Passion fruit and orange curd tartlets with sumac and chocolate

Sometimes unlikely chocolate pairings work extremely well, and so it is with sumac, a pretty purple spice grown in the Mediterranean and Middle East. It’s not surprising the combination works so well, as ground sumac has a tangy lemon flavour and chocolate pairs beautifully with citrus. Just a small amount has been used here, but it really adds a tangy hint of fruitiness. You’ll need six 10cm loose-bottomed tartlet tins. MAKES 6 TARTLETS

FOR THE CURD

10 large passion fruit,

yielding about 165g pulp Finely grated zest

of 1 large orange

100g unsalted butter,

melted and cooled a little 100g caster sugar

2 large eggs, plus 2 egg

yolks, lightly beaten

FOR THE PASTRY

195g plain flour, plus

extra for dusting

120g unsalted very cold

butter, chopped

30g caster sugar

1tsp white wine vinegar ¼tsp fine sea salt

50ml cold water

FOR THE CHOCOLATE 180g dark chocolate (60%

cocoa solids), chopped 1½tsp sumac

1 Start with the curd. Place the passion fruit pulp in a small pan and warm through gently. Don’t let it boil; a little heat just makes it easier to separate out the seeds. Push the pulp through a sieve set over a heatproof bowl using the back of a spoon. Add the remaining curd ingredients to the bowl and stir to combine. Set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and stir constantly with a whisk until the mixture thickens to a custard consistency. This will take around 10min. Remove from the heat, cover with cling film so that it touches the curd (preventing a skin from forming) and leave to cool completely, or chill overnight for the best results.

2 To make the pastry, place all the pastry ingredients, except the water, in a food processor and pulse to a breadcrumb consistency. Add the water gradually, until the mixture comes together into a ball.

Turn out onto a lightly floured worksurface, knead briefly, then shape into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 2hr.

3 Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured worksurface to 3mm thick. Cut out six 14cm circles using a plate or bowl as a guide. Place the pastry circles centrally over each of the tartlet tins and gently press down with your fingers. Use an offcut of pastry rolled into a ball and dipped in flour to push the pastry into the sides and base of the tin. You'll have an overhang of pastry, so gently push the excess back into each tin to reinforce the edge – this will allow for shrinkage in the oven. Chill for 20min.

4 Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/gas mark 3. When the pastry cases have chilled, line them with a double layer of foil and fill with baking beans or rice. Bake for 20min, then remove the foil and beans and bake for a further 5-10min until pale gold. Leave to cool completely in their tins.

5 Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Stir in the sumac. Spoon about 25g of the chocolate into each cooled pastry case, spread over the base and leave to set. Give the passion fruit curd a stir to loosen and spoon over the set chocolate – you want to fill the tart cases to the top. Serve immediately.