Raspberry and Chocolate Ganache Tartlets

This year I'll be celebrating Mothering Sunday, or Mother's Day, with my own mother, and bringing her a pudding.  I'm still waiting for my boys to make me a pudding on Mother's Day.... no pressure, guys!   Mum adores dark chocolate in any form, so I'm hoping she'll like these little raspberry tartlets from a recipe I found in Red Magazine.   You could make it as a single tart, just make sure it is cooked in the middle to avoid a soggy bottom.

My sisters and I were given dark chocolate Easter eggs one year, which we absolutely hated!  My wonderful mother (who doesn't read this blog by the way) nobly took on the task of eating the eggs, and I remember her at the ironing board, whiling away the ironing pile with a similar pile of dark chocolate egg.... Happy Mothering Sunday, Mum.

Raspberry and Chocolate Ganache Tartlets

Raspberry and Chocolate Tartlets

Chocolate Pastry:

4 ½ oz/125g plain flour
2 ½ tbsp cocoa powder
3 tbsp caster sugar
3oz/85g butter, straight from the fridge

2 tbsp double cream

1 tbsp milk

Chocolate Ganache:

3 ½ oz/100g good quality plain chocolate  

8fl oz/225ml double cream

Raspberry top:

14oz/400g raspberries (approx)
Icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.   Make the pastry by blending all the ingredients together in a food processor until it becomes a dough.   If it won’t make the transition between small crumbs and dough, add a little more milk.   Chill the dough for 20 minutes before dividing it between six little tartlet tins.   Prick the bases before baking blind (with a small quantity of foil and something like old rice or lentils to weigh it down) for approx. 10 minutes.  Then remove the foil and put the tartlets back into the oven for about 5 further minutes until they are crisp.   Allow to cool. 

While the pastry dough is cooling in the fridge, make the ganache by bringing the cream to just below boiling, then removing it from the heat and adding the chocolate.    Stir to melt the chocolate and beat it until the mixture is smooth and glossy.    Leave it to cool and then chill.

Release the tartlets from the tins – give them a tap on the base to loosen them before turning each one out into your hand (less of a shock than onto a worktop!)

Beat the ganache slightly so that it thickens up before dividing it between the tartlets.  Decorate with the raspberries and dust with icing sugar.   Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.