a little bit of divine

i made the above yesterday - a chocolate and hazelnut tart, via an old autumn donna hay magazine. it was very good, and crucially, easy peasy. it has a crispy hazelnut base, and a dark, rich, moist filling - when we ate it last night it was still warm, so of course it was just that little bit extra divine. the puddle of goo on the top in the picture is gorgeous double cream (doppelrahm) from gruyere, just the right sort of cool blanketing richness you need to cut the darkness of the tart.

this recipe makes one bloody huge tart - donna's recipe uses a 26cm tart tin but i used a 30 cm one and it still filled it out nicely (and with leftover pastry to boot). we had it for dessert last night, i gave a huge wedge to bruno's parents and ate some more of it myself tonight and there is STILL at least a third left. yikes! the neighbours may get a surprise package on their doorstep tomorrow. my only quibble is that the pastry base was perhaps a little too floury and bland. the recipe uses 2 cups of flour and 3/4 cup of hazelnut meal but next time i would change that ratio. more meal, less flour. and a pinch of salt for taste. despite substituting lemon juice for the iced water, it still was pretty bland. however, it did crisp up beautifully. since serving a practically raw lemon tart a few weeks ago to visiting friends i am now totally paranoid about crispy pastry bases. the secret: cook on a baking tray at the bottom of the oven for a while then move higher up to finish off the top. the baking tray (directly above the heat source)holds a fiercer heat to cook the pastry nice n crisp.

chocolate and hazelnut tart (via donna hay)

base

3/4 cup of hazelnut meal * i would maybe increase this to at least 1 cup, or 1 1/4 cups

2 cups of flour *and decrease the flour accordingly, to about 1 3/4 cups or even 1 1/2 cups

2 Tb sugar

pinch of salt

125g butter, chopped

2 - 3 Tb iced water * i used lemon juice/iced water. and i needed much more than 2 -3 Tb. more like about 6!!!!!

how

- chuck all the ingredients except the iced water/juice into a food processor. process until resembling breadcrumbs. add enough liquid to form a smooth dough (go slow on ths), then flatten dough into a fat disc and wrap with plastic wrap. let rest in the fridge for 20 mins or so.

- roll out dough to about 3mm between two lightly floured sheets of plastic wrap. neat trick which always works for me - no sticky dough on yr workbench.

- line yr lightly greased tart tin (26cm, 20 cm or whatever). there will probably be some dough left over. stick it in the fridge for a rainy day.

- blind bake (you all know what blind baking is, don't you?) the pastry casing for about 10 - 15 mins at 160°c at the bottom of the oven, then remove the baking weights/rice and bake for another 5 - 10 mins in the middle of the oven until lightly golden.

- set aside to cool.

filling

250g dark bitter chocolate, at least 70% cocoa solids, chopped

180g butter, chopped

6 eggs

1 cup castor sugar

1/3 flour

how

- melt chocolate and butter together gently in a large bowl placed over a pot of simmering water. stir into a beautiful molten mass.

- add sugar, then flour, then eggs and beat until thick and voluminous.

- pour into pastry shell and bake at 160°c for a further 20 mins or until just firm. try not to over-cook as the tart really is wonderful with a hint of oozing wobble in the middle.

- consume at yr leisure with some good, rich, thick cream, and coffee. don't forget to share the love! pass on some of those extra slices to someone who needs them.

Comments

[lucinda]

Would you believe I've just been blogging about simple, clean, fresh tastes for jaded palates?! What was I thinking? Lettuce, blah!! This looks fantastic!!

I agree with beefing up Donna's recipes. They often look good but lack oomph.

[sean]

that looks sooo good! and the photo is pretty ace too: all that dark wood of the table in sympathy with the darkness of the filling, and the plate and the wall matching the crust: you sure yr nascent career *isn't* as the new donna hay?

[kitschenette]

ahh yes, i finally discovered the 'close-up' setting on the digital camera : ) unfortunately, i can't take too much credit for the composition of the photo, because i always take pictures there...it just happened to be a happy circumstance of features, i'm afraid : )
sure, i'd love to take over the world a la donna hay!! who wouldn't?!

[Joana Alves]

Hi, Cherie!

I know this is an old post, so I hope you'll read this. I wanted to try and make this pie but it'll be really hard to find hazelnut meal here. What is it exactly? Can I just grind some hazelnuts?
Thanks for your help! *

[kitschenette]

Hi Joana!
you can absolutely grind some hazelnuts - after all, that's just what it is, ground hazelnuts. Try to make it quite fine, if you can, and you can improve the flavour and make it more 'hazelnutty' by roasting the nuts a little before in a dry pan. YOu don't need to remove the skins, in fact it is better if you don't. You'll have the bonus of having totally fresh hazelnut meal in the process. Let me know how it tastes!

[Joana Alves]

I will, thank you!
I just hope mine tastes as good as yours looks. ;)