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Additional Information
- 125g plain flour
- 50g icing sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 100g chilled butter, cubed
- 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten with 1/2 tbsp water
- Chocolate Praline Filling:
- 200ml whipping or double cream
- 100g dark chocolate
- 150g toasted and skinned hazelnuts, finely ground
- Topping:
- 250–350g strawberries, thickly sliced
- 100g strawberry jam
1.
First make the pastry: sift the flour, sugar, salt and cocoa into a large mixing bowl, add the butter and rub in with the fingertips until the mixture forms fine breadcrumbs – or use a food processor to save a bit of time!2.
Make a well in the centre and add the egg yolk and water mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon then knead lightly by hand to form a ball of dough. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using.3.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4 and lightly grease a 23cm French fluted flan tin. Roll out the pastry thinly then line the flan tin and trim the edges. Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans. Bake for 15–20 minutes. Remove the baking beans and greaseproof paper and return to the oven for a further 15–20 minutes until cooked then set aside to cool.4.
To make the filling, bring the cream to the boil in a pan then stir in the chocolate until melted. Add the ground hazelnuts, stir, then allow to cool, beating occasionally until slightly thickened. Pour into the pastry case, smooth with the back of a spoon and leave until completely cold.5.
To decorate, arrange the slices of strawberries artistically on top of the tart. Gently heat the jam until it becomes quite runny then press through a sieve to remove any seeds, if preferred. Brush the jam glaze over the strawberries, leave to set in the fridge and serve on the day of making.
Crisp and light chocolate pastry is the perfect foil to the rich and creamy praline filling in this stunning fruit tart. Make sure you choose sweet, ripe strawberries for the best result. Serve the tart with thick double cream, if liked.
Notes to help you get the most out of your cocoa and chocolate.
Depending on the kind of cocoa you use, how much you use and how you use it, cocoa and chocolate will have a different effect on the taste and experience of your dishes. In each of our recipes, we’ll tell you how much influence it will have, in our cocoa notes:
Low – a subtle hint, playing a bass note in the harmony of flavours.
Medium – a rich interplay of cocoa with other leading ingredients.
High – cocoa starring role.
The Character of Cocoa
The flavour of cocoa and the chocolate it produces varies depending on where the cocoa is grown. Different growing regions have different personalities, each pairing well with other ingredients.
Madagascar, Vietnam
Fruit-led flavours, refreshing in the mouth – perfect with fruits, dark meats and game.
Saint Lucia, Trinidad, Java
Complex and multi-layered flavours jostling for position. Goes with pork, chicken and wines.
Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Peru, Ecuador
Roasted flavours, led by mellow notes of roasted nuts. Ideal with fish, eggs and desserts.
Demystifying Cocoa Percentages
The percentages used on chocolate labels can sometimes seem a bit confusing. A 40% milk chocolate, for example, is not made with 40% milk. The percentage always refers to the amount of cocoa used in the recipe, and the rest will either be all sugar (darks) or milk and sugar (milks/whites).
You’ll find higher percentages in dark chocolate recipes, with less in milk, and least in white. Surprisingly, one of the UK’s most famous dark chocolates contains just 39% cocoa, and its milk counterpart only 23%. That means the largest ingredient overall is sugar. We believe this is wrong. We always prefer to use more cocoa in our chocolate for an authentic and satisfying cocoa hit. We put 40 – 70% cocoa in our milk and Supermilk chocolate, and 70-100% in our dark.
Our white chocolate has a much higher cocoa percentage than average, at 36%.
Sugar only costs a tenth of the price of even the cheapest cocoa beans, so it’s no wonder that it is tempting for low – quality makers to use so much of it. But in the world of fine chocolate, deciding on whether to use, say 73% or 75% cocoa in a recipe is the chocolatier’s choice and depends on the quality, character and flavour profile of the bean harvest. In many ways, deciding the cocoa percentage is like deciding the alcohol level in a good wine.
How To Melt Your Chocolate
In a Bain-Marie (recommended)
This traditional method offers a great deal of control. Put your chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, ensuring the bowl doesn’t actually touch the hot water (or it can burn the chocolate). Heat in the steam for about 2 minutes until fully melted, stirring occasionally.
In a Microwave
Put your chocolate in the microwave on high power for a total of 40-50 seconds, but only in 10 second bursts, stirring in between to ensure it doesn’t burn. Stop when fully melted.
Essential Cocoa Nib Know-How
Knowing how to extract the best flavours from your cocoa nibs is essential to many of our recipes. It’s easy to buy cocoa nibs these days, but they can be of variable quality. Follow our tips below to make sure you get the most flavour possible from your nibs.
Awakening your Nibs
Often your nibs will have a silver grey hue to them as they have oxidised around the outside. This is harmless, but we recommend you grind them vigorously in a pestle and mortar for 30 seconds. You’ll see the nibs turn a gorgeous mahogany brown, their amazing flavour and aroma awoken at the same time.
Soak them in Water
After awakening, the nibs may still be hard and flinty. Soak them in a little hot water (just enough to cover them) for about 20 minutes which will soften them, the soaking liquid can be set aside as a flavoursome stock.
Storing your Nibs
Just like coffee, roasted nibs should be kept in an airtight container. If you are able to source ‘just roasted’ nibs or have made your own, you can freeze them in an airtight container until needed, retaining maximum flavour.
Chocolate Praline Strawberry Tart Recipe
Velvety smooth, premium chocolate and finely milled hazelnuts
- preparation time: 2 mins
- cooking time: 13 mins
- ease of preparation: Intermediate
