Sunday spoil: Triple chocolate tart

You’ll need: ½ large packet (250g) Romany Creams; 1/3 cup butter, melted; 2 large slabs (150g each) Belgian dark chocolate; 500ml home-made chocolate mousse.

For the chocolate mousse – 5 eggs, separated; 450ml cream; 240g Belgian chocolate; 170ml black coffee; 2 shots brandy; 4 x 10g Gelatin leaves; 20ml vanilla essence; 100g sifted cocoa powder; 100g castor sugar.

Nice to have – Extra-large slab (150g) Belgian dark chocolate; 1 Tbsp milk; strawberries, for serving.

How to:

For the chocolate mousse:

Separate the egg whites and yolks. Place egg whites into a large wide bowl suitable for whisking and set aside.

Measure out the cream into a deep bowl suitable for whisking. Whisk with the hand mixer until stiff peak, cover with cling wrap and keep in the fridge.

Make sure the coffee is hot, and dissolve the gelatin leaves into the coffee. Add brandy and vanilla essence.

In a large flat bowl suitable for a double boiler, place the chocolate cocoa powder and coffee mixture into the bowl and allow the ingredients to melt gently over low heat stirring occasionally

Once everything is melted, smooth and looking glossy, remove from the heat immediately and stir in the egg yolks. Make sure you are stirring well.

Remove cream from the fridge. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks.

Fold in the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture, folding gently to knock out all the air bubbles, then do the same with the egg white.

Place the mousse into your container of choice for the setting. Allow at least two hours to set in the fridge.

For the rest of the tart:

Blitz biscuits in a food processor until finely crumbed. Add melted butter and blitz to combine.

Press crumb mixture into the base of a 22cm tart dish (even out using the back of a spoon).

Melt the two chocolate slabs in a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water until smooth.

Remove from heat and cool to room temperature – make sure it does not set again.

Mix your homemade mousse into the cooled chocolate. Spoon chocolate mixture into a tart dish, smoothing out with the back of a spoon.

Place in the fridge to set for about 30 – 40 minutes

Optional:

Melt extra chocolate with milk and allow to cool slightly. Pour over chilled chocolate tart, spreading to cover the mousse completely.

Refrigerate the tart again for at least 30 minutes so that the chocolate topping hardens.

Serve with strawberries if you like.

Good idea – Make individual no slice tarts in ramekins.

A triple chocolate tart calls for a bold wine. We’re drinking this Muratie Ben Prins Cape Vintage 2018. You’ll smell floral notes of violets and roses along with Christmas spice and plum pudding, and tasted the deeply rich flavours of Kirsch-macerated black cherries and dark chocolate-enrobed hazelnuts, as well as undertones of truffles and tobacco. It’s a world-class wine … buy one to enjoy with your chocolate tart, another to put aside for up to two decades. R295. Details: muratie.co.za/product/ben-prins-cape-vintage