Yes, please! This triple chocolate berry tart is divine
This recipe may seem complicated starting off, but once you get into the swing of things you'll realise it is totally worth it – trust us!
Ingredients:
1. Chocolate Pastry Cream:
250g milk chocolate, chopped or in callets
3 large egg yolks
100g caster sugar
15g cornflour
285ml semi-skimmed milk
2. Cocoa Nib Pastry:
280g plain flour, plus extra for dusting and blind-baking
30g ground hazelnuts
150g unsalted butter, cold and cubed, plus extra for greasing
90g icing sugar
30g cocoa nibs
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk, beaten
3. Decoration:
100g dark chocolate, tempered
300g mixed fresh berries (e.g. raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries)
Icing sugar, to dust (optional)
4. Equipment:
23cm (9”) round, 2cm (¾”) deep, fluted loose-based flan/tart tin
Serves 8–10
Method:
To make the chocolate pastry cream
1. Place the chocolate in a plastic mixing bowl. Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a separate plastic mixing bowl. (Top Tip: It’s best to use a plastic mixing bowl so the mixture cools quickly after you combine the hot milk with the egg mixture.)
2. Heat the milk in a saucepan until it just reaches boiling point. Gradually pour the milk onto the egg mixture (A), whisking continuously until fully combined.
3. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook on a low heat for three to five minutes, whisking continuously, until thickened.
4. Remove from the heat and pour onto the chocolate (B). Whisk (C) until melted and combined. Cover with cling film touching the surface and leave to cool at room temperature for approximately 20 minutes, then place in the refrigerator until cold.
To make the cocoa nib pastry
5. Beat the flour, ground hazelnuts, butter and icing sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the beater attachment until the mixture has the texture of a crumble (D). Add the cocoa nibs (E).
6. Add a whole egg (F) and continue to beat until the mixture comes together to form a paste (G).
7. Gather the pastry into a ball (H) and place it between two sheets of baking parchment or silicone paper (I). Roll out a circle approximately 25.5cm (10”) in diameter and 3–4mm (1 1/8–1½”) thick (J).
8. Place the rolled-out pastry on a baking tray in the refrigerator to rest for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, butter and flour the 23cm (9”) tart tin.
9. Remove the pastry from the fridge and leave to one side for three minutes or until it becomes more pliable before placing it in the tart tin.
10. Lay the rolled-out pastry over the tart tin (K) and ease it down into the tin, gently pushing the pastry into the bottom edge all the way around (L).
11. Fold the pastry over the top edge of the tin and cut away the excess approximately halfway down the outside of the tin with a sharp knife (M). Press the pastry on the outside of the tin into the fluted ridges to hold it in place (N).
12. Place the pastry case in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to rest. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F/ gas mark 4).
13. Cut a piece of silicone paper into a circle that is larger than the 23cm (9”) tart tin. Scrunch it up to make it more flexible, flatten it out a bit and place it in the centre of the tart tin, pushing the paper down into the bottom edge so that the paper follows the shape of the pastry (O).
14. Fill the silicone paper with flour (P) and blind-bake the pastry case in the preheated oven for 10 minutes until golden brown around the edges. (Top Tip: I always use flour to blind bake; I find it holds the pastry to the sides of the tin better than baking beans, which in turn stops the pastry from sliding down into the tin. You can keep the flour and use it next time you blind bake.
15. Lift the silicone paper filled with flour out of the tart tin. Use a fork to prick the base of the tart and return it to the oven for a further 10–15 minutes, or until the base is golden brown.
16. Immediately brush the cooked pastry with beaten egg yolk and leave it to cool in the tin on a wire rack (if you’re worried about the egg cooking, return it to the oven for two minutes before cooling). Once completely cool, trim the edges with a small palette knife. (Top Tip: As an alternative to egg yolk, you could sieve a fine layer of powdered cocoa butter over the pastry.)
To make chocolate fans
You need approximately 12 fans for the tart, but it’s a good idea to make more as spares and to decorate other recipes. The slab will warm up so you will only get time to make about 20 fans at a time. When this happens, place the slab back in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Once it is cold, you can continue to make more fans. Store the fans at room temperature in an airtight container.
17. Place the marble slab in the freezer for a minimum of three hours (overnight if possible). Line a baking tray with a sheet of silicone paper or acetate.
18. Use the end of a cranked palette knife to pick up a small amount of melted, tempered chocolate. Spread the chocolate onto the frozen slab: aim to make a rough rectangle shape (Q).
19. Very quickly use the edge of the palette knife to cut down the middle of the chocolate rectangle lengthways (R) and to cut off the two ends. You should end up with two long rectangular strips, each with a rough edge along one of the longest sides.
20. Using just the fingertips of both of your hands, pick up one of the strips. Hold it with the rough edge towards you and the cut edge facing away from you. Concertina the rough edge (S) and pinch the ends together to create a fan shape (T). Repeat with the second strip. Set the two fans aside on the prepared baking tray. Scrape any excess chocolate from the marble slab then wipe it clean with some kitchen paper and start again.
Assembly
21. Remove the chocolate pastry cream from the refrigerator and re-whisk it, ensuring there are no lumps. Pour the pastry cream into the cooled, baked pastry case (U) and level it with a small, cranked palette knife (V).
22. Remove the pastry case from the tin and place it onto a presentation plate. If you’re worried the tart will slide off, secure it with a little pastry cream in the centre of the plate. Arrange the berries on top of the filling (W) and add the chocolate fans in between. Finish with a dusting of icing sugar if desired.
Recipe taken from Mastering Chocolate by Mark Tilling (£20.00, B. Dutton Publishing). Photography by Rob Goves.