Chocolate and raspberry tart

This weekend I went on a patisserie course, a whole day of pastry making! I had pastry for lunch and brought home sooo much of the stuff. Thankfully pastry does keep in the fridge/freezer so I do not have to attempt to eat it all and fall into a pastry induced coma.

Saying that one of the things that I made was a chocolate and raspberry tart with pate sucree pastry as the case.

This does have to be eaten soon after making, and trust me this is no hardship. This tart is beyond delicious. A sweet pastry base, encasing tart raspberries and a smooth rich chocolate ganache. One word. Yum. It is originally a Michael Roux recipe I think.

Sorry I do not have pictures of the process, I was not able to take them on the day. I will describe the process the best I can and when I next make this pastry I will add pictures.

Chocolate and Raspberry tart


For the pate sucree


110g plain flour
pinch of salt
55g unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
55g sugar
2 egg yolks
tsp vanilla paste


For the filling


250g raspberries
250ml whipping cream
200g good quality dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa solids)
25g liquid glucose
50g butter, cut into small pieces


First make the pastry. Sift the flour with the salt on to the work surface. Make a huge well in the centre. There wants to be no flour at all in this well. Put the butter in the well, place the sugar, egg yolks and vanilla paste onto the butter.


Using the fingertips of one hand, mix the butter, yolks and sugar together until it is well mixed and looks a little like scrambled eggs. Do not get flour in the mix just yet. The best way I can describe the mixing of this is to imagine that your fingertips are a hen and you are 'pecking' the butter etc.


When you have a nice smooth mixture flick the flour over the butter using a palette knife. Use the side of the palette knife to cut the mixture, as if you were chopping herbs,when the mix is uniformly yellow bring together into a rough ball, still on the work surface, then use the palette knife to smear a little of the mixture away from you. Keep smearing the mixture along the work surface until it has all been smeared to a smooth paste. 


Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes. 




Preheat the oven to 190C/170C FAN. Roll out the pastry to a round ~2mm thick and use to line a lightly greased 20cm flan ring (2.5cm deep) or a loose bottomed tart tin, you could also uses individual tart tins. The most important thing is that the sides need to be quite high to encase the filling.


When lining the tin ease in the pastry and press lightly into the corners, do not pull or stretch, this could cause the pastry to shrink. Before baking trim the pastry and then pinch the pastry so that it sits just above the tin, this should help prevent shrinkage.


Prick the base of the pastry case and blind bake it for 20 minutes. Lower the oven by 10C, remove the beans and paper and bake the case for another 5 minutes.


Leave to cool for 1 minute then remove from the tin and leave the pastry case to cool completely on a wire rack.


Once the case is cool half enough of the raspberries to cover the base of the pastry case.


Bring the cream to the boil over a medium heat. Take the cream off the heat and add the chocolate and liquid glucose, and mix with a whisk to a very smooth cream (note just mix with the whisk, do not beat, you do not want bubbles). Keep mixing and add the butter a piece at a time until it is all incorporated. 


Pout the ganache over the raspberries to fill the pastry case. Set aside to chill in the fridge for at least two hours before serving.


Use a knife dipped in hot water and dried to slice the tart. Serve the tart with the reserved raspberries that are left. ENJOY!