Gingerbread amaretto chocolate tart
Hello, lazy cats!! This is my last recipe before Xmas, so I’ve decided to make it count π . 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
- Β½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ΒΌ tsp ground cloves
- ΒΌ 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 / ΒΌ 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 / Β½ cup coconut cream (solid part of full fat coconut milk* only)
- 150 ml / Β½ 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 Β½ 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 175Β° C / 350Β° 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 / ΒΌ cup of almond milk. Another alternative, I can suggest is 180 g / ΒΎ cup smooth almond butter and 120 ml / Β½ 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 / ΒΌ 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.
Planning to make this recipe for Christmas and I am just a bit confused in regards to the recipe and one of your previous comments.
The recipe asks for:
"120 ml / Β½ cup coconut cream (solid part of full fat coconut milk only)"
However, in of your earlier comments I read the following:
"I think you might be better off buying full fat coconut milk (AROY-D brand is what I use) and saving coconut cream for another use. "
Could you please advise if the ganache requires coconut cream or coconut milk? I really want this recipe to work and plan on making small individual tarts of 10cm each for the family.
Thanks in advance!
I must have made a mistake in my reply to that comment, I think. It's definitely coconut cream that you want in this recipe. Hope you'll enjoy these. Ania
This tart should be okay to do a day in advance and it should also be fine in the car provided it's cool. I often make this sticky toffee pudding in a 20 cm / 8" square tin and transport caramel in a jar. This one should also do well and it's really simple to make. Or brownies, these flourless ones or those, brownies are always a good idea. Good luck, Ania
That's great to hear, I hope you'll enjoy this dessert. I place both of them together in one bowl and allow the chocolate to melt very gently without any stirring, then whisk the two together. It is very important that the chocolate does not overheat (or else it might seize) so use low heat, the water should not touch the bowl and use residual heat to finish off the melting process. Hope it comes out beautifully. Ania
I would recommend for it to be served on the day or maybe the day after it was made. It will last longer than that, of course (my guess is about 5 days in air-tight container, in the fridge) but the pastry tastes best freshly made as it will lose crispness with time. Hope this helps! Ania
Sure, you simply put paper over the pastry and then baking beans/rice/dry beans in order to blind-bake (i.e. bake the pastry without the filling). The paper protects the pastry and makes removal of the baking beans easier/less messy. Hope this helps! Ania
In theory, yes, but I have never tried doing that so I am not sure how that would work in this context. Ania
Thanks for your answer.
Theoretically yes, but I have never tried doing that so cannot guarantee. It's perhaps worth making a small one first and freezing it to be sure. Ania
It lasted well in its pastry tin (inside a pizza box) in the fridge for 3 days (I had to make it in advance), but I didnβt have an airtight container big enough, so the biscuits I placed on top went soft. I think it would be fine for this long if the biscuits were stored in an airtight container separately and added when youβre ready to serve it though. It didnβt cause any complaints, regardless and Iβll definitely be making it again.
Thank you, I hope you'll enjoy it! Yes, I am pretty sure that it will work just as well. Hope that helps! Ania
Can I use another type of booze? I'm not fond of Amaretto. I'm thinking Cointreau. Might go well with chocolate too.
Merry Xmas to you and your family. Thanks for all the delicious recipes.
Thanks and wishing you a wonderful festive season!
How about hazelnut-flavoured Frangelico? Chocolate and hazelnuts is always a winning combo in my book. Ania
Thanks!
Thank you, I am glad you like it. It was simply bits of a Xmas tree branch I had lying around, I don't know the exact tree name though. Ania
I have not tried doing that so I am unsure how it will be after thawing. Ania
I am sorry, but I am not sure as I have not tried freezing it. Ania
I think you might be better off buying full fat coconut milk (AROY-D brand is what I use) and saving coconut cream for another use. In theory you could dilute coconut cream with water but it's hard to know what ratios to go for to match what is sold as coconut milk. Hope that helps! Ania
I have never tried macadamia milk as it's not a thing here, but I don't see why not assuming it has roughly similar fat content. Ania
There is no magic trick here, I'm afraid, I simply have a pan with a removeable bottom (like this) which makes the removal very easy and clean. Hope you'll make it and love it! Ania
I have a very similar tart case to this one https://amzn.to/35DIbNF. Hope that helps! Ania
Thank you so much for the recipe. Joy. (Australia) :)
Thank you for this recipe, it looks great!
I love the cookies you've used for decoration - did you make these with leftover pastry dough from the base or is there another recipes for these? How long/what temp in the over woukd you bake them for?
Thank you, I am pleased to hear that you like this recipe!
Yes, I made them from the offcuts, but I do have a similar recipe for cookies here.
Ania
Am I able to make this in advance of the day? How long does it last once made?
Thanks
One day in advance, of course. I would advise against making it sooner than that though as it will dry out / get stale. Ania
It's edible gold dust! Have a look online or you can probably find it in good cake decorating shops. Ania
Can't wait to surprise them with the little cookie sandwiches since I have chocolate and amaretto left over that needs using up!
I used a ceramic tart dish and my crust stuck as I hadnβt greased the dish. We still were able to get a lot of the crust on each piece, but going forward Iβd recommend using some coconut oil to lightly grease. Do you use coconut oil to grease the tin?
Tasted absolutely fantastic!
You were right! Thanks :)
I made the tart with coconut cream and it had no sign of coconut taste.
It was absolutelt amazing! Everyone loved it!
Thanks again!
Rotem.
GrΓΌΓe,
Jesse-Gabriel
Your tart looks amazing!!
How strongly is the coconut flavor felt in the filling? We don't really like the aftertaste of coconut. Is it possible to replace the coconut cream with something else? Silken tofu perhaps?
Thanks and Merry Xmas!
Rotem.
I am pretty confident you will not be able to detect any coconut flavour in the final product (chocolate and amaretto flavours dominate). You could I suppose use silken tofu but the ratios may need to be different to achieve the same texture so it will require some experimentation. Ania
Thank you.
Merry Christmas to you and your family, Ania! :)