Want to make your own delicious and decadent rich chocolate tart? You’ll find out exactly how do to it in this post. It’s one of the recipe’s in Lorraine Pascale’s cookbook, How to be a Better Cook. And it’s a good one.
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How To Be A Better Cook Review
For those of you who’ve been watching Lorraine Pascale’s latest cookery series on BBC2, How to be a Better Cook, this new cookbook will come as no surprise. Whether you’ve seen the series or not, Lorraine’s easy style makes this an accessible book for both beginners and those wanting to expand their range of techniques. The more advanced cook may also find it useful for inspiration.
Lorraine carries us through the recipes with characteristic grace and modesty. The cover states, “100 quick and easy recipes”, a statement that grabbed my attention. Time is at a premium for most of us these days, so any help we can get to enable us to produce tasty and nutritious food that also looks good and is simple to prepare has got to be a good thing.
Published by HarperCollins, with a cover price of £25, this hardback edition of How to be a Better Cook is very similar in style to her last one, A Lighter Way to Bake. The recipes are for simple every day food and are not too excessive when it comes to the use of fats and other such “naughty” ingredients.
The Recipes
Chocolate tart I hear you cry? Well yes, there is a chapter on desserts, cakes and treats. What cookbook is really complete without one? But even the tart is made with more milk than cream. Similarly her recipes for panna cotta, ice-cream and Bircher muesli use yogurt to replace some or all of the cream associated with these dishes. Now wondering if she’s taken tips from my blog.
This is not a book aimed at vegans and vegetarians and I could wish there was a little more in it for me. However, despite the three chapters devoted to meat and fish, a few recipes caught my eye. You can easily adapt many of the meat dishes to include vegetarian alternatives. And there are chapters for canapés & cocktails, starters, snacks & soups, salads, vegetables & sides which also contain many vegetable dishes.
It’s been a long time since I tried making harissa but Lorraine’s recipe has me inspired once again. She is a self-confessed harissa junky and uses it in all sorts of ways. Homemade definitely beats shop bought.
I keep meaning to unearth my slow cooker from the back of the cupboard, but it’s a bit of a faff, so it tends to stay put. However, this is about to change as I’m now really keen to make slow cooker lentil, sweet potato and cumin soup with ginger and coriander. I can just imagine how good that tastes.
As some of you may know, I’m a fan of incorporating vegetables into sweet bakes, thus trying to make them a little more nutritious. I was pleased, therefore, to see a recipe for pumpkin, brown sugar and pecan cake with cream cheese icing. And very nice it looked too.
Lorraine also incorporates wholemeal flour in some stem ginger and apricot biscotti, an addition which I obviously heartily approve of.
With Halloween and Bonfire Night just a few days away, it’s useful to find that Lorraine has these covered. Ghostly black-eyed meringues, lighter chocolate muffin spiders, s’mores pops and toffee apple slice pops are great fun to make. With or without the children.
Lorraine gives tips and tricks throughout the book, but also includes a few pages at the end detailing her store cupboard essentials, kitchen equipment essentials, how to look after knives and how best to store food.
How To Be A Better Cook: Style
Whilst I like the recipes, I have a few issues with the general style of the book. The pages are shiny which makes them a little difficult to read in certain light. I also found the photographs to be rather hard and a bit stark.
There are plenty of them in the book and many are of Lorraine. As a former model, this is perhaps not surprising. But much as I like Lorraine, I prefer my recipe books to show pictures of the food rather than the author.
But all is not lost, however. I like the stylish use of colour running through the book. A picture of something on a green plate, for example, is matched by green text on the opposite page. A recipe for chargrilled green bean, sugar snap and courgette salad with poppy seed dressing printed in pink, has pink forks shown in the accompanying photo.
Rich Chocolate Tart
As soon as I saw the recipe for Ridiculously Rich Chocolate Tart, I knew that was the one I was going to make for this cookbook review.
As per usual, I changed things around a little. I had some goat’s butter from St Helen’s Farm that I was keen to try out in the pastry and some goat’s milk in need of using up.
I also wanted to give the tart a bit of a salted caramel edge. To do this, I used a pinch of salt and 100g of Cacao Barry caramel milk chocolate and 165g of 72% dark chocolate. This included one of the Seed and Bean bars I reviewed a while back. I also made the pastry with half wholemeal flour and half plain unbleached.
Apart from faffing around with pastry, which is never my most fun activity in the kitchen, this tart was a breeze to make. If you’re in a rush, Lorraine allows for a nice easy get out clause: buy the pastry. But that’s not my way.
The only problem I experienced, other than trying not to eat it before it set, was getting the tart into the oven without spilling the filling. Needless to say, I didn’t achieve this. Lorraine suggests pouring the filling into the tart case once it’s actually on the oven shelf. My oven and kitchen preclude this, so I didn’t quite get the nice clean edges I’d have liked.
I also found, I had more pastry and filling than I needed, so I made three ten centimetre tartlets as well.
The tarts are sublime. They have a crisp, buttery, flaky pastry which melts in the mouth. Not a soggy bottom in sight. The filling is rich and creamy and has the hint of salted caramel I was looking for. It also has a subtle goaty tang which did a good job of reinforcing the robust flavour of the chocolate and added another welcome dimension.
Other Chocolate Tart Recipes You Might Like
- Chocolate & salted caramel tart
- Chocolate tarts with lime curd & mascarpone
- Fennel & ginger chocolate tarts
- Goat’s cheese & chocolate tarts
- Nutella & banana tarts
- Raspberry & white chocolate tarts
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this rich chocolate tart, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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If you’d like more pastry recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Rich Chocolate Tarts. PIN IT.
Rich Chocolate Tart – The Recipe
In case you’d like to try Lorraine’s recipe out rather than my slightly adapted version, I’m taking an unusual step. I’m giving you a more or less exact copy, with kind permission of HarperCollins.
Ridiculously Rich Chocolate Tart
Ingredients
SHORTCRUST PASTRY
- 125 g butter plus extra for greasing – softened and diced
- 100 g caster sugar
- 1 pinch salt but only if your butter is unsalted
- 250 g plain flour (all purpose flour) plus extra for dusting
- 1 egg at room temperature
CHOCOLATE FILLING
- 100 ml double cream (heavy cream) or single
- 250 ml whole milk
- 175 g dark chocolate minimum 70% cocoa solids
- 75 g milk chocolate
- 3 eggs
- 1 orange finely grated zest only
Instructions
- Grease a 20cm straight-edged tart tin well with a little butter and set aside on a baking sheet.
- I prefer to make this pastry using a food processor. Put the butter, sugar and salt in the processor and blitz for about 10 seconds. Then add the flour and pulse a few times until everything is nicely mixed up. Tip in the egg and pulse a few times again, scraping the sides of the food processor if need be.125 g butter, 100 g caster sugar, 1 pinch salt, 250 g plain flour (all purpose flour), 1 egg
- Lay a large piece of cling film on the work surface, tip the pastry mix on to it, squidge the pastry together in a ball and then wrap it up in the cling film. Place it in the fridge and leave it to rest for a good hour or hour and a half.
- To make this the traditional way by hand, tip the flour onto a clean work surface, then make a well in the centre of the flour about 30cm wide. Put the butter and the sugar and salt in the centre of the well (they should not touch the flour at this time). Use your hand to mix the butter, sugar and salt together; it is kind of messy, but great to make it the way it should be made! Then bring in the flour. I use a pastry scraper to flick the flour over the butter and the sugar, and then I kind of chop it together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make another well in the centre of the pastry mix and crack the egg into it. Then, using your fingertips, mix it all together; again messy, but I find it kind of fun. Once the mixture is all mixed up and together, wrap the pastry ball in cling film and pop it in the fridge for an hour or hour and a half to rest. The pastry needs to rest to relax the protein strands, which could cause it to be too stretchy when you roll it. This will also help make the pastry more tender.125 g butter, 100 g caster sugar, 1 pinch salt, 250 g plain flour (all purpose flour), 1 egg
- Once the pastry is rested, roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about a 25cm circle, roughly 5mm in thickness. I then put a rolling pin across the centre of the dough and flip half of the pastry over the rolling pin. Pick it up on the rolling pin and lay the pastry over the tart tin before removing the rolling pin. Gently press the pastry down into the tin, making sure that the pastry goes right into the ‘corners’, and then pop it in the fridge for an hour to rest again (rolling it out works the proteins in the pastry again, so it needs to have another rest in the fridge).
- Once the pastry has been in the fridge for 40 minutes, turn the oven on to preheat to 200°C, (fan 180°C), 400°F, Gas Mark 6 with the middle shelf at the ready.
- After the pastry case has had an hour in the fridge and the oven is ready, line it with a circle of baking parchment slightly larger than the size of the tart case and tip in ceramic baking beans (or you can use dried beans for this, which are cheaper and work really well). Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until crisp, golden and almost cooked through.
- Meanwhile, to prepare the filling, put the cream and milk in a medium pan and bring it almost to the boil, then immediately remove it from the heat. Snap in the dark and milk chocolates and leave it aside to melt. Once the chocolate has softened and melted, mix it all together and add the eggs and the orange zest. Mix together again and then set this aside.100 ml double cream (heavy cream), 250 ml whole milk, 175 g dark chocolate, 75 g milk chocolate, 3 eggs, 1 orange
- Remove the pastry case from the oven and leave the oven open to cool down a bit, turning the temperature down to 180°C, (fan 160°C), 350°F, Gas Mark 4. Carefully lift the bean-filled baking parchment from the pastry case.
- Once the oven has reached temperature (which will be indicated by the thermostat light coming back on), close the door. Pour the chocolate mix into the pastry case. I like to pour the last bit of filling into the case once it is safely resting on the oven shelf, that way it avoids any spillover. Then very carefully place the pastry case back into the oven for 20–25 minutes.
- Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool for a bit. Then carefully push the tart out of the tin, remove the base, place on a plate or cake stand and serve.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Sharing
I’m sending the tarts over to Lucy at SuperGolden Bakes for her weekly event #CookBlogShare.
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Michelle says
That is a beautiful tart! I can’t wait to get my hands on that cookbook
Choclette says
The tart is delicious and easy to make and the book is worth having if you’re a meat eater.
Dannii says
Oh wow, this chocolate tart looks amazing. So rich and indugent.
Choclette says
Sometimes rich and indulgent is the only thing that will do.
Emily Flint says
This chocolate tart was rich and pretty easy to make. Everything came together perfectly and my friends were definitely impressed.
Choclette says
What’s not to love about a chocolate tart Emily? Glad you liked it.
Nathan says
It’s been a while since I had a chocolate tart like this, I think I need to change that! The filling looks so rich and delicious, can’t wait to give it a try!
Choclette says
Go for it Nathan. It’s actually quite an easy tart to make and so good to eat.
Jenn says
This is my go-to recipe when I want to impress people! Your crust directions are on-point and the filling is soooo delish! I make a double batch of these when I make them! Yum!
Choclette says
Ooh now, a double batch. What a very good idea. Glad you like the recipe and thanks for letting me know.
Lucie Plant says
Thanks for sharing the recipe, planning to try it tomorrow on my day off 🙂
Val says
A really nice chocolate mousse – mine are always too heavy.
Joy says
I was watching Lorraine earlier on good food channel, I do like her, she is so relaxed and I think that makes a good bake.
Hmm. If I could have any chocolate recipe, it would be a decadent vegan gluten free chocolate fudge cake. From her book I’m a sucker for the tart you’ve made so I would do that.
Finding it hard to go completely vegan which is why I follow so many blogs and chefs. But I do love my baking and chocolate. It’s HARD! Ha ha x
Rachel says
A perfect chocolate brownie recipe squidgy but not too much
Twiddle Dee says
chocolate souffle, as the last one I made was like a rubbery tongue lol 🙂 Natalie Gillham
Katie Walden says
ooo would love to make the chocolate tart!
Faith J says
Chocolate anything is good! lol.
But the chocolate tart looks so good.
Zoe R says
got to be the fudgiest chocolate brownie recipe I just cant seem to get them right.
Jules Naybur says
Wow, fab looking tart, I’m naff at soufflés so would love to give the chocolate soufflé a go
Catherine Gregory says
Something with Nutella in as I am a little obsessed by Nutella lol
tfett says
The Ridiculously Rich Chocolate Tart looks delicious and id want to make it
joan hewes says
Chocolate brownies,mmmmm!Lorraine’s recipes are so very easy to follow,her books are the perfect gift.
Anonymous says
Yule log. My hubby always want’s me to make one each year but they kind of scare me a little so I always seem to not have the time 🙁
debbie jackson
Kirsty Mackay says
The stem ginger and apricot biscotti sounds delicious.
Chris Fletcher says
The Chilli, Chestnut & Chocolate Cake sounds good too, though I really like the tart!
Laura Whittle says
Slow cooker lentil, sweet potato and cumin soup with ginger and coriander – I love hearty spiced soups when the weather starts getting cold x
Laura Vitty says
I’m really into making different kinds of chocolate mousse at the minute, just got a new magi mix so I’m putting it through it’s paces 🙂
Kim Styles says
I love Chocolate fondant- very hard to make but scrumptious
Natalie White says
I’d love a chocolate yule log recipe for Xmas 🙂
Caroline Hooper says
The chocolate tart looks amazing!
Lucy Locket says
definitely chocolate tart as i love chocolate and i love pastry!
Sheila Reeves says
I’d like to get my hands on the slow cooker lentil, sweet potato and cumin soup with ginger and coriander that you mention in your post – that sounds delicious – and could follow that up with a slice of the chocolate tart 🙂
Amanda Longman says
Chocloate Tart looks delicious- can’t wait to try the recipe myself!
olivia280177 says
a chocolate and pecan tart that I once had on a trip into Stamford
Laura Marshall says
I’d love to learn how to make a salted caramel chocolate melt-in-the-middle pudding!
Sandra Cloud says
The chocolate tart
Paul Meulen says
Chocolate Brownies
Hekna says
Mmmmm…the chocolate tart 🙂
caroline Jones says
Oooh the chocolate tart
agwyn67 says
A chocolate souffle,mmmmm
David Zipfell says
Rich chocolate mousse pots, never been able to find the chocolate pots!!
Severe Rambler says
I’d love to try the panna cotta recipe
Amy says
A chocolate souffle! Thanks for the giveaway – great prize!
stefd159 says
A good gluten free chocolate cake
Stewart Osborn says
Chocolate Tart x
Tracy says
I’d love to try the Chocolate Tart recipe. Something I’ve always wanted to try to make.
Hannah Lord says
The tart looks fab, I also like the idea of the childrens halloween recipes they sould delicious for adults too!
Anonymous says
As I love chocolate, any chocolate recipe or all chocolate recipes. The recipe given above for chocolate tart looks nice.
Rachel Craig
MrsE says
Chocolate fudge cake
jumpingmuffin says
A chocolate souffle sounds lovely
Sarah JG says
Chocolate tart yum yum
Sarah Archibald says
This chocolate tart looks delicious. Wow. I’d love to master any chocolate recipe other than variations of slow cooker fudge, they are my limit, tasty though, so I can’t complain too much!
Fifty says
I am not a huge baker only just getting into it more! I would like to be able to make the richest brownies ever!
greenen says
chocolate tart looks amazing!
maddogs says
Somebody at work said they’d had chocolate sorbet so I’d like to find a recipe for that.
Elizabeth Cooper says
The chocolate tart looks divine! I’m going to use the recipe on the weekend for me and my husbands night off from the little one. Might just have to sit in front of the tv and eat it all! ;P
Rick Carr says
Chocolate Tart please
debbie nichols says
Chocolate self saucing cake
Sbax says
Looks delish!
maxine partridge says
all of them!!!
Caro Walker says
I’d love to get my hands on a foolproof chocolate fondant puddings recipe
Fran Roberts says
Sounds absolutely delicious! I will have to see if I can make a gluten free version!
Louise Sims says
a good chocolate brownie recipe would be fab.
katie skeoch says
The chocolate tart recipe looks scrumptious!! I am on the lookout for some chocolate Christmas pudding recipes to try xx
Sandhya Hariharan says
I love Lorraine Pascal. Some of her recipes have made me a better cook. I would love to get my hands on Chocolate Brownies.
Felicity Smith says
the Chocolate Tart Recipe for me
Fiver Feeds says
I was thinking what chocolate dessert to make during weekend and this tart seems like a perfect choice!
Ruby Qiu says
Thanks for sharing.
Angela Moore says
A good chocolate mouse recipe.
Your choc tarts look super, I once made one on a baking course it was white chic filling with a chocolate pastry.
Angela – Garden Tea Cakes and Me
Choclette Blogger says
Thanks Angela. A white chocolate tart is now being added to my list 😉
Baking Addict says
This looks like a seriously good chocolate tart. I love dark chocolate so this is right up my alley. I would like a good chocolate fondant recipe as I’ve been trying to find the perfect one.
Choclette Blogger says
Thanks Ros. I had a brilliant chocolate fondant recipe that worked every time, but I’ve foolishly managed to mislay it!
GG says
I love Lorraine Pascale’s books and TV shows. She has an easy air about her on TV and her recipes are very tempting. GG
Choclette Blogger says
Yes, she seems very natural some how GG. These tarts are most definitely delicious 😉
chickie717 says
Sounds yummy delicious! Thanks for the giveaway!
Choclette Blogger says
My pleasure 🙂
Kate Glutenfreealchemist says
I love a good chocolate tart and this one looks yum. But as I have already mastered that, I would like to source a good, creamy dark chocolate panna cotta recipe….. Yum yum!
Choclette Blogger says
Haha Kate, that’s one I’m looking out for too – only it needs to be a vegetarian one.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Oh yummy! Adding it to The Food Blog Diary as we speak!
Choclette Blogger says
Oh thanks Jac. Forgot to let you know about it – again!
Stevie Fairbairn says
I’d like to master millionaires slice. It may be called a different name in other regions.
Deena Kakaya says
They look extremely neat and intense x
Choclette Blogger says
Thanks Deena – they are indeed very rich and thus very satisfying, so a little goes a long way.
Heather Haigh says
A really good chocolate mousse recipe that is dairy free.
Bintu @ Recipes From A Pantry says
I think I would do anything for a slice of that tart.
Choclette Blogger says
Anything Bintu? Well I could think of a few things …
belleau kitchen says
they look lovely although I didn’t enjoy the book I would enjoy these!
Choclette Blogger says
Ah, thank you Dom 🙂
Manu says
These are so cute!
xox
Choclette Blogger says
Thank you Many 🙂
Miranda Myrabev says
The “Tart” looks good and love the adaptation I can not remember the last time I actually stuff to a recipe word for word. I was not familiar with Lorraine as I hardly even watch bbc2 but now I know will google her lol
Choclette Blogger says
Thanks Miranda. The only time I manage to stick to a recipe is if I’m recipe testing and then I have to be really strict with myself 😉
Tracey Peach says
I would love to get my hands on the Chocolate Tart Recipe & now I have! xxx
Choclette Blogger says
Do let me know how you get on if you do make it Tracey.
Gill says
I love LP’s series!
Thanks for the chocolate tart recipe!!
Choclette Blogger says
You’re very welcome Gill.
Angie Schneider says
Your chocolate tart looks luscious and fantastic!
Choclette Blogger says
Thank you Angie – I’m pleased to say there is still quite a bit left 🙂
beautyqueenuk says
OOh this sounds and looks absolutely divine, not sure mine would turn out so well x
Choclette Blogger says
Thank you, that’s very kind, but I’m sure you could do as well or better.
Beryl Drake says
Wish I could cook like this