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 Chocolate Raspberry Tart with Crystallized Ginger With tart, bright raspberries tempered with slightly spicy ginger and everything enrobed in a luscious, velvet-y chocolate ganache, really, what could go wrong? Well, the new camera could fall into the bowl of ganache. Plop. That could happen. It happened in slow motion. It happened in an instant. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. (No, it really wasn’t the best of times by anyone’s interpretation.) Chocolate driblets sloshed over the side of the bowl. I think they may have even been shaped like teardrops. I fired and broke up with my photographer/husband in one fell swoop. But as he sat frantically licking, q-tipping, and wiping off the camera, I remembered that this recipe is to celebrate Valentine’s Day. I have my not-so-great moments, too. I vowed in sickness and in health - or the woo-woo equivalent with our acupuncturist presiding as minister when we got married - and I meant it. There was no vow addressing the accidental dropping of cameras into warm ganache but it’s implied, I think. When we found the right person, we forgive. This tart makes forgiveness easy. With a cookie-like press-in crust, the aforementioned ganache and flavors that meld together beautifully, we realize that life is too short to hang on to petty grievances. He fixed the camera, by the way. (Apparently treating a camera like a mother cat would a baby kitten who has fallen into soot worked for us.) My husband is equal parts Clark Griswold and MacGyver and I love him for it. Make this for your favorite screw up this Valentine’s Day and you won’t regret it. I love you, Johnny! Happy Valentine’s Day. Chocolate Raspberry Tart with Crystallized Ginger 1 cup quick oats 2/3 cup raw pecan halves 3 T. pure maple syrup 2 T. melted coconut oil 1/2 t. ground cinnamon 1/2 t. ground nutmeg 1/4 t. salt 13.5 oz. full-fat coconut milk (in a can, not a carton) 2 T. pure maple syrup 2 t. vanilla extract 12 oz. Fair Trade, vegan chocolate chips 1 cup frozen or fresh raspberries (I used frozen) 2 T. crystallized ginger, cut into smaller pieces with a small, sharp knife Lightly oil the bottom of a 9- or 10-inch springform pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the pecans in a pie plate or square baking pan and bake for five minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. Grind the oats in a food processor for two minutes, until finely ground. Add the pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup, coconut oil and salt. Let it process until it sticks together well. Press into the bottom of the springform pan and bake for 13 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.  In a small pan, bring the coconut milk and maple syrup to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Put the chocolate chips in a medium or large bowl. Pour the coconut milk mixture over the chocolate chips, stirring until thick and smooth.  Clean and dry the food processor and pulse the frozen raspberries, 4 - 5 times, until they are shaped like uneven pebbles. If using fresh raspberries, just coarsely chop. Stir into the bowl with the chocolate. Add the crystallized ginger, taking care to drop the ginger pieces in separately as they tend to clump. (Don’t drop the camera!) Stir until everything is incorporated and pour over the prepared crust.  Place in the refrigerator for several hours. Serve cool and enjoy! P.S.: This would be pretty garnished with fresh raspberries but that is very out of season for us right now, so we went without. Instead, we held a paper doily over the tart and shook powdered sugar over it in a fine-mesh colander. This only took three sets of hands to accomplish.     © 2013, 2014, Vegan Street |
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