Raspberry and chocolate tart

Method
Prep:30min  ›  Cook:30min  ›  Extra time:20min cooling  ›  Ready in:1hr20min 

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C / Gas 4.
2. Firstly, we need to make the pastry and bake the pastry crust. Use an electric mixer with the beater attachment to cream the 80g butter and 70g caster sugar together. The mixture should be light in colour and slightly fluffy in texture.
3. Beat the 1 egg and gradually add the vanilla extract, mixing all the time.
4. Once all the egg has been incorporated, you can add the sieved plain flour and salt, continuing to mix until a smooth dough is formed. The pastry should be soft but not sticky, if it sticks to your finger when poked just add a bit more flour.
5. To make the pastry crust, take a 22cm tart dish and lightly oil or butter it.
6. Lightly flour a surface and a rolling pin, then roll out the sweet pastry dough, working it in each direction to ease the shape out into a very rough and ready circle. Take up the rolled sweet pastry dough and layer it over the tart dish. Prick all over the surface. Patch any tears or thin areas with extra pastry that can simply be worked into the dough in the dish. Ideally, chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes, but you can bake immediately.
7. Now line the crust; I scrunch up some aluminium foil, roll it into a roundish length and shape it around the edge of the pastry crust to keep the edges shaped and upright.
8. Bake the crust for 18 to 20 minutes until it is lightly coloured. Start cooling on a rack for use later.
9. Increase heat of oven to 190 C / Gas 5.
10. Sprinkle the ripe raspberries evenly over the baked pastry crust.
11. Melt the dark chocolate in a bowl over boiling water and carefully melt the 115g butter separately in a pan, making sure the butter does not burn. Allow them to cool to a touch warm temperature.
12. Using a small hand whisk, gently stir the 2 egg yolks and 3 eggs into the melted chocolate; don’t be vigorous as you are not trying to get air in, just to mix thoroughly.
13. Next, add the 2 tablespoons caster sugar and stir that in. Finally, gently and patiently work in the melted butter.
14. Pour the chocolate mixture over the raspberries in the tart shell.
15. Bake the tart for 11 minutes - no more, no less. This gives you a tart that is still a bit wobbly in the centre. Leave to cool on a rack. Serve at room temperature or cold.

Tip

The tart can be eaten warm after 20 minutes or cooled overnight in the fridge and eaten cold the next day. It will be denser and richer in the morning, which I prefer.

Tip

You can melt the dark chocolate and butter in a microwave if you prefer.

See it on my blog

Original Herme Recipe At Axel Steenberg Blog