chocolate easter egg tart with a tim tam crust

chocolate easter egg tart with a tim tam crust

3 Apr 2023

Easter is just around the corner so I decided to make a no-bake chocolate easter egg tart. Last year I saw Elizabeth Hewson make a Hot Chocolate Tart on an episode of The Cook Up. The base was made from Tim Tams, my all-time favourite chocolate biscuit.

The Tim Tam crust was something I wanted to try and it seemed the perfect vehicle for a smooth chocolate ganache filling I spied on Claire Saffitz's YouTube channel. I made the tart, then topped it with unsweetened whipped cream, a few crumbled Easter eggs and a dusting of Tim Tam crumbs to make this Easter themed no-bake tart. I don't think I've ever made a no-bake tart before and I was a bit worried it would fall apart, but once chilled I could cut a neat slice.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 4 cm deep 17cm tart. For all my recipes, I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C. 

Chocolate Easter Egg Tart with a Tim Tam crust - the tart can be made up to two days ahead. Keep, covered, in the fridge and decorate the tart with cream, biscuit crumbs and cocoa just before serving.

Base
1 x 200g packet Tim Tam biscuits
30 g unsalted butter, melted
Pinch sea salt flakes

Filling
150g finely chopped dark chocolate (64-70%)
Pinch sea salt flakes
250mls cold thickened cream, divided
50g melted unsalted butter

To serve
125mls thickened cream, softly whipped
2-3 small Easter eggs
Cocoa powder

Method
Grease and line a 17 cm flan tin with baking paper. Process the biscuits in a food processor until finely crushed. Reserve a tablespoon for decoration then transfer the remaining crumbs to a large bowl. Stir in the melted butter and the salt flakes, then press the mixture over base and up sides of prepared the tin. Refrigerate while making filling.

Filling
In a large heatproof bowl, combine the chopped chocolate and a generous pinch of salt and set aside. In a small saucepan, heat 150mls of the cream over medium heat just until you see gentle bubbling around the sides. Remove the saucepan from the heat and set it aside for 30 seconds to cool slightly, then pour it over the chocolate. Cut butter into 1 cm pieces and add to the bowl. Let the chocolate mixture sit undisturbed for about 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt. Whisk the ganache gently, starting in the centre of the bowl and working outward, until the mixture is completely smooth. Set the bowl aside while you whip the cream.

In a medium bowl, with a hand mixer, whip the remaining 100mls cream on low speed then gradually increase the speed to medium-high as it thickens, until you have medium peaks. Set the bowl aside.

Beat the ganache with the hand mixer (no need to wash after whipping the cream) on low speed and gradually increase the speed to medium-high until the ganache thickens and holds the marks of the whisk, about 4 minutes. Add the whipped cream and gently fold through the ganache until the mixture is streak-free. Spoon the whipped ganache into the tart shell then using an offset spatula, smooth the surface working it to the sides in an even layer. Set the tart aside uncovered at room temperature for at least 15 minutes, then refrigerate until serving time.

To serve, place the tart on a serving plate. Decorate the tart with dollops of cream and a few crumbled Easter eggs. Dust with sifted cocoa powder and the Tim Tam crumbs.

I took this into work and shared it with my chocolate mad workmates. It was declared an absolute hit with it's smooth creamy filling and intriguing salt flecked crust.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Wishing you all a Happy Easter.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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xmas month 2022 - cranberry cheesecake

xmas month 2022 - cranberry cheesecake

12 Dec 2022

I am quite the fan of Adam Liaw and watch his cooking show, The Cook-Up, most nights. I've had his wife Asami's cheesecake recipe bookmarked for a few years but until now hadn't found the time to make it.

As is my way, I changed the recipe a little. When I lived in Canada, cheesecake always came topped with berries so I decided to make the cheesecake look a little more festive by topping it with a layer of cranberry compote. It also helped use up the bag of frozen cranberries I had lurking in my freezer.

The original cheesecake recipe had a crushed biscuit base but I'm not a fan of biscuit bases so I made a wholemeal shortbread base instead. Adam used whiskey in the filling but I used rum instead, as did Asami in the orginal recipe.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 10 x 20cm cheesecake. Please note you will have to start this recipe the day before serving. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Cranberry cheesecake – start this recipe the day before serving
Base
50g unsalted butter
1 and 1/2 tbs (25g) caster sugar
¼ cup (35g) plain flour
¼ cup (35g) wholemeal plain flour
pinch salt
½ tsp vanilla essence

Filling
125g sour cream
250g cream cheese
1 egg 
50g soft brown sugar
50g caster sugar 
100ml thickened cream
1 tsp good-quality dark rum 
2 tbs (25g) cornflour
1 tsp vanilla paste or vanilla extract

Topping
250g fresh or frozen cranberries, thawed
¼ cup orange juice
⅓ cup (80g) caster sugar
¼ cup water
3 tsp orange rind, divided

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C, conventional. Line a 10 x 20cm rectangular loaf pan with baking paper. To make the base, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together in a small bowl until light and creamy. Mix in the flours and salt and combine until the mixture forms a soft dough. Press the mixture into the base of the tin, (the base should not go up the sides of the tin). Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

While the base is baking and cooling, make the filling. In a large bowl, mix the sour cream and cream cheese together with a wooden spoon or spatula. Stir in the egg and sugars, then add the cream, rum and vanilla and fold everything together. Stir in the cornflour (there's no need to sieve it first) and then allow the mixture to drain through a fine sieve (don't push it through or you may get small lumps). You can also save some time by making the filling in the food processor but don't skip the sieving process.

Pour the mixture over the cooled base in the pan. Tap the pan on the bench firmly a few times to remove any air bubbles. This step is very important, as air bubbles will expand with baking and affect the texture of the filling.

Place the pan in a larger baking tray and fill the large baking tray with boiling water halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour, or until the cheesecake has set. Turn off the oven, keeping the door closed and leave the cheesecake undisturbed for about 3 hours. Removing it from the oven before that time will cool it too quickly and you may get cracks in your filling. After 3 hours, remove the cheesecake from the oven, cover with foil and refrigerate overnight to allow it to set further. 

 

Topping
Combine cranberries in a small saucepan with the juice, sugar, the water and 2 tsp orange rind. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until berries are soft and the sauce turns syrupy, about 8 to 10 min. Cool the compote completely before topping the cheesecake. 

 

Just before serving, sprinkle the remaining rind over the top then cut the cheesecake into bars to serve.  The cheesecake is very rich, so it's best to serve it in small slices. 

 

 

Look how smooth that baby is and best of all, it received rave reviews as well. The cranberry compote was really delicious and when I can track down frozen cranberries again I'll be making some more.

See you all again on Friday with another Xmas month post. 

Bye for now, 

Jillian

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