Today is the 1st of February, which means that anyone who is in possession of a Keston Kitchen 2011 calendar will be turning the page to feast their eyes on the second recipe.
The recipe this month is a dark chocolate tart laced with orange, the recipe is also written below and as promised on the calendar, I have included full pastry making instructions.
I made the tart pictured on the weekend and to the delight of my work mates (and the disgust of my housemates) took it into the office on Monday to be devoured.
The quantities here actually make a bit more pastry than you need but you can trim of the excess to leave a neat edge and use the left overs to make another mini tart or anything else that you fancy.
When I was younger I was a REALLY fussy eater but pastry was always something that I liked helping my mum to make and also to eat. When we had to provide a recipe for the primary school cook book, I picked jam roly poly which is just jam spread on leftover shortcrust pastry, rolled up and baked along side the pie or tart you are making. They still taste pretty good!
Ingredients (enough for a 23cm/ 9 inch tart tin or 4-6 tartlet cases):
Sweet shortcrust pastry:
150g plain flour
30g icing sugar
75g unsalted butter cut into cubes
Zest of half an orange
1 egg yolk
A dribble of milk
Chocolate filling:
200g dark chocolate (I used 70%)
200ml double cream
50ml milk
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp of orange liqueur (Cointreau)
Zest of half an orange
Method:
Sieve the icing sugar and flour into a mixing bowl, add the cubed butter and rub it in with your fingers until the mixture looks like bread crumbs, add the beaten egg yolk and a few drops of milk until the crumbs clump together and you can form the pastry into a ball. Dust with flour, wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for 30-60 minutes. Roll out the chilled pastry (either homemade or pre-bought) to the thickness of a pound coin and put into the greased tart tin/ tartlet tins, then chill in the fridge for another 30 minutes before baking, this helps reduce shrinking and cracking during cooking.
Pre-heat the oven to 180C
Line the tart(s) with greaseproof paper and bake blind using baking beads (or rice or dried chickpeas) for 10 minutes. Then remove the beans and paper and bake for a further 5-10 minutes until the pastry has just started to turn golden.
To make the filling, heat the cream and milk in a saucepan. Chop the chocolate into small bits and place in a heatproof bowl. When the cream is just about to boil, pour it over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted. Beat the egg in another bowl and then add the chocolate mixture a bit at a time, whisking as you go. Finally stir in the zest and Cointreau before pouring the mixture into the pre-baked pastry case(s).
Bake at 180C for 10-15 minutes until the chocolate mixture has begun to set. Turn the oven off but leave the tart(s) inside to cool slowly for about 30 minutes. Remove and allow to completely cool. Just before serving, dust with icing sugar. I cut a heart shape out of greaseproof paper and used it to mask the centre before sieving over the icing sugar.
The tart is very dark and not too sweet, maybe serve a slice with some whipped cream or ice cream.
Happy baking!
Rachael x
