The Healing Tart

We had a family dinner last night - a casual affair to celebrate the success of my Aunty's surgery last week; plus two of my cousins were around for the weekend (a rare event since we're now all in our 20's).

Usually, I'm not huge on the 'Sunday Night Family Dinner' as I'd much prefer to have a quiet couch night after a hectic weekend; but as it was a 'special occasion' I whipped up a little dessert.

C H O C O L A T E ,   C A R A M E L   A N D   H A Z E L N U T   T A R T

Chocolate, Caramel & Hazelnut Tart

Admittedly it only looked pretty until we served it up; at which point it turned into a gooey mess of chocolatey goodness.

This tart is the beginning of my new self-imposed challenge - 

Bake something I've never baked before.

After this post about baking the same cakes, biscuits, desserts all the time, I decided to step outside my normal repertoire of recipes and try something different.

I started with this Chocolate Tart - because chocolate is always a winner.

Ingredients

150g (1 cup) plain flour

60g (1/3 cup) icing sugar mixture

30g (1/4 cup) almond meal

125g chilled unsalted butter, coarsely chopped

1 egg yolk

1 x 100g pkt ground hazelnuts

160g (1 cup, lightly packed) brown sugar

350ml pouring cream

90g unsalted butter, extra, chopped

2 x 100g pkts good-quality dark chocolate, finely chopped

Cocoa powder, to dust

How ?

Step 1

Preheat oven to 200°C. Place the flour, icing sugar, almond meal and butter in the bowl of a food processor and process until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and process until the mixture just comes together. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until just smooth. Shape into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

Step 2

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 4mm-thick disc. Line a round 3.5cm-deep, 22cm (base measurement) fluted tart tin, with removable base, with pastry and trim any excess. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.

Step 3

Line the pastry with non-stick baking paper. Fill with pastry weights or rice. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Remove paper and pastry weights or rice. Bake for 6 minutes or until light golden. Set aside to cool slightly. Sprinkle with the hazelnuts.

Step 4

Place the brown sugar, 150ml of cream and extra butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until the sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 6 minutes or until the caramel thickens. Pour over the pastry base. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes to cool.

Step 5

Heat 200ml cream in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Remove from heat. Add the chocolate and stir until smooth. Pour over the caramel. Use the back of a tablespoon to smooth the surface. Place in the fridge for 1 1/2 hours to chill.

Step 6

Dust the tart with cocoa powder and cut into wedges. Serve at room temperature.

According to my Aunty - this Tart is just what the Doctor ordered...

xx