Chocolate and raspberry tart

A chocolate and raspberry tart! Miam! It also has a balsamic vinegar finish. The raspberries are not only on top but also mixed with chocolate.

This recipe is one from Pierre Herme’s book “Le Larousse du Chocolat”.  Recipes in the book are not necessarily Pierre Herme’s own recipes but have been selected by him across his professional and personal network.

This is the case for this one, it comes from a Patisserie in Strasbourg, in Eastern France, and is by Thierry Mulhaupt.

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

• 1/2 tsp vanilla powder
• 150 g soft butter
• 95 g icing sugar
• 250 g of flour
• 2 pinch of salt (except if using salted butter)
• 1 egg
• 30 g of almond meal

This will make 600 g of pastry. You only need a bit more than half. Keep the rest for another dessert, it will keep in the fridge a few days.

For the filling:

• 20 cl of thickened cream or liquid creme fraiche
• 250 g of raspberries
• 270 g of dark cooking chocolate (64%)
• 70 g of soft (NOT MELTED!!) butter

For the garnishing:

• 150 g of raspberries (fresh)
• balsamic vinegar

Method

1. Mix all the pastry ingredients without working the dough. That is combined them quickly. Place in cell wrap and rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
2. Use a 22 cm diameter tart tin. Butter it. Roll the pastry about 4 mm thick. transfer to the tin.  Trim the edges.  Pick the bottom of the pastry with a fork (this prevent air bubbles forming during cooking).
3.  Place the dish (with the pastry ready to bake) in the fridge for half an hour before baking. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
4. Place a piece of baking paper at the bottom of your tart, add baking stones (or beans or rice).  Bake for 17 minutes or so (depending on the oven). Remove from the oven and remove the baking stones. Cool down the tart base on a cooling rack (handle gently, it is fragile).
5. To prepare the garnishing, juice the raspberry through a sieve.  Cut the chocolate in small chunks.  Heat up the juice, heat up the cream to boiling point.  Place hot cream and juice on top of the chocolate. Mix until melted. Add the soft butter and mix until fully incorporated.
6. Place your tart shell on the serving plate.  Pour in the chocolate mix, it will level on its own.
7. Use the garnishing raspberries to place on top pushing a few down, little hole up.
8. Fill those raspberries with balsamic vinegar using a little spoon.