This series of dishes is designed to get you out of your comfort zone & try something new, and the home kitchen is the perfect place to have fun & experiment with new dishes. Chocolate & beer are two of my favourite things, so I thought I’d try combining them in an unexpected twist on a good-old chocolate tart.
MAKES: Serves 4
PREPARATION: 15 minutes
COOKING: 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
1 sheet chocolate short-crust pastry (refer Tips)
BLUE MOON BEER CARAMEL:
330ml Blue Moon Beer
1 orange, sliced
250gr caster sugar
250ml thickened cream
1 teaspoon salt flakes
25 grams unsalted butter
CHOCOLATE GANACHE
150 ml thickened cream
125 grams dark chocolate
50 grams unsalted butter (diced)
TO GARNISH;
Honeycomb (refer Tips)
Crème fraiche
HOW:
1. Preheat fan-forced oven to 170 degrees.
2. To make the Blue Moon Beer caramel, first add beer & 4-5 orange slices to wide based pan over medium heat. Reduce until 1/3 of original volume, remove orange then gradually add the sugar, stir and continue to cook until the sugar has started to brown.
3. Meanwhile, in a separate small saucepan bring the cream to the boil. Remove the caramel from the heat and carefully add the cream to the caramel. Stir carefully over a low heat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Remove from the heat, add the salt & diced butter and stir. Allow to cool slightly before pouring caramel into the cooled pastry case up to 1/3 of height of tart.
4. To make the chocolate tart shell, first grease 15cm tart shell with butter. Carefully lay or press in pastry ensuring no tears or holes. Set back in freezer for 15-20 minutes to chill & relax. Remove from freezer, blind-bake the pastry by lining it with greaseproof paper, filling with baking beans and cooking for about 15-20mins. Remove the beans and paper and continue to cook the pastry case for a further 5-10mins or until it is a light golden colour. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
5. For the chocolate ganache, bring the cream just to the boil and pour over the chopped chocolate. Mix carefully with a spatula until well combine. Once the mixture has cooled a little add the butter and stir gently until the mixture is smooth. Pour on top of the caramel and leave in a cool place for about 4-6 hours.
6. Just prior to serving garnish with pieces of honeycomb & spoonful of crème fraiche.
7. Slice & serve.
TIPS:
· Pastry - If you don’t want to make your own pastry that’s fine, in fact I didn’t… Try to find Careme Pastry are your nearest boutique grocer – it’s the bees knees of store-bought pastry. I used their Dark Chocolate Shortcrust.
· Honeycomb – Pastry Chef Lauren Elridge towelled me up in an Immunity Challenge with the best honeycomb I’ve ever seen so it’s now my go-to recipe. Find it here;
https://tenplay.com.au/channel-ten/masterchef/recipes/honeycomb-with-creme-fraiche-ice-cream