Chocolate and ginger tart (gluten free)
This is a vegan chocoholic’s dream. It is rich and creamy, and yet there’s no dairy in it. This is the favourite tart of the most cheerful customer we have at the bakery, so we’ll often make it just to thank her for brightening our day when she comes in. It can be made up to a week in advance, and kept in the fridge.
Nutrition Note: Ginger is thought to be one of the healthiest spices on the planet and experimental studies have shown that ginger inhibits the inflammation process.
Makes 1 x 24 cm round tart
Equipment 24 cm round tart tin and a food processor
Recipe from’Modern Baker: A New Way To Bake‘ by Melissa Sharp with Lindsay Stark is out now (Ebury Press, RRP £26) and Modern Baker’s range of healthy baked goods are available in Selfridges (London, Birmingham, Manchester Trafford and Manchester Exchange), Planet Organic and their Oxford based cafe-bakery at 214 Banbury Road, OX2 7BY.
Ingredients
For the base:
175 g almonds
175 g pitted dates
50 g almond butter
2 tbsp coconut oil
For the chocolate filling: 375 g almond milk
2 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp vanilla extract
20 g fresh ginger, peeled and grated
285 g coconut sugar – sweetened chocolate chips or raw chocolate
2 tbsp coconut oil
Instructions
1
Grease and line the base of a 24 cm tart tin.
2
To make the base, blitz the almonds in a food processor until they resemble coarse sand. Add the dates, almond butter and coconut oil and continue to blend until the mixture comes together as a smooth mass. Press it into the base of the prepared tin, smooth it over carefully and put it in the freezer while you make the chocolate filling.
3
In a small pan heat the almond milk with the cornflour, vanilla and fresh ginger. By adding the ginger here you infuse the milk with it, which spreads the flavour evenly through the filling. Bring the milk to the boil, whisking
occasionally to prevent the cornflour from forming clumps and burning on the base of the pan. As soon as the mixture comes to a boil and has slightly thickened, take it off the heat.
occasionally to prevent the cornflour from forming clumps and burning on the base of the pan. As soon as the mixture comes to a boil and has slightly thickened, take it off the heat.
4
Put the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl with the coconut oil. Pour the boiling milk mixture over the chocolate and leave to stand for 2 minutes to melt the chocolate, then mix well into one homogeneous mass.
5
Pour the filling over the tart base and leave to chill in the fridge overnight. Turn it out of the tin onto a plate just before you are ready to serve it.
