I love animals and while I'm not vegan (not even vegetarian) I have been looking for ways to eat more local produce and dairy, reduce my carbon footprint, as well as the amount of animal-based products in my diet. Many bloggers have embraced vegan cooking and baking and have inspired me to do the same. While thumbing through the Veganomicon dessert section I saw Smlove Pie, featuring a chocolate filling made with tofu, arrowroot powder, and hazelnut liquor. Vegan Frangelico chocolate cream? What a great place to start. They also have a recipe for vegan "Not-tella" in there- I am so making that.Excited, I went searching for a pie dough recipe and found a basic pastry crust made with vegan shortening. I know it's Tuesdays With Dorie, not Tuesdays With Isa & Terry but please make an exception for these delicious Chocolate Cream Tartletes, vegan style. Consider it a belated Earth Day gift.
Chocolate Cream Tart
adapted from Veganomicon
Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4tsp baking powder
1/3 cup cold nonhydrogenated vegan shortening
1/4 cup cold water
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
Chocolate Filling
1 pound silken tofu, drained
1/4 cup hazelnut liquour
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp arrowroot powder
12 ounces semisweet vegan chocolate chips, melted
Preheat oven to 400. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. Add shortening by the teaspoon, cutting it into the flour with each addition until the dough is crumbly and pebbly. Combine vinegar and water. Add into the mixture in three batches, gently mixing it into the dough with a fork until the dough holds together when pinched. Add up to 2 tablespoons more water in necessary. Gather dough into a ball and knead gently a few times. Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Once chilled, roll out the dough into a circle on a piece lightly floured parchment and lay into a prepared tart pan. Press a piece of lightly greased tin foil onto the surface of the crust and weigh it down with pie weights or rice. Bake for 20- 25 minutes, then remove tin foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until the crust is lightly golden. Remove from oven and let cool. Reduce oven temp to 350.
While the crust cools prepare the filling. Crumble tofu into a food processor or blender. Add liquer, vanilla, and arrowroot and blend until smooth. Scrape down the sides, add the melted chocolate and blend again until thoughroughly mixed. If the filling appears lumpy, strain through a fine mesh sieve. Sppon the filling into the pie crust and bake for 40 minutes, or until the filling is set but still jiggly in the center. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes then chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. Top with soy whipped cream and garnish with chocolate or cocoa powder.
**This recipe should make a full size tart. I halved both recipes and yielded 2 4inch tarteletes.
