This is a pitch dark, fudgy chocolate pie with a salted cocoa crumb. It’s the missionary position of tarts, so go ahead and add your own signature moves. We love a dusting of coconut sugar to ramp up the sweetness. You could try slicing fresh raspberries in half, then pressing them into the chocolate , cut side up, before setting. Yumdinger. A swirl of lickysticky caramel or espresso syrup can raise it up an octave. Or maybe a glorious side of vanilla ice cream will suffice. Let your taste buds vote.
You’ll need to get your mitts on a 20cm or 18cm fluted loose-bottom pan. Loose-bottom pans are not expensive to purchase online, but it might be worth asking a neighbour or relative if they have a fancy fluted one to borrow. A regular loose-bottom brownie tin also works in a pinch.
For the gluten-free crust:
80g (gf) oats
100g ground almonds
4 tablespoons cocoa/cacao powder
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt
3 tablespoons of maple syrup
3 tablespoons of coconut oil, melted
For the vegan ganache:
225g dark chocolate, chopped (I love Vivani)
225ml oat milk
1 To make the crust, blitz your oats into a fine flour using a coffee grinder or blender. Let the ground oats party in a bowl with the ground almonds, cocoa/cacao and salt.
2 Whisk the melted coconut oil and maple syrup together until glossy. Then pour over your dry ingredients and coat everything really well. I like to wait for 10 minutes before pressing the crust into the fluted pan – I find it much easier to handle.
3 In the meantime, you can grease your pan with clean fingertips and coconut oil. Your pan doesn’t need to be fluted, but if it is, extra attention to the frilly edge is important to prevent cracks and tantrums. Once your pan is well greased, start pressing the dough into the pan. It’s not like pastry – absolutely no rolling required.
4 Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork. Bake in a preheated oven of 180 Celsius for 12-14 minutes or until the sides naturally start to pull away from the pan’s edge. Leave to cool for at least 1 hour.
5 To make the filling, heat the oat milk until you can see steam rise from the surface – almost scalding, but not boiling. Pour the hot milk over your finely chopped chocolate and stir with a spatula (not a whisk or fork). I do a figure eight with my spatula around the bowl. The ganache will come together fairly quickly. As soon as it’s dark and smooth, pour into your cooled pastry shell. Let it relax at room temperature before setting in the fridge.
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