This is an adaptation from my chilli chocolate tart, and its as good as the original. Sweeter due to the white chocolate but the cardamon adds a warm, spicy hint to the mix. It is rich so a little slice will go a long way...
I used cardamon sugar for this recipe but its not essential, you could just add more seeds to the filling and use icing sugar instead. To make the sugar I just added about twenty cardamon pods to 250g Caster Sugar in a sealed jar and left for a couple if weeks. As I said, it's not essential, but it's a nice touch.
Ingredients. Makes 1 tart that feeds 16, depending on hunger levels
Pastry
250g Plain Flour
100g Cardamon Sugar
50g Ground Almonds
125g Butter
1 Egg
Filling
500g White Chocolate, chopped
150g Butter
10 - 12 Cardamon pods, crushed and only the the seeds kept
1tsp Salt
3 eggs
100g Cardamon Sugar
150g Plain Flour
Method
1. Pastry - Put the flour, sugar, butter and ground almonds into your food processor and pulse a few times until you get the classic breadcrumb consistency. Don't tell anyone, but it works just as well as using your hands as log as your down over do it so it gets too warm.
2. Add the egg to combine, use a little water if more liquid is required and then form into a ball and pop in the fridge for about an hour. This really does help
3. When done, roll the pastry out to about 4mm think and line a prepared tin, about 20cm in diameter. Sorry, but chill again for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200 degrees fan, or equivalent.
4. Add a layer of baking paper and baking beans, I use pebbles from a beach in Scotland, and blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove the beans / pebbles and paper and give it another 5 minutes if not nice and golden. Leave to cool
5. Turn the oven down to 150 degrees fan or equivalent
6. Filling - Crush the cardamon pods and remove any bits of shell, and retain the seeds. Melt the chocolate and butter together withe the cardamon seeds, however you feel best - in a bowl over simmering water, a microwave if you own one or like me, very gently straight in the pan (but that's probably another thing not to pass on)
7. Remove from any heat source and add the sugar and eggs. Give it a jolly good bashing with a whisk to get some air in then add the flour. Combine fully and pour into the pastry case
8. Bake for 20 minutes until semi firm with a gentle wobble
9. Best served cold, annoyingly, so wait, dust with a little icing sugar and dollop of something creamy on the side
10. Eat it!
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