I attempted this tart out last week, whilst recovering from the flu, and my partner ate half of the tart in a day - I took this as a good sign and have since made the tart again for my office :) Again, it was a big hit, so here's the recipe.
The first time I baked the tart I used a 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin, the second a 23cm square cake tin - both worked equally well (but the square tart was easier to slice for work!)
Makes one 23cm tart
Ingredients:
For the pastry:
- 250g plain flour
- 110g icing sugar
- 110g soy margarine
- Pinch of salt
For the filling:
- 160g coconut cream
- 200g light soft brown sugar
- 1 & 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 200g hazelnuts
- 100g pecans
- 100g vegan dark chocolate (Asda dark chocolate chips work very well)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Method:
1. To make the pastry, sift together the plain flour and icing sugar and add a pinch of salt. Rub the margarine into the flour/sugar until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
2. One tablespoon at a time, add cold water until the dough comes together into a ball. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
3. Grease a 23cm loose-bottomed tart or cake tin and line with baking parchment. Place a sheet of cling film on your surface, roughly 30cm long. Dust with a little flour, and then tip your dough onto the floured clingfilm.
4. If using a circular tin, roll the dough out until it is a rough 28cm circle. If using a square tin, roll the dough until it is a 28cm square. It should be 2-3cm thick.
5. Carefully transfer the pastry to the tin - this is easiest to do by picking up the clingfilm that is underneath the pastry, flipping this into the tin, and then removing the cling film. Patch up any holes with spare pastry and trim so that the sides are 1cm high.
6. Chill the pastry for 20 minutes.
7. Preheat your oven to 180c/gas mark 4. Prick the base of the dough all over with a fork, and then bake for 15 minutes or until the base has turned a light golden.
8. Whilst the pastry is baking, make the filling. Pour the coconut cream and brown sugar into a pan and place on a low heat. Bring to the boil and heat for around 5 minutes, or until the caramel has reduced and turned a deep brown.
9. Carefully pour in the salt, hazelnuts, pecans and dark chocolate, and stir until all of the chocolate has melted and all of the nuts are coated in the caramel. Add the vanilla and stir in.
10. Once the pastry is out of the oven, pour in the nutty caramel and bake for another 3 minutes. Leave to cool to room temperature, and then chill for an hour before slicing.
11. Enjoy!!
