Chocolate cobnut and physalis tart with basil ice cream

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A beautiful chocolate tart recipe makes for a great dinner party dessert, and what better way to get the table talking than with some unusual flavour combinations. The nut-base of the tart filling acts as the perfect foil for the green notes of cardamom and basil, while vibrant physalis adds a fruity note.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Basil ice cream

  • 525g of milk
  • 150g of cream
  • 120g of sugar
  • 40g of milk powder, skimmed
  • 8g of basil leaves, plus extra to garnish

Pastry

  • 260g of plain flour
  • 100g of butter, softened
  • 50g of caster sugar
  • 80g of water

Filling

Equipment

  • Ice cream maker

Method

1
For the ice cream, mix all the ingredients together in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, then cover with clingfilm and allow to infuse for at least 6 hours
2
Pass the cream through a fine sieve, then churn in an ice cream machine until ready
3
For the pastry, bring all the ingredients together to form a dough (this can be done by hand or with a mixer and paddle attachment)
4
Wrap in clingfilm, then let the dough rest for 30 minutes in the fridge. Roll the dough to a thickness of 1–2mm. Line a 20cm tart or springform cake tin with the dough. Trim the edges with a small knife
5
Preheat the oven to 180 °C/gas mark 4
6
Blitz the nuts in a food processor until finely ground. Tip into a bowl and mix with the icing sugar and cardamom. Add the butter and combine, before adding in the eggs a little at a time
7
Sift the flour with the cocoa powder and fold this into the nut batter. Pour into the pastry case and gently push the physalis pieces into the filling. Sprinkle the top with the brown sugar
8
Bake for 20–30 minutes until the filling has cooked, then leave to cool
9
To serve, careful unmold the tart and cut into thin slices. Add a scoop of the basil ice cream and a fresh basil leaf to garnish. If liked, a purée of physalis could add some colour to the plate
First published in 2015

As co-founder and chef of www.foodpairing.com, Peter is in a continuous quest for exciting combinations.

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