Masterchef has to be my favorite cooking show. I love being surprised by what people can cook when put on the spot. It inspires me to be creative with my cooking, which, in my house, is very much appreciated.
So the first recipe I tried to imitate from this season was Audra's Dark Chocolate Raspberry Tart with Cherry Port Jelly, which was apparently a hit (or people just felt obliged to say so) at my friend's 21st last night.
It was hard to find some of the ingredients like borage flowers and cherry port, but I managed to find substitutes in the form of rose petals and cherry brandy (which sets you back about $25 at liquorland).
Be careful of the cherry brandy - it actually tastes just like the Panadol cough syrup.
I tweaked the recipe a little to reduce the amount of fat and enhance the texture. Audra herself said on the show that she would have liked to add an egg yolk to the tart.
So this is what I ended up doing:
Pastry
4 Tbs Confectioner's sugar
2 Tbs Cocoa powder
140g Unsalted cold butter, chopped
6 Tbs Iced water
Ganache filling
200g Cadbury cooking dark chocolate, 45% cocoa solids
50g White chocolate 1C Heavy Cream 2 Tbs Butter
2 Egg Yolks
Cherry Brandy Jelly
Packet of Port jelly mix (sets 450mL)1/4C Crushed frozen raspberries
Raspberry puree
4 Tbs Confectioner's sugar
1 tsp Glucose
Decorations
300ml Thickened cream
2 Tbs Sugar
1 Vanilla bean, seeds scraped
125g Fresh Raspberries
100g White chocolate
Pinch of Salt
Spun/pulled sugar
- In a food processor, pulse the flour, salt, sugar and cocoa powder until evenly mixed.
- Add the cold butter and continue to pulse until butter is finely chopped
- Drizzle in the iced water one tablespoon at a time until the dough starts to bind.
- Form into a rough ball, cover and chill for 20 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
6. Meanwhile, in a double boiler, heat the cream and butter until steamy
7. Turn down the heat and add the chocolate, stir until it reaches a smooth and even consistency.
8. Beat in egg yolks until glossy. Reserve the chocolate mixture in the double boiler until required.
9. Roll out the pastry between two layers of baking paper to a 3mm thickness.
10. Carefully transfer the pastry to a fluted tart tin and press the dough firmly into the creases.
11. Cover with baking paper and weigh down with baking beads. Chill for another 20 minutes.
12. For the jelly, bring the cherry brandy to the boil on medium low heat for 5 minutes.
13. Remove from heat and stir in the packet of jelly mix until dissolved.
14. Add the frozen raspberries, and reserve until required.
15. Blind bake the pastry crust in the oven for 10 minutes.
16. For the raspberry puree, gently heat the frozen raspberries, the sugar and glucose until the raspberries have disintegrated.
17. Strain the raspberry mixture and chill.
18. Remove baking beads from the pastry and return to the oven for another 10 minutes or until the pie crust is dry and golden brown on the edges.
19. When the pie crust has cooled, pour in the chocolate mixture and spread evenly. Chill for 10 minutes or until set.
20. Pour the jelly mixture over the chocolate and return to the refrigerator until semi set.
21. Decorate with raspberries and refrigerate until ready to serve.
22. For the salted caramelised white chocolate brittle, melt the white chocolate and salt on high heat over a stove.
23. Continue to stir until the liquid thickens and turns golden brown.
24. Pour between two layers of baking paper and roll into a thin sheet.
25. Crush into small pieces (or crack into bite size pieces).
26. Whip the Cream with sugar and vanilla bean seeds.
27. Serve tart with a drizzle of the raspberry puree, vanilla bean cream, a sprinkle of the caramelised white chocolate brittle and spun sugar
I made a mini one for my sister with the left over components
Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the finished product, because I assembled it at my friend's house and forgot that I had a camera in my bag (also forgot where I put my bag...)
I think it turned out alright for my first ever chocolate tart, but the chocolate was just a tad bitter for my liking, I'd probably just use the 45% cocoa mass chocolate instead of a mixture of the 45% and the 70% next time.
Can't help but feel disappointing though because the Masterchef judges loved this tart so much that they gave an apron to Audra right after they tasted it. So either my tart is no where near as good as the one that she made (quite possible, but I can't imagine it being too much worse) or the judges were just putting on a show...
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