I promised you dessert last week. And I kept my word… I know the Lent has officially started so…apologies in advance. A couple of weeks back in London, I didn’t really have to try hard to convince Eugenia about my choice of dessert.  Uttering words such as: “chocolate, tart, with ganache and raspberries” was a quick and easy sell. “Get on it”, she said. I was only happy to oblige.

Head straight to the chocolate raspberries tart.

Why I love this chocolate raspberry tart: interestingly it comes in a rectangular shape, breaking the ‘round pie’ conventions. Upon showing up in the middle of tables, peeps go “wowzers”! What they are looking at is a huge shiny chocolate slab decorated with neat lines of loudly pink raspberries. You’re now probably thinking:  “Oh, I need to buy a rectangular tart dish for this!” Trust me: it is money very well-spent. You will be making this tart again and again and again.

If you like things organised neatly (or have OCDs…seriously!) this is the recipe for you. It’s positively your own work of art. If you bestow on (your) kids the grand duty of decorating it, they’ll love it! And there’s always an opportunity for ickle fingers to get stuck in chocolate ganache, ready for slurping.

Also interestingly, (almost delightfully), this chocolate raspberry tart can flirt with a variety of fruits for topping: raspberries and/or blackberries, strawberries, green and black grapes, cherries (no stones…). I’ve tried them all. Just be creative. The result will be equally stunning. I’d stick to small ‘bite-size’ fruits and avoid larger or sliced fruits.

I like baking and I spend a considerable amount of time looking up recipes. Whilst surfing I stumbled upon the chocolate raspberry tart recipe by Heather Christo™ and couldn’t take my eyes off it. I have made it countless times since I discovered it, without failing once! It is very easy. I’ve adapted the original recipe a little. After a few goes, I decided I’d like to mix dark and milk chocolate to balance out the sharpness and acidity of the berries. I’ve worked out the metrics for you. It’s for 6 to 8 people, by the way. On her site, Heather Christo™ has taken step-by-step photos (she’s that NICE!), which are a great resource.

For your showstopper chocolate raspberry tart you will need:

Print Recipe

Chocolate Raspberry Tart

Course: Dessert

Servings: 10 servings

Ingredients

• 100 gr all-purpose flour
• 100 gr icing sugar
• 35 gr cocoa powder
• 225 gr very cold butter cut into little chunks
• 1/2 tsp salt

For the chocolate ganache:

• 125 gr dark chocolate
• 125 gr milk chocolate
• 170 gr double cream
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 tbsp butter
• 350 gr fresh raspberries

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 200C and butter the tart dish.
• In a food processor (unless you’re good at making it by hand), combine the flour, cocoa, the icing sugar and salt and give it a slight whiz to mix. Then add the butter chunks and pulse until the dough comes together in a big clump.
• Remove the blade, grab the dough and transfer to the tart dish. Use your fingers press and stretch the dough patiently to all directions until you have an as equally thick as possible shell. You can use the back of a wooden spoon to shape it.
• Put in the oven (middle shelf) and bake for 10’-12’.
• Take it out of the oven and place on a flat and heatproof area. By this time it will look like the dough has slid back. There will probably be bubbles. Take a fork or toothpick and gently poke a few holes to release the steam; with the back of a wooden spoon press the dough back to reshape the shell. We’re not looking for a geometrically perfect shell, ladies and gentlemen. Just make sure the dough is evenly distributed around. Usually the corners come out thicker – just a heads up!
• Put back in the oven and bake for an extra 5’. Take it out and if required, repeat the fork/wooden spoon process, if needed for the last time. Then let it cool down completely, ideally by an open window. By the time you’ll make the ganache it will be good to go.

Now to the ganache…tada-dada:

• Break both chocolates into small pieces in a heatproof bowl.
• In a small pot pour the cream and vanilla essence and bring to a gentle simmer. Whisk regularly to stop the cream from sticking to the bottom.
• When it starts bubbling gently, pour over the chocolate in the bowl and start whisking it into the hot cream. As soon as it starts melting add the butter and keep whisking, until the ganache is soft and silky.
• Pour the ganache carefully into the cool shell and gently spread it evenly with a spatula or the back of a wooden spoon. Let it stay for 10’-15’ until it has set and firmed up a bit.
• Show time folks! Take the raspberries (or whatever fruits you have chosen) and stick them lightly into the ganache in neat and nice rows. Re-position if you should, step back and…voila!

Looks great, huh? Go grab your phone for a snap before you stick it in the fridge for a couple of hours at least, before you slice and enjoy.

Tip: you may want to take the chocolate raspberry tart out of the fridge 15’ before slicing. It’s easier to slice the tart shell this way without crumbling it 🙂

Good bye for now…

From London with love,

Konstantinos and Eugenia

by