Recipe: Tarte au Citron (with a chocolate twist)

Try this easy recipe by Joanne Harris to make a zingy lemon tart with a hint of dark chocolate

PASTRY

– 150g plain flour

– 75g butter, cold and cubed

– 25g unrefined caster sugar

– 1 egg

FILLING 1

– 2 eggs

– 50g unrefined caster sugar

– zest and juice of 2 unwaxed lemons

– 175ml double cream

FILLING 2

– 60g dark chocolate, broken into small, even-sized pieces

– 100ml double cream

• Place the flour and butter in a bowl and rub together until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and mix through. Beat the egg, and mix it through the dry ingredients with a knife, until the pastry comes together in a dough ball.

Then wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.

• Heat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5. Butter a 23cm loose-bottomed flan case.

• Roll the pastry out on a lightly dusted, cool surface to fit the flan case. (Do not stretch the pastry to fit or it will shrink while cooking.) Trim away the excess pastry from the edges. Prick the base with a fork, line with baking parchment, fill with baking beans and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven to 150°C/gas mark 2, take the pastry case from the oven, remove the beans and parchment, and return to the oven and cook for a further ten minutes.

• Meanwhile, make filling 1 by whisking together the eggs, sugar, lemon juice, zest and cream. To make filling 2, melt the chocolate in a bain-marie, then add the cream and stir until smooth.

• Now assemble your work of art. Pour all the lemon mixture into the pastry case, then slowly pour in the chocolate in thin circular drizzles. Using a slim knife, swirl the mixture a little to create a marbled look. Place in the middle of the hot oven (150°C/gas mark 2) for 30 minutes until just set, and serve hot or cold.

Recipe taken from Joanne Harris and Fran Warde’s The Little Book of Chocolat (Doubleday, £12.99 hardback).