Mayan Chocolate Tart

Delicious spiced chocolate flavour that finishes with a mild chilli hit.

Why did we call it Mayan chocolate tart? Well! The first record of chocolate being consumed was when the Ancient Mayans ground cocoa beans and blended them with spices, chilli and water to make a bitter drink. We have taken the idea of blending chocolate with spices and chilli to create this decadent dessert.

Makes 1 x 23cm flan

INGREDIENTS

1 x 300g packet frozen dark chocolate short crust pastry
11/2 cups cream
2 small red chillies, split
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 vanilla bean split, seeds scrapped
450g dark chocolate, finely chopped

METHOD
1 Preheat oven to 180˚C (360˚F). Allow pastry to defrost but not get warm.
2 Grease a 23cm flan pan and place onto a lined baking tray. Line the flan pan with pastry and prick the base with a fork. Line with baking paper and pie weights.
3 Place into the freezer and allow to rest for a further 30 minutes.
4 Bake for 8-10 minutes, remove the baking paper and pie weights and return to the oven for another 5-7 minutes or until the pastry is cooked.
5 Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a cake cooler.
6 Combine the cream with the chillies, cinnamon, vanilla bean and vanilla seeds in a medium saucepan. Gently whisk over a medium heat until the cream comes to the simmer. Remove from the heat and allow to stand for 5 minutess to infuse the spice flavours into the cream.
7 Place the chocolate into a large mixing bowl and strain over the hot cream. Whisk gently until the cream has melted the chocolate. Pour into the pastry shell, swirl the top of the tart with the back of a spoon and allow to set at room temperature.
8 Slice and serve at room temperature with cream.

The Carousel thanks thefooddept for this recipe.