March 2024

Milk chocolate tart with nutmeg pastry

Name: Milk chocolate tart with nutmeg pastry
Yield: Serves 8-10
Ingredients: 170g plain flour; 45g icing sugar; ½tsp grated nutmeg; 85g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed; 1tbsp ice cold water; 1 egg, beaten; 350g best milk chocolate, at least 30%; 50g best dark chocolate, at least 70%; 100ml whole milk; 300ml double cream; 3 eggs; 1 whole nutmeg, for grating

Nutmeg’s fragrant astringency both cuts the sweetness and enhances the chocolate in this tart

By Eleanor Ford

21 March 2024

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OLA O SMIT

Chocolate tarts tend to be dark, decadent and as rich as Croesus. For something sweeter and more delicate, a milk chocolate custard is the way to go, but the risk is to veer towards cloying. The reason this recipe works is that nutmeg’s fragrant astringency both cuts the sweetness and enhances the chocolate. Be generous with it.

SPICE SWITCH: Cinnamon and milk chocolate are lovely together, but it is a combination to be reserved for those with a sweet tooth, as it will amplify rather than temper the sweetness. You can use just 400g dark chocolate instead.

In A Whisper of Cardamom: Sweetly Spiced Recipes to Fall in Love With (Murdoch Books, £26), food writer and cook Eleanor Ford explores the creative use of spices in sweet dishes. These recipes from the book highlight the varied combinations that help to unlock distinctive flavour and fragrance.

Next, why not try more great recipes from the House & Garden recipe archive?

Recipe notes