Chocolate, hazelnut and cherry tart with burnt meringue

Recipe from the delicious magazine

Ingredients

For the filling

  • 200g blanched hazelnuts

  • 50g unsalted butter

  • 400g high cocoa content (about 34 per cent) milk chocolate, broken into chunks

  • 300ml double cream

  • 100g caster sugar

  • 2 x 390g jars cherries in kirsch, drained, patted dry with kitchen paper

For the meringue

  • 2 large free-range egg whites

  • 100g icing sugar

  • ½ tbsp cornflour

Method

  1. Make a shortcrust pie or use shop-bought tart shell.

  2. To make the filling, turn the oven back up to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Lay the hazelnuts out on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 10 minutes or until deep golden. Whizz in a food processor for 4-5 minutes, scraping down the sides occasionally. The hazelnuts will start to release their oils and turn into hazelnut butter. Once this happens, whizz through the unsalted butter and a large pinch of salt until smooth.

  3. Put the chocolate, double cream and sugar in a large heatproof bowl set over a pan of very gently simmering water. The base of the bowl shouldn’t touch the water. Allow to melt very slowly, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate has almost entirely melted. Stir gently, leave until there are no lumps visible, then remove from the heat and transfer to the food processor with the hazelnut mixture. Whizz together until combined and smooth.

  4. Tip the cherries into the pastry case, then spoon over the chocolate mixture and smooth the surface. Cover the tart very loosely with foil (try not to let it touch the surface) and chill for at least 2-3 hours until the filling is firm.

  5. For the meringue, put the egg whites in a large heatproof bowl and whisk briefly with an electric mixer to combine. Sift in the icing sugar, then whisk until well combined. Set the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water and whisk until you have a thick, stable meringue – it shouldn’t move at all when you move the bowl. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cornflour until smooth, then leave to cool a little.

  6. Once the tart is firm, remove from the fridge around 30 minutes before you want to serve. Spoon the meringue into the centre of the tart, swirling it into peaks as you go. Take the tart to the table and, using a chef’s blowtorch, brown the outside of the meringue just before serving.

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Chocolate and Passion Fruit Tart