Chocolate lovers, this one’s for you. An unusual combination but we know you’ll love it. The smooth bitter taste of dark chocolate paired with beetroot to add natural sweetness and eye popping rich red colour. Topped with a crunchy golden nut praline this one’s a showstopper.
Butter Quick Tips
Using unsalted butter in your baking is the best way to start. If you feel it needs a bit of salt, you can add it later.
Ingredients
Pastry:
180 g Westgold butter
250 g flour
80 g icing sugar
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1 egg and 1 yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Ganache:
100 g Westgold butter
250 g dark chocolate (70% cocoa is best)
150 ml cream
Pinch of salt
300g cooked beetroot, chopped
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup water
Praline:
½ cup sugar
2 Tablespoons water
70 g toasted brazil nuts (or any other nut you prefer)
Pinch sea salt
Method
Prep notes before making this tart:
Pastry needs to be refrigerated for ½ an hour.
The beetroot will need 40-50 minutes to cook.
To cook the beetroot:
Choose even sized, small beetroot. Don’t trim off any stalks or cut the flesh (to stop the colour leeching into the cooking water. Wash gently to remove any dirt. Place into a saucepan and cover with water. Put the lid on and cook gently until soft around 40-50 mins depending on the size. Leave to cool in the water. When cool, rub the skin off with your hands and dry beetroot with a paper towel.
Pastry:
Put all the dry ingredients into a mixer/blender, add the cubed butter and pulse until like fine breadcrumbs. Tip the flour mixture into a mixing bowl. Whisk the egg, yolk and vanilla together. Pour into the flour mixture and gently mix to a smooth dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for ½ hour.
Preheat the oven to 160 deg C. Grease a 23 – 24cm fluted tart tin. Roll out the pastry and line the tin cutting the pastry just above the top of the tin to allow for a little shrinkage. There will be pastry leftover that you can store and use for something else. Refrigerate for 10 mins. Line the pastry with baking paper and fill with baking beans and bake blind for 10-15 mins. Remove the paper and beans and cook for another 5-10 mins until crisp. Leave to cool.
Ganache:
Put the water, brown sugar, salt and beetroot into a saucepan and simmer for about 5 minutes until the liquid has reduced to a light syrup. Tip into a blender to blend until you have a smooth puree, like the consistency of thick sauce. Set aside to cool 15 minutes. Put the cream and butter into a saucepan and heat gently until hot. Take off the heat and add in the chopped chocolate. Leave for a few minutes until the chocolate has melted through and whisk until smooth. Add the beetroot puree to the chocolate ganache and stir gently until smooth. Pour into the baked tart pastry shell and refrigerate until set.
Praline:
In a heavy based saucepan place sugar and water. Put over a high heat without stirring, boil until a golden caramel colour. Quickly remove from the heat and swirl in chunky cut brazil nuts and pour onto a greased oven tray. Leave to set.
When ready to serve: remove the tart from the tin and place on a plate. Sprinkle the edge of the pastry with cocoa powder. Roughly chop the praline into large and small pieces and pile into the middle of the tart. Serve at room temperature.
The perfect sauce to accompany this tart is:
75gm raspberries (fresh or defrosted)
75gm cooked beetroot, 2 teaspoons icing sugar
Puree all ingredients together and passed through a sieve.
This tart is also delicious served with a dollop of fresh Natural or Greek-style Easiyo yoghurt.
