Fairtrade Chocolate Coffee Tarts

Method:

1. Grease six loose-bottomed individual tart tins with butter.
2. For the pastry, beat together the butter, sugar and salt then fold in the egg, flour and cocoa powder (either by hand or in a food processor). When the mix is well combined gently press it together to make a ball of dough, then wrap it in cling film and leave it to rest in the fridge for half an hour or so.
3. On a well floured surface, roll out your pastry to about half a centimetre thick and use it to line your tart cases. Put the cases in an oven preheated to 180ºC/ gas mark 4 and ‘blind’ bake them for 10 minutes.
4. For the filling, put the espresso, cream and sugar into a saucepan and slowly bring to the boil, stirring gently. Turn off the heat and then add the broken up chocolate, and whisk until smooth. Add the egg and whisk again.
5. Turn the oven down to 170ºC/ gas mark 3. Pour the filling into the cases and bake for about 10 minutes, so the filling is still slightly wobbly. When cooled slightly, dust the tarts with cocoa powder and decorate with a couple of whole coffee beans if you like. The tarts are best served warm with a dollop of cream.
6. If you don’t have individual tart tins, this recipe will make one large tart instead – just increase the final cooking time by about five minutes.