54. Polka Dot Chocolate Tart

What weird times we’re living in… I am trying my best not to go stir crazy sat at home, so I thought I would try and challenge myself to make an entry to the Le Cordon Bleu Pastry Win competition on Instagram. While the rest of the entires are entirely out of my league, I thought it would be fun to challenge myself anyway.

This was inspired by a Instagram post I saw of a strawberry tart with polka dot pink pastry. It looked incredible and fun, so I saw no reason not to give it a go! I tried to do the polka dots before lining my pastry tin, which I think may have been a mistake, on the bottom half, but the decorative disc worked really well I think, so not a complete fail!

Let me know if you have a go, or if you have been doing any self-isolating baking too.

Makes 1 tart

Ingredients

For the vanilla pastry

110g (3.9oz) butter, room temperature
50g (20z) caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt
180g (6oz) plain flour

For the chocolate pastry

110g (3.9oz) butter, room temperature
50g (2oz) caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp milk/water
1 pinch of salt
150g (5.25oz) plain flour
30g (1oz) cocoa powder

For the ganache

225ml double cream
38g (1.35oz) butter
150g chocolate (preferably dark)
1 tsp sugar
Pinch of salt

For the vanilla buttercream

100g (3.5oz) butter, room temperature
150g (5.25oz) icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tsp milk
pinch of salt

Method

Start with the vanilla pastry. In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter together until fluffy and light. Add in the vanilla extract and the eggs and beat until smooth.
Fold in the flour and salt until a dough forms.
Chill your dough in the fridge, wrapped in clingfilm for at least 15 minutes to make it easier to work with.
For the chocolate pastry, repeat steps 1-3 swapping the vanilla extract for milk/water and adding the cocoa powder with the flour.
Lightly grease your tart tin/ring (and line your tray if using a ring). Line and additional tray for your decorative disc.
Roll out your two pastry doughs to about 1/6” thickness. Choose which dough you would like to make the tart and which to decorate. Use your tart ring to cut out a circle of your DECORATIVE dough. Then line your tart ring using your TART dough, leaving the excess on for now.
Use small cookie cutters to exchange pieces between your two doughs. When exchanging, use your fingers to tap the new dough and surrounding dough into place. Dip your fingers in water to help this stick together. Keep doing this until you are happy with the design and then fridge for at least ten minutes.
Preheat the oven to 175C.
Roll the excess off your tart using your rolling pin, then push the dough into the sides to make sure it is all lined evenly. Use the back of a knife to get rid of any excess.
Cut out the centre of your decorative ring and place on the same tray, if you have room.
Pierce the base of your tart several times using a fork, all the way through! This will stop the bottom from rising as it bakes. Line the tart with either greaseproof paper or clingfilm and fill with baking beans, rice or something else suitable to hold up the edges of the tart as it bakes.
Blind bake the tart with the beans in and the decorative pastry for 15 minutes until the edge is golden.
At this point remove the baking beans from the tart for another 15-20 minutes until the base is golden as well. Take out the decorative ring if golden and firm, or allow to bake for a further five minutes.
Take out of the oven and allow to cool before removing from the tin.
For the ganache: In a pan bring the cream, sugar and salt to the boil and immediately remove from the heat. Add in the butter and then chocolate in chunks and stir until they have completely blended in.
Pour the chocolate ganache into the tart once the tart has cooled and leave to set at room temperature. If you put it in the fridge it may seize.
For the buttercream: Cream the butter for the icing until light and fluffy. Add in the icing sugar, beating until light and fluffy, then add in the vanilla extract and milk (as much as needed). Keep beating if not light and easily spreadable.
Once the ganache has set, pipe some buttercream in a design such that the decorative ring can rest on it at a bit of height above the tart surface. This could be pleats like I did, or small mounds in a circle.
Decorate with ring and disc and impress your mates!