Pastry
75g butter
75g caster sugar
75g ground almonds
125g plain flour
A pinch of salt
2 tbsp iced water, or more as needed
Start by sifting the flour and salt into a large bowl. I used wholemeal flour which is ridiculous to sift because you end up with beautifully sifted flour but a sieve full of hard bits - just tip the hard bits back into the bowl and stir it all around. No one will notice.
Take your room temperature butter (because you totally remembered to take it out of the fridge an hour ago, right?) and chop it up into little blocks. Add it to the bowl. Using your fingertips, massage the butter into the flour until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. The aim is to avoid melting the butter so don't use the palms of your hands, as they will be too hot.
Stir in the sugar and the ground almonds, then dig a little well in the centre of the mix and pour in some of the ice water. Take a knife and mix the whole thing together by cutting the mixture back and forth, rather than stirring it round and round. If it's not coming together, add a little more water, but don't over-mix or add too much water. It should look crumbly rather than being a smooth dough.
Gently knead the dough into a ball and cover it with plastic wrap. Put your dough into the fridge and leave it for 20 to 30 minutes. You can use this time to check your email or make a sandwich.
Take your dough and put it into the centre of your favourite tart tin. Gently push the dough down and outwards from the centre so it covers the entire tin base and up the sides. Using a 23 cm non-stick tart tin, this recipe made juuuust enough to cover the base and make a small (like, 1.5 cm high) edge. If you use a 20 cm tin, you could probably get more of an edge. Try and make it tidy and pretty-looking, and then put the tin and dough back in the fridge for another 20 to 30 minutes. Make another sandwich.
Pre-heat oven to 180 C and get your tart out of the fridge. Line the base of the tart case with baking paper and baking weights (for example, rice grains or dried beans – though you can also purchase fancy ceramic weights from home ware stores) and put it in the oven for 15 minutes. This is to make sure the tart keeps its shape and has a nice texture. Then remove the weights and baking paper before baking the tart for a further 5 to 10 minutes or until it looks golden and delicious. There. You have a tart case. Leave it in the tin and let it cool.
Filling
300ml thickened or whipping cream
200g dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa), finely chopped
50g butter, chopped
2 or 3 tbsp Bailey's Irish Cream
When the tart case is almost or completely cool, you can start on the filling. Don't do this too early because you don't want to pour this into a hot tart case or to have it sitting around for ages either.
Start by pouring the cream into a saucepan and heat it until just before boiling point – so it 'trembles' but doesn't bubble.
Put the chopped chocolate into a heatproof bowl and pour in the heated cream. Let it sit for 1 minute and then mix with a spatula, working from the centre outwards.
Add the butter, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Last of all, add the Bailey's and stir again - you're almost done!
Pour the chocolate mixture into the tart case and leave in a level place to cool. Put it back into the fridge for at least 3 hours before serving.
This tart is rich enough to be eaten on its own but you might like to put some berries or cream on the side, or perhaps a few leaves of fresh mint.
Adapted from a recipe by Jill Dupleix
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