Decadent Chocolate Tart (Vegan)

This tart is for the hardcore chocoholics in your life - it is rich, creamy, and just about as close to perfection as a dessert can get. I used to make a non-vegan version of this for my husband's birthday every year, and the successful veganification of it was the source of much rejoicing in our household.

NOTE: I make this tart in a 14" tart pan, but I think that it would just about fit in a standard pie dish as well. If you're going with that option, then you can half the crust recipe, and bake any extra filling in ramekins.

Additional notes on ingredients / substitutions follow the recipe.

CRUST INGREDIENTS

- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (divided, 1 1/2 cups and 1 cup)

- 2 tablespoons sugar

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 1/2 cup / 113 grams refined coconut oil

- 1/2 cup / 1 stick / 113 grams vegan butter (Earth Balance Buttery Sticks are my go-to)

- 1 cup cold water (you likely will not need all this water)

CRUST METHOD

1. Prepare your ingredients about 10 minutes before you want to get going. If you do not keep your water chilled already, measure out 1 cup and place in the freezer to chill. Cut your vegan butter into pieces and place in freezer. Cut the coconut oil into pieces and place in fridge.

2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Pulse a couple times to combine. Scatter the chilled coconut oil across the surface, then blend on low until it is well combined, and has a sandy appearance. You want to avoid having any large visible chunks of coconut oil, as they will easily stick to surfaces when you go to roll out the dough.

3. Dump the mix into a large bowl and add the final cup of flour, mixing through with a rubber spatula. Add in the cubed butter and cut in with a pastry blender or two knives until it is well combined, and your largest pieces of butter are the size of peas. (You could also do this in the food processor if yours is large enough)

4. Add about a 1/2 cup of cold water and mix. Your dough will begin to come together, but if you still have large floury areas, add small splashes of water and continue to mix until it is largely holding together, with only a small amount still crumbly. You may need to use your hands to finish mixing, and actually, squeezing together clumps is a good way to see how the texture of your dough is coming along. You only want to use just enough water to get everything to hold together, as excess water will make your dough lose that delicious buttery flake.

5. Once your dough has come together, spread a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter and dump your dough in the middle. Pat the dough into a large disk, then wrap fully in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to relax the gluten (I usually prepare my pie dough up to this step the night before and allow to chill overnight). It might be helpful to move the dough on a cookie sheet at this point.

6. Remove your dough from the fridge and allow to stand for about 5 - 10 minutes so that it doesn't crack into pieces when you go to roll it. This is a fairly sticky dough, so if your plastic wrap is large enough, I would recommend flouring it and rolling out your dough directly on it. If not, use plenty of flour on your surface, and lift the dough and re-flour as you roll. Flour the surface of your dough as well, and roll it out until it's about as thin as you can manage without tearing. Transfer the dough to your tart / pie pan and trim the edges.

--> If you used the full recipe, you should have quite a lot of excess, which you can reroll and use make jam hand pies or something.

7. Place the crust back into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes. This will allow the gluten to relax and the fats to firm up, which should prevent the dough from shrinking when cooked. If you're using a tart tin with a removable bottom, I highly suggest putting it on a cookie sheet at this point for ease of movement.

8. Towards the end of the chilling period, preheat your oven to 350 F. Prick the base of the dough all over with a fork, then line with parchment paper or tin foil, and fill with pie weights (I just use uncooked rice). Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes, until light golden. Remove pie weights and foil, and allow the crust to cool for about 15 minutes before you work on your filling.

FILLING INGREDIENTS

- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened plant milk of your choice (I use soy)

- 2 1/2 tablespoons shortening (if you are using full fat coconut milk you can leave this out)

- 10 oz semi sweet chocolate, finely chopped

- 2 tablespoons sugar

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- 4 oz silken tofu

FILLING METHOD

9. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Combine milk and shortening in a small saucepan and stir occasionally until shortening is melted and combined. Continue to heat the milk over medium-low heat until it just begins to simmer, then remove from the heat.

10. Add chocolate into the milk mixture and stir until fully melted and smooth. Whisk in sugar and salt.

11. Puree silken tofu in a food processor, then add to the chocolate and whisk to combine. Or, add tofu to the chocolate mixture and combine with a hand blender.

12. Pour chocolate mixture into prepared shell and bake until it has a dark, even color and is just beginning to bubble (30 - 35 minutes).

13. Allow to cool before slicing and serving. Garnish with chocolate shavings, whipped cream, and cocoa powder, if desired!

INGREDIENT NOTES

1. Butter - for once in my life, I actually prefer Earth Balance Buttery Sticks over Miyoko's, as I find it has a slightly higher melting point, which makes it preferable here.

2. Coconut oil - as far as I know, coconut oil has one of the highest melting points of vegan fats available, which makes it great for crusts and puff pastry. I use refined coconut oil as it removes the flavor of coconut, but if you are welcome to use normal coconut oil if you enjoy that flavor.

3. Milk - the amount of fat included in the filling is calculated to imitate the richness of heavy cream, assuming that you are using unsweetened soy milk. My husband happens to dislike coconut in desserts, but if you are a fan of coconut, then you could use full fat coconut milk and omit the shortening. If you are using a lower fat milk like almond milk, then add just a smidge more shortening.

4. Chocolate - be sure to check the label on you chocolate to make sure it doesn't include milk! My go-to chocolate for this recipe is Trader Joe's Pound Plus Dark Chocolate bar, which is actually quite sweet. Guittard's dark chocolate bars are also good, though they are slightly more bitter.

5. Whipped cream - we like Reddi-wip's almond milk non-dairy whipped cream, which is available widely in stores. I believe you can also make whipped cream with chilled coconut milk.

#Chocolatetart #veganchocolatetart #veganbaking