Serves 8–10 / vegetarian
This is a really special and divinely rich tart, which is perfect served at the end of a meal with a cup of espresso or a glass of sweet dessert wine. It looks fantastic with its layers of sweet biscuity pastry underneath the hazelnut toffee, topped off with a rich and intense chocolate mousse.
Ingredients
- 1 x portion of Sweet Short crust Pastry (see page 221)
- For the hazelnut toffee:
- 50g (2oz) butter
- 75ml (23/4fl oz) single cream
- 100g (4oz) soft light brown sugar
- 150g (5oz) hazelnuts, roasted, peeled and coarsely chopped
- For the chocolate mousse:
- 200ml (7fl oz) single cream
- 200g (7oz) dark chocolate, broken into pieces
- To serve:
- Cocoa powder (optional)
- Softly whipped cream
Method
- Roll out the pastry to line a 25cm (10in) tart tin (see page 220 for instructions). Cover and chill for 20 minutes, then blind bake (see also page 220). The pastry
- will not go into the oven again, so it must be completely cooked.
- For the hazelnut toffee layer, place the butter, cream and brown sugar in a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer for 2–3 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat, add the hazelnuts and allow it to cool. Spread over the cooked tart shell.
- For the chocolate mousse, place the cream in a saucepan and bring to the boil, remove from the heat and immediately add the chocolate, stirring until the chocolate has melted and mixed with the cream. It should be just tepid now. Pour over the hazelnut toffee in the pastry case.
- Place the tart somewhere cool until the chocolate mousse has set. If you are keeping it in the fridge, let it come back up to room temperature before you serve. Dust the tart with cocoa (if using), slice and serve with softly whipped cream.