Spelt Chocolate Pie (with Homemade Caramel and Rolo Chocolate Ganache)
Ingredients
Chocolate Pastry:
- 180g (1½ cups) spelt flour (see note 1)
- 50g (¼ cup + 3 tbsp) cocoa
- 50g (¼ cup + 1 tbsp) icing sugar
- 150g (½ cup + 3 tbsp) cold butter (chopped into small bits)
- 1 egg yolk (from one medium egg)
- cold water (if needed)
Caramel:
- 50g (3 tbsp + 2 tsp) butter
- 100g (½ cup) brown sugar
- 1 can (395g) (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
Ganache:
- 50g (3 tbsp + 2 tsp) butter (chopped)
- 250ml (1 cup) whipping cream
- 100g (3½ oz) dark chocolate
- 100g (3½ oz) milk chocolate
- 160g soft caramel chocolates (see note 2)
Instructions
Chocolate Pastry:
- Add the flour, cocoa, icing sugar and butter to a food processor and work until the ingredients form a breadcrumb consistency (don't worry if some larger pieces of butter remain).
- Add the egg yolk and work until a dough forms.
- If you need a touch of cold water to help bind the ingredients, then add a little at a time (a tablespoon is a good start), just until you are left with a not too sticky or too dry dough (see note 3).
- Form the dough into a ball and cover with clingfilm.
- Place in the fridge for around 30-60 minutes.
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C (400℉).
- On a floured surface, roll the dough out into a large circle, then transfer to a baking tin or pie dish (see note 4).
- Trim the edges and place tin foil or baking paper in the bottom and fill with dried peas or whatever else you use to blind bake.
- Place in the oven to bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove the foil and dried goods and bake for a further five minutes.
- Take out of the oven, and reduce the temperature to 175°C (350℉).
- Allow the crust to cool for a while. You could leave this overnight if you preferred, or even freeze the pastry case for another time.
Caramel:
- Add the butter to a heavy-bottomed pan and heat until just melted.
- Add the sugar, and give it a little stir (but be aware that the butter and sugar may not completely incorporate at this stage).
- When the sugar has melted and the mixture is bubbling nicely, add in the condensed milk.
- Whisk constantly on a medium heat for about 4-5 minutes, until the mixture has a good bubble going and steam appears. Remove from the heat.
- Pour the caramel into the pie case and bake for 15 minutes. The caramel is ready when it has dark brown patches, is bubbling but has formed a "skin". Allow to cool completely.
Chocolate Ganache:
- Add the butter and milk to a pan and heat until the liquid starts a gentle rolling boil.
- In the meantime, chop all the chocolate, including 80g (2¾ oz) Rolos (or similar) into small pieces and add to a deep bowl.
- Pour over the cream/butter mixture and leave for around 5 minutes.
- Whisk together until you end up with a thick ganache.
- Leave for a short while before pouring over the cooled pie.
- Place in the fridge to set (at least a couple of hours) then top with the extra Rolos.
- Drizzle over some caramel sauce, if you like. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
- You can substitute spelt flour for regular flour (just do a straight swap using the same measurements).
- You can use Rolos or anything similar (in Sweden, and what I used, are called Center).
- I didn't need any water at all - at first it might seem that one egg yolk is not enough liquid when it probably is. So make completely sure before you add any water.
- I used a very shallow pie dish with a removable bottom that is 27cm (just over 10") in diameter. I had pastry to spare, so you could easily make a larger pie, but you would need to adapt the filling measurements.
