Blog Post Three

A rich nutty base unlike I’ve ever tasted

Thank you Purewow.com. You made my day, and shifted the level of joy one can extract from just nuts, butter and sugar, mixed in the right combination.

We have family visiting from interstate. This often translates to a flurry of menu planning, ingredient sourcing, and finding a recipe that is new; one that will land with oohs and ahhes. Yes, I accept making new recipes and feeding those who arrive at your table is part joy, and part ego. Wanting to make the perfect dish, or hearing a small swoon when lips meet chocolate torte, is enough to spur me on for another day of cooking.

Credit to Pure.wow for the use of their image as well. , We ate the torte too quickly before I could capture this. The biscuit base component of the recipe is a revelation. I will never return to plain biscuit base again (perhaps for complex cheesecake recipes I will), but for any other chocolate torte-like recipe this new nutty base is surely the way to go. Three cups of combined raw nuts - I used hazelnuts (my favourite magical little taste bomb), walnuts, almonds and pistachio. I didn’t have pistachios so swapped this fourth nut with pecans. Pulverise in the food processor till fine but not too fine. Add seven level tablespoons of brown sugar and five tablespoons melted butter. And mix.

Now this is where the magic happens. Preheat the oven to 176 C (350F). Bake the crust until it turns nutty golden brown for about 15 to 20 minutes. As the base cooks, check to see that it doesn’t burn or overcook. When this is finished cooking, the aroma of roasted nuts is beyond delicious. Once you make the chocolate ganache slash torte topping, the dish becomes an inspired, truly swoon-worthy dessert.

When I served this, I balanced the sweetness of the chocolate pie with fresh cut strawberries and the tartness of this matched perfectly. Eating that first bite of baked, nutty base and smooth chocolate makes you feel grateful for have all tasting senses intact. It really is that good.

I can improve on the base though, and found I had made the rounded edges of the tart tin too generous. A little more care in shaping my base will perfect the effort. I can’t wait to cook this again soon. Here’s the fabulous recipe. Enjoy! https://www.purewow.com/recipes/nutty-chocolate-ganache-tart?fbclid=IwAR2YG6JBBHQRY0Pw5_tAaG3bLO4vuaVmtAZHW2rC7SzKBIauGi7nyJOCizA