I have been a busy bee tonight, baking a shed load of tarts for a birthday BBQ bash tomorrow.  I had a quick look to see what ingredients I had lying around then just new they begged to be made into a chocolate and lemon tart from the green and blacks cookbook I’m so fond of.  This is probably one of the very few recipes inside the book that I actually haven’t made so I’m looking forward to know exactly how it will go down.   I will update everyone soon with pictures and the recipe just in-case you don’t have the book.  If you don’t you NEED to buy it.

UPDATE: Recipe and Photos…..

Chocolate Lemon Tart Recipe:

The recipe worked an absolute charm and the end result really is to die for.  I did make one little change which in my opinion is an improvement. The recipe asks for grated chocolate to be placed onto the tart base but I roughly chopped the chocolate and spread evenly over the bottom.  The end result is a wonderffully light tart base with hidden bits of chocolate chunks melting into the lemon filling.

I can’t believe that it has taken me so long to try this recipe.  I’m making it again soon for my Birthday in little tart cases, only a week to wait woo hoo.  So for those of you who do not have the green a blacks chocolate cookbook, Im telling you that you need to buy it, it is worth every penny. You can buy it online at Amazon, or if your lucky pop into “The Works” bookstore where I have seen it for under a fiver…bargain.

Pastry:

175g Plain Flour
25g Cocoa Powder
Pinch of salt
125g unsalted butter
1 large egg yolk
2 tbsp cold water
Filling
75g dark chocolate
3 juicy lemons
150g caster sugar
4 large eggs
150ml double cream
icing sugar to sprinkle

Method:

To make the pastry, sift together the flour, cocoa, salt & icing sugar. Rub in the cold butter using a food processor or your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Mix the egg yolk with the water, and add to the mixture to make a dough. You may need to a little more water. Gather the pastry into a ball, wrap it in greaseproof paper (or glad wrap as I did) & chill in the fridge for about 1 hour.

Roll out the pastry. Line a 23cm tart tin with a removable base with the pastry. (I didn’t have these so I used 2 9″ cake pans). Prick the pastry base with a fork in several places & chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 200c. Line the pastry case with foil & baking beans and bake for 15 minutes, then remove the foil & beans & bake for another 5 minutes. Remove the tin from the oven & reduce the oven temperature to 170c. While the pastry is still hot, scatter the grated chocolate evenly over the base & then leave to cool. Note: I scattered my chocolate evenly over the bottom but I roughly chopped the chocolate pieces, and it created a wonderful contrast to the lemon when you eat it.

To make the filling, finely grate the zest from the lemons into a mixing bowl. Squeeze the lemon juice & add it to the zest with the sugar. Whisk until the sugar has dissolved, then whisk in the eggs & cream until the mixture is smooth.

Pour the filling into the cooled pastry case & carefully return it to the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes until just set. Remove from the oven & leave on a wire rack to cool completely before removing from the tin. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

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