This is the first recipe I’ve tried from Italian Home Baking by Gino D’Acampo and I really must try more. I needed to make it further ahead of time as it was a little warm when I served it up as dessert. It was nice warm but it was really good the next day cold from the fridge. My picture isn’t great and the tart did come out rather more brown than the picture in the book.
Ingredients
For the sweet pastry
- 190g plain flour
- 100g unsalted butter cubed plus extra for greasing
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 3 tbsp cold water
For the filling
- 1 tbsp instant coffee
- 1 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp Baileys liqueur
- 1.25kg ricotta cheese
- 120g caster sugar
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- pinch of salt
- 120g dark chocolate about 70 per cent cocoa finely chopped plus an extra 50g for decoration
- 4 medium egg yolks
- ½ tsp vegetable or sunflower oil
Instructions
- Grease a 25cm x 4cm loose-bottom tart tin or equivalent springform tin with butter.
- To prepare the pastry, sift the flour in a large bowl. Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in the sugar then pour in the cold water. Pinch with your fingers to form a dough and, if it seems dry, add a little more water. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and gather together into a ball. Cover with clingfilm and leave it to rest in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Place the rested dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to a thickness of about 3mm. Line the tin so that the pastry comes up the sides and trim the top. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate while preparing the filling.
- Put the instant coffee in a cup and dissolve in the water and Baileys. Set aside.
- Place the ricotta cheese in a large bowl and add the sugar, flour and salt. Mix everything together until smooth. Pour in the coffee mixture, the chopped chocolate and egg yolks. Stir until well mixed.
- Spoon the filling into the pastry shell and smooth the top. Cover with clingfilm and chill for up to 45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/gas 4 (increase by 10-20C for non-fan ovens).
- Place the tin on a baking tray and bake in the middle of the oven for 1 hour. Turn off the oven, slightly open the door and leave the tart to cool in the oven.
- Place the remaining 50g of chocolate in a small saucepan and pour over the oil. Stir and melt over a very low heat. Remove the tart from the oven and unmould onto a serving plate. With the help of a fork, drizzle over the melted chocolate. Slice and serve at room temperature with a nice cup of coffee.
100 Cook Books 