Glamming-up a sugar fix

Well, until this point I’ve presented a pretty solid façade of somewhat consistent food prep for main courses and nibbles.  Sometimes healthy even (RAH)!  Although building these tasty foundations is vital, I feel one thing has been conspicuous by its absence: dessert.

I go through waves of sweet-toothdom.  Often after a meal I can be found nibbling my way through a bowl of grapes, ripping chunks of grapefruit from it’s rind, or even contenting myself with a cup of tea.  Then, other times, the need for sugar becomes so primal, violent and borderline Satanic, that only the most depraved, fat and sugar-laden concoction will do.  I mean this quite literally.  I’ve been known to cream together butter and sugar, as one does for making cookies, but instead of adding flour and all the other bits to take it down the path to becoming cookies, I’ll just lift the beaters from the bowl, grab a spoon and chow down.  Disgusting?  Yes.  You cannot stop me.*

Of course, there’re better (and ever so slightly more acceptable) ways to give in to the saccharine demons.  Appease them, and still manage to maintain a sense of decorum, and you’ll come out the other side of the experience a STAR!

This recipe appeals to the aesthetics of decadence, as well as the evil gremlin within who wants to maximize on the indulgence factor.  A definite leap forward from butter and sugar.

Chocolate ganache torte

Kinda just wanna plunge your face into that, hm?

Part 1 - Pecan Crust:

·      1 cup pecan pieces

·      2 Tbsp melted butter

·      2 Tbsp sugar

I started out by whirring the pecans in the Magic Bullet (any food processor would be fine) until they were roughly chopped.  I also happened to have a bunch of buttercrunch toffee in the freezer from a failed homemade batch.  It hadn’t set up properly and was kinda powdery.  In any case it made a great addition to the crust.  And no, I don’t expect you to be saying “So THAT’S what I can do with that bag of failed buttercrunch toffee in the freezer!”

Next, the sugar gets tossed in (I omitted this as there was already enough sugar present from the handful of added toffee), a quick blitz, and then the melted butter gets poured over and blitzed again until mixed well.

Dump the pecan mixture into a shallow 9 inch pie plate and press evenly to the bottom and sides of the pan.  If it’s not holding together you can add a bit more melted butter, mix together right in the pie plate, and reform the crust.  Set aside or refrigerate until ready for the filling.

This is also a great pie crust option for any of those irritating and tedious low-carb diets.  If needed, substitute the sugar for the equivalent in one of those questionable sugar alternatives.

Part 2 - Chocolate ganache (Oooooooooooh):

·      400g dark chocolate, or 500g milk chocolate – chopped or broken into small pieces

·      1 cup whipping cream

·      Optional - 1 Tbsp liqueur (Kahlua, Grand Marnier, etc)

Place chocolate in a large bowl over simmering (NOT boiling) water, stirring until completely melted.

When melted, add the cream and any liqueur, and stir with a wire whisk until completely incorporated.  It often looks like hell when you first add the liquids, but just keep whisking the bastards in and they’ll incorporate nicely.

Remove bowl from heat, and pour the chocolate mixture into the pie crust.  Spread evenly to sides,  working from the center out, being cautious not to break the crust.  You can scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, or get your hands in there and just chow down on the remnants yourself.  Your call.

Refrigerate until the chocolate ganache sets up (About 2 hours)

Slice into wedges.  You may want to start out with smaller pieces.  Who would’ve thought that chocolate and cream might be a bit rich?  Serve as is, garnish with fruit or whipped cream, or even sprinkle a few pieces of flaked salt over the top.

As far as nutrition goes, this is no better than a bowl of creamed butter and sugar.  It is, however, SO much more presentable!

*as I sat down to type this, I started watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and I’m now feeling increasingly guilty.  I may need something chocolatey to perk me up.