Chocolate Bavarian pie

MAKES ONE 24CM PIE FOR 8-12 PEOPLE

Cooking-oil spray

FOR THE COOKIE CRUMB 100g plain flour

70g caster sugar

40g Dutch (unsweetened)

cocoa powder

2g (¼tsp) fine sea salt

90g unsalted butter

FOR THE FILLING

370ml whole milk

80g dark chocolate, chopped 90g caster sugar

10g Dutch (unsweetened)

cocoa powder

4g gelatine powder

1tsp cornflour

½tsp vanilla paste or extract ¼tsp fine sea salt

80g egg yolk (from approx

4 eggs)

300ml double cream

FOR THE TOPPING

250g crème fraîche

½tsp vanilla paste or extract Chocolate shards or rubble,

to sprinkle

1 Preheat the oven to 150°C/ 130°C fan/gas mark 2. Lightly spray a baking tray with cooking oil and line with baking paper.

2 To make the cookie crumb, put the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a bowl. Melt the butter and pour into the dry ingredients, then mix with your fingers until it feels like sand.

3 Scatter the crumb on the tray and bake for 25-30min until dry and crumbly, and cocoa aromas fill the air. You’ll know it’s done when the crumb turns from shiny raw to matt dry.

4 Halfway through the crumb baking, start the filling. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until a ring of bubbles forms around the edge, then turn off the heat.

5 Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl – large enough to also hold the hot custard – and set aside.

6 In a small bowl, mix the sugar, cocoa powder, gelatine, cornflour, vanilla and salt. Next, add the egg yolk and whisk until smooth. Add half the hot milk and whisk well to combine, then whisk in the remainder. Return the mix to the pan and whisk constantly over a medium-high heat for 2min, or until the custard is thick and just starts to bubble.

7 Swiftly scrape the custard mix into the chocolate bowl and whisk well to melt the chocolate. Set aside to cool for 40-60min. Whisk and scrape down the side of the bowl from time to time. It will look mottled but that won’t be noticeable when it has set.

8 Meanwhile, whip the cream to semi-stiff peaks and keep chilled. Make the chocolate rubble (see below right).

9 Lightly spray a fluted 24cm loose-based tart tin with cooking oil. Line the base with baking paper and put the tin on a baking tray (so it can easily slide in and out of the fridge). Lightly press the crumb into the base. Don’t compact it too much – it needs to be a little crumbly when cold.

10 To finish the filling, fold half of the whipped cream into the cool custard base. Fold in the remaining cream and continue gently folding until the mix is a uniform chocolate-brown.

11 Scrape the filling onto the crumb base – it should come to just below the top of the tin. Smooth and spray with a light mist of cooking oil. Gently press a piece of clingfilm onto the filling to prevent a skin forming. Chill to set overnight.

12 For the topping, whip the crème fraîche and vanilla to peaks. Remove clingfilm from the filling, smooth the crème fraîche on top, then sprinkle with on the rubble. Remove from the tin and serve chilled.

MAKING THE RUBBLE

Break 100g chocolate into a mortar and crush with the pestle (or whiz in a food processor) until you have small gravelly pieces for sprinkling.