Chocolate Dipped Fruit in Orange Sweet Pastry Shells

Pearly Toes's Note:

This is a very simple recipe I devised a year ago for a food tech lesson, the design brief was to create food that was "healthy" with reduced fat, salt and sugar content, and increased fibre. I did my best. We only had an hours lesson to do everything, but I'd finished before the bell went so I'm sure it won't take you that long! This recipe is really delicious and a must for any chocolate and fruit fiend. Try experimenting with whatever fruit you have to hand cherries, berries etc all work well. It looks brilliant and can be prepared long before serving, but personally I like it best when the chocolate is still warm and melty! I used little pastry cases for this recipe so you can serve it individually - cases with fluted edge and removable bases work best!

• Total Time: 1 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 4

Yield: 4.0 Individ ...

• 200 g flour , plus extra
• flour , for dusting the surface
• 50 g unsalted butter
• 75 g caster sugar
• 1 free range organic egg
• 1 orange
• 50 g fair trade divine milk chocolate
• 50 g fair trade divine dark chocolate
• 50 g strawberries
• 50 g kiwi
• 50 g mangoes
• 50 g pineapple

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 220°C.
2. Put a pan of water on the heat and wait for it to simmer. Grease the pastry cases really, really well, so that when you take them out they don’t stick.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar.
4. Zest the orange and fold in the flour, egg and orange zest.
5. When the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, gently work it together with your hands until you have a ball of dough, and flour it lightly.
6. Melt the chocolate in a bowl suspended over the boiling water.
7. Sprinkle some flour onto the work surface and roll out your dough, sprinkle flour on the rolling pin if necessary. Keep turning your dough round as to stop it sticking to the table. Roll it out to approximately 0.5cm thick.
8. Carefully line the tart tins with the pastry,cutting off the excess by rolling a rolling pin over the top. Prick the base all over with a fork.
9. Bake blind for 10 minutes – put the beans on top of the greaseproof paper inside the pastry cups to hold the pastry down.
10. Slice up the fruit and half dip them in the melted chocolate, put on a rack to solidify.
11. Remove the pastry cups from the oven and VERY carefully remove the pastry from the tins leaving it to cool for a moment.
12. Spoon a small amount of chocolate into the base of each pastry cup then place the chocolate fruit in the pastry cups and serve with a drizzle of chocolate and dollop of whipped cream.
13. Enjoy!