
Chocolate Mousse & Orange Curd Tart
One of my favourite ice cream flavours from The Creamery – chocolate and naartjie curd swirl – served as inspiration for this tart. Since the pastry and curd is quite rich I decided to rather make a “lighter” mousse in stead of a ganache. The tart is rich but not overly sweet. The curd can be made in advance and kept in a sterilized jar for up to 3 weeks.
The pastry is a recipe from Tina Bester of Queen of Tarts and aptly called “well-behaved pastry” from her book Bake.
Ingredients
- Shortcrust Pastry:
- 225g butter
- 200g castor sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 500g flour
- 50g dark chocolate, melted (to cover the pastry after it has been baked)
- Orange Curd:
- 60g butter
- 200g caster sugar
- 100ml fresh orange juice
- 30ml grated orange zest
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- pinch of salt
- Chocolate Mousse:
- 150g dark chocolate (70%)
- 3 eggs, separated
- 250ml cream
- 15ml brandy (optional)
Instructions
- Grease a 30cm loose bottomed flan dish.
- Make the pastry by combining the butter and sugar in a food processor and while still running, add the eggs, one at a time. Add the flour and blend until it forms a dough. Remove from the processor, mould into a ball, cover with cling wrap and rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
- While the pastry is resting, make the curd.
- Set a metal bowl over a large saucepan of boiling water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water. Place the sugar and zest in a food processor and blitz together until the sugar is a light orange colour. Place the sugar mixture in the bowl with the butter, juice and salt and stir over the heat until the butter is melted and sugar dissolved. Slowly whisk in the eggs and continue whisking over the heat until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Spoon into a bowl and place in the fridge to set.
- Preheat the oven the 180 degrees C.
- Take the pastry out of the fridge, roll out and gently line the flan dish. Let the pastry overlap the edge of the dish by a cm or so. Prick the base with a fork, place in the fridge for 30 minutes and then bake for 25 minutes until the pastry is light golden brown (no need to fill with beans etc). Once it has cooled down for a few minutes gently trim the edge of the dish with a sharp knife and remove any extra pastry.
- Melt the 50g chocolate in metal bowl set over a large saucepan of boiling water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water. Once melted, spread the chocolate over the base of the pastry shell with a pallet knife of pastry brush. (Keep the bowl handy as you will need it for the mousse.) Let the pastry shell cool down in the dish and make the mousse.
- Set the metal bowl used for the 50g chocolate over a large saucepan of boiling water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water. Break the 150g of chocolate into small pieces and stir until it melts. Remove from the boiling water.
- Whisk the egg whites till stiff and then whisk the cream till soft peak stage. Lightly beat the eggs yolks and add to the melted chocolate and mix until smooth. Add the cream and brandy and beat until well combined. Add a 3rd of the egg whites and beat until combined, then gently fold in the rest of the egg whites until the mixture is well combined.
- Cover the base of the pastry shell with the orange curd and carefully spoon the mousse on top. Cover and place in the fridge for a about four hours until the mousse has set.


Chocolate Mousse & Orange Curd Tart
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Kosie
Jun 26, 2013
Stunning pics meneer!
Hein
Jun 26, 2013
Dankie Kosie!
John
Jul 9, 2013
Well done for making it to Tastespotting!
Helen
Jun 20, 2015
Wow certainly a dessert to impress. Great flavours.Takes a bit of effort but well worth it. Love the tip of blitzing the sugar and zest together.
hein
Jun 20, 2015
Fantastic news Helen! x