Happy Birthday To Me! 🎂
Every December I got super excited. Not merely because of Christmas, but also because my birthday falls 2 days after Christmas! 🍰For me, birthday is a nice opportunity (or excuse?) for me to make a whole cake for myself. As soon as December comes, I released all the cake recipe ideas living inside my head for the past year and see which one speaks to my heart. In the past 2 years, I made the sourdough caramel coffee birthday cake and sourdough cinnamon rolls on my birthday. And this year, I just want to make something classic. Hence, this Blueberry Chocolate Hazelnut Tart becomes the winner! 🏅
Inspiration 💡
The tart filling was inspired by my recent vegan nutella mousse recipe. The vegan nutella recipe is more healthy and breakfast-friendly, while this blueberry chocolate hazelnut tart is more decadent and indulgent😋. I made a few twist to the original recipe to make it more suitable to be a tart filling. In order to be a tart filling, the creaminess has to be on point. It can’t be too runny or soft, yet it also can’t be too thick.
For non-vegan recipes, this is usually achieved by using cream. Most vegan recipes call for coconut milk in order to achieve this consistency. However, if you use coconut milk for this blueberry chocolate hazelnut tart, the coconut flavor may overpower the hazelnut flavor. Hence, making it less “nutella-y”. So guess what I use to achieve the creaminess in this recipe? Surprise, surprise, it’s TOFU😏! Given that tofu has a relatively neutral flavor and a creamy texture when blended, it is the perfect ingredient to use for this kind of recipes. You can also substitute it with soaked cashew nuts. But I always find cashews make the tart too heavy and not pleasant to eat.
Ingredients Matter
Since chocolate plays a huge, if not the most important part of this tart, I recommend you use some high-quality chocolates. Here I used a mix of Nicaragua 73% and Peru 100% dark chocolate from Omnom Chocolate. But you can always use whatever dark chocolates you like. 😎I would suggest you choose bean-to-bar handcrafted chocolates for best results. 🍫
Blueberry Chocolate Hazelnut Tart (Vegan, Gluten-free)
Course: DessertCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Easy12
servings10
minutes15
minutesIngredients
- Crust
1 cup hazelnut (roasted and unsalted)
2 cup gluten-free rolled oats
4 Tbsp maple syrup
Pinch of salt
- Blueberry Chocolate Hazelnut Filling
340g silken tofu
170g vegan dark chocolate*
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup dried blueberries
1/4 cup hazelnuts (roasted and unsalted)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp maca powder
Pinch of salt
- Toppings
Hazelnuts (roasted and unsalted)
Strawberries & blueberries
Directions
- Crust
- In a food processor, add oats and hazelnuts and blend until the mixture is super fine like flour.
- Slowly add in melted butter, maple syrup and salt and blend until everything is incorporated.
- Transfer the dough to two lined 7″ tart pan (or one 9″ tart pan). Using your fingers, press the dough down evenly to cover the pan. Make sure the edges have the same thickness throughout.
- Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown, then let it cool completely.
- Blueberry Chocolate Hazelnut Filling
- Melt the chocolate using the double-boiler method.
- Place everything in a high-speed blender, and blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
- When the tart crust is completely cool, carefully spoon the filling mixture into the tart pan.
- Place the tart in the fridge for 2-3 hours for it to set. Then, top it with your choice of toppings. Here I used crushed hazelnuts, strawberries, blueberries and dried persimmons.
Notes
- * Here I used a mix of 73% and 100% dark chocolate from Omnom Chocolate. But you can always use whatever dark chocolates you like. 😉
