Dark Chocolate Passion Fruit Pastries

Directions

For the shortcrust pastry

1. Mix together flour, sugar and salt. Using a fork, two knives or a pastry blender, cut in butter until well-distributed. Pea-sized lumps should still be visible. Add one egg and 35% cream, and mix just enough so that the dough holds together when squeezed between your fingers. Divide dough into two parts and form into disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

For the ganache

1. In a double boiler or a microwave on low, melt the chocolate with the butter and 35% cream. Stir until completely smooth. Transfer into a shallow bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To assemble the pastries

1. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before rolling. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. On a floured work surface, roll each disk of dough into a rectangle just over 23 x 30 cm (9 x 12 inches) in size. The rolled-out dough should be around 0.3 cm (1/8 inch) thick. Using a large knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into 7.5 x 10 cm (3 x 4-inch) rectangles. Collect leftover dough, roll out and cut into rectangles. Repeat with the second disk of dough.
2. Whisk the remaining egg in a small bowl and brush over half of the dough rectangles. In the centre of each of the rectangles brushed with egg, spread about 30 mL (2 tbsp) of ganache. Place a second rectangle on top of each of the rectangles spread with ganache, pressing down on the edges with your fingers to bind the top and bottom together. Using a fork, seal the four sides of each pastry. Then, pierce the top several times to allow steam to escape during baking. Transfer the pastries onto the cookie sheet and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Bake pastries for 25-30 minutes, or until golden. Let cool at room temperature.
4. Just before serving, prepare the passion fruit icing: Cut the passion fruit in half. In a bowl, combine the icing sugar with the seeds from half a passion fruit. The mixture will start out very stiff and soften as the seeds release their juice. Ice the tops of the pastries, then garnish with more passion fruit seeds. Serve immediately.

Notes

1. Rather than making the shortcrust pastry yourself, you can always use store-bought pie crust. Roll out the crust and assemble the pastries as indicated.
2. Pastries may be prepared up to two days in advance. Once they are baked and cooled, store them in a sealed container at room temperature. Ice with the passion fruit icing just before serving.