Pudding Supper Lunch Puddings

River Cottage Plum, Chocolate & Orange Lattice Tart Recipe

This is an indulgent, rich dessert packed with fruit that loves to be paired with chocolate and a nice hit of rum and subtle spice.

30 minutes prep, 1 hour cook

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

400g sweet pastry

Butter, to grease

Flour, to dust

Egg wash (beaten egg)

For the filling

500ml double cream

2 oranges

3 star anise

A pinch of sea salt

250g good-quality dark chocolate chips (70% cocoa solids)

3 medium eggs

50ml rum (optional)

5 Victoria (or similar) plums, halved and stoned

To serve

Crème anglaise or vanilla ice cream

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas 4. Grease and flour a 22cm tart tin, 3cm deep, and place on a baking sheet.

2 Roll out 300g of the sweet pastry on a lightly floured surface and use to line the tin. Prick the pastry, line it with baking paper and baking beans and bake blind, then trim and seal.

3 Turn the oven down to 170°C/150°C Fan/Gas 3.

4 For the filling, pour the cream into a medium saucepan and grate the zest from the oranges directly into the pan. Add the star anise and salt. Heat gently over a very low heat to infuse the cream with the flavourings for 5 minutes or so, then pass through a sieve into a bowl.

5 Add the chocolate to the warm infused cream, whisking as you do so, and continue to whisk until the chocolate is melted and smoothly combined.

6 In another bowl, lightly beat the eggs and then stir in the warm chocolate mixture and the rum, if using. Set aside.

7 Stand the oranges on a board and cut off all the white pith. Now, holding the oranges over a bowl to catch the juice, cut in between the membranes to release the orange segments; set aside. Squeeze the orange pulp over the bowl to extract the juice, discarding any pips. Whisk this orange juice into the chocolate mixture.

8 Distribute the plum halves evenly in the pastry case and scatter the orange segments around them. Carefully pour on the chocolate mixture.

9 Roll out the remaining pastry to a rectangle, the same length as the diameter of your tart and about half of the width. Run a lattice roller cutter along the length of the pastry and then carefully stretch the pastry widthways, to open out the lattice.

10 Brush the pastry edge of the tart case with egg wash and then carefully drape the pastry lattice over the filling. Press the lattice ends onto the edge of the pastry case. Gently brush the pastry lattice with egg wash.

11 Place the tart in the oven and bake for 40–50 minutes until the chocolate filling is just set in the middle.

12 Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool. Serve at room temperature with crème anglaise or ice cream.

Recipes extracted from River Cottage Great Pies by Gelf Alderson, published by Bloomsbury. Photography by Emma Lee.