Must-try strawberry chocolate tart 12 January 2006

Makes: 2 12-inch tarts

This was a runaway hit at both parties where we served it – among kids who adore chocolate, and among adults whose discriminating tastebuds enjoy the heady combination of strawberry and chocolate. We tried it with a dollop of ricotta cheese, and instantly started raving. Great also with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. Recommended as a must-try for chocoholics (like me!).

While the crust takes a little time because of the resting period, this tart is easy even for amateurs (read: me), but yields spectacularly yummy results. Just be neat with the garnishing! All in all, the tart shells should take about 2 ½ hours max if you want to make your tarts straight away.

This recipe makes two 12-inch tarts. I suggest you try the full recipe as the measuring can be quite a pain (lazy me). This recipe makes two tart shells, you can freeze the other and its really quite easy to make another tart, even if its not for company! The shell is the hardest bit anyway!

As for the filling, nothing could be easier! It should take about 15 mins. I do urge you to buy good quality ingredients, particularly the chocolate. Buy the best you can afford, and you wont regret the incredible difference it makes. The filling here is uncooked, or you no longer have to rebake the shell with the filling. It just calls you to be patient in waiting for the filling to “gel” so it doesn’t ooze out when you cut your tart.

Ingredients:
Short crust sweet pastry (for two 12-inch tart shells):
Butter, 1 cup (I recommend you use unsalted Lurpak, or any unsalted butter)
Confectioner’s sugar, 1 ¾ cups
Salt, a pinch
Flour, about 1 lb or approx. 3 ½ cups
Egg yolks, 4
Cold milk or water, ¼ cup

Simple chocolate tart filling:
(For two 12-inch tart shells, assuming your pan is about 1/2 inch high)
Heavy cream, 1 cup
Sugar, 2 tablespoons
Salt, a tiny pinch
Butter, ½ cup, softened
Bittersweet chocolate, 1 lb, broken up
Cold milk, ½ cup
Unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

Garnish: fresh strawberries

Directions:

• Make your dough:

Cream together the butter, sugar and salt. Then add in the flour and egg yolks. When the mixture eventually comes together looking like coarse breadcrumbs, add the cold milk/water. Gently work together to form a ball of dough. Lightly flour the surface, and work into a dough with a minimum of movement so that your pastry crust is flaky. (Jamie calls this the “oh no, matron” – hahaha - that the more you work it, the more elastic it will get, causing it to shrink in the oven and become chewy.)

• Allow dough to rest:

Roll the pastry dough into a fat sausage and wrap completely in cling film. Place in the fridge to rest for at least an hour.

• Form your crust/line the pan:

Cut thin slivers of your pastry lengthwise, around 1/8 inch thick. In our experience, the thinner, the better, as a floury taste is more evident in a thicker crust (which I find not-too-palatable). Arrange the slivers on the bottom and sides of the tart pan (make sure its metal – the pyrex type just don’t cut it), kind of like a jigsaw puzzle. Then simply push the pieces together so that the crust covers the pan completely. A nice touch is to let the crust overhang the sides roughly, but you can also opt to neaten things up by trimming excess crust and pushing a fork on the edge (this serves no other purpose than to make it pretty).

Cover with cling film and allow to rest in your freezer. Just leave it in your freezer and you can use it another day.

• Bake your tart:

Preheat your oven to 350 deg F (gasmark 3). Straight from the freezer, pop your tart shell/s in the oven for about 15 minutes. This will cook your tart all the way through, and makes the crust lightly golden.

• Make your filling:

Place the cream, sugar and salt in a pan and bring to the boil. As soon as it has boiled, remover from heat, add the butter and chocolate and stir until completely melted.

Let mixture cool slightly and stir in the cold milk. Allow to cool some more and whisk in extra cold milk until the chocolate mixture is smooth. With a spatula, scrape the mixture into your cooled pastry shell. Shake the shell so that the mixture evens out.

Cool the tart for 1-2 hours until it is room temperature. Dust generously with coco powder. You can also pop into the fridge for about 15-30 minutes so that the filling is cool-ish to the tongue.

As a finishing touch, slice some fresh strawberries and arrange closely together on top of the chocolate.

The pastry is short and crisp and the filling should cut like butter (and it melts like butter in your mouth)!

Serve with tea or coffee. Or for dessert buffs, with ricotta cheese or vanilla ice cream on the side.

Photo: About to partake of the tart during Christmas. Strawberries a little scant though! Yummy nonetheless.

Based on Jamie Oliver’s The Naked Chef (pastry crust and simple chocolate tart)