Christmas, it’s nearly upon us. I’ve had a quiet few weeks because life happened. I moved house (still in Walthamstow, still smug as f*ck, just a different bit) then a couple of weeks later I started a new job. The new new job required me to spend a whole week in Edinburgh. None of this was conducive to baking, photographing and writing. But as I said, Christmas is nearly here. So it’s time to start with the festive recipes. Jumping straight in with something insanely chocolatey, which’d be perfect as the dessert for a friendly get together, or maybe just to keep in the fridge to slowly work your way through yourself as part of proper festive decadence.

Lily O’Briens got in touch a few weeks back and asked me to put together something inspired by their dessert selection. I originally thought about doing something for the hazelnut torte, but eventually the call of the raspberries won over. A chocolate tart filled with, and then topped off by, raspberries and then covered in white chocolate is perfect for this time of year. A rich but shareable dessert that’s perfect for a dinner party or festive table.

If your pie dish isn’t that deep, I’d recommend chopping the raspberries before you pour over the filling. The chocolate pastry doesn’t shrink too much when it bakes either, so if you need to trim it down don’t stress too much about how much you’re taking off the edges. I’m hoping to get a bunch more recipes up in time for Christmas. But if you’re after any inspiration then there’s already a host of festive recipes all up on the blog from the last few years.

Is there anything Christmassy you’d like to see up on the blog?

Chocolate & Raspberry Tart

 

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Prep time

40 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

1 hour 30 mins

 

Author: The Bearded Baker

Serves: 1 Pie

Ingredients

• **For the Pastry**
• 175g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 25g good quality cocoa powder
• 50g icing sugar
• 100g chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 medium free-range egg yolk
• 4 tsp cold water
• **For the Filling**
• 150ml whole milk
• 500ml double cream
• 65g golden caster sugar
• 300g good quality dark chocolate (ideally 70 per cent cocoa solids), broken into small squares
• 2 medium free-range eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 200g fresh raspberries

Instructions

1. Sift the flour with the cocoa powder and icing sugar into a food processor (or a large bowl if doing by hand). Add the cubed butter and blitz until it resembles breadcrumbs (or rub in quickly with your fingers).
2. Beat the yolk with the water and add to the flour mixture, mixing until it almost comes together. Turn out onto a surface and knead briefly together. Don't overwork it.
3. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 15 minutes.
4. Roll out to about 1cm thick and transfer to a loose bottomed pie dish (ideally about 4cm deep).
5. Return to the fridge and chill for a further 20 minutes.
6. Preheat your oven to 200°C(180°C fan assisted), with a baking tray on the middle shelf.
7. Line the pie shell with grease proof and weigh down with baking beans (I used rice), place on the preheated baking tray and blind bake for 15 minutes.
8. Remove the weights and greaseproof carefully and return the pie to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool until crisp.
10. While it's cooling, make the filling and lower the oven temperature to 170°C(150°C fan assisted)
11. Bring the milk, cream and sugar to a slow boil in a heavy based saucepan, stirring frequently so it doesn't catch.
12. Once it reaches a boil, immediately remove. Pour in the chocolate and stir until it's completely melted.
13. Allow to cool a little before stirring in the vanilla and the eggs.
14. Scatter the raspberries over the base of the pie dish (chop them if they're a little large, I didn't and I should have, simply for aesthetics later).
15. Pour over the chocolate mixture, covering the raspberries but leaving a small lip.
16. Place on the baking tray and back in the oven.
17. Bake for 20-30 minutes. It'll still wobble slightly in the middle.
18. Remove and allow to cool, and set, before serving. I topped with extra raspberries and some melted white chocolate.

3.5.3228

**This post was a collaboration with Lily O’Brien’s chocolate**