Chocolate and pear biscuit tart

SM 2003-05 p.76 [04.019.01]
Serves 8


This is essentially quite easy to make, but it can be a bit logistically tricky if you don't plan out the timings in advance—there are several different stages involving chilling pastry, waiting for mixtures to cool, etc. Well worth the effort, though.

As usual, the Mammal reduces the amount of sugar in recipes for cakes, puddings, etc; if you have a sweet tooth, you may prefer to revert to the quantities in the original recipe, which are given in square brackets.

Ingredients for the base
150g (5oz) plain flour, plus extra for rolling
1 level tablespoon cocoa powder
40g (1.5oz) icing sugar, plus extra to dust [50g; 2oz]
75g (3oz) butter, cut into small dice
1 large egg
Ingredients for pears
250ml (9fl oz) white wine
175g (6oz) caster sugar [200g; 7oz]
Juice 1 lemon
4* conference pears, peeled, halved and cored
510ml (18fl oz) water
* Note: depends  on size of pears; often, 3 will be plenty.
Ingredients for the filling
100ml (3.5fl oz) double cream
55ml (2fl oz) whole milk
25g (1oz) butter, chilled and cut into dice
200g (7oz) plain dark cooking chocolate (50% cocoa solids), chopped small
1 large egg, beaten
1.5 tablespoons caster sugar [2] 


Equipment: 20cm (8in) deep fluted loose-bottomed flan tin, well buttered; greaseproof paper; baking beans. (In practice, you can get away without the baking beans and a non-fluted tin will do perfectly well.)

Method
To make the pastry base, put the flour, cocoa powder and icing sugar into a food processor and pulse until mixed. Add the butter and process, using the pulse action, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg and pulse again until the mixture just comes together. If needed, add a little water to bring the pastry together. Form into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and regrigerate for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, combine the wine, sugar, lemon juice, and water in a large pan; bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the pear halves, turn down the heat, and poach them for about 10 minutes or until they are tender. Lift out of the liquid and leave to cool.

When the pastry has chilled, pre-heat the oven to 190°C (375°F; gas mark 5). Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface, and use it to line the flan tin. Prick the base, line with greaseproof paper and baking beans, then bake for 20 minutes. Take out and leave to cool. Lower the oven temperature to 150°C (300°F, gas mark 2).

To make the filling, bring the cream and milk to the boil in a pan, then add the butter. Take off the heat and add the chocolate; set aside for 5 minutes, then stir until smooth. Beat in the egg and sugar, then pour into the flan tin. Make sure the pears are well drained, then arrange them on top of the filling (leave them as they are or fan them without cutting right through).
Place the tart on a baking sheet and cook in the top half of the oven for 25–30 minutes, until the chocolate is just set. Take out of the oven and leave for up to 30 minutes until set. Serve warm, dusted with icing sugar, or keep till later and serve cool.

Per serving: 528cals; 30g fat (of which 18g saturated); 6g protein; 58g carbohydrates; [35g] added sugar; 2g fibre.