Justin North – Chocolate Tartlets

Ingredients:

CHOCOLATE PASTRY

• 100g unsalted butter, softened
• 50g icing sugar, sifted
• 2 egg yolks
• 180g plain flour – plus a little extra for dusting
• 20g dark cocoa powder

FILLING

• 250g dark chocolate
• 200g unsalted butter
• 4 whole eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• 60g caster sugar

CREME CHANTILLY

• Thickened cream
• Crème fraiche
• 1 vanilla bean, split

Method:

PASTRY

1. Mix the butter in the bowl of your machine with the paddle attachment for a minute until creamy and soft.
2. Add the icing sugar, mix well, then add the egg yolks, and mix until combined.
3. Sift together the flour and cocoa powder, add to the butter mixture and mix to bring all together. Wrap securely in cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour to rest.
4. To cook the tart shells preheat oven to 180°C.
5. Roll out your pastry to approximately 2 mm thick.
6. Carefully place the pastry over the tart rings gently pressing the pastry flat and flush into the sides and edges of your tart rings, leaving a generous overlap to account for shrinkage during baking.
7. Place into the refrigerator and allow to rest for an hour or two. Check for any holes, if there are, patch up with the excess pastry. Lightly prick the base of your tart with a fork, this will prevent the base from rising in the middle, the filling is very thick so you won’t have the seepage problems as with a runny custard mix.
8. Bake your tart in the pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes until crisp, remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack. Trim the overlapping edges of the pastry with a serrated knife, these trimmings are a great treat with jam and vanilla ice cream for the kids, and of course a sneaky bite yourself. The blind baked tart is now ready for the filling.

FILLING

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl with the butter and stand over a pan of hot water until the chocolate has melted. Stir until smooth.
3. Place the eggs and sugar in a bowl over a pan of hot water and whisk for about 10 minutes to make a thick creamy sabayon.
4. Fold one-third of the sabayon into the warm melted chocolate and mix well. Gently fold the chocolate mix back into the remaining sabayon.
5. Pour the sabayon into the tart shell and smooth the surface with a hot palette knife.
6. Bake for 8 minutes, just until the sabayon is set – remember it is already cooked. Remove from the oven and rest on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before serving. Serve with a good dollop of crème Chantilly.

Watch Justin make this recipe below, or on the Farm Pride YouTube channel.