Baked chocolate mousse tart with spiced date caramel

SERVES 8–12

I also call this a Moroccan Snickers tart, as it draws on the flavours from the much-loved chocolate bar, reconstructing the caramel, chocolate and peanut into a new form.

NUTTY BUTTER CRUST

75 gm toasted peanuts

190 gm plain flour

30 gm caster sugar

¼ tsp fine sea salt

150 gm cold unsalted butter,

diced

25 ml iced water

SPICED DATE CARAMEL

125 gm fresh dates, pitted

60 ml water

20 ml cream

20 gm unsalted butter,

softened

½ tsp vanilla paste

½ tsp sea salt flakes

140 gm caster sugar

Pinch of cayenne pepper ½ tsp ground cardamom

Black pepper

BAKED CHOCOLATE MOUSSE 100 gm egg (approx. 2 eggs)

100 gm egg yolk (approx.

5 eggs)

30 gm icing sugar

125 gm dark chocolate (60-70%

cocoa), chopped

125 gm milk chocolate, chopped 125 gm unsalted butter, room

temperature

½ tsp vanilla paste

¼ tsp fine sea salt

Dutch (unsweetened) cocoa powder, for dusting

1 Blitz nuts in a food processor until they are the size of coarse breadcrumbs. Place crushed nuts, flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Using your fingertips, rub butter into dry ingredients until butter lumps are the size of small peas.

Add iced water and keep mixing with your hands, lightly squeezing the dough together. Loosely wrap dough; press into a 2cm-thick disc. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

2 Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to a 35cm circle, about 4mm thick. Gently lift and flop dough into tart tin. Press dough firmly into the tin to prevent air pockets; trim excess. Freeze for 1 hour.

3 Preheat oven to 180°C. Cover frozen dough with a piece of aluminium foil, tucking it snugly into the edge of the tin. Fill lined tin with sugar and blind bake until crust is a deep biscuity brown colour (35-45 minutes). Remove crust from oven and set aside on a baking tray.

Lower temperature to 130°C.

4 To make the spiced date caramel, place dates and half the water in a small saucepan and boil, mashing with a spoon, to create a soft, pulpy paste (3 minutes). Transfer pulp to a bowl and add cream, butter, vanilla, salt and spices. Mix to combine and set aside.

5 Combine sugar and remaining water in a separate saucepan. Cook over high heat, stirring. When the sugar starts to boil, stop stirring, then boil until syrup turns pale golden. Reduce heat to low and cook to a deep, mahogany caramel (about 190°C). Remove from heat. Immediately and with maximum care, pour date mix into caramel and stir to emulsify. Be careful, hot caramel will bubble furiously and can burn. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes before pouring into the blind-baked crust. Smooth caramel to cover base. 6 To make the baked chocolate mousse, place eggs, yolks and icing sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk on high until thick and fluffy (10 minutes), then reduce speed to medium and whisk until stabilised (2 minutes).

7 Meanwhile, set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of just-simmering water. Place dark and milk chocolates and butter in bowl and heat until chocolate has just melted. Using a small balloon whisk, fold one-third of the egg foam into the melted chocolate, then fold in the remaining foam with vanilla and salt. The chocolate mix should look bubbly and airy, like a thick milkshake. Pour mix into caramel-lined crust and smooth top with a spatula. Bake until the top has formed the barest crust and feels squishy to the touch (15 minutes). It will firm slightly upon cooling. Cool for at least 1 hour before dusting with cocoa powder. Cut with a hot, damp knife. This tart is best served at room temperature with cold crème fraîche. Store in an airtight container at room temperature; eat within 3 days.