Bliss in a Bite

Heaven and hell meet in this delectable treat of rich ganache, crumbly crust and pure melt in your mouth goodness. What are calories when the pleasure of spooning melted chocolate overrides any other desire or feeling of guilt?

Perhaps this isn't the best recipe for one's waistline, but in all seriousness, what does it matter when sitting in a lecture hall for 8+ hours a day isn't particularly flattering either? o.O Exactly. So just sit, take a spoon into your hand, watch the light slowly die from the shuttered blinds and immerse yourself in a little you time. ;)

Ganache Tart

Walnut Crust
2 - 6 oz. bags (approx. 3 cups) of walnuts, or any other nut you like
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 stick (8 tbs) unsalted butter

Chocolate Ganache
1 cup whipping cream
16 oz (2 2/3 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 tbs unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla (or almond extract, whiskey, irish cream, something to give it a little extra flavor)
Preparation

Walnut Crust
Using a food processor (or blender, like I did), pulse the walnuts into a fine grind. This is the basis of the crust and yields a nutty, crumbly crust without much trouble. Placing the ground walnuts into a bowl, add the sugar, mixing a bit. Melt the butter in the microwave and pour into the walnut mixture, mixing until all of the nuts are coated in butter. Taking a tart shell (or aluminum dish - anything oven safe), pat the mixture into an even layer, going up the sides to create a crust for the ganache filling. (I had enough to make one large tart and 4 individual muffin tin sized tarts)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and bake for 10 minutes or until the tart shell is slightly brown on the edges. Remove and let cool.

Ganache
Heat the cream and butter together in a small pot until the butter is melted and cream is warmed through. Turn off the stove, take the cream mixture off the heat and pour in the chocolate. Let sit for 5-10 minutes as the heat of the cream softens and melts the chocolate. Stir until completely incorporated and smooth. Add in the vanilla at the end.

*You may use other combinations of chocolate, such as dark, white. milk chocolate. However, the ratio of cream to chocolate will change slightly due to the water and fat content in the different types of chocolate. This is where I stop paying attention to measurements and add cream/chocolate depending upon the texture of the ganache mixture.

Assembly
Pour the ganache mixture into the tart shell. Tap on the counter lightly to even out the chocolate. Decorate with slivered almonds or extra chocolate chips placed at evenly spaced intervals along the circumference of the tart.Cool in the fridge for 1-2 hours or until the ganache has set up. Slice with a knife dipped into warm water to prevent the ganache from sticking. If the ganache begins to get too soft, cool in the fridge for a few minutes before resuming slicing.