Chocolate Tart

Done well, chocolate tart is a joy, but done badly, I'd rather eat a motorway Scotch egg. Recipes for it are often overly neurotic in their process, and I always approve of a good shortcut. So here is a brilliant one, based on Joyce Molyneux's, a chef I admire greatly. I have added coffee. This tart is foolproof – that is unless you are an utter nincompoop.

Recipe author: Valentine Warner
What To Eat Now
Photography by Howard Sooley
Reproduced courtesy of Mitchell Beazley

Publisher's Copyrighted Material

1. Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / Gas 4. Grease a 30cm tart tin
   
   PASTRY:
   Put the flour and sugar in a food processor and blitz in with the butter. When the mixture is in fine crumbs, start adding the egg yolks, which you have beaten – this stops them streaking the pastry and water. When all is combined, bring it together with your hands on the work surface, but do not knead it. Wrap it in clingfilm and rest it for 2 hours in the fridge. Preheat the oven to 190C / 375F / Gas 5. Roll out the pastry and line the tart tin, pressing down into the corners. Prick all over the base with a fork. Line the case with a sheet of baking paper and pour in a good amount of ceramic baking beans. Cook for 20 – 25 minutes before removing the beans and paper and returning it to the oven for 5 minutes until nicely rich and golden in colour. Allow to cool.
2. FILLING:
   Bring the cream to a simmer on a medium heat. In the meantime, break the chocolate into pieces and put in a food processor with the sugar. Add the coffee here too, if required. When the cream has come to heat, turn on the processor (the racket won't last long). Gently pour in the hot cream while the blades whiz round, then break in both the raw eggs. The hot cream will melt the chocolate. Whiz the whole lot for 20 seconds before pouring it straight into the awaiting tart case.
   
   Jiggle the sides a bit to help create an even surface and bring any air bubbles to the top. Leave in a cool place or the fridge to set. It will not take long. Do not go poking your fingers in it while it is setting; you will lose the velvet smooth surface and any self-respecting tracker will be able to follow your prints and hunt you down.
   
   Stand at room temperature for an hour before serving. When ready to eat, sieve over the cocoa powder until you cannot see the filling underneath. Eat it!
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