Chocolate and pepper tart

• Preparation time: 35 minutes
• Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients :

• 130 g margarine
• 70 g icing sugar
• 25 g ground almonds (or other ground nuts, such as hazelnuts or pistachios)
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 60 g cold water
• 320 g plain flour
• ½ tsp fine salt

• 300 g dark cooking chocolate
• 300 g single cream
• A few twists of the pepper mill
• 1 pinch of high-quality salt

• Place all the ingredients for the pastry in a bowl or food processor bowl (fitted with the beater accessory) and mix until you obtain a ball of even consistency. Add a little bit of water if necessary.
• Roll out the pastry on a sheet of greaseproof paper and turn several times to avoid breaking the pastry. Then line a 30 cm Appolia flan dish with the pastry.
• Heat the oven to 175°C and bake for 30 minutes. The pastry should be golden brown on the sides and bottom, so that it will lose none of its crispy texture when filled.
• Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool.
• Cut the chocolate into small pieces with a large knife and place in a bowl. In a saucepan bring the cream to the boil.
• Pour the cream over the chocolate, leave for one minute and then gently stir in small circles in the centre of the bowl using a spatula until all the cream has been incorporated.
  Adjust the pepper mill to the coarsest setting and add a few twists of pepper (such as Sichuan or Kampot pepper), and some high-quality salt.
• Pour into the tart case.
• Allow to set in a refrigerator.
• Preferably remove the tart from the refrigerator approximately 10 minutes before serving. To enhance the tart’s peppery notes, add a few twists of the pepper mill before tasting.