Chocolate Ganache Torte

This over-the-top chocolate torte recipe comes here by way of my friend Rob Kent, who is famous among his friends for showing up at various birthday parties and special events bringing what is affectionately known as “Death by Chocolate”. I can only handle eating a piece of Rob’s Chocolate Ganache Torte once every few years. It serves at least 20, so it’s a great dessert to make for a gathering. Think giant chocolate truffle, in a chocolate cookie pecan crust, covered with a caramel sauce.

Chocolate Ganache Torte Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour
• Yield: Serves 20.

Ingredients

The Shell

• One box “Nabisco’s Famous” chocolate wafers, or your favorite chocolate nut cookies
• 2/3 cup pecans
• Melted butter (1/4 cup or less)
• 9 inch spring-form pan

The Filling

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of the best available semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, well chopped into small pieces (use brick chocolate, not chips)
• More melted butter (up to one stick or 1/2 cup)
• 1 cup (or more) heavy whipping cream

The Sauce

• Melted butter (one stick, a 1/2 cup, or a bit more)
• Cane sugar (a pound or less)
• Heavy whipping cream (1 cup - or more)

Method

1 Prepare the crust. Chop/process the wafers and pecans until fine, add enough melted butter to press this into the spring-form pan (along the bottom and halfway up the sides). Bake in oven at 350°F for 20 minutes, put aside.

2 While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. In double boiler melt the butter and then add the chocolate. When chocolate is swirl-able, slowly add the whipping cream, stirring slowly, until mixture is blended and smooth. Pour mixture into the prepared shell. Refrigerate for at least four hours.

3 Prepare the sauce before serving (the sauce, served warm, should accompany the torte, served cold.) Melt butter over fairly high heat. Add sugar until saturated (the heat must be high enough for the sugar to dissolve; when no more will dissolve, the solution is saturated). Stirring only occasionally, let the mixture “burn” just enough to turn into a rich caramel. Add the cream, stirring briskly until well blended and smooth. Strain if necessary for smoothness.

One nine-inch torte has been known to serve twenty adults, so be careful...

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