We’ve been promising you this recipe for a while now, (I know, I know, but if you see our previous post- this is the order that YOU (well some of you) voted the recipes to come in ) but here it is, just in time for Easter. Good job too- this recipe would be brilliant to use up any chocolate you don’t eat.
Anyway- Vanessa created this recipe.. so here she is to tell you all about it:
Easter is one of my favourite foody times, because, you’ve guessed it, I get to make chocolate desserts ( because nothing is better than a chocolate dessert! ). As you may already know about me, I love to both veganise my favourite recipes from pre-vegan days, as well as finding a way of making them chocolatey. And when chocolate gets involved, it’s also a great excuse to use some of the last oranges of the season. As everyone knows chocolate and orange belong together. (I know there are some of you who don’t think that, but trust me, they do!)
Making the vegan shortcrust pastry is actually incredibly easy – just replace the butter with a vegan butter or margarine, or you could even use coconut oil. Instead of eggs to help the pastry bind, I’ve added a bit of milled linseed (also known as flaxseed). You can buy linseed milled, or just buy regular linseed and mill it yourself in a blender or food processor. The orange in the pastry isn’t too overpowering, but just gives a little orange essence edge to the dish which brings out the chocolate flavour brilliantly. You can add more orange rind if you want a more intense taste or none at all (if for some reason you inexplicably don’t like chocolate & orange together)
For the filling, the ingredients are pretty easy however some you may be less familiar with silken tofu. You can pick up a packs of it from most supermarkets and health shops, or from online. Most packs of silken tofu will be around 300 g so you can just pour the whole contents in for ease.
To bake-it’s ideal to use a loose base flan or quiche tin, as this makes it easy to pop the whole pie out, and it looks so pretty for presentation. But if you don’t have a loose tin and just have a solid based tin, it works just fine, you just can’t take the whole thing out at once.
To decorate, well, no decoration is necessary as it may get eaten up very quickly by friends and family! But broken pecans, chocolate shavings or some orange rind will work beautifully. When I made this at Louise’s I was lucky enough to have her pop into her fabulous garden and pick some edible flowers for the ultimate pretty look.
Enjoy, and let us know how yours turns out.
A delicious and indulgent chocolate dessert made with rich pecans and a hint of tangy orange. Oh. And its vegan!
- 200 g or 1 ¼ cups plain all purpose flour all purpose flour
- 70 g or 5 tbsp caster sugar
- 90 g or ½ cup vegan butter/margarine softened Or solid coconut oil
- 2.5 Tbsp milled linseed
- 5 Tbsp water
- Finely grated rind of one orange
- 200 g / ¾ cup golden syrup
- 3 tbsp / 40g brown sugar
- 150 g plain (dark) vegan chocolate
- 50 g / ¼ cup vegan butter / margarine
- 300 g pack silken tofu
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 175 g / 1 ½ pecan nuts
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To make the crust, sift the flour into a bowl, and stir in the sugar. Then work the vegan butter / margarine in with your fingertips.
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Combine the milled linseed and the water. Let the linseed soak in the water for a few minutes. Then add the orange rind to the linseed.
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Stir in the linseed and rind mix to the flour, butter / margarine and sugar to form a firm dough. If it is too sticky, add a touch more water.
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Knead the dough, then roll it out. Line a tart or flan tin (one about 20 cm wide), ideally one with a loose base. Put the tin in the fridge to chill while making the filling.
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Preheat the oven to 180⁰C / 350⁰C / Gas 4.
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To make the filling melt the syrup, sugar, chocolate and butter in a small pan. Keep stirring the mix and keep the heat low so it doesn’t burn. Once melted and mixed in, take off the heat.
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Blend the silken tofu in a food processer / blender, and add to the syrup, sugar, chocolate and butter mix. Also add the vanilla essence.
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Take the pastry case from the fridge. Sprinkle the pecan nuts into the pastry case. Then pour the chocolate mixture into the pastry case. Give the tin a little tap to remove any air bubbles and even out the mixture.
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Put the pie tin on a baking sheet and bake for 50-60 minutes or until filling is set. Leave the pie in the tin for 10 minutes once baked, then remove from tin (if using a loose base tin).
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Decorate with your choice of pecans, chocolate shavings, orange rind or edible flowers.
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