Chocolate tart recipe

Michelin-starred chef Daniel Galmiche reveals his take on an indulgent tarte au chocolat with this Chocolate, Chilli and Lemongrass Tart

Infused with lemongrass and chilli and made with the finest cocoa, this superb chocolate tart has a rich texture, a silky silhouette and lovely crisp pastry, which is a combination bound to make you happy. I almost decided not to give any of the details away, but it was just too good to keep to myself!

This recipe serves 4-6 people

Preparation time: 15 minutes, plus 50 minutes chilling and 1½ hours setting

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the chocolate pastry

*90g cup plain flour

*1 tbsp good-quality dark cocoa powder

*60g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing (optional)

*30g cup icing sugar

*a pinch of salt

*1 large egg yolk

For the chocolate filling

*250ml cup whipping cream

*1 large really fresh lemongrass stalk, cut in half lengthways and bruised

*2 small red chillies, deseeded and roughly chopped

*200g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids, roughly chopped

*20g unsalted butter, softened

Can serve with Orange, Cardamom and Thyme Salad made with ordinary oranges

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Method

1. To make the sweet pastry, sift the flour and cocoa powder into a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, salt and egg yolk until light and fluffy. Sift in the flour mixture, then fold it through gently until it just begins to form a dough, then stop! You don’t want to work this pastry at all. Wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for 20 minutes.

2. Grease an 18cm/7in non-stick, loose-bottomed flan tin with a little butter, if necessary. Roll out the pastry between two sheets of baking paper until 3mm/¹?8in thick, then roll the pastry over the rolling pin and lift it over the flan tin. With one hand, lift the pastry edge and with the other, gently tuck the pastry into the bottom and sides of the tin so that it fits tightly. Don’t overstretch it or it will break, and press down gently to push out any bubbles. Trim off any excess pastry by rolling the pin over the top edge of the tin. Prick the base with a fork and chill for 25–30 minutes to prevent the pastry shrinking during baking.

3. Meanwhile to make the filling, put the cream in a saucepan over a medium heat and bring just to a simmer. Remove from the heat, add the lemongrass and chilli, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place to infuse for 30 minutes.

4. Towards the end of the chilling/infusing time, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Line the pastry case with baking paper and cover with baking beans. Bake for 6 minutes, then remove the paper and

baking beans, turn the oven down to 160°C/315°F/gas 2½ and bake for

a further 3–4 minutes until the pastry is cooked through and light brown.

5. Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and rest it over a saucepan of gently simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Heat, stirring, until the chocolate has melted. Remove the cling film from the cream and strain to discard the lemongrass and chillies. Pour the cream slowly into the chocolate mix, whisking all the time until you have a soft, shiny, chocolate ribbon. Pour it into the pastry case and leave to one side in a cool place for 1½ hours until just set. Do not put it in the fridge as this will take the shine off the chocolate. Serve sliced with the orange salad.

Extract from:

Revolutionary French Cooking by Daniel Galmiche, Duncan Baird Publishers 2014, commissioned photography by Yuki Sugiura