The Hedonist pie recipe

AKA Sailor Jerry’s hedonistic chocolate tart, this is about as excessively rich and naughty as food can get. It certainly proves that Oscar Wilde was right when he said, ‘Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.’

Serves 8

• 350g of sweet pastry
• 50g roasted hazelnuts
• 150g slightly salted butter, diced
• 150g dark chocolate, broken up
• 3 free-range eggs
• 1½ tbsp cocoa powder
• 100g caster sugar
• 150ml double cream
• grated zest of 1 clementine or mandarin
• 50ml dark rum, such as Sailor Jerry clotted cream (or crème fraîche), to serve

Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F/gas mark 3. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to about 3mm thick and use to line a 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Line the pastry with baking parchment and fill with rice or baking beans. Bake blind for about 20 minutes, until the pastry is lightly coloured. Take out of the oven (but don’t turn the oven off) and leave to cool, then remove the paper and beans.

Meanwhile, toast the hazelnuts: spread them out in a baking tin, place in the oven and leave for 5 minutes until lightly browned. Tip them into a plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin until lightly crushed. Set aside.

To make the filling, put the butter and chocolate in a bowl and place over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the water isn’t touching the base of the bowl. Leave until melted. Whisk the eggs, cocoa powder and sugar together until well combined and slightly thickened. Remove the chocolate mixture from the heat, pour in the cream and mix together gently. Add the clementine or mandarin zest and the hazelnuts. Pour this mixture into the eggs and sugar and mix well. Finally mix in the rum. Pour into the pastry case, place in the oven and bake for 20–25 minutes or until the filling is almost set; it should still have a very slight wobble in themiddle when you nudge the tin.

Remove the pie from the oven and leave for at least 2 hours before serving. Best eaten with large dollops of clotted cream, and with a dram or two of Sailor Jerry rum on the rocks.