Dark Chocolate and Red Wine Tart

Want a dessert that will knock your guests over at the next dinner party? Try baking a delectable chocolate and red wine tart.

You will need..

• About an hour and a half.
• A sieve
• A food processor
• A whisk
• A large and a small saucepan
• A mixing bowl

Ingredients (Pastry)

• 1 ¾ cups of plain white flour
• 150g of butter
• 4 teaspoons of cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 2-4 teaspoons of iced water

Ingredients (Filling)

• 300g of dark chocolate
• 150mL red wine (shiraz, merlot)
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 teaspoons of cornflour (corn starch)
• 3-4 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 250mL of thick cream
• 2 eggs

Ingredients (Topping)

• 250mL of thick cream to whip
• Powdered cocoa, to dust
• 1 punnet of raspberries

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 190°C (370° F).
2. Start by placing the flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar and butter in your food processor. Process on a low speed until the butter and flour have combined into breadcrumb-sized pieces. Once combined, add the egg and half the water, and continue to process until the mixture turns into a dough. You may need to add additional water, depending on the mixture.
3. Once the mixture has turned into a dough, take it out of the food processor and roll it into a ball. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap, and leave it in your fridge for about half an hour.
4. Very lightly grease the base and sides of the tart pan with some butter. You should only need about 1 tsp.
5. While the pastry is in the fridge, you can start making the filling. Start by creating a heat bath for the chocolate, half-filling the larger saucepan with water, and then place the smaller saucepan inside the bigger one to check the displacement. You want to make sure the water comes up most of the way along the smaller saucepan's walls, without overflowing the larger saucepan. Once you have the right amount of water, place the saucepans on a moderate heat.
6. To your mixing bowl, use a sifter to add the cornflour, add the powdered cinnamon, sugar and eggs to the bowl. Whisk it lightly until you have an evently-textured mixture, and then add the cream.
7. Roll out the pastry into a circle about 5mm thick, and place it in the tart pan. Use your thumbs to tuck the pastry right in against the walls and corner of the pan.
8. Place either pastry weights or a good amount of uncooked rice atop some baking paper in the centre of the pastry to hold it down during baking. Place the pan in the oven to blind bake for 7 minutes.
9. After the 7 minutes, take out the pastry weights or rice, and continue to bake the pastry for another 5-7 minutes, until the centre of the pastry no longer looks moist.
10. Take the pan out of the oven to let cool. The pastry may have swollen up from the base while baking without the weights; place the weights or rice back on top of the pastry for a few minutes to guide it back in to shape.
11. Ensure that there is absolutely no water inside the smaller saucepan, and then add the chocolate to the smaller saucepan, stirring occasionally while the chocolate melts. You do not want the water to get to a rolling boil, so moderate the heat if necessary. Dark chocolate should not be melted above 32° C (90° F).
12. Once the chocolate is fully melted, take the smaller saucepan out of the water bath, and dry off the outer walls of the saucepan. Pour the melted chocolate into the filling mix, and whisk quicky until the chocolate is well-combined. Finally, add the red wine and whisk again, ensuring an even mix.
13. Immediately after mixing in the chocolate, pour the filling in to the tart casing, and place back in the oven for around 22-25 minutes, until the top of the filling has crusted over, and is firm to the touch. You want the filling to still be damp in the middle, so do not worry about it being cooked through, as long as the top is cooked.
14. Once the tart is cooked, remove it from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes.
15. Place the cream for the topping in a dry bowl, and set it in your freezer for 3-5 minutes. Cooling the cream will make the whipping significantly easier, and you may need to do this more than once while whipping the rceam.
16. Once the cream is cooled, take it out of the freezer and whisk until soft peaks start to form in the cream. If you're whipping the cream by hand, it will probably take a good 5 minutes worth of whisking for the cream to be sufficiently whipped, but it's worth it.
17. Using a spatula, evenly spread the whipped cream over the surface of the tart, being careful not to work the cream too heavily. Take your sifter, and use it to dust the cream with cocoa powder from edge to edge.
18. Wash the raspberries, and sprinkle them evenly over the tart. You're ready to serve.