Chocolate Tart

This recipe is adapted from Coles's Chocolate Peppermint Tart http://recipes.coles.com.au/recipes/1489/chocolate-peppermint-tart/ 

It is extremely rich and I found that I didn't need as much base as the Coles recipe said. I had so much left over I just blind baked them into cookies. So this recipe should have the right amount of base.

I made these tarts for Mum's birthday and I then placed them in cupcake tins with the patty liners before blind baking them. 

Even in cupcake sizes, it was still too much for one person, so we shared them. It was good with cream and strawberries to break up the richness.

Ingredients

For base: 

2/3 cups plain flour

1/8 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup icing mixture

90g cold butter, chopped

For Filling:

1/2 cup cream

30g butter, chopped

200g dark chocolate, chopped

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

Directions

1. Place sifted flour, cocoa powder and icing mixture in a food processor and add butter. Using the pulse button, process in short bursts until mixture resembles crumbs. Add 1 1/2 tbsp iced water and process again in short bursts, until mixture just starts to clump together. Pinch a bit to see if it is moist enough, if not add a little more water. (I didn't take out my processor, I just worked the butter in with my fingertips)
2. Tip dough out onto a work surface and gather together. Roll out on a sheet of non-stick baking paper to fit a 34cm x 11.5cm (base measurement) loose-bottom flan tin. (Because I was in a rush, I didn't have any space with all the mess in the kitchen to roll out the base, I just rolled little balls and flattened them.) Place rolled pastry into prepared flan (or cupcake) tin, reserving the baking paper, and chill for 20 mins.
3. Preheat oven to 180°C or 160ºC fan. Place reserved baking paper on top of pastry and fill with dried rice or beans. Bake for 15 mins, then remove dried rice or beans and cook a further 15 mins, until dry and cooked through. Cool completely.
4. To make filling, heat cream, butter and cooking chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat until beginning to melt. Remove from heat and stand, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth. Stir in essence. Pour into the shell, and smooth the surface. Refrigerate for 30 mins, or until set.
5. To serve, if made as a flan cut tart into thin slices or if made as a mini tart cut into half, and top with cream, and serve with strawberries.