Chocolate and Almond Tart

Delicious and decadent Roasted Almond and Chocolate Ganache Tart in a buttery crust, decorated with whipped chocolate ganache.

I make tarts quite often! They are like my blank canvas to play with colours, patterns and decorations. Some very easy ones that involve no baking at all and others that are baked with a custard or cheesecake filling. Seldom have I made a tart like this one that involves part baking to create a buttery crust while the filling is just a pour and set kind of activity.
You could absolutely use a no-bake crust for this one like here and here too.

The other fun thing about this tart is that it uses chocolate ganache, both as a filling as well as a frosting to decorate the tart. Again, you could leave out the frosting entirely and enjoy the roasted almonds encased in an ultra choclatey base. I think I was feeling too creative while making this tart , hence all the additions.

Overall, I think I don’t need to say much to describe a dessert that has abundant quantities of roasted nuts and dark chocolate. What do you think?

Chocolate and Almond Tart
Makes a 7 inch round tart.

For the pastry
1 cup 150 g plain flour
1/4 cup, icing sugar mixture
100 g chilled butter, roughly chopped
1 egg yolk

Filling and frosting
350 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
250 ml heavy cream
50 g unsalted butter
1 cup whole almonds, roasted and a few chopped

To make the pastry, process the flour, icing sugar and butter in a food processor until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and process until mixture just comes together. Gently knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Shape into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 15 minutes to rest.

Press dough into the bottom and sides of a 7 inch fluted tart pan to form a crust. Refrigerate for 30 mins.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (180 degrees C fan-forced). Place the tart pan on an baking tray. Line with baking paper and fill with pastry weights or dried rice or beans. Bake for 10 minutes, remove paper and weights.

Reduce temperature to 180 degrees C and bake for a further 20-25 minutes or until pastry is light golden. Remove from oven. Allow to cool.

Meanwhile make the filling. In a medium saucepan, over low heat, warm the cream. Remove from heat. Add the chocolates and butter and leave aside to melt. Stir to combine.
Remove around 1/2 cup of filling aside to whip up for frosting.
Scatter almonds over the base of that tart. Pour remaining chocolate filling over prepared crust. Refrigerate for 4-5 hours or until set.

To make the chocolate ganache frosting, allow the 1/2 cup ganache to be completely set before beating it by hand or with a mixer until smooth and fluffy. Fill up a piping bag that has been fitted with a star tip with the whipped ganache. Pipe onto the tart once the filling has set. Slice and enjoy!