Dark Chocolate Truffle Tart ~ Vegan & Gluten Free

This is the beautiful pie I put together this weekend.  One of the two recipes I tried out of the latest Veg News.  It's very rich, so I don't eat a very big portion of this pie.  It's pretty wonderful though, the chocolate shortbread crust is like a crunchy vegan oreo cookie and the filling is like chocolate candy mouse.  Probably because it is candy, with a little bit of coconut milk cream blended in.  I added some toasted almonds and a nice topping of cherry tamarind sauce.  I warmed some frozen cherries with a little maple syrup, some tamarind water, and a little Agar to thicken.  I used very dark organic chocolate as I like that barely sweetened chocolate flavor.  If you want it a little sweeter, you could use sweeter chocolate and/or add a little Agave to the filling.  I don't have a tart pan, I just used a shallow pie pan.

It's pretty easy and would be a great dessert to bring to a party or potluck.

Dark Chocolate Truffle Tart

a recipe by:  Beverly Lynn Bennett

Makes one 9-inch tart.

For the crust:

3/4 cup brown rice flour
2/3 cup almond meal
2/3 cup unbleached cane sugar
1/2 cup organic cocoa powder
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
1/2 cup vegan margarine

For the filling:

1 1/4 cups vegan creamer (I used So-Delicious coconut milk creamer, my favorite)
1 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
1 3-ounce dark chocolate bar, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla or 2 tablespoons alcohol such as rum or whiskey

Topping suggestions:  vegan whip cream,  toasted shredded coconut, chopped nuts, chocolate shavings, sprinkles, sliced fruit, or berries.

Preheat oven to 350º

The Crust:

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, almond meal, sugar, cocoa, and arrowroot powder.  Add margarine and stir well to form a soft dough.  I used my food processor for this, very quick.

Into the bottom and sides of an ungreased 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, press dough 1-inch deep.  Bake 12-14 minutes, or until slightly puffed.  Allow to cool completely on a rack, and then remove outer ring.

The Filling:

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring creamer to a boil.  Remove from heat.  Add remaining ingredients, and stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.  Cover and chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Pour filling into prepared crust and chill for 1 hour or until firm.  Garnish outer edge of tart with vegan whip cream and your choice of toppings.

A Luxury Yacht and a "Vegan" Banana Cream Pie

My husband always taught the boys to answer the question "What do you want?" with "A luxury yacht and a banana cream pie."  My answer was always "I can't do much about the yacht, but I can whip up a banana cream pie pretty quickly."

The latest issue of VegNews has a nice cream pie recipe.  It's vegan and gluten free. They've listed a few variations like chocolate, coconut, and lemon cream.  This is a pretty easy recipe and can be made a day before.  The recipe called for a package of vegan whipped topping so I thought I'd try it.  There was something called cashew coconut cream in the store, so I bought some hoping I could whip it.  I didn't like it so much as it didn't whip up fluffy.  Luckily I happened to have some of my own cashew coconut cream in the fridge.  I added a bit of that to the smoothie I had made instead of whipped cream and it thickened up rather nicely.  I think next time I make it I will use my own recipe for the creamy topping.  Afterall, it's so easy, just a half cup of cashews, a can of coconut cream (just the cream at the top), a couple tablespoons of confectioner's sugar,  a few drops of coconut or almond milk, and a vanilla bean. I garnished mine with toasted almonds, banana slices, and a couple Kale blossoms.

We took it to my daughter in law's birthday party.  It didn't last very long.

Bodacious Banana Cream Pie

   Vegan and Gluten Free
     by: Beverly Lynn Bennett

For the crust:

1½ cups gluten-free all purpose flour (or your favorite spelt, or WW pastry flour)
2 TB sugar (I used sucanat)
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup non-hydrogenated margarine (Earth Balance has a nice organic vegan margarine)
4 to 6 tablespoons cold water

For the filling:

6 TB gluten free-all purpose flour
6 TB sugar (agave, stevia, sucanot will all work)
2 teaspoons agar powder (flakes also work just fine)
2 cups vanilla coconut milk creamer
   I just love So-Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer, I use it for my ice creams
2 large bananas, I used 3 bananas for a nice layering of bananas and cream
1-16 ounce package vegan whipped topping, (or make your own cashew coconut creme)

Preheat oven to 400º

For the crust, in a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, and salt.  Using a pastry cutter or fork, cut in margarine until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add water a little at a time until mixture comes together in a ball.

Place dough between two 12-inch sheets of parchment paper.  Flatten into a disc, roll out to a 12 inch circle, and remove top sheet of parchment.  Flip pastry into a 9-inch pie pan, remove bottom parchment paper, and discard.  Trim pastry, leaving a 1-inch overhang, and flute edges as desired.  Prick bottom of pie crust in several places with a fork.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned around edges.  Allow pie crust  to cool completely.

For the filling, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together flour, sugar, and agar.  slowly whisk in coconut creamer, and cook, whisking constantly, for 5 minutes or until thickened.  Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool for 15 minutes.

Prepare whipped topping according to package directions.  Decorate top of pie with whipped topping as desired then slice and serve.

Simple Vegetable Soup & Raw Chocolate Raspberry Pie

I just did the basics last week, pot 'o black beans, a big salad, a simple vegetable soup, and a raw chocolate raspberry pie. I am lucky enough to still have a few berries in the freezer from last summer.

Vegetable Soup: broccoli, carrots, red onions, sweet peppers, garlic, Jerulsalem artichokes, and brown rice.

Raw Chocolate Raspberry Pie

Crust - Raw Almonds,  Med Jul Dates, coconut flakes
Filling - raspberries, coconut butter (pureed coconut flakes), organic cocoa powder, and agave.
Topping - Cashew Coconut Creme

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

A friend, who has been getting to know more about plant based eating, put together a peanut butter pie. We communicate on another forum and sometimes she posts ideas for us to try. Here's my version of Peanut Butter Pie.  I used a coconut pecan crust, but you could use a flaky pie crust or a mixture of almonds, dates, and coconut since it's not a baked pie.  My husband chose the crust.  I asked him what he thought would be good and he wanted one of the nut-crusts. It's a very easy recipe with very few ingredients. 

Although mine is not gluten free, the crust recipe is from the Gluten Free Goddess Blog. The crust is from her gluten-free pumpkin pie with pralines.

First, make the crust:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

1 cup flaked unsweetened organic coconut
1 cup pecan pieces
1/2 cup all purpose gluten-free flour blend (I used spelt flour)
1/2 cup organic light brown sugar (I used organic sucanat)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
5 tablespoons vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)

Place all of the dry ingredients into a food processor bowl and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse sand. Add in the vegan butter and pulse several times in short bursts until the crumbs are moist and begin to fall away from the sides of the bowl.

Dump the crumbs into the cake pan and spread them evenly. Using your fingers gently press the crumbs across the bottom and up the sides- about 2/3 of the way up.

Bake in the center of the oven for about 7 minutes- to set.

Remove the pan and set aside.

Then the pie. I found this very easy recipe for Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie:

    * 1 container tofu, silken or firm (approx 12 oz)
    * 1/2 cup chocolate chips (check the ingredients if you're vegan)
    * 1/2 cup freshly ground peanut butter
    * 2 tbsp non dairy milk
    * 1 pre-made pie crust

Preparation:

Melt the chocolate chips over low heat, stirring frequently to ensure the chocolate doesn't burn. You can use a double boiler if you have one.

Once the chocolate is melted, blend together the peanut butter, silken tofu, chocolate and soy milk in blender until smooth and creamy, adding a bit more soy milk if necessary. Pour into pie crust and refrigerate until firm, at least one hour.

It set nicely.  Next time I will double the filling recipe, it didn't fill the 9" pie pan quite enough.  I added a top layer with some cashew coconut cream:  about a 1/3 cup raw cashews (soaked in water for an hour or more), 1/3 cup confectioner's sugar, the creme from a can of coconut milk, and the seeds from one vanilla bean blended until smooth and creamy.

I' guessing its probably a high calorie treat, but this is a whole grain, low sugar, high protein dessert.  The tofu and nuts give it healthy fats and protein.  I think I could eat a piece of this as lunch.