Intense chocolate tarts

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

Pastry
50 g unsalted butter
75 g plain flour, sifted with
25 g cocoa
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 egg yolk
Iced water

Filling
2 egg yolks, and
1 whole egg
50 g caster sugar
50 g unsalted butter
150 g dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa solids, broken into pieces

Pastry
Rub the butter into the flour and cocoa, and then stir in the sugar and egg yolk. Add iced water, if necessary, to bind. Leave it to rest for half an hour, and then roll out, and line four pastry cases.

Bake blind for six to eight minutes. Remove from the oven, and leave to cool. You can make these a day or so in advance, if you wish.

Filling
Whisk the eggs and sugar until pale and much increased in volume. In a bowl set over a pan of hot water, melt the chocolate and butter. Remove from the heat, and fold into the egg mixture.

Leave to cool, and then spoon into the pastry cases, and bake at 150˚C/300˚F, gas mark 2 in a preheated oven for five minutes.

Serve, dusted with icing sugar, or ­decorated with a small piece of gold leaf or crystallised, thinly cut orange peel.