Serves 8
Not a cheap option but great for a special occasion. This tart is such a show stopper, we all raved about the lovely flavours and textures, not to mention the glamorous looks!
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Chocolate Mousse

You will need

1 cup (100 g) raw almonds
1 packet Romary Cream biscuits
4 T (60 ml) butter, melted
200 g milk chocolate

¾ cup (180 ml) water
3 T (45 ml) Amaretto (almond liqueur) or Kalua (coffee liqueur)
1 x 310 g Ina Paarman’s Chocolate Mousse Mix
1 cup (250 ml) fresh cream

½ cup (125 ml) white sugar
3 T (45 ml) water
2 T (30 ml) reserved chopped raw almonds

Ina’s Tip

The tart can happily be made the day before and stored in the fridge. The Praline Sprinkle and chocolate piping is best done not more than 2 – 3 hours before serving.

Method

Almond crust

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 170°C.
Blitz nuts in a processor until roughly crumbed. Spoon out 3 T and reserve for praline. Add biscuits and melted butter. Blend, until moist clumps form. Press mixture onto the base and up the sides of a  22 – 23 cm springform pan sprayed with a non-stick spray.
Bake for 12 minutes until golden and crispy. Leave to cool.
Melt chocolate over hot (not boiling) water and then scrape it into a small plastic sandwich bag (for easy filling, stand the bag up in a glass). Squeeze the chocolate into the one corner and snip a very tiny hole in that corner. Now pipe about 2⁄3 of the chocolate over the base of the tart in a criss-cross pattern. This chocolate ‘grid’ is enough to hold the crumbs and keep the base dry. Reserve the remaining chocolate (in the bag) to pipe over the tart for presentation.

Mousse filling

Pour water and liqueur into a medium size mixing bowl. Sprinkle Chocolate Mousse Mix over and beat until well blended. Using the same beaters, whip the cream to the same consistency as the Mousse. Gently fold the cream into the mixture, using a spatula, blend until evenly mixed. Pour Mousse filling into crust. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Praline topping

Line a tray with baking paper.
Use a smallish saucepan with a long handle. Place sugar and water in saucepan and tilt and shake (do not stir) regularly over high heat until sugar starts to melt. Keep shaking and tilting saucepan from time to time, until caramel turns golden. Add reserved chopped nuts and swivel the pot to cover them with caramel.
Pour out onto tray lined with baking paper. Tilt the tray to spread the caramel. Leave to cool.
Break and crush praline in a processor (see video). Immediately wrap tightly in baking paper and pack into an airtight container. Praline can be made the day before. Keep in the fridge. Sprinkle praline over tart. Gently warm leftover chocolate in the microwave and pipe tart with melted chocolate.