Gluten Free Vegan Raspberry Chocolate Tart

Are you ready to LOSE YOUR MIND over this easy and delicious dessert?

For Thanksgiving, I volunteered to make dessert- for a Gluten Free and Vegan dinner. First I made a GF Vegan version of Cranberry Upside Down Cake from Martha Stewart using pretty standard GF and Vegan substitutions.

And then I searched for a GF Vegan dark chocolate dessert... Oh how I searched. I googled "Vegan Flourless Chocolate Cake" and "Gluten Free Chocolate Tart" and every dessert category you can think of. I don't have a food processor to make most of the crusts, most flourless cakes are full of eggs, yada yada. Then I decided to combine a truffle recipe, a crust, make a few changes and voila: the result was divine.

Srsly tho, ARE YOU READY FOR THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

Gluten Free Vegan Raspberry Chocolate Tart

Crust
(**Slightly adapted from this recipe)

1 and 1/2 cups ground walnuts
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 cup coconut oil
6 medjool dates (look for these in the bulk section or the produce department)

You can probably use just about any ground nut you want; I found ground walnuts in the kosher department at Ralph's so that is what I used.

1. Melt the coconut oil by placing the jar in a bowl of hot tap water.
2. Mix the ground nuts and cocoa together.

3. Add the melted coconut oil.
4. Mash the dates with a fork or chop them in some way... I had to use a knife to get them into small pieces.
5. Add the dates and mix thoroughly. I did use my Kitchenaid Mixer to really work this mixture together. If you are living in a world without a Kitchenaid Mixer- first off, sorry bro. Secondly, find a way to get in there and mix until it's smooth and there are no large pieces of dates.

6. Line a 9-inch round pan with parchment paper. Or a tart pan if you fancy.
7. Using a fork, smash the crust evenly into the pan of your choice.

Filling
(**Slightly adapted from this recipe)

1/2  cup chocolate almond milk
1 10-oz. package of vegan chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life Mini Chips)
1/2  cup unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons Chambord raspberry liquor

Topping

1 package raspberries

1. Warm almond milk and set aside.

2. Use a double boiler or make a fake one using two pots: bottom pot will have boiling water. Top pot will have chocolate. Keep stirring, always keep up with the stirring. A silicone spatula is ideal for this.
3. Start melting chocolate chips in the top of the double boiler. 

4. Add Chambord raspberry liquor and stir.

5. Add chocolate almond milk. Stir it baby, one more time.

HERO'S JOURNEY: 

It may not quite come together at first. You may be looking at a weird chocolate soup and for a moment you might think OMG this is a disaster- Thanksgiving is in 4 hours- all the stores are closed - I'm out of cocoa - and I just ruined this pricey vegan chocolate. But have patience, my dear GFVeganers. 

6. You just keep on stirring and working that double boiler until everything is combined. Maybe smash some chocolate chunks on the side of pot to get the party going.

7. When it's all nicely melted....pour onto the crust.

8. Let it set for a moment and then place the raspberries on top in a pattern that appeals to you. I made a heart even though it was for Thanksgiving because it seemed like a fun thing to do. 

9. Refrigerate until served.

I had a bit of this the next day and I think it got even better. So you can definitely make this a day or two before your party! 

Mint or orange liquor instead of raspberry, with a new topping? Your life, your choices! You can probably use any kind of chocolate, real milk, whatever, I don't know? Go for it!

xoxo