DESSERT WEEK 1: Super easy chocolate tourta!

This tourta (as we call it in Greek) is one of the most easy versions you can find! It is one of our favourites at home and that's why I make it often. In general I'm not as good in desserts as in cooking (maybe because I'm a bigger fan of savoury dishes) but this recipe, which is almost identical to the one my mother makes, is really easy and the taste is light and delicious! It never failed us and it has covered brilliantly so many different occasions like parties, birthdays or name days regardless the season. It can also be made with sponge cake cutting it in two slices but I think that the savoyard (ladyfingers) biscuits make the procedure quicker. You could also caramelise the nuts with some sugar in a non-stick pan, something that my mother does, which gives extra flavour to the almonds

Prepared by Nicki Mytarea

"Cook Book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

Ingredients (for 4-6 people):
200 gr. of dark chocolate, cut in small pieces

500gr. of ladyfinger biscuits

1 tin of store bought crème chantilly (whipped cream)

1 tea-cup of icing sugar

2 tea-cups of milk

2 tbsp of cocoa powder, unsweetened

2 shot-glasses of cognac

1 tea-cup of blanched and toasted almonds, finely chopped

Method:
Leave the tin of the whipped cream in the fridge for 1 hour.

Put the chocolate in a glass bowl and melt it using the "Bain-marie" method or in the microwave for a few seconds.

Put in a bowl the milk and the 1 glass of cognac, stir and briefly dip half of the biscuits in, just to get lightly damp. Arrange the biscuits on a round serving platter.

In another bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the cream with the icing sugar until they become fluffy.

Dissolve the cocoa powder in the rest of the cognac and add it into the bowl with the cream, while you don't stop beating with the hand mixer, until you have a homogeneous creamy mixture.

Spread less than the half of the cream over the first layer of the biscuits and drizzle on top with some of the melted chocolate. Cover with the rest of the biscuits (after dipping in the cognac first).

Spread the rest of the cream over the biscuits and smooth with a rubber spatula to cover the surface and the sides of the tourta.

Transfer the rest of the melted chocolate in a piping bag and decorate the surface of the dessert (see photo). Sprinkle with the almonds and leave in the fridge for about 2-3 hours until it is well set and chilled.

Serve cutting in pieces garnishing on top, if you want, with fresh fruits.