This tart happened in our house twice last week.

One of my friends texted me and asked for a fool-proof chocolate dessert recipe for a non-baker. She’s hosting a dinner gathering and planning to serve a crowd-pleasing dessert. She would like to hear something like “Did you make this? WOW!” when that dessert is put on the table. She didn’t want cupcakes because it’s a little too birthday-ish. By the way, I don’t believe there is a thing as too birthday-ish. No cakes too as it sounds too intimating for her to make one. So tarts or pies!

The only thing about this chocolate ganache tart is the crust. The filling is a total no-brainer. I’m sure it would be great with an Oreo crust. But I’ve been on such a huge shortbread mode lately, and I really wanted to go with a chocolate shortbread crust. So I baked up this crust and let my friend put in the ganache filling, and call it her own dessert.

The rave reviews I received the day after the dinner was unreal! Everyone fell in love with the tart. The luxurious ganache filling of heavy cream and dark chocolate went amazingly well with the buttery and tender chocolate crust. And the fact that it’s so easy to come up with is unbelievable.

And that’s why I made the same tart again for our dinner party last Saturday. And I’ve been thinking about the leftover every second. This tart is perfect to go with fresh berries, whipped cream or cherry sauce/compote. But my utmost favourite is to go with a little sprinkle of sea salt flakes. Seriously sea salt and dark chocolate are quite magical together.

Ingredients (9-inch tart):
Chocolate Shortbread Crust
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup powder sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
Chocolate Ganache
2/3 cup heavy cream
200 grams dark chocolate
1 tablespoon corn syrup
Others
20 fresh raspberries
Sea salt flakes

Directions:
Cream butter and powdered sugar in a bowl of a standing mixer until light and fluffy.
Sift in flour, cocoa powder and salt.
Reduce the speed to low and beat in the flour mixture until just incorporated.
Gather dough and form a dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to chill.
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch pie pan with a removable bottom.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Line the prepared pan with the rolled dough. Leave a tiny overhang of dough. Use a small kitchen knife to trim the excess and to score the tops of the tart with a fork.
Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
To prepare chocolate ganache filling, bring heavy cream almost to a boil in a small heavy sauce pan over medium heat.
Break chocolate into small pieces, and put them into another bowl. Pour in hot cream, let sit for a few minutes. Add corn syrup, and stir gently with a rubble spatula until smooth.
Pour ganache evenly over tart shell and spread with an offset spatula. Refrigerate overnight.
Leave tart at room temperature for an hour, garnish with raspberries or serve with a sprinkle of sea salt flakes.