This is the sort of thing you should serve at Thanksgiving. It’s all decadence and overindulgence which I imagine Thanksgiving is all about. Sadly we don’t have Thanksgiving here so I need to find other excuses to make stuff like this. I’ll be frank, I’m quite good at making such excuses. Like tonight for example. Ordinary family dinner. Now it’s ordinary family dinner with chocolate pecan tart. It just has that edge.

I also wanted to trial run this tart because I’ve been thinking of making it for the Christmas in July dinner I’m organizing in a few weeks. I’m not sure I’ll be serving it then yet but it is pretty awesome. And it’s easy. You just need a pastry case (possibly the most difficult part) and you’re set.

Chocolate Pecan Tart
For the Pastry
250g butter, unsalted, at room temperature
125g caster sugar
1 egg
375g plain flour
Cream the butter and the sugar together until white and fluffy. Add in the egg and beat to combine. Lastly add in the flour. Beat until the dough starts to come together. Turn the dough out of the machine and knead lightly into a disc. Wrap this in clingfilm and refrigerate for half an hour. While you’re waiting grease a 20cm tart tin. After 30 minutes, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out until thin enough to see the table below. Press this into the lined tin and trim the edges. Refrigerate again for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180C.
Line the pastry with baking paper and rice/clingfilm and baking beans (don’t do this if you’re in South Africa, our clingfilm melts spectacularly in the oven and you’ll end up with a plasticy/ricy/pastry mess.)
Blind bake the tart. Basically, bake with the beans in for 20 minutes. Then remove the beans/rice and the baking paper/clingfilm. Return to the oven for another 5 minutes, until the pastry is dry. Set aside.

For the Filling
150g caster sugar
250g honey
400ml double cream
350g pecans
handful of dark chocolate

Boil the honey, double cream and sugar until dark. This takes approximately 10 minutes (116C) and by dark I mean caramel dark not black burnt dark.

Remove from the heat and add in the pecans followed by the chocolate.

Pour this into the pastry case, turn the oven down to 160C and place the tart in the oven for 5 minutes. (The oven should be preheated from your blindbaking at 180C). Allow to cool before consuming.