My first November post today and I’ve got just the right bake for you – Chocolate Pumpkin Tart. I’ve been working on this recipe for quite some time and it has been a challenge to say the least. I’ve been developing this recipe for Amore di Mona who has asked me to create a gluten-free, vegan, nut and coconut free Chocolate Pumpkin Pie.
In this recipe I really wanted to avoid using vegan butter and because I couldn’t use coconut oil, which would have been a reliable choice I’ve decided to use olive oil. I’ve made some great dough with olive oil and pumpkin puree that was so easy to roll out, but once baked it was hard and gooey, not great. I’ve tried some recipes that I found online using olive oil, that absolutely didn’t work. I was just about the give up and getting myself some vegan batter and then I remembered making olive oil and aquafaba chocolate pastry this summer that I came back to. And after few adjustments I’ve ended up with pastry that is soft and crumbly, just right. The perfectionist in me is still not completely satisfied, but the flavour, the right texture, it’s there. Well, I most probably continue perfecting this dough for years to come and I will keep you updated.
I’ve stack to using very wholesome ingredients and came back to using teff in this pastry which works really well. I’ve mixed the teff flour with some brown rice flour, tapioca and psyllium husk to make gluten-free mix. I’ve added apple cider vinegar with bicarbonate of soda to lift the dough and olive oil and aquafaba to bind it altogether. It’s a nice dough and easy to press into your tin. Keep adding the aquafaba until you have moist, but not sticky dough, you want it as moist as possible, but not sticky. Although I’ve managed to roll it out the first time after about an hour in the fridge, I find it’s the easiest to just press the dough into the tin right away. I’ve used a tart tin, but you can use a pie dish, whichever you prefer. Bake it on low temperature for 12 minutes, then add the filling and bake for another 15 minutes. Because the pastry has quite a few ingredients I’ve kept the filling very simple using quality Amore di Mona bulk chocolate, pumpkin puree, little maple syrup and spices. The flavour really is amazing, it’s rich, chocolatey, yet delicate. The baked pumpkin and chocolate works like a dream making it the perfect Autumn dessert. I really hope you’ll enjoy this recipe and please let me know what you think!
Special thank you to Amore di Mona for sponsoring this post.
- Crust:
- 70g teff flour (1/2 cup)
- 70g brown rice flour (1/2 cup)
- 30g tapioca flour (1/4 cup)
- 1tbsp raw cacao powder
- ½tbsp raw sugar
- 1tsp psyllium husk
- ½tsp bicarbonate of soda
- pinch sea salt
- 60ml olive oil (1/4 cup)
- ½tsp apple cider vinegar
- 80ml aquafaba + 2tbsp as needed (1/3 cup)
- Filling:
- 360ml pumpkin puree (1½ cup)
- 2tbsp maple syrup
- 1tsp cinnamon
- ¼tsp ground ginger
- ⅛tsp cloves
- ⅛tsp nutmeg
- 200g Amore di Mona bulk chocolate (3½ cubes) or dark vegan chocolate (7oz)
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (340F)
- In a large bowl whisk together teff flour, brown rice flour, tapioca, cacao, sugar, psyllium husk, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
- Mix olive oil with apple cider vinegar, add to the dry mix and stir until incorporated.
- Slowly start adding aquafaba until the mix comes together into a dough. Add a little extra by ½tbsp at a time until the dough is moist enough, but not sticky. You want it as moist as possible without being sticky.
- Lightly oil 9" tart tin or pie dish and evenly press the dough onto the base and up the sides to form a crust. Pierce the base few times with a fork and blind bake for 12 minutes.
- Prepare the filling in the meantime. In a medium pot gently warm pumpkin puree with maple syrup and spices.
- In a double boiler or microwave melt the chocolate, add to the pumpkin mix and stir until all incorporated.
- Spoon the mix onto the partially baked crust and smooth out the top.
- Return into the oven and bake for further 15 minutes.
- Leave to cool down completely and transfer to the fridge for couple of hours.
- Serve with some chocolate shavings or drizzle of melted chocolate.
- Enjoy!
Beautiful! Hana you’re a free-from wizard! The texture of the filling looks delightful. Your hard work paid off! :) x
Thank you so much Sasha! It wasn’t an easy one, but I’m way to stubborn and when I set my mind to do something, I’ll do my best to make it happen:) x
I think you’ve nailed it Hana, it looks perfect! It sounds fantastic too, well done for all your hard work xx
Thank you so much Michelle, I really appreciate your comment! It was a good challenge:) xx
You are so creative Hana! That crust sounds amazing! That was quite a challenge – vegan, gluten-free and nut-free – but it sounds and looks like you came up with something really special here. YUM! Well done from me too! X
Thank you lovely Teresa! Yes, it was quite a challenge to come up with the crust, but I enjoyed it at the same time:) xx
Looks great. Chocolate and pumpkin sounds like a tasty combo, thanks a lot
Thanks a lot Keith, glad that you like it!
Hi Hana! I’m excited to make this for my family. Are you referring to tapioca flour or tapioca pearls?
Hi Alex, I’m so happy to hear that! I’ve used tapioca flour. Hope you enjoy the recipe:)
Hi Hana ! This looks amazing and i love pumpkin and chocolate combination. Since we don’t get teff flour where we live what else can i substitute this with? with out effecting the flavour?
Hi Monisha, you could try quinoa or amaranth flour, if you can tolerate nuts almond flour or even ground almonds would work well too. You can also replace the olive oil with coconut oil if you prefer. :)
This was so light and heavenly~ My family and I were really impressed.
I didn’t have tapioca or psyllium , so I used 50mL of cake flour and 1 Tbsp of ground flaxseed instead (since we aren’t gf). I also used oat flour instead of rice and teff.
Keep up the awesome recipes!
Hi Corinne, thank you so much for coming back and leaving me such lovely comment. I’m so happy that you and your family loved it! The substitutions are perfect :)