Chocolate and Beer Tart
This week we thought we would add a dessert to the beer food list. Finish up your meal with this classic recipe with a beery twist. This is sooo good as the addition of the alcohol in the beer just keeps the chocolate a little bit more gooey. The perfect chocolate and beer tart for beer lovers everywhere.
6-8 Portions
Ingredients
For the Ice cream:
- 400ml full-fat milk
- 75g citrus pale ale
- 5 egg yolks
- 300ml double cream
- 140g golden caster sugar
- 4 tablespoons of fresh orange juice, frozen
- grated zest of 2 oranges
For the Pastry:
- 100g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 50g chilled unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon very cold water
- 50g icing sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
For the filling:
- 110g unsalted butter
- 100g dark chocolate with 90% cocoa solids, broken into pieces
- 50g dark chocolate with chilli, 70% cocoa solids, broken into pieces
- 150g golden caster sugar
- 6 medium eggs
- 75g plain flour
- 50ml of dark, ‘coffee’ flavoured beer – Rutland Panther
Method
To make the ice cream, gently heat the milk, cream and beer in a saucepan until it starts to just bubble.
In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until very pale then gradually whisk in the warm cream mixture. DO NOT STOP WHISKING or you’ll get lumps.
Return to the pan, gently heat and stir until thickened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few moments before vigorously stirring in the orange zest and frozen juice, which helps bring the temperature down. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve (just in case you scrambled some of the eggs!) into a clean bowl and allow to chill in the fridge.
Once the mixture is chilled, churn in an ice cream maker, or freeze in a freezer container stirring every half an hour to break up any ice crystals.
To make the pastry, put the flour and icing sugar in a food mixer and pulse. Add the butter, a few cubes at a time and pulse again before adding the egg yolk to the mixture. keep pulsing until it begins to come together and then add the water until it all comes together as a ball. Add a little more water if the mixture is too dry.
Put the pastry dough onto a floured surface and quickly kneed it until it’s smooth. Wrap it in clingfilm and pop it in the fridge for around an hour.
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius and grease a 25-28cm loose bottomed tart tin. Roll out the chilled pastry on a floured work surface, as thin as you can and drape it over the tart tine, pressing it into the sides. Shave off any excess (keep this in the fridge for later) and pop it back in the fridge for another 30 minutes.
Once the pastry case is chilled, prick the base with a fork, cover with grease proof paper or parchment, top with baking beans or rice and blind bake for 5-8 minutes until a light golden colour. Check for holes and patch if needed using the previously reserved off cuts. Allow to cool whilst you are making the filling.
For the filling , melt the butter in a pan over a very low heat, add the broken up chocolate and beer and stir until the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and add the sugar and flour, then beat in the eggs one at a time.
Put the cooked pastry case on a baking tray onto the middle shelf of your oven and then pour in the chocolate mixture. give it a few gentle taps to remove any air bubbles, then bake the tart for 10 to 12 minutes, turning it around 180 degrees half way through to ensure an even bake. It should be set but slightly wobbly in the middle. Once cooked allow it to completely cool before slicing and serving with you orange and beer ice cream. For an extra flourish grate a little more of the chilli chocolate over the top of your chocolate and beer tart when serving.
