Sea-Salted Chocolate and Pecan Tart

Notes: Serves 8. This recipe is quite a lot of work, but it will blow your mind. Goes particularly well with a dollop of limoncello ice cream.

Ingredients

For the pastry

  • 175g butter
  • 75g golden caster sugar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 250g plain flour
  • 20g cocoa

For the filling:

  • 200g Madagascan 64% dark chocolate, broken into pieces
  • 200ml whipping or double cream
  • 200g light muscovado sugar
  • 10g Maldon sea salt

For the topping

  • 100g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp Maldon sea salt
  • 100g pecan halves

Method

To make the pastry

  1. Cream together the butter and sugar using a wooden spoon until light and creamy.
  2. Add the egg yolks and 35ml water and mix well until all the liquid has been incorporated.
  3. Gradually add the flour and cocoa until a paste is formed (use a food processor if you prefer).
  4. Wrap pastry in cling film, flatten it with your hand and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  5. Sprinkle work surface with flour and roll out the pastry to line a 24x2.5cm tart ring.
  6. Chill the pastry for 15 minutes.
  7. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C, Gas Mark 4.
  8. Bake blind for 20 minutes, then bake uncovered for a further 5-8 minutes until the base is dry.
  9. Leave to cool.

To make the ganache filling

  1. Melt the ingredients in a Pyrex or metal bowl over (not in) a pan of boiling water.
  2. When the filling is glossy and thick, pour into the cold tart and refrigerate for 2 hours.

For the topping

  1. Heat a saucepan until warm and add the sugar, gradually mixing it until you have a golden liquid caramel.
  2. Add the salt and mix well.
  3. Add the pecans and, mixing thoroughly, quickly pour the mixture onto a sheet of baking parchment and spread out with a spatula.
  4. Allow to cool completely, then break into pieces to sprinkle over the ganache.

One comment

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *