|
|
CHOCOLATE TARTS
30 minutes prep. 
45 minutes cooking
Serves 6 |
Ingredients
Chocolate pastry
- 200g plain flour
- 60g icing sugar, sifted
- 30g Dutch-process cocoa
- Salt
- 100g cold butter, diced
- 2 egg yolks
- 80g hazelnuts
- 90g caster sugar
- 60ml water
- 200ml pouring cream
- 250g couverture milk chocolate, finely chopped
- 200ml pouring cream
- 50ml whiskey
- 200g dark chocolate (about 65-70% cocoa solids), coarsely chopped
- Sea salt flakes, to serve
Method
- To make the chocolate pastry, process flour, icing sugar, cocoa and a good pinch of salt in a food processor to combine.
- Add butter, process until mixture resembles fine crumbs, add egg yolks and process to combine. Turn mixture onto a lightly floured work surface and bring pastry together with the heel of your hand, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to rest.
- Preheat oven to 180˚C.
- Divide pastry into six and roll out each piece on a lightly floured surface to 3mm thick and line the six 10cm diameter individual tart tins (or you can make one large 28cm-diameter tart), letting the excess pastry overhang the sides, then refrigerate to rest for 1 hour.
- Trim excess pastry, then line tartlet cases with baking paper and fill with raw rice or baking weights and blind-bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges of the pastry are dry to touch. Remove baking paper and weights and bake for a further 10-12 minutes until bases are dry and crisp, set aside.
- For chocolate-praline filling, preheat oven to 180˚C.
- Spread hazelnuts on an oven tray and roast for 5-6 minutes until the skins darken and the hazelnuts are fragrant. Tip into a clean tea towel, rub off skins, and then spread nuts on a lightly oiled oven tray. Stir sugar and water in a small saucepan over a medium-high heat until the sugar dissolves.
- Bring to the boil, brushing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to remove sugar crystals and cook for 3-4 minutes, swirling the pan occasionally until a dark caramel in colour. Pour the mixture over the hazelnuts; stand until cool and set, and then break into rough pieces.
- Process the rough broken praline pieces in a food processor until the praline is finely ground, set aside.
- Bring cream to the simmer in a small saucepan over a medium heat, add chocolate and stir until smooth, remove from heat, stir in two-thirds of praline mixture (reserve remaining praline in an airtight container to serve) and pour into tartlet cases, filling to about 4mm below rim of pastry case.
- Refrigerate for an hour or so until firm.
- Bring cream and whisky to the simmer in a small saucepan over a medium-high heat, add dark chocolate, remove from heat and stand for 5 minutes stirring until smooth.
- Pour over praline filling and refrigerate for about 1 hour or until set.
- Serve with extra scattered praline and a little sea salt.
- Enjoy!
