Milk chocolate tart with nutmeg pastry
Chocolate tarts tend to be dark, decadent and as rich as Croesus. For something sweeter and more delicate, a milk chocolate custard is the way to go, but the risk is to veer towards cloying. The reason this recipe works is that nutmeg’s fragrant astringency both cuts the sweetness and enhances the chocolate. Be generous with it.
SPICE SWITCH: Cinnamon and milk chocolate are lovely together, but it is a combination to be reserved for those with a sweet tooth, as it will amplify rather than temper the sweetness. You can use just 400g dark chocolate instead.
In A Whisper of Cardamom: Sweetly Spiced Recipes to Fall in Love With (Murdoch Books, £26), food writer and cook Eleanor Ford explores the creative use of spices in sweet dishes. These recipes from the book highlight the varied combinations that help to unlock distinctive flavour and fragrance.
Next, why not try more great recipes from the House & Garden recipe archive?
Ingredients
Serves 8-10
For the pastry
For the filling
Method
Step 1
First make the pastry. Combine the flour, icing sugar, nutmeg and butter with a pinch of fine sea salt in a food processor. Pulse the mixture to crumbs. Add the water and half the beaten egg, and pulse again just until the pastry starts to clump together. Turn the pastry out onto a work surface and form into a flat disc, working it as little as possible. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or overnight).
Step 2
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to a circle about 2mm thick. Use it to line a 23cm-diameter loose-bottomed tart tin with high sides. Tuck it into the edges and leave an overhang of pastry. Transfer it the freezer to chill briefly.
Step 3
Heat the oven to mark 4/180°C/fan oven 160°C. Put in a baking sheet. Line the tart case with tin foil, shiny side up, and weigh it down with baking beans (or a generous mound of sugar; when finished, parcel it in the foil and save for future tarts.) Place it on the baking sheet and blind bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and trim the overhang. Brush over the remaining egg and return to the oven for 10 minutes.
Step 4
While it bakes, make the filling. Break the chocolate into pieces and put in a heatproof bowl. Bring the milk and cream to a simmer in a pan, then pour over the chocolate and stir to melt. Leave to cool for 5 minutes, then beat in the eggs and a pinch of fine sea salt. Pass through a fine sieve into a jug.
Step 5
Grate most of the nutmeg seed into a small bowl. When the pastry is golden, turn down the oven to mark 1/140°C/fan oven 120°C. Pull out the oven rack with the tart tin on it and pour the mixture in, ensuring it does not spill over the top of the pastry. Sprinkle half the grated nutmeg liberally over the top. Push it gingerly back into the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes. The custard should be set with a slight wobble in the centre.
Step 6
Leave to cool fully before removing the tart from the tin. Add a final flourish of grated nutmeg before serving.
