No-bake Intensely Chocolatey Tart

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No-bake Intensely Chocolate Tart

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It's so insanely chocolatey, I suggest you help yourself to just a small slice.

Nigella Lawson was on late night TV and I was having a case of insomnia brought about by that last cup of Nespresso I just had to have after dinner.

This tart stood out because it was so beautiful. It looked like chocolate madness -a round of satin dark chocolate sitting on an even darker base. It warrant a closer look. I sat up on the bed and shimmied by pyjamaed bottom closer to the google box. Oh yes, the tart looked even better up close. The wonders of high resolution TV.

There and then I decided I had to make this tart and that says a lot because I am not a chocoholic by any stretch. Instead, I would call myself a selective chocolate eater. 

The only chocolate praline I would eat are the Belgian, Leonidas and then again I am very particular and will only eat the gold foil wrapped Gianduja. Leonidas describes them as "delicate and full of chocolate and hazelnut flavour" and how right they are. Is it no wonder that "it has been a Leonidas' signature piece for decades". I digress. Back to the tart.

For her chocolate tart base, Ms Lawson uses a bag of Oreos which I am not keen on. I much prefer the Italian bag of chocolate biscuits, Pan di Stelle. 

Have you tried them? They are awesome. You know how good Nutella is? You do know Nutella is a mix of chocolate and hazelnuts don't you? The Italians got their bag of chocolate cookies right too! And like Nutella, these cookies have hazelnuts in them. 

Imagine Nutella cookies. Pan di Stelle might be the closest 'Nutella-tasting cookie' that is available off supermarket shelves. Nothing beats homebaked full-on chocolate cookies but Pan di Stelle biscuits are perfect for my tart base. Unlike Oreos, there are no cream centres, just plain Nutella-tasting chocolate cookies.

The Pan di Stelle biscuits make such a chocolatey base, I am already thinking of rolling them into truffle balls to be then covered in melted Valrhona chocolate and dusted with cocoa powder. 

With regard to the chocolate filling, I learnt something new from the domestic goddess -eggs are redundant, at least for the filling. Corn flour can set the chocolate filling so nicely you could slice through the tart and the slice will keep its shape as long as you have the ratio of ingredients right.

Nigella reaches for double cream to make her chocolate filling. It's so much easier for me to use a can of evaporated milk and I even use up the entire can so there is no leftover or wastage to deal with. If you are wondering if using that interferes with the taste of the chocolate, the answer is no, not at all. The 70% bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder are the only flavours that will hit your tastebuds. I always use French brand, Valrhona here for the best chocolate flavour. 

Other benefits of evaporated milk over double cream? Cost and a longer shelf life! Should I get caught up with work, I can postpone tart making almost indefinitely whereas those double cream have a relatively short shelf life. The last thing I need is to worry over how I must use the double cream before it expires.

Thanks to my late night cup of Nespresso and Nigella, I have a Nigella-inspired no-bake crazily intense chocolate tart that the die-hard chocoholics I have fed it, as rich as it is, can't get enough of.  

NO-BAKE INTENSELY CHOCOLATEY TART                     

Prep:	25 minutes
Cook:	10 minutes
Inactive:	~ 12 hours to overnight for setting tart
Level:	Moderately easy
Makes:	9"  or 10"  (22.8 cm or 25.4 cm) tart
Oven Temperature:	-
Can recipe be doubled?	No
Make ahead?	Yes, 3 days in advanced

Just the ingredients (12.34oz) (350g) bag of Pan di Stelle OR (12.34oz) (350g) similar chocolatey tasting chocolate biscuits/cookies (2.11oz)(60g) unsalted butter (2.11oz)(60g) 70% bittersweet  chocolate 1/4 teaspoon smoked salt 1 can (13.35oz) (395ml) evaporated milk (divided between base & filling) Tart filling (3.52oz)(100g) 70% bittersweet  chocolate 4 Tablespoons cocoa powder 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder 4 Tablespoons (~1.58oz)(~45g) brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon smoked salt 4 Tablespoons (~1.26oz)(~36g) cornflour

Ingredients

(12.34oz)(350g) bag of Pan di Stelle
Italian crisp chocolate biscuits/cookies made with cocoa and hazelnuts. I bought my bag from a better stocked supermarket.
OR
(12.34oz)(350g) similar chocolatey tasting chocolate biscuits/cookies
If you choose to use Oreos, you need 350g weight without the cream centers.

(2.11oz)(60g) unsalted butter

(2.11oz)(60g) 70% bittersweet chocolate
I use Valrhona. I have used their 60% too and it works just as well. 

1/4 teaspoon smoked salt
Nigella Lawson asked for smoked salt which I happen to have but it makes no real difference so it's fine to use ordinary salt .

3 and 1/2 Tablespoons or enough evaporate milk to bind the biscuit crumbs *

* Remove this amount from the can of evaporated milk.

Tart filling

(3.52oz)(100g) 70% bittersweet dark chocolate
I use Valrhona. I have used their 60% too and it works just as well.

4 Tablespoons cocoa powder

I use Valrhona.

1 teaspoon instant coffee powder

1 can (13.35oz)(395ml) evaporated milk *
~ 3 and 1/2 Tablespoons or so of this would have been used earlier to bind the biscuit crumb base so you would be using what's left in the can for the tart filling.

Cans of evaporated milk come in varying volumes. Should you have any excess, scroll down to 'Tips' to find out how you can use those up.

4 Tablespoons (~1.58oz)(~45g) brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon smoked salt
Nigella Lawson asked for smoked salt which I happen to have but it makes no real difference so it's fine to use ordinary salt .

4 Tablespoons (~1.26oz)(~36g) cornflour

3 and 1/2 Tablespoons evaporated milk
* Remove this amount from the can of evaporated milk. It's to be mixed with the corn flour.

Method

Tart base

You need a 9" (22.8cm) or 10" (25.4cm) loose bottom tart/pie pan.

Melt unsalted butter and chocolate

Microwave: It is easiest to do this in a microwave in progressive bursts of 20 - 30 seconds of power until it is 3/4 melted. Stirring and checking each time. Add the salt, let the butter and chocolate complete dissolving in the residual heat. If you overheat the chocolate, it will congeal and you cannot salvage it.

Stovetop: Fill a saucepan with ~ 1.5" (3.81cm)  of water. Fit a heatproof bowl over the saucepan. The bottom of the saucepan should not touch the water. 

Add the butter and chocolate into the heatproof bowl, turn on heat to medium. When the butter and chocolate is 3/4 melted, add the salt, turn off the heat and let the mix continue to melt in the residual heat

Assembling the tart base

Crush the biscuits into a powder with a rolling pin but it is easiest to use a food processor.

Mix 3 and 1/2 Tablespoons of evaporated milk into the melted butter and chocolate. Stir that into the crushed biscuits. It should look and feel like a drier version of wet sand. Refer to the picture below. Add more evaporated milk if you think it is necessary but 3.5 Tablespoons has always worked for me.

Press the mix into the tart pan. I use the flat surface of my wooden rolling pin. Pack it in tightly. Set the tart on a flat tray for stability and leave to set for at least 4 - 6 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Cover loosely with aluminium foil.

Tart filling

Mix the 3 and 1/2 Tablespoons evaporated milk with the 4 Tablespoons corn flour. Set aside.

In a saucepan, add the remaining evaporated milk, bittersweet chocolate, instant coffee powder, brown sugar and smoked salt. Heat over medium heat and whisk to dissolve.

When the chocolate has been dissolved, sift in cocoa powder and continue to whisk to incorporate. If you think the chocolate mixture is heating up too much, either reduce the temperature of the burner or remove the pot from the stove and whisk the mixture away from the burner. Then, return pot back to the burner. In fact, I move my pot back and forth from the burner quite often to prevent anything burning.

Once the cocoa powder has been well incorporated (and do not let the chocolate mixture boil at any time), give your corn flour and evaporated milk slurry a good mix before adding it in a steady stream whilst whisking it in with whisk in your other hand.

Once the corn flour is added, you have to whisk continuously so that the mixture can thicken evenly. If it doesn't seem to be thickening fast enough, increase the temperature a little. Remember, if the mixture starts to thicken too fast for you to control, remove from the burner and whisk away and return it back to the burner.

The mixture needs to thicken up to a consistency similar to an American pancake batter -perhaps a little less thick. Another example, it has to be a little thicker than the consistency of double/thickened/heavy cream.

Transfer into a cereal bowl and cover with a plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the thickened chocolate to avoid it forming a skin. Do not leave it in the pot. It might burn.

When the chocolate is no longer piping hot (between hot to warm), pour it into the prepared cookie-crumb tart shell. You can't pour the thickened chocolate in whilst it is still hot or the tart might start to disintegrate. Leave it too long to cool and the chocolate mixed would have set.

Cover loosely with aluminium foil. Refrigerate immediately and wait at least 8 hours before serving. It's best to leave it overnight.

This tart is intensely chocolatey and rich. I suggest you be modest with serving slices.

Do not let the tart sit indefinitely outside of the refrigerator, as it will start to soften.

Tips

Should you have any leftover evaporated milk, here are some ways to use them up

• Very mango-tasting and an easy recipe using just 5 ingredients, my Dim Sum Mango Pudding.

Then there is my Mexican Inspired Lime and Lemongrass Infused Caramel Flan. It's rich and satisfying like how a good caramel flan should taste but I have cut the cloying richness with a little lime and lemongrass.

Evaporated milk makes a Quick Mac And Cheese that is never chalky tasting.

If you only have a little evaporated milk left, it would be just the right amount for the following:

The ultimate icy chocolate drink, Milo Dinosaur!

Masala Tea or Chai Tea, milky Indian tea flavoured with freshly cracked cardamon pods and a touch of cloves.

WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?                                                

I love this drink and so do a lot of people! Strawberry and Beetroot Coolers.

Focaccia With Potatoes, Olives And Sage

Boiled potatoes, olives for saltiness, sage for a herby savouriness - all sitting on a soft bread with a light chew. Like any good focaccia, it has the rich taste of extra virgin olive oil and the characteristically uneven internal structure.

Abouts the Vatican City, there is a shop that sells scrumptious pizza. Thin crust with just the right balance of ingredients on it. It is baked in rectangular trays and sold by weight. If I lived there, I would eat their pizza every day. The pizzas are topped with a creative mix of ingredients and are very fresh. If you do a google search, you will know which shop I am referring to as just about everyone raves about how good it is.

My favourite is the one made with cubes of boiled potatoes, taleggio cheese and sage leaves. It is a surprisingly good combination and although the combination is nothing new to the Italians, I had never heard of it and I would never have thought carbo could work on carbo. That was a decade ago. To this day, I am still so enamoured with the combination, I always bake at least one tray of the same style of pizza on pizza baking days.

I like the fusion so much, I carry it through somewhat in my recipe for focaccia. Instead of the usual black olive or rosemary topped focaccia, try this version, you will be surprised at how well the mix of ingredients work. 

This focaccia goes through 2 rises instead of the traditional one to develop more flavour. Alternatively, prepare the dough overnight, roll into a ball, rub with extra virgin olive oil, cover and refrigerate. With that, you can skip the second rise and move on to prepping it the next day directly in the baking tray. Then, following through as outlined in my recipe below.
FOCACCIA WITH POTATOES, OLIVES & SAGE                 

Prep:	30 minutes
Cook:	Potatoes: ~8 minutes Baking: 20 -25 minutes
Inactive:	~ 3 hours
Level:	I think this is one of the easiest bread to bake with success for the beginner baker
Serves:	5 - 6
Oven Temperature:	400F 200C
Can recipe be doubled?	Yes
Make ahead?	Dough can be rested overnight. Taste best on the day it is baked.

Just the ingredients 3 and 1/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons bread flour  OR to make a healthier option replace with up to 3/4 cup of spelt flour 1 and 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast 2 teaspoons sugar 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 and 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons water 8 Tablespoons (divided) extra virgin olive oil + extra for oiling fingers ~ 1 potato or enough to make ~ 1/2 - 1 cup of boiled diced potatoes  A few green/black pitted olives Handful of fresh sage leaves Salt for sprinkling

Ingredients

3 and 1/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons bread flour 
OR to make a healthier option
replace with up to 3/4 cup of spelt flour

If you use spelt (a primitive whole grain flour), the focaccia will bake into a brown colour.  As spelt flour absorbs more water, add an additional 2- 3 Tablespoons of water.

1 and 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

2 teaspoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 and 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons water

6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil + extra for oiling fingers

Divided into 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 Tablespoons

~ 1 potato or enough to make ~ 1/2 to 1 cup of diced potatoes 
I prefer using a starchy potato like Russet or an all-purpose potato like Yukon because if you knock them up a bit after boiling (details in recipe below), those craggy bits will have a higher chance of baking into crisp edges.

A few green/black pitted olives
Not too much or it will be too salty.

Handful of fresh sage leaves

Salt for sprinkling

Method

By machine

In the mixer bowl, add the flour(s) (withhold the 2 Tablespoons of bread flour for the moment), instant yeast, sugar and salt and stir to mix well.

Make a well in the centre, 1 and 1/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons of water and the 2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.

Start the mixer on low speed and gradually work up to medium-medium high speed. I use my KitchenAid.

The dough will be sticky. Do not add any flour. Let the machine run for 8 - 10 minutes. 

If the dough looks impossibly sticky, use 1 of the 2 Tablespoons flour. If you think it is still too sticky, add the other 1 Tablespoon flour.

Beyond that, don't add any more flour. It might result in a dry focaccia and you want a sticky dough as it means you will get an irregular internal structure, that is, the characteristic large and small holes you see when you slice through a focaccia. Refer to my picture above. So remember, the dough should be on the sticky side with dough sticking to the sides of your mixer bowl.

By hand

You need a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients (but withhold the 2 Tablespoons of bread flour for the moment) and mix it well.

Create a well, add only 1 cup of the water and 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.

With a spoon or your fingers, use a circular motion to mix the water and oil and gradually work in the dry ingredients using the same circular motion.

This will be a very sticky dough but you must use up all the water indicated in my recipe. So once, you have incorporated all the dry ingredients into a mangled  mess, gradually work in the remaining 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons of water. If you have been using a spoon to do the mixing, you might want to switch to your fingers.

Knead for at least 10 minutes. The dough should get more elastic and stretchy.

After 10 minutes of kneading, the dough will still be sticky but it should be more elastic. If the dough feels impossibly sticky, use 1 of the 2 Tablespoons flour. If you think it is still too sticky, add the other 1 Tablespoon flour.

Beyond that, don't add any more flour. It might result in a dry focaccia and you want a sticky dough as it means you will get an irregular internal structure, that is, the characteristic large and small holes you see when you slice through a focaccia. Refer to my picture above. So remember, the dough should be on the sticky side with dough sticking to the sides of your bowl.

After kneading

Do the 'window pane' test. 

First, oil your finger tips with some extra virgin olive oil. If you can stretch the dough easily and thin enough till it's translucent without the dough quickly tearing, the gluten has developed enough and you are ready to go. If not, have the machine knead for another 5 minutes. If kneading by hand, you might have to knead even longer.

As sticky as it looks, this is the stage when my dough passed the 'window pane' test and when I stopped kneading, gathered it up into a ball to let it go through the first rise. 

Pour 2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into the bowl you would be using for rising the dough. Oil the sides of the bowl with your finger tips.

With the help of a scraper (oil if first), gather up the dough into a ball. Coat the ball on all sides with oil. This will keep the dough moist. The dough might be sitting in a little pool of extra virgin olive oil. That's fine.

Cover the bowl and leave it to rise until almost double in size. ~ 60 minutes.

The dough can also be refrigerated overnight at this point. 

Preparing the potatoes

Whilst the dough is rising, boil the potato(es) in their skin(s). When the water comes to a boil, salt the water generously. 

Once potatoes are cooked through, drain and whilst the potatoes are still warm, peel off the skins and cut into cubes. Place in a bowl. Salt them. 

Knock them up a bit by shaking the bowl. You want the edges bashed up a little so that those edges will bake up crisp. It's the same principle as when you roast potatoes that goes with the Sunday roast. Set aside. 

Do not cover. Instead, let the potato cubes air dry.

After the first rise

If you had refrigerated the dough, proceed straight to "After the second rise" instead.

Punch down the dough, quickly reshape into a ball, cover and let it go through a second rise. ~ 45 minutes.

After the second rise (transferring it to baking tray)

Have your baking tray ready. 

What size of a tray to use? It depends on how thin or thick you want your focaccia to be. For a baked focaccia between 1" - 2" thick, a tray ~14"x10"x1.5" (~35.5cmX24.4cmX3.8cm) should be fine.

Spread 1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil onto the bottom and sides of the tray. 

Salt the bottom of the tray. 

Transfer the dough gently (with any remaining oil in the bowl) onto the baking tray. 

Stretch the dough out gently and then continue to stretch the dough out to try and fit the tray by digging your fingers straight into the dough and stretching the dough. You want to create little funnel pockets. However, don't over work the dough. 

In all likelihood, you would not be able to stretch the dough right into the corners of the tray, that's fine. As the dough rises and bakes it will fill the entire tray so leave it for now. 

Alternatively, let the dough rest for 15 minutes and go back to it and stretch it out a bit more but either way, keep the dough moist by spreading 1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil over the dough.

On my first attempt, I was not able to stretch the dough out to the corners. I brushed it with extra virgin olive oil and left it alone for 15 minutes. Then, I went back to it.

Pour 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a bowl and toss the boiled potatoes, sage leaves and olives in them.

Sage leaves are lightly to get singed in the oven without the coating of oil and you need the oil to help the sage leaves release its flavour. Either leave leaves whole or tear them up.

If you need to stretch the dough out a bit more to fill the tray, do so now.

Then, poke all the way in, right to the bottom of the tray, the cubes of potatoes, sage leaves and olives.

Cover, and let it rise until almost double in size. ~ 30 - 40 minutes.

Just before baking, you can choose to push the ingredients back down to the bottom of the tray so that you get a dimpled looking focaccia. 

Here is a tip. Your risen focaccia at this point might have risen unevenly. To even out the rise, play around with the ingredients -pushing the potato/sage/olive a bit further down into the dough or shifting them a little (left/right/forward/backward) to even out the rise of the dough. Don't over do the adjustments or you will deflate the risen dough. And, if you so happened to have overworked and deflated the dough, cover, leave it alone for 15 minutes and then proceed.

Brush the last 1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil onto the dough and then sprinkle salt.

Bake at 400F (200C) on the middle rack for ~ 20 - 25 minutes. 

The top should be golden. When you use a palette knife to lift and peak at the base, it should be golden brown too and when you tap on the base, it would sound hollow.

Cool in the tray on a cooling rack before serving.

Tips

Suggestions for various other ingredients to top a focaccia

• grapes
• browned onions and browned julienned ginger
• dried cranberries (plumped up beforehand in some wine)
• cubes of roasted beetroot in various colours: gold, candy stripes, magenta
• pitted cherries
• all kinds of green herbs
• cherry tomatoes
• garlic slices
• smoked salt
• garlic salt

the possibilities are quite endless.

WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?                                             

This most intensely chocolatey tart meets with the complete approval of all the chocoholics I have fed it to.

5-Minutes Apricot And Mozzarella Salad

Hi! I'm now working from Wordpress. I've spent a great deal of time editing and reorganising this post on Wordpress and it is so much friendlier to read & follow my recipe from there. Click on this link to take you directly to the recipe:

5 Minutes Apricot And Mozzarella Salad

Link to my newest and old recipes, click:

https://kitchenbaroness.wordpress.com/

This is the speediest salad you could put on the table with no dressing to make.

The best tasting apricot I have ever eaten was many years ago. I was sitting in the front seat of the rental car and in my lap was a bag of tree ripened apricots. Having pre-warned my travelling partner not to drive off as yet, I proceeded to stuff my face with the apricots. Yes, yes, I did share a few bites of it. 

It was good that I had the foresight to tell my partner not to touch the gear shift while I tried the apricots. That meant I could pop back into the store for more apricots. I plan carefully when it comes to good eating. 

Now a days, the apricots in stores need a bit help to enhance its flavour. Quite simple. Just dip them in caster or superfine sugar and they will be quite wonderful to eat. Not as good as tree ripened ones but they will do.
5-MINUTES APRICOT AND MOZZARELLA SALAD          

Prep:	5 minutes
Cook:	-
Inactive:	-
Level:	Very easy
Serves:	3 - 4
Oven Temperature:	-
Can recipe be doubled?	Yes
Make ahead?	No

Just the ingredients 4 balls of mozzarella OR burrata ~ 6 - 8 apricots ~ 3 Tablespoons caster/super fine sugar ~ a few springs of mint  ~ 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil pepper and salt to taste

Ingredients

4 balls of mozzarella OR burrata
Burrata looks like mozzarella but they are not. They are twice better because of the curds and cream that has been added into those little balls. Hence, they are that much more costly.

~ 6 - 8 apricots

~ 3 Tablespoons caster/super fine sugar

~ a few springs of mint 
What to do with any leftover mint? Scroll down to 'Tips' for suggestions.

~ 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

pepper and salt to taste

Method

Break the mozzarella or burrata balls into small pieces and dot it around your serving platter.

Cut the apricots in half along the seam line. You can't slice through the fruit as there is a seed inside. Slice around the seed by rotating the fruit. Then, put the knife down and twist the fruit apart.

Dip the cut surface of the apricot into the caster sugar and place them cut side up amongst the mozzarella/burrata. Repeat wit the rest of the apricots.

Tear off some mint leaves and scatter them over the apricots and cheese.

Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper.

Serve quickly with some good bread.

Tips

What to do with any leftover mint?

Mint, Lime and Lemongrass Infused Cooler. 
I believe my dog approves of this drink too.

Mint Chutney, Mint Dip.  
Really good with tortilla chips amongst other things.

WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?                                            

To go with the sweet apricots and creamy mozzarella, try this salty savoury focaccia which is rather different from the usual. It is baked with boiled cubes of potatoes, olives and fresh sage.