When the chocolate is good, you need to do very little value-addition to turn it into an indulgent, decadent, luxurious dessert that brings the house down. This no-bake Valrhona Coffee and Chocolate Ganache Tart is a perfect example of just this.

While I do feel that a bed tart base would add so much more depth to this, this tart was a pure product of laziness without wanting to compromise on quality and flavour, so I blitzed up a basic no-bake crust of Digestive biscuits and butter.

This is an extremely forgiving and adaptable recipe, but the few tips I would share for the most luscious and silky ganache are:

• Use good quality dark chocolate. It’ll do half the work for you. However, avoid using chocolate that’s over 70% because chocolate becomes even less sweeter when diluted with cream. I used 54% Valrhona Dark Chocolate with Coffee which I managed to source from Chef Middle East and I swear to you it did more than half the work for me. In a ganache tart, the chocolate is what really shines and takes center stage, so I cannot emphasize enough on the importance of using good chocolate. The extra dimension from the coffee elevated it to the next level.
• Always use a 1:1 ratio of heavy cream to chocolate. Don’t use double cream, don’t use half and half, just good old heavy cream. This will give it a rich but soft pudding-like texture
• When you pour the cream into the chocolate, do it slowly. This ensures that an emulsion is created through the suspension of fat from the cream and the butterfat from the chocolate and this creates a silly smooth ganache
• Flakey sea salt creates an unparalleled balance when sprinkled on chocolate. Chunky or fine salt would not work, do not sprinkle salt on your tart if it isn’t flakey sea salt. The best kind to use is Maldon sea salt.
• If you’d like, you can pour and chill a layer of salted caramel under the ganache. You can also layer it with nut butter. As I said, this is quite an adaptable recipe.

Ok, I think you’re ready for the recipe now:

Ingredients and equipment:

• 200 grams 54% Dark Valrhona Chocolate with Coffee
• 200 grams heavy cream
• 250 grams Digestive biscuits
• 100 grams melted unsalted butter
• 9 inch Spring form pan
• 1 tsp flakey sea salt to sprinkle on top at the end
• Optional: Berries to garnish

Method:

1. Blitz the Digestive biscuits and butter in a food processor until it becomes a coarse to fine crumb
2. Firmly press this biscuit mixture down into the spring form pan until it is tightly packed. Chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours to solidify the butter.
3. Cut the chocolate up into smaller pieces to make it easier to melt.
4. You can either use the double boiling method* to emulsify the ganache or you can simply heat the cream in the microwave, and then slowly pour it onto the chocolate while mixing well.
5. Pour the ganache onto the biscuit base. It will spread out evenly. Refrigerate for another 2-3 hours for the no-bake chocolate ganache tart to set.
6. Top with freshly cut berries on one half, and flakey Maldon sea salt on the other.

*The double boiling method requires you to place chocolate in a metal or ceramic bowl atop a saucepan with boiling water. The bowl must be wide and deep enough for none of the steam in the saucepan to escape and for the bowl to remain perched on the rim and not fall in. The heat that rises from the boiling water is what will melt the chocolate, without the chocolate burning (as it would if it was placed directly in a saucepan atop a heating source). Once the chocolate is melted, you start mixing in the cream and once it’s nicely emulsified, you pour it onto the biscuit base.