SUMMARY

I add liqueur to make this chocolate tart very luxurious. In this case I've added Cointreau for a hint of orange, a perfect combination with the chocolate.

You can also experiment with other liqueurs that you would associate going well with chocolate, for example, in previous bakes I've used coffee liqueur (delicious served with Bailey's ice cream), cherry brandy (served with macerated cherries on the side), and also dark rum (my husband's favourite).

I recommend trying it. The dessert is very easy to make and, if you are entertaining guests, is guaranteed to end your dinner party with the wow factor.

METHOD

Caution: If you mix fridge cold cream with piping hot chocolate I'll guarantee the cream will split. Therefore remove the double cream from the fridge now so that it can reach room temperature.

1. Crush the ginger biscuits (I put them in a poly bag and crush them with a wooden rolling pin). Line the cake tin with parchment paper. Grease the bottom circle of paper with the butter and press the biscuit crumbs evenly around the bottom only.
   
   
2. Break the chocolate into pieces and place in the pyrex bowl. Add the Cointreau and the golden syrup. Melt the contents over an improvised bain marie*. The chocolate only needs to melt so you don’t need the heat to be too high and the bowl shouldn’t be in contact with the hot water below it. Mix the contents together and then remove from the heat.
   
   
3. Beat the double cream until it starts to thicken.
   
   
4. The chocolate mix should have cooled, not be too hot, but still liquid and workable. Add a good amount (about half) the thickened cream to the chocolate and fold together gently. Now transfer the mix back to the other half of the cream and fold together until evenly mixed and smooth. Carefully put the mix over the top of the biscuit crumb in the tin using a large spoon so that it is spread evenly (tap the tin if necessary to get a flat surface).
   
   
5. Cover the tin with cling film and place in the fridge to set. When set, the torte can be dusted with the cocoa powder and removed from the tin.
   
   

When cutting into wedges, I use a slightly warmed sharp knife to get neat sides. Serve with cream or ice cream as preferred.

(*Bain-marie means water-bath. A practical approach is to mix the specified ingredients in a pyrex bowl, or similar, which is perched on a saucepan of a smaller diameter. The saucepan contains water which is kept warm on the hob with just enough heat to melt the ingredients in the bowl above. This approach ensures there’s no disaster like accidentally boiling or burning any of the ingredients.)