Baked Chocolate Easter Tart

Chocolate Tart, made even more delicious with a blob of cream. Photo: Razvan Mirel / Unsplash

Ingredients

Sweet Pastry:

• 175g butter
• 120g icing sugar
• 1 egg 
• 300g standard flour, sifted

Chocolate filling:

• 600g dark chocolate
• 675ml cream
• 225ml milk
• 100g sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp mixed spice

Method

To make the pastry, place the butter and icing sugar in a food processor and cream them. Add the egg and lemon juice, mix until fully combined, then add the flour and pulse the machine until the flour is only just incorporated. Tip the pastry out of the food processor on to a work surface and knead until it forms a smooth dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 22cm diameter tart case with a removable base with butter, and dust with flour. Remove the pastry from the fridge and knead gently to make the dough pliable. Lightly flour the work surface and roll the dough out to about 3mm in thickness.

Roll the pastry on to the rolling pin and drape over the tart case. Using a small ball of excess dough, gently ease the dough into the tart case. (This allows you to press the dough into the tart case without tearing the dough; the heat from your hands can make the pastry delicate.) Place the prepared tart case on to a baking tray, line it with baking paper and fill with uncooked rice. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Place the tart case in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the edges of the tart have started to colour. Remove from the oven and lift out the baking paper with the rice (keep for next time). Return the tart case to the oven to cook for a further 10–15 minutes, or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and set aside. Turn down the oven to 110°C.

Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl. Bring the cream, milk, spices and sugar to the boil, pour on to the chocolate and stir until the mixture becomes dark and glossy, about 5 minutes. Whisk the eggs together, stir into the chocolate and pass through a sieve. Pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared tart case.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the tart has set around the outside but still has a slight wobble in the centre. Remove the tart from the oven and allow to cool for about 2 hours before cutting and serving. Top with mini pastel Easter eggs or dust with cocoa and serve with whipped cream.