No-cook Malted Chocolate Tart

No-cook Malted Chocolate Tart

Whenever I indulge in a pudding at a restaurant I automatically skip over the obligatory chocolate option. Don't get me wrong, I like chocolate, but often find chocolate desserts and cakes disappointing – brown sponge cake anyone? For a chocolate dessert to hit the spot it either needs the requisite fudgy goo, or another flavour to give an extra dimension.

This pudding that I whipped up (if you pardon the pun) in no time for dinner with friends at the weekend fulfils both of these criteria. Gooey yet light, chocolatey and malty, it was ridiculously easy to make considering how delicious it tasted and impressive it looked.

I'll probably continue to skip the chocolate option on restaurant menus, but I will definitely add this to my arsenal of go-to desserts.

No-cook Malted Chocolate Tart

Serves 8

Base

·         200g malted milk biscuits

·         75g butter (plus a pinch of salt if using unsalted)

·         1 tbsp golden syrup

Filling

·         200ml double or whipping cream

·         A dash of vanilla extract (not essence)

·         100g milk chocolate

·         100g dark chocolate

·         25g butter

·         1 tbsp golden syrup

·         120g Maltesers

1.    Crush the biscuits into fine crumbs with a rolling pin or food processor.

2.    Melt the butter and golden syrup together in the microwave and stir into the biscuit crumbs.

3.    Tip the mixture into a loose bottomed cake tin, pressing down firmly to a flat layer using a potato masher. Put into the fridge to chill.

4.    Whip the cream with the vanilla to the soft peak stage.

5.    Finely chop both kinds of chocolate and put into a microwaveable bowl with the butter and syrup.

6.    Microwave on high for 30-40 seconds, stir and repeat the process until thoroughly melted and smooth. Meanwhile, bash most of the Maltesers (reserve a few for decoration) in a polythene bag with a rolling pin. You want a mixture of fine dust and chunkier pieces.

7.    Stir a blob of the cream into the chocolate to lighten the mixture, then gently fold the remaining cream, folding in most of the crushed Maltesers at the end.

8.    Pour the chocolate mixture on top of the base, smoothing out with a rubber spatula to make a nice swirly top.

9.    Sprinkle over the rest of the crushed Maltesers, and poke the reserved whole Maltesers randomly into the topping.

10.  Chill for at least 2 hours. If keeping for longer, ensure that the tin is covered with cling film.

11.  Take the tart out of the fridge 10 minutes before serving. Remove from the tin and slice into 8, serving perhaps with a little cream, ice cream or crème fraiche.