Indulgent Dark Chocolate Pistachio Tart. The perfect vegan treat to share with friends and family
- Addicted to dates
- Dec 4, 2018
- 3 min read
Who doesn't love the combination of chocolate and pistachio? For me, it's a match made in heaven. And according to all of your feedback over on the gram the majority of you are with me on this one!
This dessert is vegan, dairy free, gluten free. and requires no baking. It's perfect for impressing your loved ones for the holiday season (they won't even know it's vegan!). The best thing is it can be made in advance so you don't need to worry about whipping it together on the day of your dinner party. Simply prepare it the day before or even further in advance and store it in the freezer until the day of serving.
Removing the Skins from the Pistachios
The pistachios which I used for this recipe were roasted and unsalted. In order to help them appear as bright and green as they can be I had to remove the skin from them. It took a little but of time and effort to do this, but it was definitely worth it, and it almost felt therapeutic!
To prepare the pistachios I started by removing the outer shell, sometimes you can buy them with the outer shell already removed but I wasn't able to find any so had the fun task of removing them all by hand! The next step was to let them soak in cold water overnight. The aim of this is to soften the nuts to make them easier to blend and also to make removing the skins much manageable.
Next was the really fun part, removing the skins. I simply removed as much of the skins as I possibly could by hand, and then gave the pistachios a good drying with some clean paper towels. And that was it, nice bright green delicious pistachios, prepped and ready to be blended into some mouthwatering cake.
Bear in mind that although I do recommend this step for the best and most professional results, it is completely optional. If you don't have the time to spare or you simply don't mind the little bits of skin then it's absolutely fine to leave them on. I would however always recommend soaking the pistachios for at least a couple of hours to make mixing much easier on your blender.
RECIPE
Dark Chocolate & Pistachio Tart
Serves 8
Prep time: 40-60 mins
Setting time: 5 hours
Equipment: 8" tart tin with removable base, high speed blender, food processor
INGREDIENTS Base
1 cup hazelnuts
1 cup ground almonds
4 tbsp cacao powder
1/4 tsp pink Himalayan salt
2.5 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp coconut flour
Pistachio Butter
1 cup raw unsalted shelled pistachios (soaked in water for 6 hours)
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp matcha powder
1 tbsp oat milk or plant milk of choice
Chocolate Filling
2 cans chilled coconut milk (use only the thick part from the top of the can)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
100g vegan dark chocolate
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp cacao powder
Garnish
Chopped unsalted pistachios
PREPARATION Base
Add the hazelnuts to your food processor and blitz until they form a fine crumb consistency.
Add the remaining base ingredients and continue to blitz for another minute until the mixture begins to stick together and form a dough.
Press the dough mixture into the bottom of the cake tin, using a spatula to pack it down and smooth out the top.
Place the base in the fridge whilst you prepare the rest of the recipe.
Pistachio Butter
To prepare the pistachios, remove as much of the skin as possible by peeling it away with your fingers. The skin should come off quite easily as a result of pre-soaking them. This step is optional if you don’t mind leaving the skins on!
Place all the ingredients for the pistachio cream in a high speed blender and blitz until smooth.
Add an even layer of the pistachio butter on top of the tart base and place the tart back in the fridge.
Chocolate Filling
Add the coconut milk, vanilla extract, maple syrup and cacao powder to a saucepan and heat up to a simmer.
Remove from the heat and add in the chocolate, stirring until completely melted and incorporated into the mixture.
Pour the chocolate mixture into the tart base and allow to cool for 10 minutes before placing the tart back in the fridge.
Allow the tart to chill and set for approx 4 hours before serving.
Garnish
Decorate the top of the tart with ground or chopped pistachios
Carefully remove the tart from the tin and serve.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or alternatively freeze it in portions and defrost an hour before serving.
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