Chocolate Crusted Lemon Tart

This weekend I wanted to make something sweet & I had a bit of a chocolate craving, so I flicked through all of my books for the perfect recipe that would not require a mix master (I still haven’t decided what to buy). I ended up with this tart from Green & Blacks Chocolate Recipes, I adore a good lemon tart & have never had one with a chocolate base before & thought it sounded even better than a plain crust, I wasn’t far wrong, I loved it & the two flavours were perfect together, it would be even better with some fresh berries alongside too I think. Yum!

Chocolate Crusted Lemon Tart

Pastry
175g plain flour
25g cocoa
pinch of salt
25g icing sugar
125g unsalted butter, chilled & diced
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoons cold water

Filling
75g dark chocolate, grated
3 juicy unwaxed lemons
150g caster sugar
4 large eggs
150ml double cream
icing sugar to sprinkle

To make the pastry, sift together the flour, cocoa, salt & icing sugar. Rub in the cold butter using a food processor or your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Mix the egg yolk with the water, and add to the mixture to make a dough. You may need to a little more water. Gather the pastry into a ball, wrap it in greaseproof paper (or glad wrap as I did) & chill in the fridge for about 1 hour.

Roll out the pastry from the centre and away from you, then back to the centre & down towards you, using your weight to push down on it to avoid stretching it. Line a 23cm tart tin with a removable base with the pastry. Prick the pastry base with a fork in several places & chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 200c. Line the pastry case with foil & baking beans ad bake for 15 minutes, then remove the foil & beans & bake for another 5 minutes. Remove the tin from the oven & reduce the oven temperature to 170c. While the pastry is still hot, scatter the grated chocolate evenly over the base & then leave to cool.

To make the filling, finely grate the zest from the lemons into a mixing bowl. Squeeze and strain the lemon juice & add it to the zest with the sugar. Whisk until the sugar has dissolved, then whisk in the eggs & cream until the mixture is smooth.

Pour the filling into the cooled pastry case & carefully return it to the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes until just set. Remove from the oven & leave on a wire rack to cool completely before removing from the tin. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Chocolate Berry Torte

To finish off the bbq on the weekend & to celebrate James birthday, of course I had to finish with a cake. Today I chose this wicked chocolate Torte from Green and Black’s Chocolate recipes. It was sensational, note the small amount of flour which resulted in a thin intense cake which was rich, smooth & a perfect blend of chocolate and berries, as well as the suggested whipped cream I also served it with a berry coulis but forgot to serve with the extra berries!

Chocolate Berry Torte

Torte
25g plain flour
5 teaspoons cocoa powder
75g dark chocolate, minimum 60% cocoa solids, broken into pieces
25g unsalted butter
5 teaspoons double cream
4 egg whites
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons caster sugar
250g fresh blueberries or raspberries
125ml whipping cream, to serve

Icing
100g dark chocolate, minimum 60% cocoa solids, broken into pieces
50g unsalted butter
3 tablespoons double cream
1 teaspoon icing sugar

Preheat oven to 140c. Butter and line a 18-20cm cake tin with greaseproof paper.

Sift together the flour & cocoa & set aside.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl suspended over barley simmering water. Remove from the heat, add the butter & the cream, and stir well until the mixture is quite liquid.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form, add the sugar & continue to whisk until thick & glossy. Beat together the egg yolks & then gently fold in the flour & cocoa mixture. Add the melted chocolate & mix well. Spoon a few dollops of egg white into the mixture, stir, then gently fold in the remainder of the egg whites.

Gently pour half the mixture into the prepared cake tin, dot half the berries evenly over it, then pour the rest of the mixture on top of the berries.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes and unmould on to a wire rack to cool.

To make the icing, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl suspended over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Remove from the heat, stir in the butter, cream & icing sugar. Immediately pour over the cake to coat it completely, smoothing the icing using a palette knife. Leave for 1 hour to harden.

Serve with whipped cream & remaining berries.

Chocolate Truffles & Sugar High Friday!

For the latest Sugar High Friday the theme is truffles & the host is The Passionate Cook. Now I love truffles yet have never made them before so I thought I would start at the beginning & make some traditional French style truffles from Green & Black’s Chocolate Cook book. These are predominantly a chocolate ganache, dusted with cocoa powder. Apparently they were first called truffles as they looked like real freshly dug truffles of the fungus type! They are absolutely wickedly delicious, dense & rich in a very adult dark chocolatey way that I love and I feel even more guilty eating these as opposed to bought ones as I know exactly what went into them. Not too time consuming though you do have to start at least 3 hours or so before hand to get the required amount of refrigeration time. Also today in Melbourne it’s quite hot, up there in the 30’s, so I found I had to roll them in batches as the mixture started getting a bit melty after about 10 truffles, so I popped the mix batch in the fridge every now & then. Yum, now I have to try & give some away before I eat them all.

Micah’s Truffles

275g dark chocolate, minimum 60% cocoa solids, broken into pieces
250ml double cream
50g unsalted butter, at room temperature
50g cocoa powder

Place the chocolate in a large bowl. Bring the cream to the boil & pur it over the chocolate. Stir gently until the chocolate has melted, trying not to create bubbles. Leave to cool for 2 minutes, then add the butter in 2 stages & stir in gently. Once the butter is incorporated, the ganache should be smooth & glossy with no oil slick on the surface. Set the mix in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours or overnight.

Remove from the fridge about 15 minutes before you want to make the truffles, depending on room temperature. Put the cocoa into a bowl. Ensure your hands are cold & dry, then dust them with cocoa. Take teaspoonfuls of the ganache mix & roll the mixture in to a ball in your cocoa dusted hands. Drop each truffle in the bowl of cocoa, roll it around then toss between your palms to remove any excess powder. The truffles can then be returned to the fridge and kept for up to 2 days as long as they are stored in an airtight container. Serve straight from the fridge or at room temperature.

Chocolate Brazil Soft Baked Biscuits

These bickies are from Green & Black’s Chocolate Recipes, love the chocolate now I have the book, hope the recipes are all as luscious as the chocolate itself. I found the dough was a bit difficult. After 1 tablespoon of milk it was still a little dry so added a bit more, then it was a bit too sticky so threw in some extra flour. It then seemed the right consistency though it was still quite difficult to roll. Anyhow cut the cookies & got to the baking, the first batch seemed a bit overdone after 20 minutes so cut down the time to about 16-17 minutes for the second tray which seemed more like it. In the end they tasted pretty good but I found them to be a little dry, I prefer my cookies on the moist & chewy side. They are for the boys at work so will have to wait & see what the verdict is from them!

Chocolate Brazil Soft Baked Biscuits

75g unsalted butter
60g caster sugar
1 large egg, beaten
175g wholemeal self-raising flour
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons milk
75g dark chocolate, minimum 60% cocoa solids, roughly chopped
75g milk chocolate, pref 34% cocoa solids, roughly chopped
50g brazil nuts, chopped
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180c. Grease a baking sheet with melted butter

Cream together the butter and sugar in a bowl until light & fluffy. Beat in the egg. Sift the flour once, returning the bran to the sifted flour, then fold it into the mixture. The bran gives a distinctive texture & flavour to the biscuits. Beat well, adding the vanilla extract and sufficient milk to make a pliable dough. Mix it with your hands, adding the milk in stages until the dough is fairly soft, but not sticky. Add the chopped chocolate, nuts & salt and distribute evenly through the dough. Roll out on to a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 5mm. Stamp into rounds & place biscuits, spaced well apart, on the greased baking sheet.

Bake in the centre of the oven for about 20 minutes. Watch carefully so they don’t overcook. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the baking tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 20

Chocolate & cherry brownies

It’s Michaels birthday tomorrow & Cherry ripes are his fave chocolate so when I saw this recipe on Niki at Esurientes blog I knew I just had to make them for Michael. Niki used morello cherries which apparently could have caused them not too cook properly in the required time so I used dried cherries, looking back I would have used more than 100g to give a more intense cherry hit. Mine were really yummy but very, very moist in the centre – not liquid though. I like them this way & having never made brownies before I’m not sure just what texture they should be in the end. Will have to wait & see what the boy thinks.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL!

Chocolate & Cherry Brownies

From Green and Black’s Chocolate Recipes: Unwrapped - From the Cacao Pod to Muffins, Mousses and Moles
300 g unsalted butter
300 g dark chocolate (minimum 60%, broken into pieces)
5 large eggs
400 g granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
200g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
100 g of dried cherries

Grease a roasting or baking tray.In a bowl (placed on top of a pot of boiling water) melt the butter and chocolate together until thick and creamyMeanwhile beat together sugar, eggs and vanilla extract until thick and creamy. The mixture should easily coat the back of a spoon.Once the butter-chocolate mixture has melted, remove from stove and beat into the egg mixtureSift the flour and salt together, and add to the wet ingredients. Mix until mixture is well combined.Drain morello cherries and fold into the brownie mixture.Pour mixture into the tray and bake for 20 - 30 minutes at 180COnce finished baking, allow to cool and cut into pieces.