Happy weekend everyone!
We’ve had such hectic weeks lately, both at work and out of work that The Boy and I haven’t had the time to catch up with each other. Luckily we are so comfortable with our silence and grumpiness that it doesn’t affect our relationship much (she says ><).
With my new-found passion for baking, it’s been killing me that I haven’t been able to do any or much baking at all. However, The Boy being the clever genius he is has taken matters into his own hands when it comes to serving something dessert-ish at the dining table.
He dislikes baking as much as I used to, so he will do anything (even if it’s easier to just bake a cake) to get out of the baking process.
Which is where his ‘No-Bake Chocolate Tart’ comes in handy. Not only do you get out of baking with this recipe, it’s actually quite easy to follow and man were they delectable!
Catching on the recent fig trend (and season) which got all my baking friends (chiefly Thanh and Wince) (and non-friends “we can be fig friends!”) going crazy with their oven, The Boy decided that he’d throw in his 2 bob but without the required necessity of baking.
However, he didn’t want to make any chocolate tart, he wanted it to be special. So we used Valrhona’s Grand Cru 64% chocolate for the tart. With its fresh and tangy flavours, we thought it’d pair really well with the honeyed grilled figs.
Manjari chocolates are usually paired with red or yellow fruits such as berries, but we thought we would step it up a notch with figs as its sweetness would cut through the natural tartness and acidity from the chocolate.
Tasting the Manjari chocolate on its own is a whole different ball-game. For a full tasting note and review of the Manjari chocolate, visit the Valrhona website.
No-Bake ‘Manjari 64%’ Chocolate Tarts with Honeyed Grilled Figs Recipe
Ingredients
- 140 g of Valrhona Manjari 64% Grand Cru Chocolate (chopped)
- 60 g Milk Chocolate (chopped)
- 200 g of Shortbread Biscuits
- 100 g of Unsalted Butter (cubed)
- 200 ml of Thickened Cream
- 2 Tbsp of Icing Sugar
- 1 Tbsp of Golden Syrup
- 1 tsp of Vanilla Extract
- 3 Figs (quartered)
- 2 Tbsp Honey
- Cocoa Powder & Icing Sugar (to garnish)
Instructions
- Using a food processor, pulse the shortbread biscuits until you get fine crumbs.
- In a small saucepan, stir golden syrup and butter together over low heat until butter melts. Pour the mixture into the food processor (with biscuit crumbs) and pulse to combine.
- Prepare a few 10-cm/12-cm loose-bottomed tart pans. Press the biscuit mixture into the base and sides of each pan. Place in refrigerator to chill.
- Place both types of chocolate into a heatproof bowl and melt over a pot of boiling water. Set aside to cool.
- Once cooled, mix in the vanilla extract and fold in icing sugar.
- Whip the thickened cream until you get soft peaks and fold into your chocolate mixture.
- Pour mixture into your tart pans and place back into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to set.
- Heat your griller and place figs (cut-side down) to grill until caramelised. This should take only a few seconds each side.
- Pour honey over caramelised figs and set aside.
- When ready to serve, sprinkle chocolate tarts with cocoa powder and icing sugar, and top with 2 quartered honeyed figs.
Notes
[Recipe adapted from Taste.com.au’s No-bake Chocolate Tarts]
Don’t you just want to pop the whole thing in your mouth?
Say, “Aaaahhhhuuuummmmmm”! Nom nom nom!
Not only do the figs pair well with the tanginess from the Manjari chocolate, the aftertaste of hazelnuts and toasted almonds from it that lingers on the palate was surprisingly good.
I must say I had my doubts when he suggested making these chocolate tarts. I didn’t think the sweetened figs would work at all with the chocolate filling (ate my words!) and I didn’t think the base of the tart would hold at all, but hey! I was and still am to be proven wrong. Especially when there are delicious delicacies awaiting me at the end.
These Manjari Chocolate Tarts aren’t meant to be eaten quickly. Each mouthful is meant to take its time. Each taste is meant to be a divine experience.
Hope you enjoy them!
So tell me lovelies, what have you done above and beyond to get yourself out of doing something you hate?
Oooooh, I have had tart pans on my ‘list’ for ages now … I think I’m going to have to find space in my kitchen for them just so I can try making these. They look and sound lovely!
Any excuse to go kitchen shopping 😛
Absolutely!
So pretty! Looks absolutely scrumptious 😀
SCRUMPTICIOUSLY AWESOME 🙂
Mmm this is perfect for those that don’t have an oven! And I love the piece of caramelised fig on top! 😀
Exactly! Fun too 🙂
So good for times when my oven is full, figs are so divine too yummo!
Beauty of this is that it works with most seasonal fruits 🙂
The texture of the filling looks fantastic and the base holds up so well. Great work!
I was surprised too!
Oh wow! So very, very pretty! Fantastic work, you guys!
The texture of the filling looks sooooo creamy and nice! 🙂
Thanks Sarah 🙂
I must admit that Manjari is one of my least favourite Valhrona chocolates (possibly THE least favourite; I don’t enjoy high acidity and overly-strong red berry notes, preferring Guanaja, Caraibe, and Abinao), but hoooooly do I ever love figs! Gimme gimme.
Nooooooooooooo… why?!!! Clearly we have completely opposite tastes in chocolates 😛
Have you had the Guanaja or Caraibe ones? But hey, I’d never turn down Manjari! A least favourite Valhrona is still a favourite chocolate 😉
Good woman! No I haven’t tried them yet. Waiting for a sale *pfft*
Ooooh, so fancy!
Hahaha!
I love baking, but No-Bake recipes are so good when you want something quick, easy and impressive looking!!!
My love hate relationship with baking means this is an awesome respite 😛
Those figs look amazing! Looks like a great recipe for a dinner party.
They would be pretty impressive!
HAHAHA I love how you have the disease! Once you start you can’t stop! I can barely have one night off to just sit hahaah I need something in the oven 😛 No bake recipes are great on super hot days and these chocolate tarts with honeyed grilled figs look freaking amazing ~ Now I just need to go get some more chocolate hahaha
It’s a love-hate relationship!! Arrghh!
Those look amazing! And I love Valrhona chocolate, so I can just imagine how yummy this is. Beautiful!
Thank you and the chocolate is amazing in this!
Dear Ms I-Hua
Love your styling of the figs on top of the chocolate tarts. I dislike baking too as I like to cook without any precise measurements so the Jamie Oliver cooking style suits me best.
Oh me too! His recipes aren’t always the best, but his style of cooking definitely suits me too! I never measure when I cook.
look at those stunning photos! Mum has been trying to offer me figs, but I think I’m over the fig phase for the year 😛
Really? Well you know a certain F Do who want’s some 😛
New found passion for baking… what have you done with yourself?! Nice slate – and no food assault. Yay!
I don’t know who I am anymore 🙁
I’ve recently started trying more no-bake recipes, I made a strawberry no-bake cheesecake that literally melted in my mouth, with a little help from my family to finish it off. These tarts looks so delicious and creamy, like a mini mousse cupcake! What a great treat to make for tea or coffee (plus an incentive to eat figs). Thanks for sharing. 🙂
You are welcome 🙂
I love anythings figs and chocolate… YUM!
They pair so well together!
I MEAN… damn lady, you have outdone yourself. This looks fantastic! I grew up on figs so of course can’t get enough of them, and little needs to be said about chocolate. I love the no-bake action. Bookmarking for summer when it’s too hot to use the oven!
Thank you thank you! I bow 😛