Chocolate & Chilli Tart

For the chocolate shortcrust pastry:

• 220g plain flour
• 50g icing sugar
• 30g cocoa powder
• Pinch of salt
• 125g butter, cubed
• 2 egg yolks
• 2-3 tbsp cold water

For the filling:

• 550ml double cream
• 50g dark muscovado sugar
• 4 fresh chillies, chopped (or 6 if you prefer more of a kick)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 500g dark chocolate (at least 70%)
• 4 large eggs

(Optional) To decorate:

• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• A few dried chillies
• Chilli flakes

For the pastry:

1. 1. To make the pastry begin by combining sifting together the flour, icing sugar, cocoa powder & salt into a large bowl
2. 2. Add in the cubed butter to the bowl & using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs
3. 3. Add the egg yolks to the bowl & use a spoon to stir through
4. 4. Next add in 1 tbsp of water & stir through, continue to add water sparingly, only adding 1 tbsp at a time, just enough until the mixture starts to clump together
5. 5. Use your hands to finish bringing the mixture together to form a dough
6. 6. Flatten the dough into a shallow disc shape, cover in a beeswax wrap or some cling film & chill in the fridge for approximately 30 minutes (you could even do this the day before)
7. 7. Pre-heat the oven to 180C & roll out the pastry into a large round, to roughly the thickness of a £1 coin, one large enough to fill a 22cm round tart tin
8. 8. Line your tin with the pastry, leaving any excess to hang over the edges of the tin
9. 9. Next, use a fork to prick small holes all over the bottom of your pastry
10. 10. Place a sheet of baking parchment inside the pastry case & fill with baking beans or rice
11. 11. Blind bake the pasty for 15 minutes, remove the beans & parchment & continue to bake for a further 5 minutes
12. 12. Remove the tin from the oven & allow to cool for 10 minutes before trimming off the excess pastry overhanging the sides of the tin

For the filling:

1. 1. To make the filling begin by placing the double cream, sugar, chillies, cinnamon & salt into a large saucepan
2. 2. Set over a medium heat & warm the mixture until all of the sugar has dissolved
3. 3. Once dissolved, bring the mixture up to the boil
4. 4. As soon as it begins to boil & bubble remove from the heat & set aside to cool & infuse for 1 hour
5. 5. Once infused, place the pan back onto a medium heat to heat through
6. 6. Once hot, remove the pan from the heat & break in the chocolate
7. 7. Stir the mixture until all of the chocolate has melted & everything looks smooth & glossy
8. 8. Finally, add the eggs to the pan & beat to combine
9. 9. Pour the filling into the prepared pastry case & bake in the oven at 150C for 20-25 minutes until set
10. 10. Remove the chocolate & chilli tart from the oven & leave to cool completely in it’s tin before releasing