This very indulgent chocolate and raspberry tart is the perfect Christmas lunch finale. The buttery, crumbly, bittersweet crust contrasts with the silky, not-too-sweet ganache, while the tart raspberries cut through the richness perfectly. Those chunks of chocolate add yet another layer of delicious texture. It’s a party in your mouth. A Christmas party!
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Chill time: 2 hours.
INGREDIENTS
THE PASTRY
150g butter, softened but not melted
120g icing sugar
2 whole eggs, 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
260g white flour
60g cocoa powder
½ tsp flaky salt
THE FILLING
350g dark chocolate, chopped finely
3 tsp vanilla essence
3 tbsp maple syrup
350ml cream
200g mascarpone, chilled
½ t flaky salt
1 ½ c frozen raspberries, defrosted and drained
Extra dark chocolate chopped into small chunks
THE TOPPING
Fresh berries of your choice
Freeze dried raspberries
METHOD
To make the pastry, beat the butter and sugar together until creamed, add the lightly beaten eggs and vanilla essence and mix to combine. Don’t over mix.
Sift in the flour and cocoa powder and using a spatula gently mix the dough together. If the mix needs a little more moisture add chilled water a tablespoon at a time until it comes together in a ball.
Lightly dust your bench and fingers with cocoa powder. On the bench form the dough into a disk.
Wrap and chill in fridge for one hour.
Dust benchtop with cocoa powder. Place chilled pastry disk on top and dust some more cocoa powder lightly over the top.
Roll out to 4mm thick and carefully lay into your Ironclad Legacy Pan. If it breaks apart don’t worry, just patch it up so the bottom and sides of the pan are evenly covered in pastry. Trim the pastry edges so they are even with the pan’s lip.
Prick bottom and sides with a fork and place pan in the freezer for 20 minutes.
Heat oven to 160°C
Cut a circle of greaseproof paper big enough to go up the sides of the pan. Crumple it in your hands and fit into the bottom of your pastry case.
Fill with beans, sugar, rice or pastry weights and cook for 20 minutes.
Remove weights and paper from pan and bake another 10 minutes until pastry is fully cooked.
Remove from oven and cool.
Place chocolate, maple syrup, vanilla essence and half the salt into a bowl.
Heat cream until nearly boiling then pour over the ingredients and whisk still smooth. Add the chilled mascarpone and beat till well combined.
In the bottom of the cooled pastry arrange the defrosted, drained raspberries and chopped chocolate (don’t cut it too fine, you want there to be a crunch when you eat it). Sprinkle with the rest of the salt and a little more if you like the combination of sweet and salty. Pour the filling over the top and even out with a spatula.
Chill for 2 hours.
Top with fruit and dried raspberries and serve with dollops of whipped cream and vanilla Greek yoghurt.
And enjoy EVERY decadent delicious bite.
