You know that feeling you get when you buy something that tastes so beyond incredible that you NEED to be able to make it just so you can stop dreaming/fantasising/drooling about it and so everything can be good and right in the world again? Nope, just me?
Well, last Saturday I had one of these moments whilst sat on a park bench in the middle of Islington.
My friends and I had spontaneously decided to go hunt down this giant ‘YES’ in the middle of London (coz that’s just the exciting, thrill seeking sort of thing we do!)… though when we finally found the ‘YES’ it didn’t quite match our expectations. Clearly size does matter.
So to lift our spirits my friend Pete decided to take us to Ottolenghi for some much needed baked goods. Cue Angela stood frozen at the shop window…mouth open…drooling. Shmexy.
I dare you not to drool.
Anyways, I bought this beautiful baked chocolate raspberry and cherry tart that absolutely changed my life. A brownie tart? It’s obvious I would end up making my own.
Et voila! Look at it go!
Dark chocolate.
Ground almonds.
Kirsch drenched cherries.
Nom.
But seriously, who gets ID’ed for cherries?!
Ingredients
For the pastry:
110g plain flour
40g caster sugar
40g ground almonds
75g unsalted butter, cold
½ egg
few drops of vanilla & almond extract
For the brownie batter:
65g plain flour
30g ground almonds
1/2tsp salt
1tbsp dark unsweetened cocoa powder
155g dark chocolate, 70%
170g caster sugar
45g light brown sugar
2½ eggs
2tsp almond extract
125g Kirsch soaked cherries
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C.
For the pastry: combine the flour, sugar and ground almonds. Rub in the cold butter to the dry ingredients. Add the egg and extracts and blend until it just combined. Wrap in cling film and leave in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
In a large saucepan (or using a double broiler), melt the chocolate and butter over a low heat until smooth. Remove from the heat and add the sugars. Whisk together till all incorporated and leave to cool.
Add the eggs and almond extract to the chocolate mixture and mix until just combined. Overbeating at this stage will make the brownies cakey!
Fold in the flour, ground almonds and lastly, the drunken cherries. (regular fresh, pitted cherries will do too!).
http://instagram.com/p/eDQ6qmyXTc/
Taking the chilled pastry, roll out on a lightly floured surface to fit your tart dish. Prick the base with a fork and blind bake at 180°C for 10 – 15 minutes. (until pastry is golden!)
Once the pastry is done, pour in the chocolate brownie batter into the pastry case so it reaches just below the top. Sprinkle with ground almonds and bake for 30 – 45 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.
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