or blender, combine the ricotta cheese, mascarpone cheese, granulated sugar, eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla and the lemon zest + juice. Blend until smooth.
- Drizzle the fudge sauce in the bottom of the prepared tart crust. Pour half the ricotta mixture over the chocolate and then drizzle the mixture with more fudge sauce. Add the remaining ricotta mixture and yeah....drizzle with more fudge sauce. Use a knife to swirl the fudge sauce into the ricotta mixture. Bake the tart in the preheated oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until just set. It is ok if the tart still has a little jiggle to it when it comes out. Set aside to cool.
- To make the candied lemon, combine the sugar with ¾ cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the lemon slices and simmer until tender and translucent, about 10 minutes. Remove from the sugar and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Allow to dry before adding to the tart.
- To serve, spread the tart with whipped cream and the candied lemons. Drizzle with any remaining fudge sauce. Store the tart in the fridge, but bring to room temp before serving.
I am so going to be combing lemon and chocolate for the rest of citrus season. Happening.
Hey Tieghan,
I FINALLY made this tonight for my mom (haha after making your roasted pepper pasta with burrata ?), and it was incredible! This dessert seems so simple, but different, and still elegant. My mom and I were blown away by this one! I’m really enjoying making her some special treats before going back to college and I’m really glad to have finally made this one (and have been waiting and saving it for the perfect time ?). I feel like the lemon and chocolate were perfect and I recommend doing more simple yet elegant desserts like these! ❤️
Thank you again for your help in making it a special night with my mom. ?
I am so so happy you and your mom loved this Kristin! Thank you so much!
This looks great! Just wondering- for the crust it says 9 cups of graham crackers or 2 graham cracker crumbs…I assume you meant 9 graham crackers or 2 cups of crumbs?
Thanks! 🙂
HI Emily! So sorry for the confusion! Yes, it is 9 graham crackers or about 2 cups worth of graham cracker crumbs. Recipe is fixed! Hope you love this!
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This is what sweet, sweet evil looks like omg. So baaaad but so gooood. I definitely have to make this I just need to figure out when ah mah gaaad. Also your pictures look fantastic I know not what you speak of.
hehe! Thank you so much, Sandy!!
Hi Tieghan
Cream cheese is no problem – should I use the same quantity? I’ll give it a go and let you know how it works and will keep up my search for ricotta! Thanks so much for getting back to me about this.
Yup, equal amounts cream cheese. Hope this is a hit! 🙂
Love your website – you make the most beautiful food! I’m dying to make this tart, but I can’t find ricotta cheese where I live in Spain. I know it’s a main ingredient in this dish, from the title of the recipe, but is it possible to substitute something else for the ricotta? I’ll keep looking for it, but can’t wait much longer to try this recipe!!
Hey Anne! TAHNK YOU!
Soo, that is tricky. I am not sure what cheeses you do have, but cream cheese would work. Do you have that?
Hi Tieghan,
I’ve got the tart in the oven now. Not sure how it will turn out. I didn’t expect the batter to be as thin as it is. When I drizzled the fudge sauce onto the batter, it sunk. I sure hope it ends up looking half as good as yours, but tasting good.
HI! My batter was pretty thing too, did it turn out for you?
I am happy to report that it DID turn out! I baked it the full hour, leaving it a little bit wobbly. Next time I make this, I will make a fudge sauce to drizzle over it after it has been baked.
Thank you for the yummy recipe!
Tried this today ..the lemon and the chocolate and the creamy texture all just go soo well together !
I made this and it was soooo delicious. I had a couple of issues, but they were my own fault as I had to go to work and didn’t want to leave the tart in the tin, so I took it out before it was cool, and I had a little bit of collapse on the sides. Also I cooked it for way longer than you recommended and it still had a bit of jiggle to it, but was a perfect consistency when cooled. When the whipped cream was spread over the top you couldn’t even see where I had the collapse! I am definitely going to make this again, and next time be less impatient!!
So happy you loved it, thanks!!
My ricotta mixture came out really watery as well and I’m not sure what I did wrong? I baked the tart for 50 minutes and the center still didn’t set I’m not sure what I should have done differently
Hey Molly,
Was the chocolate jiggly or the ricotta mixture? I am really not sure what is making the mix watery. Did it set at all after it cooled? Did you do anything differently? How much lemon juice do you think you added? Was your ricotta thick?
Really sorry for the trouble and i hope I can help you!
It was definitely the ricotta mixture and I’m thinking it was the amount of lemon juice I added because I did use a fairy large lemon. It didn’t really set once it cooled but overall it did taste super good the consistency was just off.
Thanks so much for replying to me and for the great recipe!
Hey Molly, maybe just use a tablespoon of lemon juice next time. Glad you where still able to enjoy it! THANKS!
I was so excited to make this for valentines day today. Unfortunately this recipe doesn’t work. The ricotta mixture was far too watery. I believe there was too much juice from my lemons. Two juiced lemons varies greatly. Very disappointed to waste the money and time on this.
Hey Courtney, I am so sorry this did not work for you. Are you sure you cooked it long enough?
You know, I am the total opposite. I LOVE FRUIT AND CHOCOLATE TOGETHER! I actually prefer fruity desserts to chocolate desserts. This looks soooooo killer.
haha! Thanks!
My three favorite things, citrus, chocolate, and ricotta, all in one amazingly delicious sounding tart. I can’t wait to make this. I’m headed out to buy a tart pan just so I can! Thanks for yet another awesome recipe!
THANK YOU! Hope you love this!
Lemon and chocolate combo is new to me too. I think I might like it better than the orange chocolate combo. Looks like I’ll just have to try this one.
Thank you! Hope you love it!
Lemon and chocolate is so magical together! Love this combo and pinning it now 🙂
Thank you!!
Thanks Christina!