Chocolate espresso and hazelnut tart

In Italy, Easter is in springtime and Italian food traditions use seasonal ingredients. But for dessert, there is chocolate everywhere - from Easter eggs to rich chocolate tarts and biscuits.

Stefano Manfredi's Chocolate espresso and hazelnut tart is a simple way to add a taste of Italy to your Easter spread. Credit: Stefano Manfredi

• serves

  6

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Pie shell

• 200 g plain digestive biscuits
• 100 g melted butter

Filling

• 85 g unsalted butter, softened
• 3 very short, double shots of Espresso di Manfredi
• 150g caster sugar
• Grated zest of ½ an orange
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 200 g roasted hazelnuts, skinned and chopped
• 90 g best quality 70% dark chocolate, grated

Instructions

For the pie shell, place the biscuits in a food processor and pulse until they are crushed but not too fine. Tip into a bowl, add the melted butter, stir to combine. Press into the base of a 20 cm tin. Push up the sides of the tin to create a crust. Place in the fridge to set.

For the filling, cream the butter and sugar, then add the zest. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Pour the filling into pie shell and bake for 30 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 180°C. Cool and serve with vanilla custard or espresso gelato.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.