malt chocolate tart

when you don’t know what to pair with chocolate, just pair it with more chocolate;)

pastry

180g butter, softened

90g sugar

240g flour

30g cocoa powder

pinch of salt

chocolate mousse

120g eggs

50g sugar

160g dark chocolate

260g whipping cream, whipped to medium peaks

praline

60g water

200g sugar

300g roasted hazelnuts

malt ganache

250g milk chocolate

100g whipping cream

1tbsp malt powder

glaze

100g whipping cream

50g dark chocolate

100g whipping cream, whipped to medium peaks

you’ll need 4 4inch tart rings

pastry

combine the butter, sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer beat until smooth. add the flour, cocoa powder, and salt, mix until everything is combined and there are no dry patches. shape the dough into a disc, wrap in cling film, refrigerate for 30mins to 1hour.

on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to your desired thickness, then cut out 6-7inch circles, press the pastry circles into the tart rings, making sure to squeeze it into the corners so you get nice edges. chill the shells for 20 mins.

preheat the oven to 325F.

bake for 10-20 minutes, until the pastry is crisp.

*it can be a little hard to tell if the pastry is cooked by colour because of the cocoa, but if you touch the pastry is should feel kinda brittle or fragile.

mousse

combine the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, set the bowl over a water bath on medium-high heat, continually whisking until the mixture reaches 60C. once it reaches the right temp return the bowl to the stand mixer, then whisk on high until it’s 35C.

while the egg mixture is cooling, melt the chocolate using a clean bowl set over the water bath, melt/cool the chocolate to 35C. once the eggs and chocolate are the same temperatures, whisk the chocolate into the eggs until fully combined.

fold one-third of the chocolate mixture into the whipped cream, then fold in the remaining mixture in two additions, folding it just enough so that there are no steaks left and the mousse is still airy.

*you’ll need a silicone mould or something similar

pour the mousse into the moulds, freeze until solid, then cut the discs in half and keep them frozen.

praline

spread the hazelnuts out onto a large tray with parchment paper.

melt the sugar and water in a saucepan, then bring it to a nice amber colour, pour the hot caramel over the hazelnuts, leave for 1 hour until it’s cool and hard.

break the praline into pieces and blend, either using a food processer or blender, until a smooth slightly runny paste forms.

spread 1-2 tbsp of the praline into the bottom of the pastry case.

*you can freeze the rest.

ganache

place the chocolate in a small bowl.

in a saucepan, bring the cream and malt powder to just a boil, once hot pour the cream over the chocolate, stir until combined.

pour the ganache into the pastry case, leave it to set in the fridge(2-4 hours or overnight)

glaze

bring the cream to a boil, then pour over the chocolate, stir until smooth.

place the frozen mousse half-moons onto a wire rack, pour over the chocolate glaze letting the excess runoff.

carefully transfer the mousse to the set tart, placing it on one side.

spoon the whipped cream into a piping bag fitted with an ST. Horone tip, pipe the cream onto the other side of the tart:)