chocolate for a rainy day

I made the mistake of not checking out the weather network for the weekend and the rain took me by surprise. Our plans for enjoying a hike in the woods with pumpkin lattes and our pup were ruined!

What now?

Naturally, I went to my usual internet food creeping grounds: ohsheglows.com and searched in the "chocolate" section. I thought this would be a good opportunity to embark on a chocolate tart adventure, something that I've been totally intimidated by until now.

​Let me tell you - it's not so scary! There seem to be many steps, but really you just put the crust items in a food processor and melt the other ingredients to pour into your crust. Really. The hardest part is waiting for it to freeze!

 Rain = sad Merlin.

Amazingly, this tart is dairy free, gluten free, nut free, and sugar free. What? How is this even a dessert you ask? Trust me in that you and whomever you serve this to will be completely satisfied without the aforementioned! In fact, Tony is insisting that this recipe come with a warning: don't let your eyes become bigger than your stomach; small slices will suffice!

Ingredients:
FOR THE CRUST:

• 1 1/4 cups packed pitted Medjool dates (if the dates are too firm, you can soak them for 30 min)
• 1 1/4 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground flax seed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon water (if needed to bind the dough)

FOR THE FILLING:

• 3 (70%) good-quality dark chocolate bars (300 grams total)
• 1 (400ml) can full-fat coconut milk, room temperature
• 4 tablespoons pure maple syrup (or liquid sweetener of choice)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• small pinch fine grain sea salt

COCONUT WHIPPED CREAM (OPTIONAL):

• 1 (400ml) can full-fat coconut milk, chilled overnight
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup (or liquid sweetener of choice)

FOR THE GARNISH (all optional!!):

• 1/2 cup toasted large flake coconut, flaked sea salt, leftover coconut whipped cream (optional)

Directions:

1. Toast the coconut (optional step, but recommended): Preheat oven to 325F. Place shredded coconut and large flake coconut (if using for garnish) on baking sheet. Keep separate on baking sheet. Toast in the oven for 5-10 minutes, until lightly golden but not brown. Set aside to cool.
2. Line a 9-inch glass pie dish with 3 (2-inch wide) strips of parchment paper, one going each direction, with overhang. Now place a large piece of plastic wrap on top and press down. The parchment strips will allow you to lift the pie out after freezing.The crust may stick to your dish if you don't take this precaution.
3. Prepare the crust: In a heavy duty food processor, add the pitted dates and process until finely chopped. A big ball will form. Add in the rest of the crust ingredients (including the toasted shredded coconut - but not the large flake coconut) and process until everything is combined. The dough should stick together when pressed between your fingers. If it doesn’t, add optional water and process again.
4. Spoon the crust mixture into the prepared pie dish. Spread out evenly. Starting at the centre, press down firmly moving outward and up the sides of the pie dish. Place dish in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
5. Prepare the filling: Break up chocolate bars into chunks and place into a medium-sized pot. Melt the chocolate over the lowest heat setting (or use double boiler). When the chocolate is 2/3 of the way melted, remove from heat and stir until completely melted and smooth.
6. Shake the can of room temperature coconut milk. Open it and measure out 1/4 cup of milk. Save the 1/4 cup of milk for another use (such as a smoothie) and pour the rest into the pot with the melted chocolate. Whisk vigorously until completely smooth. Finally, whisk in the maple syrup, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until smooth. Set aside.
7. For the whipped cream (optional): Open the can of chilled coconut milk and scoop off the cream portion only. Discard the water or save for a smoothie. Place the cream into a bowl along with one tablespoon of pure maple syrup. With electric beaters, whip the cream until smooth.
8. With a spatula, scoop the chocolate filling into the pie crust until almost full (to avoid overfilling, you might want to refrain from using all the filling- see note below).
9. Optional step (we did not have any large flaked coconut and couldn't be bothered to make the coconut whip cream, so skipped this) Drop a few tablespoons of whipped cream all over the chocolate filling and swirl it all around with a knife. Carefully transfer the pie dish into the freezer on a level surface for approx. 3 hours, or until firm throughout.
10. Remove pie dish from freezer and let sit on the counter for 5-10 minutes. Grab the parchment paper and lift the pie out of the dish.
11. Slice and garnish with toasted coconut flakes, leftover coconut cream, and flaked sea salt, if desired. Serve immediately as pie will soften quickly.

Notes: 1) You can totally skip the coconut whipped cream if you prefer. 2) The chocolate filling makes almost too much filling for the pie and it nearly overflows. If you prefer, you can leave out 1/4-1/2 cup of filling. You can place leftover filling in a small dish and freeze it, then cut into "freezer fudge" - !


Read more: http://ohsheglows.com/2014/10/31/double-dark-chocolate-coconut-macaroon-tart-vegan-gluten-free-grain-free/#ixzz3qHwQfVuV