Irish Cream Chocolate Tart

You know how I am one for making a list of things?

Things I have to do. Things I need to buy. Things I need to make. Sometimes when I do things and I haven't made a list, I will retrospectively make that list and cross off what I have completed. 

I put this tart on a list. The long finger list as I like to call it, many days ago. It went on purposefully, knowing I would be making it for Chocolate Week on the Bake Off. What I didn't do... was factor in the multi-elemental nature of this tart. How this tart, was a list in itself. Much to my absolute amusement I got to make another list and ticked off each of the components of the tart as they were completed. Speaking of lists.. shameful plug.. I made it on to this one!!

What I am trying to get at, in probably the most long winded version, is that this tart is a little time consuming. It has a structure and a few bits and pieces to it. There's a make, bake, set up time. Followed by a make, glaze, eat it time. Paying no heed to the macarons on top, this tart is taking you the bones of 3 hours. Buuuuuuttt... If you put all those elements down on a list, you could really spend an afternoon crossing them off and having, at the end of it, a very yummy Irish Cream, Chocolate Mousse Tart.

What's not to love there?

Chocolate Pastry Case

240g plain flour
50g dark coco powder
1tsp caster sugar
150g diced cold butter (+ a little extra for greasing)
1 large egg

Put the flour, coco powder, sugar and butter into a food processor and blitz until looks like breadcrumbs.
Crack in the egg and bring together until a soft ball forms.
Wrap in clingfilm, pat down and leave in fridge for 30 mins.
Grease up a 9/10 inch round pie dish.
Preheat your oven to 180C, 350F or gas mark 4.
After the 30 minutes, roll out the pastry to fit your pastry tin. Trim off any access.

Blind bake your pastry case bottom using pastry beads for about 15 minutes. Remove the beads and bake again for a further 5. Allow the pastry to cool, in the tin, completely before filling. 

Chocolate Mousse Filling

45ml milk
80ml Irish Cream Liqueur
200g dark chocolate (I used 60%)
375ml double, heavy cream

Put the first 3 ingredients in a bowl and pop it in the microwave. You want to heat the milk and Irish Cream enough so that they melt the chocolate, but not too hot that they boil in the bowl. I use a medium setting for a minute, then check and stir. Then pop it back in for another minute and stir again until it's completely melted and mixed together.

Set it to one side to cool.

Soft whip the double cream to just the soft peak stage. If you whip it any more your mousse will become grainy and not soft and billowy like you want! When the chocolate is cooled pop it in on top of your cream and fold through until it is streak free, i.e. it's all chocolate now. No more cream can be seen.

Fill your cooled pastry case with the chocolate mousse and set in the fridge for at least two hours, if not more to set up.

Lick the bowl clean. You will not regret this part. Seriously.

Chocolate Ganache

250g semisweet dark chocolate 
250ml Double Cream

Put the chocolate into a heat resistant bowl.
Heat the cream in a saucepan over a medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the cream begins to simmer, quickly remove from the heat and pour it over the chocolate. Swirl the bowl to ensure all the chocolate is coated in the hot cream.
Cover the bowl to trap the heat and let it rest for 5 minutes.
Remove the lid and slowly whisk the mixture until you have a smooth glossy ganache.
Leave to cool for about 30 minutes before using as a glaze on the cake.

Once covered, decorate how you like.. I had white chocolate macarons made and filled them with left over ganache. You can pop the tart back into the fridge if you want and allow it to set up even more, or you can serve immediately. Choice is yours.

Be careful not to over bake your pastry like I did.. Rookie mistake. I'd have left the tent for that!

And now there's only one week left with the Bake Off. Can you believe it!

Jenny and all the other bloggers have been really pushing out the boat with their creations the past few weeks. Baking Queen Lucy, is hosting for us this week and I can't wait to see what everyone got up to. Put popping by the link-up on your list for today... it'll be choc full of deliciousness. (See what I did there...!!)