Vegan Chocolate Pomegranate Tart
When planning a Christmas menu, you're bound to quickly think of a few dessert classics: Tiramisu, panna cotta, baked apples and the like. At least, that's how I feel. However, we always want to give you new ideas and inspiration along the way, so today, we show you a Christmas chocolate pomegranate tart, which you can prepare perfectly one or two days in advance. The tart has three components:
The dough: First, we prepared a simple dough using flour, cocoa powder, sugar and vegan butter. You can put the dough into your tart pan and flatten it with your hands, or you can roll out the dough beforehand and then place it in the pan. Method number two looks more even and more neat in the end. If you don't have a tart pan diameter of 28 cm (11 inches), you can also use a springform pan.
The chocolate layer: We really love cremes made from a mix of whipped cream and cream cheese, because they combine a light and airy creaminess with a great freshness and acidity. To make the cream nice and chocolaty, we added baking cocoa and melted dark chocolate. A feast!
The decoration: For the decoration we use pomegranate seeds, chopped dark chocolate and sprigs of rosemary, which are coated in sugar.
So, now you know everything you need. We look forward to seeing this tart on your table this holiday season!
Vegan Chocolate Pomegranate Tart
Ingredients
For the base
- 250 g (2 cups) wheat flour (type 405)
- 20 g (3 tbsp) baking cocoa
- 75 g (0.33 cup) sugar
- 125 g (1 stick + 1 tbsp) vegan butter (cold)
- cold water as needed
- vegan butter for greasing
For the chocolate cream
- 200 ml (0.75 cup) vegan whipping cream
- 8 g (2 tsp) cream stabilizer
- 8 g (1.5 tsp) vanilla sugar
- 300 g (1.25 cups) vegan cream cheese
- 50 g (0.5 cup) powdered sugar
- 20 g (3 tbsp) baking cocoa
- 100 g (3.5 oz) dark chocolate
For the decoration
- 1 pomegranate
- rosemary sprigs
- sugar
- chopped chocolate
Instructions
For the shortcrust pastry, mix wheat flour, baking cocoa, and sugar in a large bowl. Add cold vegan butter and knead with cold hands. Add some cold water as needed until all ingredients are combined into a smooth dough. Let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180 °C / 355 °F (fan) and grease a tart pan (Ø 28 centimeters / 11 inches). Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper until it's large enough to cover the bottom and sides of the tart pan. Place the dough in the pan and press it lightly onto the bottom and sides. Cut off the excess dough. Prick the dough base several times with a fork to prevent bubbles from forming while baking. Bake the tart base for approx. 15–20 minutes. Then let it cool completely.
While baking, deseed the pomegranate in a bowl of water and then drain on a kitchen towel.
For the chocolate layer, whip vegan cream with cream stabilizer and vanilla sugar, add the vegan cream cheese, powdered sugar, and baking cocoa, and mix everything into a smooth cream. Melt the dark chocolate and quickly stir it in.
Chill the cream for 30 minutes, then spread it on the base. Briefly hold the rosemary sprigs under water, shake off slightly, then roll in sugar. Top with pomegranate seeds, chopped chocolate, and the rosemary sprigs, and chill until serving.
