An incredible dessert recipe, courtesy of my better half!

Rich Chocolate Tart

Crush your cookies for the base

Melt your butter or margarine

Mix!

Lay the cookie base in your pan

Heat the cream or soy cream–see the little bubbles? It’s starting to boil!

Add the chocolate…

…mix it in.

Pour the chocolate mixture onto the base

Yum!

Soon to become your favorite chocolate dessert:

• 6-8 oz cookies of your choice, for the base (I use Pamela’s Butter Shortbread Cookies, which are wheat- and gluten-free; you can use graham crackers, digestives, sugar cookies…)
• 8 oz heavy cream or soy cream, or even soy creamer if you can’t find a good soy cream–just don’t use an over-sweetened or flavored one
• 3-4 oz butter or margarine (depends on the cookie–dry cookies will need more than soft ones; add as little as you can, because excess fats can rise to the top of the tart during refrigeration, and that would suck)
• An additional 2 tbsp butter or margarine, if you want the chocolate part to have a smoother finish and taste a bit creamier
• 10-12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips or vegan chocolate chips

No baking required! First, crush your cookies in a bowl, with a spoon or potato masher. You can also do this in a plastic bag. Melt your butter or margarine, and combine it with the cookie crumbs. Next, press the crumbs into the bottom of an 8- or 9-inch round baking pan. I didn’t grease mine, but you might want to grease yours. And mine is spring-form, but that’s not a requirement.

Next, heat your cream in a pot until small bubbles start to form around the edge of the pot (see the picture). Once you see bubbles, give it a stir–if you stir and new bubbles appear immediately, then your cream’s near-boiling temperature is even throughout, and it’s time to add the chocolate (and extra butter or margarine). Before you do that, turn the heat down as low as possible. Keep stirring as you add the chocolate, and stir until all of the bits are melted. Then take it off the heat.

Pour the chocolate mixture onto the cookie base, and refrigerate the tart for as long as possible: 6 hours or overnight for a tart made with soy cream, and at least 3 hours for one made with dairy cream.

(There is a slightly more complicated way of doing this, wherein you melt your chocolate and any additional butter or margarine in a double boiler, and then add it to the hot cream. This might improve the texture a bit, if you have time.)