Tarte au Chocolat (Metric Measurements)

Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers!

During the holiday season, we love to indulge; and there is nothing more indulgent than this French style chocolate tart, or tarte au chocolat. I've made a chocolate fudge tart in the past, which is an American style sticky sweet treat. But if you'd prefer the darker, more intense European experience of a dark chocolate baked ganache, this is for you!

I like to decorate mine with frozen berries for that frosty, wintry look. However, this can also be dusted with cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice for that quintessential Thanksgiving flavour.

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INGREDIMENTS

Pastry

180 grammes plain flour

120 grammes unsalted butter (or a mix of butter and margarine), soft

20 grammes icing sugar

Optional: a beaten egg

Filling

250 grammes plain chocolate, 50 to 60% cocoa

200 millilitres whole milk

50 millilitres evaporated milk, or double cream

25 grammes butter

1 medium egg, roughly 55 grammes
Frozen or fresh raspberries, to decorate

METHOD

First, bake the pastry

• Preheat the oven to 180C, and make sure the shelf is in the middle
• Make a crumbly shortbread by rubbing all the pastry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Press the crumbly mixture into a 25 centimetre round tart tin. Keep the pastry case thin, about 2 or 3 millilitres thick, so if there is leftover dough you can make it into a biscuit or something.
• Dock the pastry all over with a fork, bottom and sides, to make sure the pastry doesn't bubble.
• Line the pastry with foil or baking paper and fill with pastry weights, like dried beans or coins. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the lining and cook for a further 10 minutes.
• If there are any dock holes in the pastry case that go through the bottom after baking, brush the pastry case with the beaten egg and pop back in the oven for about a minute.
• Allow the case to cool completely before filling.

Then, make the filling

• Preheat the oven to 150C. Break the chocolate up in a heatproof bowl. 
• In a saucepan heat the milk, evaporated milk (or cream), and butter to boiling point. Pour the hot milk mix over the chocolate and leave to stand for 3 minutes. 
• Whisk the chocolate mix until completely smooth. In a small bowl, beat the egg and add in a small amount of the hot chocolate mixture, whisking all the time. This tempers the egg so that it won't scramble.
• Add the egg back into the main chocolate mixture and stir well. Pour the filling into the case through a strainer to remove most of the bubbles. If there are any big bubbles on the surface after a gently wiggle, pop them with the corner of a piece of kitchen paper.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. When ready, it should have a skin over the whole surface and have a gentle wiggle under the surface.
• Allow to cool completely before putting in the fridge for at least 4 hours to chill thoroughly.
• Before serving, allow to come to room temperature. This tart is best served with whipped cream and sour berries like raspberries, cherries, or blackberries.

Dessert Mashup: Phish Food Cake (Chocolate, Caramel, and Marshmallow Layer Cake)

Looking for a show-stopping dessert for your party table! Try this decadent chocolate, caramel and marshmallow layer cake: the Phish Food gateau!

I like to take inspiration from unusual places, and this time it's from a flavour of ice-cream! Phish Food flavoured Ben and Jerry's is a chocolate ice-cream with little chocolate fishies, a marshmallowy swirl, and a caramelly swirl. I thought it'd be great to interpret his in cake form.

This cake was a big hit at the opening of the play my husband was in this week, and was devoured in minutes. I wish I had got some better pictures, but maybe I'll make another one of these in the future to get better pictures.

 

INGREDIMENTS

For the cake

7½ ounces (210 grammes) white spelt flour, or gluten free flour
1½ ounces (40 grammes) cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda
3 medium eggs
9 ounces (250 grammes) caster sugar, divided in two
3 fluid ounces (90 millilitres) sunflower oil
3 ounces (85 grammes) butter, at room temperature, or margarine
6 fluid ounces (180 millilitres) buttermilk, or milk alternative mixed with 2 teaspoons of lemon juice or white vinegar; or dairy-free yoghurt thinned down with water to buttermilk consistency
2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) vanilla essence

For the filling

3 ounces (85 grammes) dulce de leche, homemade or shop bought

1½ ounces (40 grammes) salted butter

For the marshmallow topping

1 egg white

1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) water

1 ounce (30 grammes) glucose syrup, or white corn syrup

3 ounces (85 grammes) caster sugar

A few drops of lemon juice

½ teaspoon vanilla essence

Pinch of salt

For the choco fudge icing

8 ounces (225 grammes) plain chocolate, about 45-50% cocoa

4 ounces (115 grammes) salted butter

6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres) whole milk

2 fluid ounces (60 millilitres) evaporated milk, or just use all whole milk instead

8 ounces (225 grammes) caster sugar

METHOD

• Bake the cake according to these directions.
• Make the filling by beating the caramel and butter together. Set aside
• Make the choco fudge icing by boiling the milks and sugar together for about 5 minutes or until it reaches 105C (220F) on a sugar thermometer. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate and butter until smooth and melted. Allow to cool for about an hour, or until spreadable.
• Make the marshmallow topping: mix all the ingredients in a heatproof bowl. Gently heat over simmering water until the sugar dissolves and it’s hot to the touch. Take it off the heat and whip it with an electric hand mixer for a full 7 minutes, until it is marshmallowy light and cool to the touch. For extra accuracy, you can use a thermometer to check the temperature of the egg white syrup, which should reach 70C (160F) before whipping.
• Trim the cake dome, slice in half and sandwich with the caramel filling. Ice the sides with the choco fudge icing, and pipe a decorative border around the edge of the top.
• Either pipe or dollop the marshmallow icing onto the top of the cake, keeping within the border.
• As an extra touch, you can dust some cocoa powder on the top through a fish shaped stencil. I made one out of the cardboard from a cereal box.