Sweet Enough by Alison Roman
In her latest cookbook, Sweet Enough, New York Times–bestselling author Alison Roman, takes us through delicious dessert recipes in her signature casual, effortless and incredibly chic style.
Photography: Chris Bernabeo
Alison Roman’s new book, Sweet Enough, is geared towards those without special equipment or specialty ingredients. Photo: Chris Bernabeo
Banana split ice cream cake from Sweet Enough. Photo: Chris Bernabeo
Alison Roman’s latest cookbook, Sweet Enough, is for people who think they don’t have the time or skill to pull off dessert. The new book includes baking recipes which are simple, approachable, impressive and completely doable.
Before Alison made recipes so perfect that they go by one name– The Cookie, The Pasta, The Lemon Cake– she was a restaurant pastry chef who spent most of her time studying flavour, technique and precision… learning to make desserts the hard way. With Sweet Enough, Alison applies her experience and knowledge to create a book for people to create desserts with ease.
The recipes in Alison’s new book are geared towards those without special equipment or specialty ingredients - requiring little more than two hands and a few mixing bowls. There are effortless cakes that take just minutes to get into a pan, as well as classics with a signature Alison twist that range from salted lemon pie, raspberries and sour cream, hot buttered rum pudding to caramelised maple tart and cinnamon sandies.
Below we share one of Alison’s recipes from the book: Perfect tangy chocolate tart.
~ Alison Roman will embark on her first Australian tour in May, including the Melbourne Writers Festival (4th May), Brisbane Powerhouse (7th May) and Sydney Opera House (9th May).
This is an edited extract from Sweet Enough by Alison Roman, published by Hardie Grant Books. Purchase the book online now here.
Caramelised maple tart from Sweet Enough. Photo: Chris Bernabeo
Blueberry cornmeal shortbread tart from Sweet Enough. Photo: Chris Bernabeo
“Something I hear all the time when I bring up dessert is – ‘I can cook, but I can’t bake’.”
PERFECT TANGY CHOCOLATE TART
If you, like me, trend towards fruit and vanilla over chocolate, I feel confident you could still fall in love with this perfectly basic, straightforward, yet completely above average chocolate tart. This one is easy to execute, flawless each and every time, doable by even those who have never so much as melted chocolate, let alone dared make a chocolate tart. If you scanned the ingredients and thought ‘milk chocolate? I’d never,’ then consider this my plea – my ask-on-hands-and-knees plea – to please trust me here and try it. I’m certain you’ll find it plenty chocolatey and even more well-balanced than your typical tart. Oh, and not that you would, but please don’t skimp on the salt.
Makes one 23 cm (9 in) tart
INGREDIENTS
For the crust
110 g (¾ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
30 g (¼ cup) unsweetened (Dutch) cocoa powder
40 g (⅓ cup) icing (confectioners’) sugar
½ teaspoon (2 g) kosher salt
115 g (4 oz) unsalted butter, melted
For the filling
225 g (8 oz) bittersweet chocolate (68–80% cacao)
115 g (4 oz) milk chocolate (or a more bittersweet chocolate)
pinch of kosher salt
160 g (⅔ cup) thick (double/heavy) cream
110 g (⅓ cup) honey
220 g (1 cup) sour cream
flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
METHOD
Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, icing sugar and kosher salt. Drizzle in the melted butter and mix until well combined; it’ll have a texture sort of like Play-Doh. Press this into the bottom and up the side of a 23 cm (9 in) tart tin with a removable base – or you can use a 23 cm (9 in) pie dish or springform tin. Use a measuring cup or your hands to flatten the crust and make sure it’s all packed and even.
Bake until the crust is completely cooked through and gone from dark brown and shiny to a lighter dark brown and matte, 15–20 minutes. It can be difficult to tell when this is done, because it’s already brown. Test by pressing the centre: it should be firm and opaque, not squishy or greasy-looking. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
Make the filling: In a heatproof medium bowl, combine the dark and milk chocolates and kosher salt. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, heat the thick cream and honey over medium heat. Once it starts to simmer, remove from the heat (do not let it boil) and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for a minute or two to melt the chocolate, then, using a spatula, mix until well blended and no pieces of chocolate remain. (You can whisk, but be cautious of air bubbles.)
Stir in the sour cream and mix until it looks thick, glossy and emulsified. Immediately pour the filling into the cooled crust and smooth the top. Sprinkle with flaky salt and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before slicing.
Eat with: A bowl of tangerines for peeling and nibbling in-between bites. A good amaro. A bowl of vanilla ice cream.
Do ahead: The crust can be made 3 days ahead, wrapped tightly, and stored at room temperature. The tart itself can be made 3 days ahead, wrapped tightly and refrigerated.