Gingerbread amaretto chocolate tart
Hello, lazy cats!! This is my last recipe before Xmas, so I’ve decided to make it count 😛 . It’s an aromatic gingerbread tart filled with the most luxurious and indulgent chocolate amaretto ganache. It will knock the socks off the competition, that’s a promise!
If you are not keen on the alcohol content, you could simply replace it by more almond milk infused with orange peel (the ganache is super smooth so I would advise against using zest, although if the bits do not bother you, there is no problem) and add a few drops of orange extract to the ganache for a chocolate orange filling.
Well, as I have heaps to do over the next few days, I shall make this post short and sweet – I bet you’ve got lots to get on with! Duncan, our fluffy princess Tina and myself thank you for putting trust in our recipes. We wish you Merry Xmas and Happy New Year! We hope you get to spend it in amongst your loved ones, eating delicious vegan Xmas food, snuggling with your pets and sharing love! Love is all we need and now even more so than ever!
- 65 g / scant 1/3 cup coconut oil (I use this one) or vegan butter
- 220 g / 1 + 2/3 cup all purpose flour*
- 2 level tsp ground ginger
- 2 level tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- a good pinch of fine sea salt
- 65 g / 1/3 cup dark muscovado sugar
- 30 ml / 2 tbsp aquafaba or lukewarm plant milk
- 75 ml / ¼ cup + 1 tbsp maple syrup or molasses*
GANACHE FILLING
- 300 g / 10.5 oz 70% dark vegan chocolate (I used Green & Blacks cooking chocolate)
- 120 ml / ½ cup coconut cream (solid part of full fat coconut milk* only)
- 150 ml / ½ cup + 2 tbsp almond milk
- 80 ml / 1/3 cup amaretto (I used Disaronno)*
- 80 ml / 1/3 cup maple syrup
- Place the coconut oil in a pot and melt it on the lowest setting. Let it cool down.
- Sift the flour, all the spices, baking soda and salt into a medium size bowl. Mix really well.
- Place the cooled coconut oil, sugar and aquafaba in a large bowl. Cream them together with an electric whisk until well combined and slightly thickened. Add the maple syrup and whisk some more until you get a thick, homogeneous mixture.
- Fold ½ of the flour mix into the wet ingredients and, once combined, add the remaining half. Make sure there are no flour pockets and everything is well combined, but do not knead. The dough will be quite loose and sticky, that’s fine, it’s the way it should be. Wrap the dough in a piece of cling film (glad wrap) and place it in the fridge for at least 1 hour. You can safely keep it in the fridge overnight too.
- I use a non-stick pastry case with a removeable buttom, if yours isn’t like that, you may want to grease it or/and line it with baking paper.
- Allow the dough to come to room temperature and then roll it slowly and gently between two sheets of baking paper or on a lightly floured surface.
- Roll the dough into a 3-4 mm thin circle that is large enough to cover the base of the tart tin and the sides.
- Roll the rolled out dough onto a rolling pin, place the rolling pin over the tart case and gently unroll the dough on the top of the tart tin.
- Mould the dough into the tart case (making sure it fits really snugly everywhere) and trim the excess with a sharp knife. Patch up any holes or thin edges with the off-cuts and pierce the bottom of the pastry with a fork in a few places.
- Place the tart case back in the fridge while you heat up the oven to to 175° C / 350° F.
- Once the oven is ready, line the inside of the pastry case with a large piece of crumpled baking paper and then arrange baking beads (or dry beans) on top. Blind bake for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, take the beads and the baking paper off and return to the tart to the oven for another 10-15 minutes – until the dough no longer looks raw. Allow it to cool completely.
GANACHE FILLING
- Place the broken up chocolate pieces and coconut cream in a clean glass or metal bowl over a bain marie (water bath). Warm them both up on the lowest setting (the water underneath should barely simmer and not boil) until the chocolate has been melted. Make sure the water does not touch the bowl the chocolate is in.
- Once the chocolate has melted, gently stir it into the cream with a wire whisk, then add almond milk, amaretto and maple syrup. You can adjust the amount of syrup to taste, but make sure you compensate by adding more almond milk (if you end up using less maple syrup than I did).
- Allow the mixture to cool down and fill the tart case.
- Transfer the filled tart case into the fridge. Allow it to set for at least 8 hours (overnight is best). PS: this tart sets quite firm, but it wasn’t quite set when I took these photos, hence it looks a little softer.
*COCONUT CREAM – I recommend using canned coconut cream (solid part) of full fat coconut milk, which separates after the can has been chilled for a few days. Make sure the brand you purchase has no stabilisers or gums or else the separation will not occur. Alternatively, 240 ml / 1 cup of ready to use (no need to chill) canned coconut cream and only 60 ml / ¼ cup of almond milk. Another alternative, I can suggest is 180 g / ¾ cup smooth almond butter and 120 ml / ½ cup coconut milk (not cream) instead of almond milk.
*AQUAFABA – liquid from a tin/jar of low-sodium chickpeas or home cooked chickpeas.
*MOLASSES – I recommend using unsulphured molasses as opposed to blackstrap molasses – they taste cleaner and do not add any bitterness. Blackstrap molasses are quite bitter, but if that’s all you have, use 45 ml / 3 tbsp of blackstrap molasses for the flavour and the remainng 30 ml / 2 tbsp of maple syrup.
*AMARETTO – This tart is designed to have a prominent amaretto flavour, if you prefer a subtler flavour use 60 ml / ¼ cup of amaretto instead. If you are not keen on alcohol, replace the amaretto with almond milk. I recommend infusing the milk with orange peel first and adding a few drops of orange extract to the ganache for a chocolate orange version instead.
It's a pastry based dessert so it's the tastiest once set (so can be made the day before and set in the fridge overnight) but it keeps for a few days so it's up to you really. 2-3 days ahead should be fine. Ania
Great to hear. The nutritional info is per 1 out of 16 slices. I will update that now! Ania
Happy New Year to you too! Sorry, I am not sure I understand which bit of the recipe you are referring to? Did you mean to ask this about a different recipe? x Ania
The tin size is 25 cm / 10". Hope this helps! Ania
Can you freeze this once made?
In theory yes, but I haven't tried freezing it so cannot be 100% sure how it is after thawing. Ania
After an initial test run and few set backs I made this cake for this Christmas (will make it again for New Year's Eve) and the result was gorgeous 😍! Whether you vegan, has food allergies or just want to indulge in chocolate this is definitely the best choice you can make!!! The taste of amaretto combined with velvety dark chocolate is just fantastic!!! Love this cake! Love the recipe!
I cannot thank Ania enough for all her tips and support - Ania is an absolute angel! I have asked Ania million questions, as I wanted to make this cake right and she was there to help MASSIVE THANK YOU ANIA!!!
I recommend that if making it for the first time for a big group, is safer not to use the Amaretto.
Really easy to make and the base is delicious, made cookies with the leftover dough.
Did you use melted coconut oil? I've literally just finished making this dough myself and there is definitely enough liquid in the dough - mine ended up soft and pliable. Touch it with your hands as it may just look dry when it isn't. If it is dry, something must have gone wrong during weighing/measuring liquids out. Yes, the way to remedy it would be to add some (as little as you can get away) liquid. As for the graininess, it's probably your sugar clumping a little - that's not too much of an issue - just squash the clumps between your fingers...If you want a fast reply, shoot me a message and a photo on Instagram DMs and I will do my best to help. x Ania
I want to make this for after Christmas dinner just wanted to know how long the base will keep without the filling?
The base is based on my gingerbread cookie recipe so it will keep for a few days as long as you lock it away from moisture/airborne humidity, which will make it soften. Hope this helps! x Ania
I recently wanted to try the recipe as it looks amazing! Unfortunately I had following problems, which I hope you can give tips to overcome the next time:) The base after taking out of the fridge and being left to get to room temperature seemed very dry and hard to roll out. During baking, as soon as the parchment with beans has been removed the base all cracked (perhaps the oven heath's up more than set up?). After baking it turn out to be kind of chewy?
I had also problem with the filling, which didn't want to set, even with a blast in the freezer - did set some, but not enough to comfortably slice the cake). - What am I doing wrong? Any suggestions how to over come those issues?
I should probably mention that I'm not new to baking and as with all new recipes, I have followed it to a t.
I look forward hearing from you.
Best regards
Mal
Firstly, I am so sorry to hear that the final outcome wasn't quite on point, I know how frustrating this is.
In terms of trouble shooting, I am happy to help (you can also email me) but I may need some more information to be able to help. Here are my immediate thoughts/guesses as to what when wrong...pastry: it sounds as though, the pastry was too dry which can happen sometimes if you use cups (instead of scales) to measure out your flour, for example. I made this very pastry recently again for another tart and it was not dry at all. As for chewiness, if sounds like maybe it was handled too much - if you make pastry with gluten flour, it should barely be handled or else it gets tough.
As for the filling, did you also use 70% cacao chocolate? are you sure you used coconut cream (thick, solid part that separates from a can of full fat coconut milk after chilling) or was it coconut milk by any chance? I am sure we can get to the bottom of it but I need to more details to be able to help. Feel free to email me or send me a DM on Instagram or Facebook. x Ania
I have not cooked with eggs for over 7 years so I am not the person to ask how to make my vegan recipes with eggs, sorry :) Ania
I have not tried it myself but I don't see why not. Ania
I am not the right person to ask as I have not used eggs in over 7 years. I am pretty sure that plant milk will work, especially if you are using regular wheat (containing gluten) flour. Hope this helps! Ania
A small amount of soy milk should work well enough. Ania
We’re not fully vegan in our house, my daughter has a cows milk allergy which led to me also giving up all dairy but I hate for her to feel left out or to have things she can’t eat so wanted a dessert for everyone. We’ll be making it again for sure! Thank you thank you!
Thanks for your help!
This looks delicious! Can I also use the base to make ginger biscuits to decorate it? To me it seems I can. Thanks
It will last a few days (up to 4-5 even if it's stored in an air-tight container) but as it's a pastry-based dessert the pastry will deteriorate (become soggier) the longer it sits around and the ganache will eventually start drying out and shrinking - an air-tight container will help to slow it down. Hope this helps! Ania
Thank you for the recipe. Am trying an alcohol-free version with adding a bit of orange juice. However, the ganache seems to me to be a bit too runny. Maybe the fridge will help but will I be then able to leave it at a room temperature for some time without risking its melting? Or do you have an idea how to make it thicker? Thank you so much, it is such an inspiring recipe!
If you have used the exact quantities as per the recipe replacing Amaretto with orange juice, the ganache should set without any problems. Putting it in the fridge is the best thing to do and no, it won't melt after it has set unless you expose it to intense heat (like sunshine or fireplace heat). Hope this helps! Ania
I personally prefer to use maple syrup as molasses can be a little overpowering, but some people like them. Hope you'll enjoy this tart! Ania
The best way is to get a tart tin with a removable bottom. They are a pleasure to use, I have two like that. Otherwise, placing two long (so that they stick out of the tin) and wide strips of greaseproof paper (criss cross) underneath the pastry is a good thing to do too. Hope this helps! Ania