Croissant Dough Chocolate Tart

Loosely based around a stunning breakfast Hugh had in France when he was 14 and on a school trip.

Done in 1 hour

Serves 8

Dish by Hugh Woodward

Ingredients

500gfrozen croissant dough, defrosted

400gdark chocolate

200gbutter

4 tbspsoftened butter

to tastewhipped cream

to tastecocoa powder

Obviously there's nothing particularly ground breaking about hot chocolate and a croissant, but take those two items and combine them into the most outrageously decadent chocolate tart in the world? Now we're talking. Honestly, this recipe is so easy and the end results look so impressive it feels almost like cheating.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Make sure the croissants have completely defrosted. Cut them in half lengthways, then press them into the bottom of a lined tart tin, smushing them all together. Go around the edges with croissant halves to make a rim.

Place a circle of baking paper over the middle and pour over the baking beans. Bake for roughly an hour, keeping an eye on the edges - if they brown too much, cover them with clingfilm. After 45 mins, remove the baking beans (careful, they are hot). Allow the top to brown before removing from the oven.

Grate the dark chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until almost boiling, then pour it over all the chocolate. Leave to sit for 5 mins, then gently fold through the butter until you have a smooth ganache.

Pour this into the centre of the croissant tart base, then leave it in the fridge to set. Bring it out to room temp before slicing and serving with a squirt of whipped cream and a sprinkling of cocoa powder.

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Hugh Woodward

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Hugh's culinary life began aged 14 when he cooked spaghetti hoop burritos to impress girls. Since then his colourful career has taken him to performing in Skegness, making cheese in Peckham, running a wine bar on Columbia Road and reluctantly working in a (briefly) Michelin Starred restaurant. He likes fish, things cooked on charcoal, cheap dinners and London's rich cultural tapestry of food shops. When he's not cooking or eating he can be found mudlarking by the river Thames, buying bits in flea markets and hanging out with his cat Keith.