Okay, its that time of year when all I want is chocolate , chocolate , chocolate and with half term looming, what better way than to kick off with  an indulgent bake of plum and dark chocolate crumble tart.

The mix of sweetness from the chocolate and the tanginess of the in season plums was just so delicious, and the delightfulness of it being a crumble and a tart was just pure love at first bite.

This is not my own recipe and didn’t really adapt it much, unless you count adding baking powder in a panic half way through the pastry chilling freezing stage..oops.
It just goes to show how easy and robust this recipe is, not quick.. its not a  bung it all together and shove it in the oven kind of bake but with some haphazard planning its pretty easy and so worth it.

Taken from and adapted(very slightly) from Waitrose

Ingredients:

• 250g Softened Unsalted Butter ( I used salted butter only because I prefer to and because I didn’t have any others)
• 125g caster sugar
• 125g light brown soft sugar
• 2 Large Free Range Egg yolks
• 300g plain flour
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 400g  Plums, halved and stoned ( depending on the size of the plums and the size tart tin I probable added an extra 100g)
• 60g dark chocolate, coarsely grated ( I used about 80g because I love it so much)
  Double Cream to serve

Method:

1. Place the butter and sugars in a bowl and whisk with a handheld electric whisk for 2-3 minutes until creamy, then beat in the egg yolks, one at a time.

2. Add the flour, cocoa and baking powder (do not forget this !!! its a real pain to try and mix it after once its been chilled and frozen slightly, trust me!) and stir in until the mixture starts to form a dough. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Divide into 2/3 for the bottom of the tarte and 1/3 for the top. Wrap the dough in clingfilm, chill the larger piece for 30 minutes and place the other piece in the freezer.

3. Preheat the oven to 160°C, gas mark 3. Grease a 25cm loose-bottomed tart tin then place on a baking tray

4.Roll out the chilled pastry into a 30cm round on a lightly floured surface and use to line the prepared tin. – Okay this I found just ridiculous to rollout, no matter how much I tried (or how many times) I just couldn’t get the size right and most of the time it would tear and just become a big mess.  I recommend rolling out to a point you can lift it up and place in the tin before it cracks or splits and then use your fingers spread the dough out and along the edges.

5.Place the plums cut-side up on the pastry and sprinkle over the grated chocolate.

1. Coarsely grate the frozen pastry over the plums. Bake for 50-60 minutes until the topping is crisp and the plums are tender. Cool for 30 minutes before removing from the tin. Slice and serve warm with cream.