High-quality chocolate is a uniquely epicurean treat, mix it with the savoury edge of liquorice and the sweet tang of raspberries and you'll be in dessert heaven.

Recipe & Styling Natalie Homan | Photographs Brendan Homan

Chocolate & liquorice tarts with sesame & raspberry

tart cases
500g plain flour
60g Dutch processed cocoa powder
180g icing sugar
pinch salt
270g chilled butter, diced
2 eggs
2 egg yolks

filling
½ cup chopped liquorice
170g dark (>50%) chocolate, buttons or finely chopped
65g unsalted butter, room temp
185ml thickened cream
20ml liquid glucose

garnish
liquorice
toasted sesame seeds
freeze-dried raspberries, available
from specialty food stores

Place flour, cocoa, icing sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to mix well. Add butter and pulse to form a fine breadcrumb-like texture. Add the eggs and yolks and pulse until the mixture just comes together. Place the mixture onto a lightly floured bench and bring together to form a dough. Flatten into a disc, wrap with clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Halve the dough. Working one piece at a time, place the dough between two sheets of baking paper and roll out to a 3mm thickness. Place in the refrigerator to rest for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, spray and line the base of twelve 8cm tart tins with baking paper. Remove the dough sheets from the refrigerator and cut out circles slightly larger than the tins. Line the tins with the pastry and return to the refrigerator for a further 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 160C. Blind bake tarts for 12 minutes with your preferred method (I like to line the tarts with alfoil and fill with beans). Remove the beans/baking weights and bake for a further 5 minutes to dry out the cases. Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out. Set aside.

Soften the liquorice with a cup of water over a double boiler*. Place in a tall canister and blend with a hand blender until smooth (adding extra water if necessary). Place a heaped teaspoon of the liquorice in each tart shell and spread to an even layer.

Place the chocolate and butter into a medium bowl. Bring the cream and glucose just to the boil in a small saucepan. Pour the mixture over the chocolate and butter and whisk well until smooth. Pour over the liquorice layer in the tart shells.

Allow the chocolate filling to set slightly (about 15 minutes) before garnishing with toasted sesame, liquorice pieces and crushed freeze-dried raspberries.

Tarts are best consumed on the day. Tart shells can be made ahead of time, stored at room temperature in a sealed container for up to a week.

*A double boiler is created by placing a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water on the stove. Ensure the level of water does not touch the base of the bowl, especially when melting chocolate, as this will cause the chocolate to overheat and seize.

This recipe first appeared in the September 2021 issue of SALIFE magazine.