We love this chocolate tart; it oozes with decadence and pure joy. The shortcrust pastry is handmade, making it even more enjoyable to devour. You will be able to enjoy the hard work that has gone into it. A chocolate tart is a great dinner party dessert paired with vanilla ice cream, one for you to enjoy by yourself, or a sweet office treat.

Making your own shortcrust, you will learn the technique of blind baking and how not to overwork the pastry. Practise makes perfect!

24-carat gold adds a touch of finesse and makes it go from zero to 100 in a matter of seconds. Garnish with berries. All the products are available to purchase from our website too.

Ingredients

Pastry:

  • 150g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 75g cold butter, diced and chilled
  • 25g caster sugar
  • Water to moisten (4 tbsp)

Filling:

  • 240ml double cream
  • 200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), finely chopped
  • 75g caster sugar
  • Gold powder, to decorate (optional)

Method:

1. Pastry: To make the pastry, rub the flour and butter together in a bowl with your fingertips until the mixture resembles rough breadcrumbs. Stir through the sugar and a bit of water until the dough comes together to form a ball. Press it into a flat oval, cover with cling film and place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Dust a work surface with a little flour and roll out the pastry to 3mm in thickness and large enough to fit a 20cm diameter, 4cm deep fluted tart tin with a removable base. Line the tin with the pastry and press it into the sides before trimming the edges. As you line the tin, if the pastry crumbles, don’t panic, patch it together using leftover pastry. 

3. Prick the base with a fork all over and line with foil, shiny side down, and fill with baking beans. Place the tin in the oven to blind bake for about 15 minutes until the pastry is a light golden brown. Remove the tin from the oven, lift out the foil and beans, cook for a further 6–8 minutes until cooked through and lightly golden. Remove the tin from the oven again and allow it to cool on a wire rack.

4. Prepare the filling by placing all the ingredients in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Mix until smooth and then pour into the cooled pastry case. Allow setting in the fridge for 1 hour, before dusting with gold powder and garnishing with berries.

chocolate tart with glace cherries