Spiced Rum Chocolate Tart

James and I hosted a Halloween quiz night at the weekend, and put on a bit of a spread - using Tom Kerridge recipes for inspiration for the best part of it. This tart recipe is a slight adaptation of his Cheats Chocolate Tart, using my favourite spiced rum, Old J. It's rich and velvety, and the spiced rum cuts through the creaminess of the milk chocolate. Plus it's super easy to make, and very impressive!

For the pastry:
175g plain flour
40g cocoa powder 80g icing sugar
140g cold unsalted butter, diced
2 egg yolks

For the filling:
700g milk chocolate
265ml double cream 120ml spiced rum (I used Old J)

For the pastry, combine the flour, cocoa powder and icing sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub together using your fingers until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolks and continue to mix with your hands, kneading it around the bowl, until it forms a smooth dough. Wrap the dough in cling film and place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.

Once the pastry has rested, preheat your oven to 170C.

Lightly flour a work surface and roll the dough out into a rough circle, and to about the thickness of a £1 coin. Line your tart dish with the pastry, carefully pushing it into the corners of the tin, and crimping it around the edges. Make sure there are no holes – you can patch up any holes made when pushing it into the dish. Trim the edges, leaving a slight overhang – this stops the pastry sliding down the side of the dish while it’s baking.

Line the pastry case with baking paper or tin foil and fill with baking beans. Blind bake the pastry for 25 minutes, then remove the baking paper and beans and bake for a further 10 minutes, until the base is firm and dry. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before trimming the edges if wanted.

For the filling, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of just simmering water. Do not let the bowl touch the water. Once melted, remove the bowl from the heat and put to one side to cool slightly.

In a pan over a medium heat, bring the double cream and rum to the boil – as soon as it starts to boil, remove from the heat. Slowly pour the hot cream mixture over the melted chocolate whilst whisking it all together. Once all the cream mix is added, whisk until smooth – it will take a while it get it all incorporated. Pour this smooth, chocolate mixture into the cooked tart case and cool to room temperature before placing the tart in the fridge for an hour to set.

You can add all kinds of toppings, like frosted nuts, caramel brittle, or coffee cream, but this tart is so rich and flavoursome already, I just added a little grated chocolate to decorate.

If you want a softer texture, bring the tart to room temperature before serving. If you prefer a firmer, truffle like texture, serve straight from the fridge.