Thinking ahead to Valentine’s Day I thought you might like the recipe for a dark chocolate tart. It takes minutes to make (if you already have some pastry) and is great served with ice cream or a big dollop of thick cream.
The original recipe comes from Simon Hopkinson’s Roast Chicken and Other Stories although I use my own pastry and sometimes add a dash of orange essence or ground cardamom to the chocolate filling. *see note 5
If you’re in the mood for pastry making and fancy making it yourself then do check out my recipe on the blog for that. If not, then just buy a sweet pastry or a plain shortcrust that’s ready made and away you go.
Your first step is to blind bake the pastry case.
Line your tart tin with the pastry, cut a piece of baking paper that corresponds with the size of the tin and then pour in some baking beans (I use dried black beans but you can use proper ceramic baking beans or any other dried lentils).
Bake in the oven on a medium heat (180°C 350°F) for about 20 minutes or so until fully cooked through but not too brown.
Take the pastry case out of the oven and turn the temperature up to 190°C 375°F.
While the pastry case is cooking, prepare the filling. For that you’ll need:
200g dark chocolate (I use Lindt 70% cocoa) *see note 1
3 egg yolks and 2 whole eggs *see note 2
40g caster sugar
150g unsalted butter *see note 3
Method:
Put the eggs, egg yolks and caster sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer (I use my Kitchenaid) and whisk together until the mixture is pale and fluffy and has really increased in volume.
While that’s whisking away. Break the chocolate up into pieces and put it in a bowl with the butter.
Place that over a saucepan of barely simmering water and stir from time to until it’s smooth and both the butter and chocolate have melted (a couple of minutes or so). *see note 4
When the butter and chocolate mixture is smooth, poor it into the whisked egg and sugar mixture and beat briefly until the chocolate is fully mixed in.
Pour the mixture into the pre-baked pastry case, smooth gently with a knife and then pop it in the oven for 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool. It’s lightest the day it’s made but it also lovely refridgerated (slightly heavier in texture). A little goes a long way and it’s great with a cup of strong coffee in the morning too (Nigel can confirm that!)
Notes:
- Try and use good quality chocolate if you can as it it’s the prime ingredient. You could use slightly lower or higher cocoa solids if you prefer.
- Freeze the whites that you don’t need for the recipe. They can come another time to make a meringue.
- You could use salted butter if you like. Dark chocolate and salt makes a great combination.
- The water in the saucepan needs to be only just simmering. If in doubt, bring it to the boil and then turn it off turning it back on briefly if you need to.
- Did you know that the correct spelling is Cardamom with an ‘m’ at the end not an ‘n’?
