Chocolate Berry Tartlet

Madagascar Dark Chocolate Berry Tartlet

This tart is one of my favourite. With great produce of berries from the local market that I have got my hands on, I thought I'd remake this tart from my old recipe with a modern twist. The base is a basic almond short crust pastry filled with Callebaut's 67% Madagascar origin chocolate and blackcurrant ganache. I personally love using the Madagascar Origin chocolate with any type of berry dessert because of its deep fruity flavour with a rich woody cacao after taste. On top of the tart is a 54% Dark Chocolate Mousse paired with strawberry confit centres and finished off with a shiny mirror glaze, then decorated with fresh local produce strawberries.

RECIPE

Shortcrust Pastry

Plain Flour 250 g

Icing Sugar 80g

Almondmeal 30 g

Unsalted Butter 150 g

Eggs - cold 50 g

Salt 1 g

1. Place all ingredients except eggs in a stand mixer bowl with a paddle attachment.

2. Mix until the mix resembles a fine bread crumbs.

3. Add in the cold eggs and continue mixing until a smooth dough is form. Do not overmix.

4. Flatten and wrap. Place in fridge to rest overnight or for at least 2 hours.

Strawberry Confit

Strawberry Puree 80g

Castor Sugar 45g

Pectin NH 3 g

Diced Strawberries 25 g

Makes 16 x mini domes

Method:

1. Mix Castor sugar and pectin.

2. Place Strawberry puree in to a pot and bring to a simmer.

3. Gradually whisk in the pectin/sugar mix and keep boiling until for another 2 minutes.

4. Mix in the diced strawberries and immediately spoon in the strawberry confit in to individual mini silicone dome mould.

5. Leave in freezer to fully set

Strawberry Jam

Strawberry Pureed and strained 170 g

Castor sugar (1) 150 g

Castor Sugar (2) 20 g

Yellow Pectin 3 g

Lemon Juice 5 g

Method

1. Weight out 170 g of strawberry pureed and strained from seeds. Mix Castor Sugar (2) with pectin.

2. Place the puree and castor sugar(1) and bring to a boil. Gradually sprinkle in the pectin/sugar mix and keep whisking until the jam reaches 104°C.

3. Remove the pot from the heat and whisk in the lemon juice. Transfer into a clean bowl with cling film touching the surface and leave to cool. Alternatively, transfer into a sterilised jam jar and seal with lid.

Blackcurrant and Strawberry Dark Chocolate Ganache

Blackcurrant Puree 70 g

Strawberry Puree 70 g

Glucose 75 g

Dark Chocolate 55% 120 g

Unsalted Butter 30 g

Enough for 16 x tartlets

Method:

1. Place the purees and glucose in a pot and bring to a mere simmer or until it reaches 75°C.

2. Pour the hot liquid on to pre-crystallised chocolate callets and let sit for 2 minutes. Gently stir with spatula to mix. When the mix reaches 35 °C - 40°C (should almost be immediately), emulsify the mix with the softened but cold butter with a stick blender.

3. Pour into the tart leaving 0.5 cm space and leave to set at room temperature overnight.

Dark Chocolate Mousse

Castor Sugar 26 g

Full Cream Milk 60 g

Egg Yolks 40 g

Dark Chocolate 70% 70 g

Milk Chocolate 50 g

Whipping cream 35% 200g

Method

1. Place milk in to a bowl over a bain marie. In a separate bowl, whisk in yolks and sugar.

2. Once the milk is hot, gently stir in the milk into the yolk mix and whisk to incorporate.

3. Place the anglaise back into the bowl over the bain marie and keep whisking until it reaches 85°C.

4. Pour the anglaise into the chocolate and stick until smooth. If there are lumps, simply place the bowl over the warm water bath and gently stir until the lumps of chocolate have melted.

5. Allow the chocolate anglaise mix to cool to 35°C.

6. Once the chocolate anglaise have cooled, whisk the whipping cream to medium peak and gently fold into the chocolate anglaise. Do not overmix as this can cause the mousse to separate.

7. Pipe the mousse in to the silicone dome moulds half way, using a smooth spread the mousse around the sides to avoid air bubbles, place the frozen strawberry confit domes in the centre, pipe more mousse to seal off the confit and smooth the top with an offset spatula.

8. Place into the freezer until frozen.

Red Mirror Glaze

Full Cream Milk 35g

Cream 35g

Glucose 110g

Gelatine Mass (10 g Gold Gelatine Sheet + 65 g Water)

White Chocolate 200 g

Neutral Glaze 200 g

1. Make Gelatine mass by placing the water and gelatine leaves together in a bowl over a hot water bath and melt.

2. Place all ingredients except the gelatine mass and white chocolate in a pot and bring to a boil. Add in the gelatine solution, stir to combine and pour over the white chocolate.

3. Stick blend to emulsify, add in the red colour powder and stick blend until fully incorporated.

4. Place cling film touching the surface of the glaze and leave to chill overnight in the fridge.

5. The next day when ready to use, heat the glaze gently and gradually without incorporating too much air bubbles and use at 40°C on a semi frozen mousse dome at around -15°C.

Assembly

1. Line and bake shortcrust pastry.

2. Fill base of baked pastry with clear strawberry jam.

3. Fill ganache all the way to the top of pastry leaving 0.5 cm gap.

4. Leave ganache to set overnight.

5. Make Strawberry confit and cast in mini dome mould and leave to freeze.

6. Make mousse with strawberry confit insert and assemble chocolate mousse dome with silicone dome mould and leave to freeze.

7. Glaze frozen dome and assemble, then decorate with fresh strawberries.