Recipe: Nutty Dark Chocolate Mousse Tart

Easter is basically a guilt free pass to eat chocolate for the entire day- or is that just me?  With my family Easter dinner scheduled for tomorrow I have been given the task of making a dessert.  Despite knowing that we will be eating chocolate from the moment we step out of bed I could not surpass a decadent chocolate dessert to top off the day’s celebrations.  My mum last night gave me a basic request for a chocolate type tart which I adapted using various “no-fail” recipes that have served me well in the past. 

The dough recipe is from previous baked tarts that I have used and I find that the addition of almond meal really adds a basic nutty flavour that cuts through the sweetness of the filling.  For the mousse filling I decided to add gelatine to ensure that this would set adequately so that it could be cut and served in slices.  I also add some icing sugar to my mousse recipe as I find that it works as a sweet agent activating the cream to become fluffier-kind of like when you are beating egg whites and adding sugar.

I will have to wait until the big day tomorrow to see how it turns out but the inside word is that all the elements on their own are emazingly sweet.  Happy Easter followers.  X

Ingredients:

Tart Dough:

125 grams of chilled butter

1 cup of Plain Flour

1/3 cup of icing sugar

¼ cup of almond meal

¼ cup of cocoa powder

1 egg yolk

Mousse Filling:

200 grams of dark chocolate

1 ½ cups of thickened cream

2 tablespoons of icing sugar                             

¾ teaspoon of gelatine

1/3 cup of boiling water

Method:

1. Place the butter, flour icing sugar, almond meal and cocoa powder in the bowl of a food processor and process until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.  Add the egg yolk and process until mixture just comes together;
2. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and gently kneed until almost smooth.  Shape into a ball and cover with glad wrap.  Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest;
3. Preheat oven to 200 degrees (fan forced);
4. Roll pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 4mm thick disc.  Line the base and side of a 23 centimetre round fluted tart tin with removable base.  Use a sharp knife to trim the edges.  Place in the fridge for 15 minutes to rest;
5. Place the tart tin on an oven tray.  Line the pastry with baking paper and fill with rice, beans or cooking weights.  Bake in the oven for ten minutes.  Remove the weights and bake for a further five minutes or until pastry is cooked through.  Take out of oven and allow to cool;
6. Place the chocolate and ¾ cup of thickened cream into a saucepan over low heat and stir until melted and smooth.  Remove from the heat;
7. Whisk together the gelatine and boiling water until the gelatine dissolves.  Stir through chocolate mixture and allow to cool;
8. Beat remaining cream with icing sugar in a bowl until stiff peaks form.  Fold through the chocolate mixture.  Spoon into the tart base and smooth on top; and
9. Chill for four hours or until firm.
   
   

Tips:

You really need to allow the dough to rest otherwise it will be a nuisance to work with.  Be patient in the first instance and it will pay off later.

If your dough is sticking when you are rolling it out, try rolling it on baking paper.

Use good quality dark chocolate.