If you, like me, trend towards fruit and vanilla over chocolate, I feel confident you could still fall in love with this perfectly basic, straightforward, yet completely above average chocolate tart.
This one is easy to execute, flawless each and every time, doable by even those who have never so much as melted chocolate, let alone dared make a chocolate tart.
If you scanned the ingredients and thought ‘milk chocolate? I’d never,’ then consider this my plea – my ask-on-hands-and-knees plea – to please trust me here and try it. I’m certain you’ll find it plenty chocolatey and even more well-balanced than your typical tart. Oh, and not that you would, but please don’t skimp on the salt.
The crust can be made three days ahead, wrapped tightly, and stored at room temperature. The tart itself can be made three days ahead, wrapped tightly and refrigerated. It's good with a bowl of tangerines for peeling and nibbling in-between bites, or a bowl of vanilla ice cream.
Timings
Prep time: 25 minutes, plus at least 1 hour to chill
Cook time: 25 minutes
Makes
One 23cm (9in) tart
Ingredients
For the crust
- 110g (¾ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 30g (¼ cup) unsweetened (Dutch) cocoa powder
- 40g (⅓ cup) icing (confectioners’) sugar
- ½ tsp (2g) salt
- 115g (4oz) unsalted butter, melted
For the filling
- 225g (8oz) dark (bittersweet) chocolate (68-80 per cent cacao)
- 115g (4oz) milk chocolate (or a darker chocolate if you prefer)
- pinch of salt
- 160g (⅔ cup) double (thick/heavy) cream
- 110g (⅓ cup) honey
- 220g (1 cup) sour cream
- flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Method
1. Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 180C (350F)/160C fan/gas mark 4. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, icing sugar and salt. Drizzle in the melted butter and mix until well combined; it’ll have a texture sort of like Play-Doh. Press this into the bottom and up the side of a 23cm (9in) tart tin with a removable base – or you can use a 23cm (9in) pie dish or springform tin. Use a measuring cup or your hands to flatten the crust and make sure it’s all packed and even.
2. Bake until the crust is completely cooked through and gone from dark brown and shiny to a lighter dark brown and matte, 15-20 minutes. It can be difficult to tell when this is done, because it’s already brown. Test by pressing the centre: it should be firm and opaque, not squishy or greasy-looking. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
3. Make the filling: In a heatproof medium bowl, combine the dark and milk chocolates and salt. Set aside.
4. In a small saucepan, heat the cream and honey over medium heat. Once it starts to simmer, remove from the heat (do not let it boil) and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for a minute or two to melt the chocolate, then, using a spatula, mix until well blended and no pieces of chocolate remain. (You can whisk, but be cautious of air bubbles.)
5. Stir in the sour cream and mix until it looks thick, glossy and emulsified. Immediately pour the filling into the cooled crust and smooth the top. Sprinkle with flaky salt and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before slicing.
Read Telegraph Magazine's exclusive interview with Alison Roman here
Recipe from Sweet Enough by Alison Roman (Hardie Grant Books, £28), published on April 5. Order your copy at books.telegraph.co.uk
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