Chocolate and cherries are a match made in heaven and this chocolate cherry tart recipe is perfect for a special occasion. I made it for Christmas day and served it surrounded by lovely scrumptious fresh cherries that had just come into season and with some frangelico cream on the side. Be warned though, the dark chocolate makes it an extremely rich dessert so you only need a tiny piece. Even my nephews had to admit defeat – although it was at the end of a long afternoon of Christmas eating!
Pastry
160g flour
2 Tbsp cocoa
100g cold butter, cubed
2 Tbsp caster sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp water
Filling
300g cherries, halved and stoned (can use frozen)
¼ cup brandy
¼ cup caster sugar
200ml cream
200g dark chocolate, cut into small pieces
2 eggs
¼ tsp almond essence
Preheat oven to 180C.
Pastry: place the flour, cocoa, butter and sugar into a food processor and process until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the eggs and water and mix to form a dough. Roll the dough on a lightly floured bench and line a 23cm tart tin. Cool the pastry shell in the fridge for 20 minutes then bake blind for 20 minutes until cooked.
Filling: combine the cherries with the brandy and sugar in a bowl.
Heat the cream until just boiling. Remove from the heat then add the chopped chocolate, stirring until completely smooth. Allow to cool for 10 minutes then add the eggs one at a time, and the almond essence.
Place the cherries in the base of the tart. Pour the smooth chocolate mixture over the top.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 minutes. Cool completely before serving thin slices with whipped cream (I added some icing sugar and a dash of frangelico).
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