Chocolate, strawberry and pistachio tart

Ganache is my favourite thing to bake with. Technically it’s not even baking really; it’s melting some chocolate in warm cream. It’s impressive, luxurious, versatile, and most importantly, probably the easiest thing you can possibly make. You can use ganache for almost anything; tarts, warm sauces, truffles, covering cakes or cake pops…

The history of ganache is hard to pin down, which only adds to its mysterious allure; everyone wants to claim ownership (read: the French/the Italians/the Swiss) and no one quite can.

Although ganache is perfect for whipping up a quick tart last minute, and that is the recipe I want to share in this post, I also want to share a ganache tip that has saved many a ruined cake for me. As I mentioned in my last post, I am unfortunately impatient for a baker. I am frequently burning my fingertips taking cakes out of tins that really should be on the cooling rack for another half an hour. After being invited to a film night this weekend and having made a batch of vegan chocolate and rosewater mini loaves for the event, my cakes met an unlucky, crumbly fate thanks to a combination of my eager heavy-handedness and a significant lack of structural integrity. Luckily I had already planned to make some vegan ganache to cover the loaves, and so had some chocolate and soya cream in the fridge. After making my ganache I added about a tablespoon to a bowl filled with the cake casualties and mixed it all together. I took small portions of the mixture and rolled them into little balls, balanced them on a fork and dripped ganache over them to coat them and make vegan truffles. Everyone was both none the wiser and royally impressed.

Do not be put off by the pastry aspect of this recipe. I know that lots of people who are not experienced bakers tend to stay away from pastry, but the fact that this pastry is chocolate-flavoured means that the aspects of pastry that are normally both hard to achieve and essential to its success are exponentially less important. Believe me. Chocolate tastes good and that’s all that matters. If you are still wary of attempting it, I would suggest you buy some ready-made shortcrust pastry and make it anyway. Everyone will still think you are a dessert genius, really. That is assuming you are making this tart for an audience; if it is just to treat yourself then pat yourself on the back. That is some top-notch self care.

For a general ganache that I want to set to be relatively squishy (the technical description) I tend to use the same g/ml measurements. For example, for a 23cm/8″ tart I would use 300ml of double cream and 300g of dark chocolate. Ganache is incredibly rich and so even if you are not a fan of dark chocolate, I would not recommend using milk for something with this amount of ganache in it, unless you are very confident in your sweet-toothedness. In that case, go for it. Hell, put some chocolate sprinkles on top!

here’s me looking particularly pleased with the tart

I like to put pistachios and strawberries on top of this tart as I like the contrast in the colours, but you really could use anything you have to hand that you want to eat with chocolate. I also think that the strawberries make it particularly summery. If this was winter I’d probably be going for something significantly more festive.

For the pastry

175g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
80g icing sugar
140g butter
1 egg yolk

For the ganache

300ml double cream
300g dark chocolate

To top

1 punnet of strawberries
50g non-salted pistachios

To make the pastry, put the butter and the flour into a bowl and rub it between your fingertips until it resembles bread crumbs. Add the icing sugar and the cocoa powder and stir with a spoon.

Next add the egg yolk and combine. If there is not enough liquid to bring the crumbs together, you can add a few drops of water until the mixture begins to form a dough. Once it starts coming together it is easier to mix the pastry with your hands than with a spoon.

Wrap the dough in cling film and put it in the fridge for around half an hour. If you wanted to make this in advance, you can freeze this dough for use at a later date. It will also keep in the fridge overnight.

After you’ve had a cup of tea and scanned the news and your pastry is suitably chilled, preheat your oven to 180C. Cover a clean surface in plain flour and roll out the pastry to around 1/2cm thick. Drape the pastry over your rolling pin and lift it into your tart tin, carefully pressing it into the sides. Do not worry if your pastry falls apart. It really doesn’t matter. See the mess I initially made:

You can just press the pastry into the tin, making sure there are no holes. Trim off the excess and prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork.

Tear a piece of baking paper large enough to cover the tart with and place it over the top of the pastry. Fill the tart case with something oven-proof to weigh it down (rice, dried lentils, baking beads) and put it in the oven for around 15 minutes. Take it out and check the pastry looks as though it is starting to bake, then remove the rice/lentils/baking beads and baking paper and put it back in the oven for a further 10 minutes. Make sure the tart looks dry all over, especially in the middle. If it still has a shine to it, keep it in the oven for a while longer. No soggy bottoms!

Once your tart is baked, break up the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl. Cover it with the cream and put it in the microwave for 1 and a half minutes. Take it out, stir it, and put it back in the microwave for a further minute. If the chocolate has not completely melted once you have mixed it all together, you can blast it in the microwave for another 10-20 seconds.

Once your pastry has cooled (or not, it doesn’t matter if you do this warm - as long as there are no holes in your tart!) pour the ganache into your empty tart case. Chop the strawberries and the pistachios and sprinkle over the ganache. Put in the fridge to set. Enjoy!