Easy Dessert Idea|No-Bake, Eggless Chocolate Ganache And Strawberries Tart

So, I wanted to make something special for our wedding anniversary earlier this month, something that would be decadent enough to please our palates and yet be simple to put together. I was thinking about what I would make when I found someone’s post about a no-bake tart, on a foodie FB group that I follow. The idea sounded good, one that I wanted to mull over further. A quick search on the Internet told me that there are hundreds of variations of the no-bake tart – the crust could be made with Oreos or digestive biscuits, among other kinds of cookies, and the filling could be custard or chocolate ganache or just fruits and melted ice cream, for instance. Basically, there are as many different ways to make a no-bake tart as one’s imagination can conjure up. After a bit more pondering, I decided to go for a chocolate ganache tart with fresh strawberries. The result was gorgeous, both in looks and taste, and was much loved by the OH and me.

I decided to make the crust with digestive biscuits, and to top it with fresh strawberries dusted lightly with powdered sugar. After all, it is strawberry season, and it is almost a crime not to make good use of the gorgeous, juicy, fat fruits that are selling all over Bangalore now. I chose chocolate ganache for the tart filling, considering that it is something I have made and loved before. Chocolate and strawberries together – that eternal combination – has always held a romantic connotation in my mind (thanks to all the crap*y Mills & Boons that I have read in my teenage years!) and, in that sense, this tart seemed to be just the perfect thing to make for an anniversary.

I had a feeling the tart would turn out pretty and yummylicious, and it did. It was oh-so-easy to put together, and it disappeared in minutes after. The taste was rich and creamy and beautiful, just as I had wanted it to be – ‘sinful’, I would say. The OH loved the tart enough to remark ‘Make this for every one of our anniversaries henceforth, will you?’, and I wondered why I never thought of making this beauty before. Maybe this is the start of a family tradition? I hope so!

Now, without further ado, let me tell you about how I made the tart. I used this recipe as a guide, making a few variations.

Recipe

Ingredients (makes about 6 medium-sized servings):

For the crust:

200 g digestive biscuits (I used McVities)

2 teaspoons sugar

50 g unsalted butter (kept at room temperature for a couple of hours)

For the chocolate ganache:

200 ml whipping cream (I used Amul)

100 g plain milk chocolate (I used Amul)

50 g dark chocolate (I used Amul)

Note: If you don’t want to use dark chocolate, you could just use 150 g of plain milk chocolate. The ganache doesn’t need any sugar.

For the topping:

Fresh strawberries, cut into slices – as many as you would like

About 2 teaspoons of powdered sugar

2 teaspoons of broken cashewnuts

Method:

For the crust:

1. Break the digestive biscuits into pieces and put them in a mixer, along with the sugar. Powder finely.
2. Take the biscuit powder in a mixing bowl. Add the butter. Mix together till the butter and biscuit powder are thoroughly combined, and form a dough.
3. Pat the dough all over the bottom and sides of a greased medium-sized plate with a little depth. If you have a tart tin, you could use that too. Make sure the dough is lined evenly throughout the bottom and sides of the plate.
4. Cover and put the plate in the freezer, to chill while you prepare the ganache.

For the ganache:

1. Grate the milk and dark chocolate coarsely into a large mixing bowl.
2. In a saucepan, heat the whipping cream until just boiling. Switch off the gas.
3. Pour the hot cream over the grated chocolate in the mixing bowl. Mix well until thoroughly combined.
4. Whisk the ganache a bit for a soft, creamy consistency.
5. Once this is done, get the tart base out of the freezer, and pour the chocolate ganache into it. Shake the plate a bit to make sure the ganache spreads evenly all through the tart base.

For the topping:

1. Layer slices of fresh strawberries all over the chocolate ganache.
2. Dust the strawberries with the powdered sugar.
3. Decorate with broken cashewnuts.
4. Cover the tart carefully (so as not to disturb the decorations), and put it in the refrigerator to chill. Refrigerate overnight before serving. (I am guessing that the tart can be put in the freezer again, too, after filling it with chocolate ganache. Maybe that would give the chocolate filling more depth, making it perfect to cut. I will try that out the next time I make this! In case of our tart, the ganache was slightly liquidy and not perfectly thickly set the way it looks in the picture in the original recipe. I will assure you, though, that this didn’t take away from the taste of the ganache one bit! I ought to try making the filling with different proportions of the cream and chocolate, the next time.)
5. Leave it at room temperature for a few minutes before cutting the tart – this will make the cutting of the crust a tad easier and less messy.
6. The tart can be served chilled or at room temperature – tastes great both ways!

Do you like the sound of this tart? Will you try it out? Do let me know how it turned out for you!

Also, if you have recipes for similar bake or no-bake versions of tarts that you swear by, do pass them on to me!

 

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