Very few things in life are as satisfying as a bite of chocolate. It makes you happy when you are sad, it relaxes you when you are uptight – it is almost like a food drug and it tastes oh so good. I have yet to meet the person who doesn’t succumb to the sweet lure of chocolate.

When using chocolate with cream and almonds, you can be sure that the result would be rich, decadent, velvety and quite irresistible. (A certain blue-eyed chocoholic raided the tart with a teaspoon while it was cooling.)

Making this tart is ridiculously easy, just the thing for this time of year when we are at our busiest and most tired. It would work well if you make individual servings as well.

Ingredients:

200 g Tennis biscuits

150 g butter

200 ml cream

160 g dark chocolate, broken into chunks

80 g milk chocolate, broken into chunks

5 ml vanilla essence

Handful almond flakes

Method:

1. To make the crust, crush the Tennis biscuits and place in a bowl. Melt the butter and pour over the cookie crumbs. Mix until the crumbs resemble moist sand. Press into the bottom of a 30cm pie dish and place in the refrigerator.

2. Heat the cream and pour it over the chocolate. Stir continuously until the chocolate has melted and pour onto the crust.

3. Let it set in the fridge for a few hours, preferably overnight.

4. Just before serving, sprinkle the almonds over the tart. Serve with strong coffee.