Luxury Chocolate Tart for £3.55? The 59p Slice Budget Recipe

A chocolate tart sounds like one of those desserts you save for birthdays or fancy dinners. But this budget recipe keeps it simple, keeps it rich, and keeps the total under four quid. You get a sweet shortcrust pastry base and a silky, ganache-style filling that bakes up like a soft-set chocolate custard.

Even better, the whole tart comes out at £3.55 total, which works out to six ample slices at 59p each. It's the kind of dessert that looks like effort, but doesn't ask for much drama in the kitchen.

Budget breakdown: what £3.55 actually buys you

The nice part about this tart is that the money goes where you want it to go, into the chocolate and cream. The pastry is cheap, but it still eats like proper shortcrust. Using half butter and half lard helps keep the cost down, and it also makes the dough easy to work with once chilled.

The chocolate is the main expense. Two bars of dark chocolate from Aldi came to £1.30, which is a solid deal for something that's doing most of the heavy lifting on flavour.

Here's the cost breakdown in a quick table, so you can see where the £3.55 lands.

Section	Total cost
Pastry ingredients	£0.75
Filling ingredients	£2.80
Grand total	£3.55

So, if you're feeding six people, or just stretching dessert across a few days, this one makes sense. It also scales nicely for a weekend treat without turning into a big shopping trip.

The trick is simple: spend on the chocolate, save on everything else, and let the texture do the talking.

Ingredients you'll need (with costs)

Nothing weird here, no hard-to-find bits. It's a straightforward sweet shortcrust and a chocolate cream filling finished with vanilla.

For the sweet shortcrust pastry (about £0.75 total)

• 200 g / 7 oz plain flour (£0.10)
• 30 g / 1 oz icing sugar (£0.03)
• Pinch of salt (£0.00)
• 50 g / 1.7 oz butter (£0.38)
• 50 g / 1.7 oz lard (£0.10)
  You can use all butter, but the cost goes up a bit.
• 1 egg (£0.14)

For the chocolate filling (about £2.80 total)

• 200 g / 7 oz dark chocolate (£1.30)
• 250 ml double cream (£1.10)
• 2 eggs (£0.28)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (£0.12)

That's it. No extra sugar in the filling, because the chocolate and pastry already bring enough balance.

Making the pastry without overthinking it

This dough comes together fast, but it behaves best when you treat it gently. It can feel a little brittle when rolling, so flour and patience help a lot. The good news is that it's also the kind of pastry you can patch and press without anyone noticing later.

Rub in the fats, then bring it together with egg

1. Add the plain flour to a bowl, then add a pinch of salt.
2. Drop in the butter and lard, then rub them into the flour with your fingertips.
   You're aiming for a coarse breadcrumb texture, not a perfectly even sand.
3. In a separate moment, crack the egg and whisk it quickly.
4. Stir the icing sugar into the flour mixture so it spreads through.
5. Add the whisked egg and mix. Once it starts to clump, use your hands to bring it into a dough.

The plan is for the egg to be enough moisture on its own. If it feels a bit stiff, add a tiny splash of milk, just enough to help the last dry bits come together.

Chill it flat so it rolls easier later

Once the dough forms, wrap it in cling film and flatten it into a disk. That little flattening step matters because cold pastry can be stubborn, and a flat disk rolls more evenly than a ball.

Chill it in the fridge for about 1 hour, until it feels firm.

Roll, line the tin, and don't stress the cracks

Grease a 9-inch flan tin with a bit of lard, both the base and the sides.

Then flour your board well. Flour the top of the dough too, and dust the rolling pin. Roll the pastry out into a round slightly larger than the tin. Turn it as you go so it doesn't stick, and add more flour if it starts grabbing.

To transfer, roll the pastry up over the rolling pin, then unroll it over the tin. If it splits, it's fine. Just press it back together. This pastry is forgiving.

There's also a quick, real-life kitchen moment here where a little helper named Isa appears and gets curious about the tart tin situation, which is honestly how baking usually goes at home.

Blind baking the tart shell so it stays crisp

A chocolate tart filling is wet, so the base needs a head start. Blind baking sets the structure and keeps the bottom from turning soggy.

First, push the pastry neatly into the corners, then trim it flush with the rim.

Next, prick the base with a fork. That helps steam escape so the bottom cooks evenly.

Scrunch up a piece of greaseproof paper, then open it out and lay it inside the pastry case. The scrunching helps it sit into the corners instead of popping back up.

Fill it with rice (used like baking beans). Rice works well because it settles into the edges and holds the pastry in place.

Bake at 170°C / 347°F / Gas 3.5 for about 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, remove the rice and paper, then brush the inside with a light egg wash. Put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes until it's golden and crisp.

Chocolate ganache-style filling: smooth, light, and rich

While the pastry bakes, you can make the filling. This is basically chocolate and cream melted together, then tempered into eggs so it bakes gently. The key word is gently. Fast heat makes scrambled eggs, and nobody wants that in a tart.

Melt chocolate and cream together

Add 200 g dark chocolate to a bowl, then pour in 250 ml double cream.

Set the bowl over a pan of hot water (a bain-marie). In this case, the water gets boiled in a kettle first to speed things up, then poured into the pan.

Keep the heat on low and stir as it melts. It only takes a couple minutes to turn glossy and smooth.

Once there are no lumps of chocolate left, take it off the heat and let it cool slightly. You don't want it piping hot when it meets the eggs.

Mix with eggs slowly so they don't scramble

Beat 2 eggs in a jug.

Now pour the warm chocolate mixture into the eggs a little at a time, stirring constantly. Start with a small splash, stir, then another splash. This gradual mixing brings the egg temperature up without shocking it.

Once it's loosened and warm, you can add the rest more comfortably, still stirring the whole time.

Finally, whisk in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (this is easy to forget until the last second, but it makes the chocolate taste rounder and more complete).

If you rush this part, the eggs can turn grainy. Slow pouring and steady stirring keeps the filling silky.

Filling and baking the tart at a low temperature

Pour the chocolate filling into the baked tart shell. You might have a little extra filling, depending on the depth of your tin. If that happens, it's not a disaster, it's a bonus. Any leftover pastry offcuts can be used for a couple of small individual tarts, and the extra filling can go straight in.

Once filled, move it carefully to the oven. This is the wobbly moment, so a steady hand helps.

Bake at 140°C / 284°F / Gas 1 for about 20 minutes (up to 25 minutes is fine if needed). The goal is the same as a custard tart. You want it set around the edges with a slight wobble in the middle. The top should look smooth and have a gentle spring when touched.

After baking, let it cool before slicing. It will continue to firm up as it cools, and the texture gets cleaner and neater.

Serving ideas (and what it tastes like)

Once cooled, the tart looks great as-is, because the top bakes up smooth and glossy. A light dusting of icing sugar is enough to make it feel finished.

Taste-wise, the filling stays light while still bringing that rich, slightly bitter dark chocolate hit. It's not overly sweet. Instead, it tastes grown-up, like proper chocolate.

Quick tips that make this tart easier (and calmer)

Some recipes sound simple, then they punish you for blinking wrong. This one's kinder, but a few small habits help it go smoothly.

• Use plenty of flour when rolling because this pastry can crack. Extra flour beats fighting sticky dough.
• Patch splits with your fingers instead of rerolling. Pressing it back together works fine.
• Rice works well for blind baking because it settles right into the corners and holds the shape.
• Keep the final bake low and slow so the filling sets like custard, not like a brownie.
• Stop when there's still a wobble because carryover heat finishes the job as it cools.

If you nail the wobble, you nail the texture. That's the whole thing, really.

Also Read: Budget Recipe: Cumberland Pudding (Steamed) That Costs 42p Per Serving

What I learned making it (and what I'd do the next time)

I like recipes like this because they feel a bit fancy, but they don't boss you around. Still, I learned a couple things the messy way.

First, I underestimated how helpful it is to flatten the dough before chilling. When I've skipped that in the past, rolling turns into a crackly stress session. This time, it behaved way better, even though it still needed a gentle touch.

Second, the slow pour into the eggs matters more than people admit. I caught myself wanting to rush, because the chocolate smells so good and you just want it done. But slowing down kept the mix smooth, and the baked tart came out clean and soft, not grainy.

Last thing, I'd fill the shell with a ladle or jug next time if I had one handy. Carrying a full tart to the oven always feels like a tiny kitchen obstacle course, and I'd rather not test my luck too often.

Conclusion

This chocolate tart proves you don't need a big spend to get a dessert that feels special. For £3.55 total, you get a crisp shortcrust base and a smooth chocolate filling that slices beautifully once cooled. If you're keeping things practical but still want something that tastes rich, this budget recipe is a keeper. If you make it, serve it simply, then see if anyone guesses it came in at 59p a slice.