Toffee Chocolate Tarts

Originated in The Hungry Monk Restaurant, the Banoffee Pie is a traditional English dessert pie made from bananas, cream and dulce de leche (toffee made with boiled condensed milk), either on a pastry base or one made from crumbled biscuits and butter. Some versions of the recipe also include chocolate, coffee or both. This post includes both, the original Banoffee Pie and my twisted and hopefully yummy chocolate version!

Shortcrust Pastry
Ingredients

• 225 gms all purpose flour
• 150 gms butter
• 3 tablespoons caster sugar
• 1 Egg Yolk
• Vanilla essence

Method

1. Sift the flour And sugar in a mixer/mixing bowl.
2. Incorporate the butter by rubbing it in to the flour to achieve a coarse consistency.
3. Now add the egg yolk and vanilla essence and form a pliable dough.( add 1 tablespoon chilled water if required)
4. Wrap in cling film and chill and use as required. (let it rest for atleast half an hour)
5. Once the dough is rested for a sufficient amount of time, roll it out on a lightly floured/oiled surface and use it to line the tartlet tins.
6. Let these tins rest for about 10 minutes in the fridge.
7. Now, line the pastry shell with grease proof paper and baking beans (you can also use chickpeas) and bake for 10 minutes at 170 degrees Celsius or until the tips start becoming golden.
8. At this point take out the tartlets from the oven and remove the greaseproof paper along with the baking beans and put the tartlets back in to bake for another 10 minutes or until they turn a beautiful golden colour.
9. Let these cool , then take them out of their shells.

Toffee Filling

Ingredients

• 1 cup of butter
• 1/2 cups of sugar
• 200 ml condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon water

Method

1. Heat the butter, sugar and water together in a heavy based non stick pan on a medium- low heat.
2. Keep whisking the mixture till it gets thicker and starts becoming golden brown.
3. When it reaches the desired consistency (it will coat the back of a spoon evenly and turn a delicious golden colour), remove from heat and pour in the condensed milk and mix thoroughly.
4. Cool this mixture, then pipe small amounts into the tarts and let it set before piping on the chocolate filling on top of it.

Chocolate Filling

Ingredients

• 250 gms dark chocolate compound
• 150-200 ml whipping cream
• 1/2 a cup of skimmed milk (regular milk will also do)

Method

1. Melt the dark chocolate compound with the milk.
2. Once cooled, add the whipping cream and fold it through.
3. After thoroughly mixing the two, let the mixture cool in the fridge for 10-15 minutes then pour into a piping bag and pipe onto the tarts on top of the toffee layer.

Alternative Versions
You can turn this tart into a banoffee pie, simply by substituting the chocolate topping with sliced bananas, whipped cream and some chopped walnuts.