
Chocolate Easter Egg Tart
SERVES: 10 • TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR 40 MINUTES
Ingredients:
For the Crisp Chocolate Pastry
175g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
25g cocoa powder
50g icing sugar
100g chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 medium egg yolk
4 tsp cold water
For the Chocolate Filling
150mL whole milk
500mL double cream
65g golden caster sugar
300g dark chocolate (ideally 70 per cent cocoa solids), broken into small squares
2 medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
For Decorating
Cocoa powder for dusting
Mini chocolate eggs of your choice
Directions:
For the Pastry:
Sift the flour, cocoa powder, icing sugar and a pinch of salt into a food processor. Add the butter and whizz until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Beat the egg yolk briefly with the water. Add to the food processor and whizz until the mixture starts to stick together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until smooth. Shape into a flat disc, wrap in cling film, then chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll it out thinly on a flour-dusted surface. Use it to line a greased 25 x 4 centimetres deep, loose–bottomed tart tin. Trim the pastry edges, then chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Put a baking tray onto the middle shelf of the oven and preheat to 200°C. Line the pastry case with a sheet of crumpled baking paper and a layer of baking beans or rice, then blind bake on the preheated baking tray for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beans/rice and blind bake for 5 more minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool and crisp. Turn the oven down to 170°C.
For the Filling:
Put the milk, cream and sugar into a pan and slowly bring to the boil, stirring gently. Take off the heat, add the chocolate squares and stir until smooth. Cool slightly, add the eggs and vanilla extract, then mix together well.
Pour filling into pastry case and then carefully slide the tart back onto the baking tray in the oven. Cook for 20–30 minutes or until the filling is cooked but still slightly wobbly. It will continue firming up as it cools. Remove and leave to cool somewhere cold (but not in the fridge) until set.
Decorate:
Decorate the top with a generous dusting of cocoa and mini Easter eggs.