The Best Ever Chocolate Fruit Mince Tarts

Dear Reader, for the last few weeks I debated whether to share this recipe or not. Not because there is anything wrong with this recipe - quite the opposite but because a tiny part of my brain thinks that I should have some recipes should I ever develop a food line. Although it is unlikely to ever happen, I really considered holding back on this one because it was just so. damn. good. I'm sorry if I sound immodest here and trust me in that there is plenty I cannot do...

I know fruit mince tarts are controversial - some people hate them but this tart takes out what a lot of what people don't like (the orange rind) and adds the universe's favourite food - chocolate. I cannot recommend these tarts enough. I ended up eating three of these little beauties before I had to stop myself and I ate another four for dessert that same day. I then asked Mr NQN and my parents to take them off me. And even my mother who is sparing in praise made a special point of telling me how good they were and pastry avoider Mr NQN ate several before I stopped him.

These are the best buttery short cases because they're made with a browned butter shortbread. Just take a second to let the concept of brown butter shortbread sink in and bloom and flower in your mind. Each tart is filled with an incredible mixture of fruit and chocolate with a lick of vanilla and a bouquet of mixed spice. Served warm, the chocolate melts lusciously but they're also brilliant cold as well, the silky toothsomeness of the chocolate contrasting with the plump fruit. And yes this is one of those pushy recipes that I really, really urge you to make.

For this recipe I used two Woolworths Gold products picked from a freshly delivered box of goodies. First of all was the Woolworths Gold Swiss Chocolate (an essential ingredient if any). Utz certified, it comes in three varieties including Swiss Intense Dark with 78% cacao, Orange & Almond and Milk Hazelnut - I chose the Intense Dark. I also used the Woolworths Gold Jarrah Honey produced from rare Jarrah Forests in Western Australia that won Gold at the Royal Melbourne Fine Food Awards. It has a delicious caramel aftertaste to it which was just perfect for this tart as well as being highly antimicrobial (always good for winter ills).

Woolworths Gold has asked me to develop two recipes using this goodie box (so that's just one more recipe to come) and two readers will each win one of these goodie boxes exclusive to this competition! All you have to do is like my photo of the recipes on Instagram and you'll be automatically entered into the competition which is so fun and easy! We will pick one person at random within Australia to win the prize. Each box also includes a $100 gift card so that you can purchase the chilled items of your choice whether it be the Woolworths Gold fresh smoked salmon, wagyu beef burger, truffle salami, bourbon vanilla ice cream, cheeses, bread or smoked wagyu beef! The total value of the box is: $165. You can view the entire Gold range on their website.

So tell me Dear Reader, are you a fruit mince tart fan or foe? And you a recipe sharer or hoarder? Do you have any recipes that you think are delicious enough to be made commercially?

Fruit Mince Chocolate Tarts

An Original Recipe by Not Quite Nigella

Makes 24 mini tartlets

Preparation time: 35 minutes + 15 minutes freezing time

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Pastry

• 250g/0.5lb butter, softened and divided in half
• 1/2 cup icing or confectioners sugar
• 1.5 cups plain all purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons rice flour
• Fat pinch of fine salt

Filling

• 1/2 cup raisins, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes
• 1/4 cup Woolworths Gold honey
• 75g/2.65ozs. Woolworths Gold dark chocolate, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped, toasted nuts (I used flaked almond because I had some already toasted but you can also use hazelnuts)
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 180C/350F and have two x 12 mini muffin trays ready. First take half of the butter and place it in a saucepan and cook it on medium to high heat until it becomes fragrant and starts to brown. As soon as it starts to brown, remove it from the stovetop and cool until it starts to firm up.

Step 2 - In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat both the regular and browned butter with the sifted icing sugar until it becomes pale and fluffy. On the lowest speed, add the flour, rice flour and salt and mix to combine and becomes a cohesive dough.

Step 3 - Pinch of small balls and press into cavities of the tins (no need to grease the tin). You will have a bit of dough leftover. Prick the bases with a fork and place the trays in the freezer for 15 minutes. This will prevent the dough from rising too much.

Step 4 - Mix all of the filling ingredients together and set aside. Then roll out the remaining dough. Place the rolled out dough in the fridge to firm up.

Step 5 - Bake the tart shells without filling them for 15 minutes. While they are baking, cut out letters or shapes in the remaining dough. Once the tart shells are baked, spoon the filling into them, pressing down gently onto the pastry if it has puffed up and then add a pastry decoration on top. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until the shortbread on top is golden.