Chocolate and prune tart

Babiche Martens

Decadent comes to mind when you taste this luscious chocolate tart. I have topped it with a mixture of fresh strawberries, pomegranate arils and slightly tart freeze-dried raspberries. The combination is sublime. Start with a small slice, but don’t hesitate to have seconds!

For the pastry

150 g	Butter
½ cup	Caster sugar
1	Egg yolk
2 Tbsp	Cocoa
2 cups	Flour

For the filling

1 cup	Cream
½ cup	Full fat milk
150 g	Dark chocolate, broken into small pieces (Main)
2	Eggs
10	Prunes, use up to 12 (Main)
1 sprinkle	Cocoa, to dust
1 handful	Fruit, to decorate

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 180C.
2. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg yolk and beat again, and then the cocoa, mixing well.
3. Stir through the flour until a dough starts to form, then bring the dough together on a lightly floured bench. Wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
4. Roll the dough to fit a 23cm tart tin. Bake the tart blind for 20 minutes. Remove the baking paper for the last five minutes to dry out the base.
5. Heat the cream and milk to boiling point. Pour over the chocolate pieces, stirring until smooth. Allow to cool. Stir through the eggs.
6. Pour the mixture into the tin and dot in the prunes. Return to the oven for 15-20 minutes until just set. Remove and cool completely.
7. Serve with a sprinkle of fruit, scoops of vanilla ice cream or dollop with cream.

More dinner-party courses

• Warm scallop and prawn salad with hazelnut butter
• Sumac lamb loins