Chocolate banana tartlets

I had a slice of chocolate and banana tart in a Moroccan restaurant in Toulouse around 5 years ago and I have been meaning to try making one ever since.

Even for me this is a really long time for something to languish on my baking To Do list. There has never been any logic to which baking projects I will do as soon as I see them and which ones will remain in the back of my mind for years, but I’m very glad I finally got round to making these.

Of course, I couldn’t help adding a layer of salted caramel as well. Chocolate, banana and caramel are so perfect together that it’s easy to polish off a few of these in one go. Unfortunately, with only a small amount of banana in each I would have a hard time justifying these as one of my 5 a day!

Things I have learnt from making these tartlets:

You will only need half the batch of pastry dough, either halve the recipe (which is tricky but not impossible due to the egg yolk) or wrap the spare half in clingfilm and put in the freezer ready for the next batch.

Be careful not to overcook the pastry cases: they are so small they don’t take long at all. 10 minutes with the beans and then 5-10 minutes without is plenty.

The bananas seem to react with the caramel and make it much more liquid if left overnight. I would recommend serving these the day they are made, which also means the pastry will be nice and fresh.



Chocolate banana tartlets: makes 12

Chocolate shortcrust pastry:
(adapted from Nigella’s recipe which I used for the chocolate salted caramel tart)

175g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
50g caster sugar
125g salted butter, cut into small cubes
1 large egg yolk
3 tablespoons cold water

• Place the flour, cocoa and sugar in the bowl of a food processor, pulse to combine
• Add the butter into the dry ingredients and pulse until it resembles fine breadcrumbs
• Whisk the egg yolk and water together and pour into the processor whilst it’s on
• Tip the mixture on to a lightly floured work surface and knead very briefly to combine
• Flatten the ball of dough and wrap in clingfilm, place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes
• Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease a 12 hole bun tin
• Roll out the dough so its good and thin, then cut out circles with an 8cm round cutter
• Place the pastry rounds into each of the bun tin holes, and prick the base of each pastry case with a fork to prevent air bubbles forming
• Line the tart shells with small squares of foil and fill with baking beans
• Bake for 10 minutes then remove the baking beans and foil and return to the oven for a further 5-10 minutes, or until the bottom is completely cooked and dry
• Leave to cool in the bun tin

Salted caramel:
100g caster sugar
2 tablespoons salted butter
2 tablespoons double cream

• Put the sugar in a large, heavy based saucepan and caramelise the sugar over a low heat (David Lebovitz has brilliant instructions with pictures here)
• Once it reaches a dark brown colour, add in all the butter and stir
• Take the pan off the heat and stir in the cream
• Leave to cool slightly before pouring into the tart shells

Muscovado chocolate ganache:
(adapted from Paul A Young’s book: Adventures in Chocolate)

100g dark chocolate, finely chopped
100ml double cream
40g dark muscovado sugar
pinch of salt

• Warm the cream, sugar and salt in a pan over a gentle heat
• When it begins to boil pour it over the chopped chocolate and leave for a minute or two before stirring the mixture into a smooth ganache
• Leave to cool for about 10 minutes until it becomes a thick spreading consistency

Assembling the tartlets:
1 medium ripe banana
cocoa powder

• Pour about a teaspoon of caramel into each tart shell
• Slice 1 medium banana into very thin rounds and place three rounds on top of the caramel in the tart shells
• Divide the chocolate ganache between the tartlets and use a palette knife to ensure the bananas are fully covered and create a nice swirl on the top
• Dust with cocoa powder and serve the day they are made