Serves: 12–14
Preparation: 1½ hours
Cooking: 20 minutes
Refrigeration: 1 hour
Described as “the chocolate book to end all chocolate books”, Le Cordon Bleu’s Chocolate Bible is a must-have for chocoholics everywhere. Over 100 years of experience and expertise from the famous French cookery school has gone into the recipes… here’s one for you to try at home…
Ingredients
For the almond pastry
- 120g soft unsalted butter
- 75g icing sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 25g ground almonds
- 1 egg
- 200g flour, sifted
For the nougatine
- 40g flaked almonds
- 75g caster sugar
- 30g mild honey
For the chocolate cream
- 300ml whipping cream
- 3 eggs
- 60g caster sugar
- 120g dark (70%) chocolate, chopped
Directions
For the almond pastry
1Beat the butter with the icing sugar, salt and almonds; blend well. Add the egg then the sifted flour; roughly mix to combine.
2Press the crumbs into a ball then, on a lightly floured work surface, use the heel of the hand to push bits of dough away from you, smearing them across the work surface to blend the butter and flour. Work quickly; repeat if necessary.
3Form into a ball, flatten slightly and wrap in cling film. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
5Butter 12–14 x 8 cm tartlet moulds.
6Dust the work surface with flour. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 3 mm. Using a 10 cm pastry cutter, stamp out 12–14 rounds of dough.
7Line the moulds with the dough and prick the pastry bases using a fork. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
8Bake the dough-lined moulds for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool on a rack.
9Lower the oven temperature to 150°C (300°F).
For the nougatine
1Cover a baking tray with baking parchment and place the almonds on it. Toast in the oven for 5 minutes, or until lightly coloured.
2Place the sugar and honey in a saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves completely. Increase the heat and boil (do not stir) for about 10 minutes, or until the syrup becomes amber coloured. Remove from the heat and carefully stir in the toasted almonds.
3Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking tray and place another sheet of parchment on top. Using a rolling pin, spread the nougatine into a layer 2 mm thick. When cool, coarsely grind in a food processor.
For the chocolate cream
1Heat the cream until simmering.
2Place the eggs and sugar in a bowl and beat until pale yellow and creamy. Stir 1⁄3 of the cream quickly into the eggs and sugar and mix well to combine; return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, until thickened and the mixture coats the back of the spoon. (Do not allow to boil!).
3Remove from the heat immediately and strain over the chopped chocolate; stir carefully until smooth.
4Place the nougatine in the tartlet shells to come 3⁄4 up the sides and fill with the chocolate cream. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, or until the cream is firm. Sprinkle with the remaining nougatine.
Le Cordon Bleu Chocolate Bible is available in hardback from Amazon at £22.75
