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Dark chocolate and raspberry tart

by Jeanne Horak on February 20, 2009 18 Comments in Dessert, Recipes - baking, Recipes - vegetarian

ChocRaspberryTartTitleWeb 

Aaaaah… sweet, sweet Friday.  I thought you'd never come.

When I was at university, I never had lectures on a Friday afternoon.  I would drive off our huge campus (our campus was the biggest in the Southern hemisphere, and a nature reserve to boot!) in my little Ford Escort and if I saw anybody I knew on the balcony at the Humewood Mansions, I'd park and pop in for a drink.  There, we'd make plans for the weekend – were there any residence clubhouse parties?  Or maybe the architecture students were having one of their fabulous avant garde discos at the Sea Scout hall. Or maybe we'd just go clubbing at Lillies, or Limelight.  The night was alive with possibilities.  Would I bump into whichever boy I had a crush on?  Would we kiss?  There was seriously no night quite as exciting on a Friday night.

These days, I hit the gym on Friday nights.  It may have something to do with wanting to have a lie-in on Saturdays and not get up early for gym.  It almost certainly has something to do with a looming ski holiday in a chalet with a hot tub, and not wanting to resemble a beluga whale that has improbably beached itself in the french Alps… 

Or it could just be called "being a grown-up" 🙂

If you're feeling grown-up this weekend and in need of a dessert to match, look no further than this dark chocolate tart with raspberries, which our friend John made for us on new year's eve.  There is very little about it that's sweet:  there's lemon in the pastry; the raspberries are tart; and the chocolate is dark and sultry rather than sweet and milky.  But what it lacks in sweetness, it more than compensates for in sheer decadence – and it's guaranteed to make you fall in love with Friday nights all over again.

The recipe comes from The Ultimate Mixer Cookbook by Kay Halsey, written specially to help you make the most of your KitchenAid stand mixer.  Yes, John and Suzie own a KitchenAid.  No, I don't. Yet.

But the day I buy one, I'll really know I'm a grown-up.

ChocolateRaspberryTartCollage

DARK CHOCOLATE AND RASPBERRY TART (serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

FOR THE LEMON PASTRY CASE:
200g plain flour
50g icing sugar
Grated zest of 1/4 lemon
150g butter
3 Tbsp ground almonds
1 egg
large pinch of salt

FOR THE FILLING:
300g dark cooking chocolate (I used 70%)
2 Tbsp creme fraiche
100g butter
350g Raspberries (I cut them in half top to bottom)

Place the flour, icing sugar, lemon zest, butter, ground almonds, egg, and salt into a mixing bowl.  Using an electric mixer, mix on slow speed until the mixture leaves the sides of the bowl clean.  (If using a KitchenAid, use the dough hook on speed 1 or 2.)  Shape the pastry dough into a ball, press down and reshape it – do this three times.  Wrap in clingfilm and leave to rest in a cool place for 3 hours. 
 
After 3 hours, Preheat the oven to 210C.  Roll the pastry into a circle on a lightly floured surface and use to line a greased tart tin.  (John used a 30cm tin and left bits hanging over the side for a rustic look, "which helped cover up the uneven rolling"!) Make a few holes in the pastry with a fork, fill with some baking beans and blind bake for 10 minutes.  Take out the beans and bake for 15 more minutes.  Remove the pastry case from the oven and take out of the tin.  Set aside to cool.

In the meantime, melt the choclate in a double boiler or in a heat proof bowl over, but not touching, a saucepan of boiling water.  Place the creme fraiche in a small saucepan and bring almost to the boil, then pour the melted chocolate into the hot creme fraiche.  Cut the butter into small knobs and mix in until completely melted.

To assemble, arrange the raspberries in the bottom of the pastry case and pour the chocolate mixture over them.  Set aside for 30 minutes to cool at room temperature and then chill in the refrigerator for 1.5hrs until chocoalte has set.     
 
Garnish with fresh raspberries and serve with a glass of sparkling wine.

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  1. Jan says

    February 21, 2009 at 6:13 am

    That’s a nice looking tart – I really like the idea of lemon in the pastry!
    Talking about a KitchenAid mixer – You made me laugh when you said ‘When I buy one, I’ll really know I’m a grown-up!! LOL

    Reply
  2. Johanna says

    February 21, 2009 at 7:07 am

    I can live without a kitchen aid and gym on Fridays but I think all I need to prove how grown up I am is the craving I now have for a piece of this luscious tart 🙂

    Reply
  3. Meeta says

    February 21, 2009 at 8:53 am

    this is just the kind of dessert that makes me weak! I love the choc-rasberry combination. this looks great!

    Reply
  4. Sophie says

    February 21, 2009 at 9:02 am

    This choclate tarte looks divine! MMMMMMM….

    Reply
  5. Katie says

    February 21, 2009 at 10:34 am

    What a delicious looking tart!
    I felt super grown up when I got my kitchenaid, but now it makes so much of a mess I’m back to being a kid 😀
    Katie xox

    Reply
  6. Paz says

    February 21, 2009 at 1:41 pm

    Wow! Now, this looks GOOD.
    Paz 😉

    Reply
  7. elra says

    February 21, 2009 at 3:25 pm

    Chocolate and berry are my favorite. Your tart look really delicious.
    Have a good week end Jeanne!
    Elra

    Reply
  8. Bellini Valli says

    February 21, 2009 at 6:24 pm

    Rasbperries and chocolate always go perfectly together!!!

    Reply
  9. Kevin says

    February 21, 2009 at 6:47 pm

    That chocolate tart looks amazing with the bright red fresh raspberries in it! Raspberries and chocolate are such a great combination.

    Reply
  10. NAOmni says

    February 21, 2009 at 7:05 pm

    The older I get, the more I appreciate the brilliance that are raspberries!
    NAOmni

    Reply
  11. Ros says

    February 22, 2009 at 2:28 pm

    Chocolate done in a grown up way is the best thing. I guess that’s why half my disposable income is spent at Hotel Chocolat. The sparkling wine sounds like the perfect partner to the tart.
    Now last Friday I didn’t go to the pub at all for a change. I got caught by the lads in our school bridge club and somehow ended up playing bridge with them until well past eight. Does playing bridge with teenagers on a Friday night make you more or less grown up?

    Reply
  12. grace says

    February 22, 2009 at 3:20 pm

    oh jeanne! this looks like chocolate frosting simply slathered onto a delightful crust. i would devour this tart whole.

    Reply
  13. Peter says

    February 22, 2009 at 10:20 pm

    Oh goodness Jeanne, I think I’ve just died & gone to chocolat heaven!

    Reply
  14. Browniegirl says

    February 23, 2009 at 1:14 pm

    Yep! My sister is the only grown up I know around here who has one of these. It seems to be taking me forever to grow up enough to get one……I DID borrow hers for about 6 months early 2008. She eventually came to fetch it and brought with her a brand new Kenwood Chef Major so I didn’t protest tooooo much at the beloved Blue Bomb leaving my kitchen counter… This tert looks decadent girl….xxx

    Reply
  15. courtney says

    February 23, 2009 at 5:16 pm

    I think you need to remedy that KA situation soon.:-) I love rich, not overly sweet desserts. There is no way your skinny self will ever look like a beached whale. But at least you will be fit and ready for the slopes.

    Reply
  16. ChefBliss says

    February 23, 2009 at 8:24 pm

    This looks DELICIOUS!!!!

    Reply
  17. ingrid says

    February 26, 2009 at 9:23 pm

    Looks and sounds good. I prefer my chocolate desserts just like you described dark and sultry.
    ~ingrid

    Reply
  18. Karen says

    March 11, 2009 at 11:57 pm

    oh my gosh, you have me drooling. this is going to be my next dessert.

    Reply

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Jeanne Horak-Druiff is a freelance food and travel writer as well as a recipe developer and photographer. She is a South African by birth and a Londoner by choice who has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Please get in touch to commission work from her. Read More…

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