Chocolate and Speculoos Terrine

I'm not a big fan of meat terrines, but I recently got acquainted with this dessert one.
Let me introduce you to Chocolate and Speculoos Terrine!

Speculoos are Belgian biscuits often served with your coffee here in France. They have a caramelised and spicy taste (of nutmeg, cloves, ginger and cinnamon). As you can see from the picture above, the most popular brand for this biscuit is Lotus. They are similar in taste to McVities' Ginger Nuts but not as hard texture-wise; Speculoos are crumblier.

This is a versatile recipe, adaptable to any biscuit or tin (loaf or cake). In fact the Biscuit Cake made famous by its presence at the Royal Wedding last year, using Rich Tea biscuits, is similar to this terrine version. I stuck to Speculoos here as I love their spicy taste, and added a teaspoon of dried ginger to my chocolate batter to enhance the spicy flavours of the biscuits used.

Simply serve with a dollop of crème fraiche (sour cream) and a hot mug of coffee.

The Recipe (loosely adapted from here in French)

400g of dark chocolate (60% minimum cocoa content) broken into pieces or squares
1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar (more if you have a sweeter tooth)
60g of unsalted butter
1/2 tsp of salt
1 heaped tsp of powdered ginger (or other spices)

180ml cream

16- 20 Speculoos biscuits

1.Boil the cream and sugar. Add the chocolate and stir gently with a wooden spoon to help it melt.

2. Next stir in the butter. When melted, add the salt and ginger (or other spices if using).

3. Line a loaf tin with non stick baking parchment. Pour some of the batter into the tin and then layer with the biscuits as you would with a lasagna or tirimisu. Keep making layers until the chocolate batter runs out. Finish the top layer with more biscuits.

4. Cover with clingfilm. Keep in the coolest part of your fridge (usually the bottom shelf) and let it set for 5-6 hours.

Remove from the fridge 25 minutes before serving, use the edges of the baking parchment to help lift the chocolate terrine out of the tin. Cut into thin or thick slices and serve.