Chocolate Gingerbread pie – Vegan

mmmmm…..chocolate…

I have been trying to bake less lately. It seems that this is not making my readers very happy. “Where are the cakes?” “Where is the chocolate?” you are asking… My answer is: “on my hips, and around my middle and on my thighs and on my dog’s neck!!” Despite my efforts to eat whole and healthy, there is still such a thing as eating too much – and I have perfected this to a tee!

OK, scrub that, lets start again..

One can never have enough chocolate! Never. Ever..

This weekend I am going interstate and need to take something transportable & vegan & coconut free for a party. OK. So feeling a bit creative but unmotivated to go shopping, I have created this tart with what I had in my fridge. One might call it a pie if one was American! I need to freeze it so I can transport it frozen and then defrost it when I get there. I cooked the tart shell and will use the tin to transport it in as a ready-made container. If you want to keep this a vegan and raw tart, don’ t cook the base! And to add a bit of bling I have put some gold leaf on the top so I don’t have to decorate it when I get to my destination. You could of course, cover the pie with ganache or coconut cream or even toasted almonds or strawberries. You can’t go wrong with chocolate so I hope it will be a hit!

160g raw almonds

60g pitted dates

1 knob fresh ginger

50g macadamia oil 

pinch salt

dash of water if required

 

Add all of the ingredients and process on SP 6 for about 20 seconds until a dough forms. Press into a tart tin and bake at 150ºC for about 15 minutes. 

 

2 tabs agar agar flakes

150g water

320g nut milk

1 teas psyllium powder

200g 70% dark chocolate 

100g rapadura sugar (I used Natvia)

70g maple syrup or brown rice syrup

300g ripe avocado* flesh (about 2 medium)

1 tab ginger liqueur

1/4 teas salt

1 teas balsamic vinegar

 

Heat the water & agar to 80ºC on SP 1 for 3 minutes to dissolve. Don’t be tempted to increase the speed as the agar will stick to the sides of the bowl and not dissolve.

 

Add the nut-milk, sugar, psyllium and chocolate and cook at 50ºC on SP 4 for 2 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before adding the maple syrup, liqueur, salt, vinegar & avocado. Blend on SP 7 for 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl and repeat until the mix is perfectly smooth. Pour into the tart shell and smooth the top. Refrigerate until firm then decorate as you wish.

 

* Don’t be alarmed. This is not overly “avocado-ey” – but the avocados do lend to the creamy texture. To make this a raw dessert, increase the dates to 80g and omit the water. Do not cook the tart base and serve very cold.