Baked Chocolate Mousse Tarts Recipe
1 hour 15 minutes plus 1 hour 30 minutes cooling
Ingredients
- 200g of plain flour
- 25g of icing sugar
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 115g of unsalted butter, chilled and diced
- 1 Freshlay Farms Golden Yolker® egg yolk
- 1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1/2 tbsp of ice cold water
- 125g of caster sugar
- 125ml of double cream
- 20g of unsalted butter
- 75g of unsalted butter
- 100g of dark chocolate, 65-75% cocoa solids, finely chopped, plus extra to serve
- 2 Freshlay Farms Golden Yolker® eggs, separated
- 75g of caster sugar
Method · 1 h 15 min
- To make the salted caramel, put the caster sugar in a small pan over a medium heat and leave, without stirring, until it has dissolved and turned a golden brown. Be careful that it doesn’t cook too far as it can burn easily
- Meanwhile, put the cream, butter and a pinch of flaky sea salt in a small pan over a medium heat and heat until just below boiling. Once the sugar has caramelised, carefully pour half the cream mixture into the caramel, still on the heat. Once the bubbling has subsided a little, pour in the remaining cream and stir to combine. Pour the caramel into a heatproof jug and set aside
- To make the pastry, put the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Add the egg yolk, vanilla and water and pulse until evenly mixed and the dough starts to hold together. Squeeze a little of the pastry in your hands; if it crumbles instead of holding together, the dough may need a little extra water
- Tip out the dough onto a work surface and use your hands to bring it together into a uniform dough. Form the dough into a thick sausage shape, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or up to 2 days)
- Remove the dough from the fridge and cut into 6 even slices. Roll out the pieces of dough on a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of about 3mm. Use it to line your individual tart tins/rings, trimming off any excess pastry. Chill the pastry cases on a large baking tray lined with baking paper for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 190°C
- Dock the tart cases with a fork, line each with a piece of crumpled baking paper and fill with baking beans or rice. Bake for 20 minutes
- Carefully remove the baking beans and paper and transfer the tarts back to the oven for an additional 5–10 minutes or until the base of the pastry is golden. Remove and set aside to cool
- Once cool, divide the caramel between the tarts and then chill in the fridge while you make the topping
- To make the chocolate mousse, put the butter and chocolate in a large, heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until fully melted. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with 50g of the sugar until thick and pale. Whisk this into the slightly cooled chocolate mixture. Put the egg whites into a clean, grease-free bowl and, using an electric mixer, whisk until they form soft peaks. Continue to whisk while you slowly pour in the remaining sugar until the meringue is stiff and glossy. In three additions, fold the meringue into the chocolate mixture
- To assemble, remove the tarts from the fridge and top with the mousse mixture. Bake for 15 minutes or until the mousse looks set. Sprinkle with a little extra chopped chocolate, then allow to cool a little before serving slightly warm. The tarts will keep for up to two days but are best gently reheated in the oven at 120°C for 10 minutes
A bit like a chocolate fondant, a bit like a chocolate mousse and a bit like a salted caramel tart, this genius creation is as crowdpleasing as it gets. Each pastry case is filled with a little salted caramel and then topped with chocolate mousse, which just sets in the oven to form a light and airy filling. The Freshlay Farms Golden Yolker® eggs in the pastry and mousse ensure they're the best they can be.
- 6 x 10cm tartlet tins
