While pumpkin pie will likely reign forever as king of the holiday desserts, it’s nice to change things up everyone once in a while. Here is an easy, quick dessert for the holidays, or any time. This tart serves quite a few people, since it is essentially a giant truffle on top of a cookie, so a small slice with a cup of coffee is plenty. To keep things seasonally flavored, I made a chocolate chestnut filling, but this can be made with a strictly chocolate filling for other times or if you can’t get a hold of chestnut cream.
Chocolate Chestnut Tart
Crust
¾ cup all purpose flour
⅓ cup whole wheat pastry flour
⅛ tsp salt
⅛ tsp baking powder
½ cup finely ground hazelnuts
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup oil
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
Filling
10 oz (by weight) bittersweet chocolate (I used 70%), coarsely chopped
1 cup MimicCream or soymilk
1 cup chestnut cream
⅛ tsp salt
toasted hazelnuts
chocolate shavings
salt
To make the crust
Preheat the oven to 350°. Oil a 9” tart pan and set aside.
Sift together the flours, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the nuts. In a separate bowl mix the maple, oil, and vanilla. Add to the flours and mix just until it comes together into a dough. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and use a measuring cup or the bottom of a glass to evenly press the dough into the pan. Prick the bottom of the tart shell all over with a fork. Bake for 22-27 min, or until lightly brown. Remove from the oven and cool. The shell can be made ahead and stored, well wrapped at room temperature, for up to 2 days before filling.
To make the tart
Place the chopped chocolate in a metal or glass mixing bowl with the salt. Set aside.
In a small sauce pan, heat the MimicCream until just boiling. Pour the heated cream over the chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the chestnut cream. Poor the filling into the prepared tart shell and smooth with a spatula. Chill in the refrigerator until the filling is set. Serve with toasted hazelnuts, chocolate shavings, and just a little course salt.
Variations
To make a plain chocolate filling use 12 oz chocolate, 1 ¼ cups MimicCream, and add 1 tsp vanilla.
Looks delectable! I want some. I have yet to bake with hazelnuts. Lovely presentation.
I’ve been looking everywhere for a delicious chocolate chestnut dessert for the holiday season. This looks perfect, although can I use chestnut puree for the chestnut cream? Would I need to make any other changes?
Puree will totally work.If you are using unsweetened puree you may want to add some sweetener to the filling as well as a little vanilla (as sugar and vanilla is what makes chestnut cream). taste the filling and adjust to taste, since it will also depend on how dark your chocolate is. You could also use semi sweet instead of bittersweet to account for the lost sweetness.
Great! I’m sure my family will love it
Thank you.
That looks AMAZING!
Chestnuts and chocolate together, oh my this sounds super duper decadent.
Do you use sweetened chestnut cream?
yes, I used sweetened chestnut cream.
I am SO dying to make this. I ogle it every time I visit.
I just made this tonight. Can’t nibble at it though as I am taking it to the boyfriend’s parents on Christmas Day. Will write up everyone’s response on my blog…
I made this for our Christmas dessert and I’m so glad I did! It was wonderful! I could not find a vegan bittersweet chocolate at the grocery store, so I simply used semi-sweet chips and left off the shaved chocolate garnish. It was still rich and delicious, and beautiful with just the hazelnuts as a garnish. My husband, who is not vegan, loved it as well!
I have chestnuts left over from Christmas, can I cook them and puree them to add to the mixture? The tart looks so delicious, I’m so making it tomorrow.
Yes! You certainly can make your own chestnut cream (sweetened chestnut puree) to use in the recipie. There are plenty of recipies online, but you can start with something like this.