Recipe: Fabulous chocolate & pear tart with Frangelico cream

In this extract from her new book, Jax, Back to Blighty chef Jax Hamilton shares a knockout recipe for a chocolate and pear tart.

PREPARATION TIME:40 mins + 2-3 hrs resting time

COOK TIME: 60 mins

INGREDIENTS
PASTRY:

125g butter, diced

75g caster sugar

1 egg yolk

3 tbsp water

250g plain flour

1 egg, lightly beaten

FILLING:

150ml milk

50ml thickened cream

200g dark chocolate

1 egg yolk

410g tin pears in juice, drained

1 tbsp cocoa powder

FRANGELICO CREAM:

150ml thickened cream

2 tbsp icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

100 ml Frangelico

METHOD To make the pastry, in a large bowl or using a food processor, cream together the butter and sugar until pale, light and creamy.

Pop in the egg yolk and stir in the flour with a little of the water. Keep kneading until you have a soft but not sticky dough. Wrap your pastry in cling wrap and rest it in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

Preheat your oven to 180C. Lightly frease a 20cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Unwrap your pastry, roll it out to about 3mm thick and carefully line your tin with the pastry, ensuring the pastry lines the tin well and overlasp the edges.

Take your rolling pin and roll over the edges of the tart to remove any excess pasty. Line the tart with baking paper and pour in some dried beans, or uncooked rice, and spread them out so they cover the bottom of the tart, Place the tart on a baking tray and blind bake for 5-10 minutes.

Take the tart out of the oven, remove the paper and baking beans, brush the tart case with a little beaten egg and return it to the oven for another 7 minutes. Remove it from the oven then turn the heat down to 100 C.

To make your filling, pour the milk and cream into a saucepan and bring it to a soft boil. Add the chocolate and mix in the egg yolk, whisking all the time. When the chocolate is melted, remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool for about 5 minutes. By now your tart case should be completely cool. Arrange the drained pears in the base of your flan. Pour your chocolate mixture over the pears and return the flan to the oven for 40 minutes or until set. When cool, dust the top with cocoa powder and remove the flan from the tin.

Whip together the cream, icing sugar, vanilla essence and Frangelico, till you get soft peaks. Serve wedges of tart with the Frangelico cream.-serves 8