Cherry Chocolate Tart

Ingredients

Chocolate Tart Crust

Cherry Compote

Dark Chocolate Mousse Filling

Whipped Cream

Method

Chocolate Tart Crust

1. Mix together all of the crust ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Once combined, turn dough out onto a clean and floured surface and knead until smooth and malleable.
3. Divide the dough into 2 even balls, wrap in cling-wrap and place in the fridge to chill for 15-20 minutes.
4. While dough is chilling, preheat oven to 180°C bake and grease and line the base of a 26cm round tart or pie tin, then set aside.
5. Remove one ball of dough from the fridge (reserving the second ball for your next tart creation) and again place onto a clean floured surface.
6. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to approximately 4-5mm thick.
7. Carefully wrap dough around rolling pin, lift up and lay overtop of prepared tart tin.
8. Gently manoeuvre and press dough into the base of tin before trimming edges and pricking the bottom of the base with a fork.
9. Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes, or until baked through and nicely coloured.
10. Base may still be slightly soft to the touch, but will crisp up once cooled.
11. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before filling.

Cherry Compote

1. Pour the cherries and syrup into a saucepan and simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until cherries have softened and syrup reduces.
2. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.

Mousse filling

1. Slowly melt the chocolate and butter together in a bowl above a pot of simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
2. Remove the chocolate mix from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
3. Beat the egg yolks with 40g of caster sugar for a few minutes until pale, using a hand-held beater.
4. Fold the yolk mixture through the warm chocolate mix, then set aside.
5. In another bowl, beat the egg whites and remaining 20g of caster sugar until soft peaks form.
6. Gently fold ⅓ of the egg white mixture through the chocolate mixture, below gently folding through the remaining ⅔ of the mixture.
7. Fill prepare tart crust and chill in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.

Whipped Cream Topping

1. Before serving, make the whipped cream by beating together the cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract until soft peaks form.
2. Top the tart with a generous amount of whipped cream (reserving some for serving), before finishing off with lots of delicious cherry compote.
3. Slice, serve, and enjoy!