Makes 6 tarts
Total time: 2 hours || Active time: 1 hour
It’s almost Valentine’s Day, so why not go all out? Sure, if you’re in love then a pint of ice cream in your pjs might do the trick. But why not take this day to test the limits, bake dangerously and see what your love is made of? I mean, working with agar agar is really the pastry equivalent of slaying a dragon for the object of your affection. But that’s not vegan.
This tart is actually easier than I’m making it out to be, but I can see how it would be intimidating if you’ve never worked with these ingredients and methods before. The tart shell is made with pantry staples, including olive oil, which actually gives it a bit of buttery mystery. In order to achieve a soft, shortbread-like texture, the olive oil is partially frozen before being cut into the flour.
The filling is rich and creamy, with the help of coconut milk and cashew cream. It’s sweet and tangy and luscious and magenta and perfectly valentine-y. Plus, you’ll feel so smart and food-sciency working with starch and agar agar, and as you know, smart is sexy.
And that fancy swirl on the top isn’t even an extra step, it’s just some of the reserved berries and stuff that you cook down. But read the recipe and you’ll see what I mean! One thing though, I haven’t tried this in a regular tart pan, so you’ll have to procure some tart pans or improvise in some other way. But there’s enough time to order them, so do it! For the mixed berries, I used Trader Joes brand, which has blackberries, blueberries and raspberries. I think straight-up raspberry would be a great (and pretty) alternative, though.
A few notes to help you manage your time: About an hour before beginning the recipe, place the olive oil in a plastic receptacle of some sort and freeze until it’s congealed, but still somewhat liquidy. If it’s over-frozen, that’s ok, just let it thaw a bit so that you can work with it. Also, soak the cashews in water at least an hour before prepping everything else.
For the tart shell:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2/3 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup olive oil, partially frozen (see note)
3 to 4 tablespoons almond milk
Cooking spray
For the filling:
1 cup cashews, soaked (see recipe notes)
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup almond milk
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon powdered agar agar
8 oz frozen berries (about 1 1/2 cups)
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
To make the dough, sift the flour, cocoa and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Don’t skip this step, you really need to break up the clumps. Rub the salt between your fingers to grind it down a little more, and add to the mixture.
Add the olive oil to the flour mixture in spoonfuls. Use about 1/4 cup at first, and cut it into the flour using either your fingers or a pastry cutter (I prefer to use my hands.) Add the rest and keep cutting it in until dough appears moist, clumpy and crumbly. Drizzle in the almond milk (start with 3 tablespoons) and mix until the dough holds together when squeezed between your fingers.
Lightly spray 6 four-inch mini-tart pans with cooking spray.
Distribute handfuls of dough equally amongst the tart pans, leaving a small amount in the mixing bowl (1/4 cup or so) in case you need to patch spot. Now one by one, firmly press the dough into the sides and bottom of the tart pan.
Now poke the shells all over with a fork (like so), and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Remove tarts from freezer and place on a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 18 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Once cool enough to touch begin the filling.
For the filling:
Drain the cashews and place them in a food processor or Vita-Mix type thing. Blend them with the coconut milk until totally smooth, scraping down the sides occasionally. This can take up to 5 minutes.
In the meantime, measure out the almond milk and vigorously mix in the cornstarch until dissolved. Stir together the the milk, agar agar, frozen berries and sugar in a small (2 quart) sauce pot.
Bring mixture to a boil, stirring pretty consistently. Once boiling, lower the heat so that you’re just getting small bubbles. Mix for about 10 more minutes, it should thicken up and become a loose gel. Let cool for 5 minutes or so (keep stirring, even though it’s cooling.)
Pour 1 3/4 cups of the berry mixture into the cashew mixture in the food processor. (Reserve the remaining berry mixture for drizzling.) Puree until smooth. Add the vanilla and lemon juice and puree to blend.
Now assemble:
Pour the puree into the baked tart shells, being careful not to overfill. If there’s a little extra filling left over then just place it alone in a cup and save it for a rainy day. Now, take the reserve berry mixture and use a spoon to drizzle it over the filled tarts in a spiral fashion, or however you like. A few splatters of berry only make it cuter.
Place tarts in the fridge to set, it should take about an hour. I have an enclosed porch that I let mine set on (because it was like 4 degrees outside) and they were ready in 30 minutes, but be patient, it may even take 2 or 3 hours for you depending on how cold your fridge is.
Once set, top with a few thawed berries and serve. I was thinking these would be even more amazing with a chocolate drizzle as well, so try that if you like!
I just made this- used a 12″ tart pan instead of tartlette pans. Also increased the agar to 1 Tbs and it worked well. also used unsweetend dutch coco and the crust came out a very dark chocolate. so good! Thanks Isa, the recipe is brilliant
my friend made this as a big tart and i had some when i went over there today and WOWZAS one of the best deserts i’ve ever had!! XO
This was universally loved at my house–lots of guests to eat the 12″ tart. In the end, though, I decided that I might prefer this as a pudding in delicate, etched glasses drizzled with fruit syrup and decorated with fresh fruit rather than as a tart. It had an unforgettable texture in the mouth and suprise flavor burst that didn’t require the distraction of chocolate.
Oh snap! I can’t believe you just called chocolate a distraction. Chocolate’s gonna be PISSED!
No, I think it would make a great pudding, too. Maybe a parfait, so the creme, the gel, the creme and then maybe a thin layer of regular cashew creme. And a berry!
I made a version of this in little heart shaped cupcake liners yesterday. The crust was perfect. I filled it with with a choco mousse. I’ll have to try the rasp/cashew filling next time. Thanks so much for the recipe! Love you!
There’s a pic of mine here with a link to your recipe:
http://www.scissorsandspice.com/2011/02/spice-in-kitchen-vegan-chocolate-tart.html
I made a Valentines tart with olive oil cocoa crust too! Although my use of olive oil was purely out of not wanting to purchase canola… Good to know that it’s used purposefully in baking on occasion!
So, I made these and missed somehow the baking part of the crust. Hilarious after the fact, not so funny to my wife who had to smile and say “yum” for me. Thank goodness for the vegan safety net of not using eggs or anything that actually HAS to be cooked.
I only keep EV olive oil around, but am I correct in assuming I’d need a lighter olive oil for this?
Nope, ev is what I used.
i’m making a giant one for seder tomorrow. so excited! going to rock the socks off everyone. just finished the crust. i added a little bit more olive oil since the matzo meal is so dry and it came out looking great! the little piece i broke off an edge tasted great too. i made my own kfp confectioners sugar in the food processor and also pulsed the matzo meal a few times. i’m planning on subbing arrowroot for cornstarch in the filling.
Hi, unfortunately I can’t find agar agar anywhere is it ok to substitute gelatine?
Alicia – as this is a vegan blog, nobody is going to advise using gelatine. However if you’ve got it and are okay with using it, then sure? The quantities will probably be different though
I’m a bit stuck (’cause I’m a doofus) – “Pour 1 3/4 of the berry mixture” what does this mean? Pour three quarters of the mixture? one and three quarters of a cup? What?
Nope, you’re not a doofus, the directs were unclear. I’ve updated them to say 1 3/4 cups. Thank you!
This looks really rather amazing, but I am allergic to coconut. Do you think I could sub almond milk for coconut milk in the filling?
Thanks Isa! I made it and it was AMAZING. I mean, tears of joy amazing. I made it in one big springform pan with a cheesecake base, but otherwise didn’t do any crazy subbing. Followed the filling recipe like a good girl, and boy it paid off. I have to admit, when I sliced it up for me and my folks I made my slices significantly bigger than theirs.
just made this, with the plain shortbread crust from VPintheSky;
was AMAZING.
all my omni dinner guest (and DH) devoured and loved them.
we have 2 left for valentine’s day.
and the extra filling is in cups in the fridge. 🙂
this was the best dessert i’ve ever had (and i’ve had too many!) best valentine’s day surprise from hubby ever. thanks so much. will be making these regularly now, even just the filling to have as a mousse. yum yum yum
Isa, just made these yesterday and served them at a friend’s vegan cafe today – we sold all twelve mini-tartlets, and everyone loved them! Some leftover filling is waiting in the freezer to be turned into ice cream. I should pay you royalties 🙂
Oh and that despite not having any agar. I simply used more corn starch instead. So if anyone’s in a pinch and can’t get their hands on vegan gelatin, subbing an extra 2 or 3 tsp of cornstarch will do the job.
Made these in cupcake pans since I don’t have tart pans. Used frozen blueberries and strawberries, and also cut the cashews in half and used a half cup of mimicreme… also subbed soymilk for the almond milk… Even with all my substitutions, these were Amazing. I want to try this chocolate crust as a pie crust. Everyone loved it! Thank you!
Would fresh berries work for this?
I used agar flakes. I ground 2T (double the recipe for a party!) in the coffee grinder. It wasn’t grinding by itself so I added about 1-2t whole wheat flour to give it a little more bulk so the blades could grab it. I couldn’t get it very fine, but it ground down into a coarse powder once I added the flour. The berry mix firmed up nicely and the tarts are cooling now.
I also use the recipe for the raw crust of the strawberry cheesecake recipe and it’s phenomenal. I used 2/3 of the sugar the first time I made it and half the sugar this time. I don’t know if its needs any sugar at all. I love the tartness of the berries with the sweetness of the coconut milk.
I would still like to know if it would work with fresh berries. Maybe I will have to try it myself. Thanks for the awesome recipe. This is my favorite dessert and I forsee everyone I know becoming acquainted with it at bbqs this summer!
after looking at this i’m seriously considering in saving money to buy a tart pan *drool* this recipe has all the flavours i enjoy eating. a must try recipe on days off from school
I made these and YUM!
For the person who didn’t want to spend $15.00 on tart pans, try going to Marshal’s, if there is one in your area. That’s where I found mine. Only $4.99!!! And they had different sizes. Great buy
I just made these and they turned out awesome!!! Beautiful AND delicious. By the way, the crust makes way more than six 4″ mini tarts. You can probably get a whole regular size tart with this recipe.
P.S. I pureed the berries before adding to the sauce pan and saved some whole berries for garnish. Yummy!!!
This was amazing! The olive oil crust is ingenious, and delicious! I cooked for non-vegan friends last night and they were blown away! Thank you!!!
I’ve been doing more vegan baking and have both your cookie and your cupcake cookbooks (made the chocolate peanut butter pillows and everything banana cookies for a Heartland Farm Sanctuary fundraiser today!). I am always confused when a recipe calls for coconut milk (unless is specifies canned). Do you mean the drinkable coconut milk or the canned coconut milk? Thanks!
I hate to say anything negative about any of your recipes because I love you and own all of your cookbooks but I chose to make these with frozen blueberries and it was pretty bland. Maybe they were a bad choice, it tasted like a coconut pie. The texture was amazing though and it set up perfectly. So I think I will just try again and make a lemon coconut tart with a nut crust maybe. Xoxo
I made this and it was quick and easy. I made one large tart. To be honest, I didn’t like the texture of the filling and perhaps it was because I used soy milk instead of almond milk but the flavour wasn’t my favourite either. The tart did look nice.
I didn’t mind the crust though and might use it to fill with fresh berries in syrup and dark chocolate in the future.
This looks so good!! At what point do you remove them from the pans and how do you do that?
Could you use carob powder instead of the cocoa?
Thank you- this was delicious & the flavors were very well balanced.
I didn’t have agar agar, so just added a little extra cornstarch & that seemed to work/the tarts were still set.
I made 3 regular & 3 gluten free (with 1:1 flour), which worked just fine.
and I forgot to add the lemon juice & vanilla- but they were still perfect 🙂