Chocolate Tart:

● 150g butter

● 120g icing sugar

● 2 eggs

● 300g flour

● 90g cocoa powder

Chestnut cream:

● 4 leaves gelatine

● 200g sugar

● 200g cream (boiled)

● 300g mascarpone

● 100g chestnut puree

● 200g milk chocolate

● 900g whipping cream

Cremeux:

● 350g cream

● 6 yolks

● 60g caster sugar

● 115g Irish cream liqueur

● 2 leaves gelatine

Lemon jelly:

● 100ml lemon juice

● 1 leaf gelatine

Feuilletine:

● 50g hazelnut paste

● 80g milk chocolate

● 50g feuilletine or bran flakes

Step 1 – Chocolate Pastry Case

1. Sift all dry ingredients – always sift dry ingredients! If dry ingredients are not sifted, the pastry will have lumps/pockets of flour throughout. Place in a mixing bowl of a Kitchen Aid.

2. Add a pinch of Halen Mon (crucial for the chocolatey flavour)

3. Add small cubes of cold butter to the bowl and mix on a low speed until the mixture resembles a breadcrumb texture. If the butter is too warm, the mixture will become a paste very quickly.

4. Add the eggs one by one. Allow each egg to fully incorporate into the mix before adding another, otherwise the mixture could split.

5. Allow the ingredients to form a dough. Use your hands to work the dough slightly, just enough to firm up the pastry. If over-worked, the gluten will develop too much and the pastry will be too hard once baked.

6. Allow the pastry to cool in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

7. Roll the pastry out to 0.3mm and line a small pastry case.

8. Allow to cool again for 10 minutes in the fridge.

9. Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper or ovenproof clingfilm and fill with rice.

10. Blind bake.

11. Remove the rice and return the case to the oven until done. It is a lot more difficult to tell when a chocolate pastry case is done because you cannot detect any colour changes. You must rely on your nose to smell when the pastry is fully cooked.

1. Whisk egg yolks and sugar together.

2. Boil whipping cream gently.

3. Pour over the yolks and sugar whilst continuously whisking to avoid cooking.

4. Place mixture in a thermomix and cook to 85 degrees Celsius.

5. Once the custard is thick, add the chocolate and blend thoroughly.

6. Finally, add the Irish Cream and chill.

1. Bloom gelatine in ice water.
2. Boil lemon juice and add gelatine.
3. Sieve the juice to get rid of any microscopic pieces of unmelted gelatine.

1. Gently melt milk Siocled and hazelnut praline together.
2. Add the feuilletine and mix thoroughly.
3. Cool quickly in the fridge.

1. Blend Hazelnut Praline with milk
2. Add Ultratex until desired consistency is achieved
3. Add Halen Mon to taste.
4. Freeze into semi-sphere moulds.

1. Boil cream and sugar.
2. Pour boiling mixture over chocolate and hand-blend until smooth.
3. Add mascarpone and chestnut and blend again until smooth.
4. Allow to set in the fridge overnight.

1. Pipe Irish Cream Cremeux into the base of the tart.
2. Add little pieces of the feuilletine and lemon jelly.
3. Dip the frozen hazelnut semi spheres in Siocled (to ensure the liquid centre doesn't escape before cut into) and place on top of the tart.
4. Whip up the mousse.
5. Spoon the mousse onto the semi sphere and make a conical shape with a small spatula.
6. Pipe a spiral onto the cone using a record player.

Originally featured on Richard Holt: Yr Academi Felys.

Recipe by Richard Holt.