Down Under Chocolate Fudge Tart Recipes

SALTED CHOCOLATE TART

Steps:

• For the base: Snap the oreos into pieces and drop them into the bowl of a food processor. Do likewise with the chocolate, then blitz them together until you have crumbs. Add the butter and salt, and blitz again until the mixture starts to clump together. If you're doing this by hand, bash the cookies in a freezer bag until they form crumbs, finely chop the chocolate and melt the butter, then mix everything, along with the salt, in a large bowl with a wooden spoon or your hands encased in disposable gloves.
• Press the mixture into a 23-centimeter/10-inch deep-sided, loose-bottomed flan or tart pan. Pat down on the bottom and up the sides of the pan with your hands or the back of a spoon, so that the base and sides are evenly lined and smooth. Put into the fridge to chill and harden for at least 1 hour, or 2 hours if your fridge is stacked. I wouldn't keep it for longer than a day like this as the Oreo crust tends to get too crumbly.
• For the filling: Finely chop the chocolate. Put the corn starch into a cup and whisk in the milk until smooth. Pour the cream into a heavy-based saucepan into which all the ingredients can fit and be stirred without splashing out of the pan, then add the finely chopped rubble of chocolate, the sieved cocoa (or just sieve it straight in), espresso or instant coffee powder, sugar, vanilla paste or extract, olive oil and smoked salt. Place over a medium to low heat and whisk gently--I use a very small whisk for this, as I'm not aiming to get air in the mixture, I'm just trying to banish any lumpiness--as the cream heats and the chocolate starts melting.
• Off the heat, whisk in the corn starch and milk mixture until it, too, is smoothly incorporated, and put the pan back on a low heat. With a wooden spoon, keep stirring until the mixture thickens, which it will do around the 10-minute mark, but be prepared for it to take a few minutes more or less. Take the pan off the heat every so often, still stirring, so that everything melds together, without the cream coming to a boil. When ready, it should be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, and if you run your finger through it (across the back of the spoon) the line should stay.
• Pour the mixture into a wide measuring jug or batter jug (it should come to about the 600 milliliter/2 1/2 cup mark). Now run a piece of baking parchment or greaseproof paper under cold water, wring it out and place the damp, crumpled piece right on top of the chocolate mixture, then put the jug into the fridge for 15 minutes. The mixture will still be warm, but will be the right temperature to ooze into the base without melting it.
• Pour and scrape the mixture into the cookie-lined tart pan and put it back in the fridge overnight. Don't leave it longer than 24 hours, as the base will start to soften.
• Take the tart out of the fridge for 10 minutes before serving, but unmould straight away. Sit the tart pan on top of a large tin or jar and let the ring part fall away, then transfer the dramatically revealed tart to a plate or board. Leave the pan base on.
• Slice modestly--this is rich and sweet, and people can always come back for more--and serve with creme fraiche; the sharpness is just right here. Leftovers will keep in the fridge for 4 to 5 days, but the base will soften and the sides crumble a bit. That will not detract from your eating pleasure too much, but I still like to give it its first outing at optimal stage!

FUDGE TART

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9x1-inch tart pan with removable bottom with shortening. Wrap outside bottom and side of pan with foil to prevent leaking. In 1-quart saucepan, heat bittersweet chocolate and 1/3 cup butter over low heat, stirring frequently, until melted; cool slightly.
• In large bowl, mix granulated sugar, flour and eggs with spoon until well blended. Stir in chocolate mixture. Pour into pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until edges are set. Cool completely on wire rack, about 1 hour.
• In 1-quart saucepan, heat unsweetened chocolate and 1 teaspoon butter over low heat, stirring constantly, until melted. Remove from heat. Stir in powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons water until smooth. Stir in additional boiling water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until spreadable. Spread warm glaze over tart.
• In small microwavable bowl, microwave white chocolate and oil on Medium (50%) 20 to 30 seconds; stir. Drizzle over warm glaze. Let stand until glaze is set. Remove foil and side of pan before serving.

DOWN-UNDER CHOCOLATE FUDGE TART

Steps:

• Combine flour, butter, and confectioners' sugar in a food processor; process until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add egg yolk and cold water and process until a dough forms. Add more cold water if necessary. Remove dough from food processor and mold into 2 flat shapes; you can use the extra one another time. Wrap each in plastic and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
• Butter a 9-inch flan pan. Roll 1 portion of dough out to a 9-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. Line the prepared pan with the pastry. Cover pastry in the pan with a layer of aluminum foil and fill the foil with raw rice.
• Pre-bake pastry in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove rice and foil and continue baking until pastry is a light golden color, 3 to 8 minutes more. Remove from oven, leaving oven on.
• Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in the microwave oven until melted, 3 to 5 minutes, mixing after each minute.
• Combine sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl and add to the melted chocolate. Stir well and pour mixture into the baked pastry crust.
• Bake tart in the hot oven for 20 minutes; filling will still be runny and will set upon cooling.
• Allow tart to cool slightly and serve with whipped cream.

SIMPLE FUDGE TARTS

Steps:

• Spray 24 1 3/4 inch muffin cups with cooking spray; set aside.
• For tart shells, cut cookie dough into six equal pieces.
• Cut each piece into four equal slices.
• Place each slice of dough in a prepared cup.
• Bake in a 350 degree oven for 9 minutes or till edges are lightly browned and dough is slightly firm by not set.
• Remove tart shells from oven.
• Gently press a shallow indentation in each tart shell with the back of a round 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon.
• Bake 2 minutes more or till the edges of tart shells are firm and light golden.
• Let tart shells cool in cups on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
• Carefully remove tart shells from cups.
• Cool completely on wire racks.
• For filling, combine chocolate pieces and sweetened condensed milk in a small saucepan.
• Cook and stir over medium heat till chocolate is melted.
• (WATCH CAREFULLY) Spoon a slightly teaspoon of filling into each cooled tart shell.
• Cool, allowing filling to set.

CHOCOLATE FUDGE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease the bottom of a deep 9x13-inch baking pan. Spread pecans over.
• Combine cake mix, water, oil. and eggs in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer on low speed until moistened. Increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
• Combine frosting mix, milk, and butter in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until all ingredients are melted. Remove from heat; you do not want to bring this to a boil. Pour over the cake mixture.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Cut into pieces and flip them over into a bowl to serve; there will be a gooey fudge sauce that has accumulated on the bottom of the pan. If necessary, spoon this back onto the cake after it has been flipped into the bowl (this is the best part).