Happy Thursday friends. I have been wanting to share this vegan Chocolate Espresso Torte recipe for far too long but simply haven’t found the time to sit down and write this post! If you have followed my posts, you have seen me mention how much I love the Oh She Glows cookbook by Angela Liddon. Her recipes although vegan, can delight the toughest of carnivores! 🙂 Make sure to check out her blog! My husband included! I actually made this vegan chocolate espresso torte this year for Chris’ birthday. He requested a dessert without processed sugar and after hearing my sister go on and on about this dessert I decided to try it. I think I have already made this dessert 3 times in the last month because it is that good!
If you are in the mood for something chocolate this Valentine’s Day look no further than this dessert. It is creamy, rich, and has so much depth of flavor with the espresso powder. I couldn’t find hazelnuts at my grocery store so I opted to swap them out for pecans and I LOVE it! I grew up with my grandma always using pecans in recipes for her desserts so I guess I have a special affinity for them. When they are toasted in the crust with the oats and maple syrup they are divine! I’m sure you can substitute your favorite nut in the crust to your liking.
Since we are not technically vegan, I topped this vegan chocolate espresso torte with fresh whipped cream although a whipped coconut cream would be just as good if you are vegan. Angela recommends eating this dessert frozen, however, I found if I left it on the counter to come to room temperature it was better since it was creamier, but I am sure you can choose what you like! 🙂 If you do not have the Oh She Glows cookbook on your shelf, I highly recommend it. You can also check out my other favorite healthy cookbooks here. I have not found one recipe we did not like. My 83-year-old father in law who lives with us was even going on and on about how he loved the vegetable soup I made from it and he is NO vegan lol!
I hope your week is going well. Thanks for stopping by!
Ingredients
- Crust:
- ¾ cup / 100g hazelnuts or a nut of your choice
- ¼ cup / 60ml coconut oil
- 3 Tbsp. maple syrup
- ¼ tsp. fine-grain sea salt
- 1 ½ cups / 150g rolled oats divided, gluten-free if necessary
- Filling:
- 1 ½ cups / 200g cashews soaked for at least 4 hours
- ¾ cup / 175 ml pure maple syrup
- ½ cup / 125 ml coconut oil
- 1/3 cup / 30g cocoa powder I used raw cacao powder
- 1/3 cup / 75 ml dark chocolate chips melted (I used chopped dark chocolate)
- 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract I used seeds of ½ vanilla bean
- ½ tsp. fine-grain sea salt
- ½ tsp. espresso powder optional or I even used just a scoop of regular coffee and it was just as good!
- shaved dark chocolate for garnish (optional)
- coconut flakes for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- 1. Make the Crust: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly grease a 9-inch (23 cm) pie dish with coconut oil.
- 2. In a food processor, blend ½ cup of the rolled oats on high until you have a rough flour, place a small bowl and set aside. Without cleaning the machine, process the hazelnuts or other nut into a fine crumb with the texture of sand. Add the coconut oil, maple syrup, salt, and oat flour and process again until the dough comes together. Finally, add the remaining 1 cup of rolled oats and pulse until the oats are chopped, but still have some texture to them. The dough should stick together slightly when pressed between your fingers. If it doesn’t, try adding a bit more maple syrup or processing a bit longer.
- 3. With your fingers, crumble the dough evenly over the base of the pie dish. Starting from the middle, press the mixture firmly and evenly into the dish, moving outward and upward along the side of the pie dish. The harder you press the crumbs into the dish, the better the crust will hold together. Poke a few fork holes into the bottom to let steam escape.
- 4. Bake the crust, uncovered, for 10 to 13 minutes, until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool on a rack for 15 to 20 minutes.
- 5. Make the filling: Drain and rinse the cashews. In a high-speed blender, combine the soaked cashews, maple syrup, oil, cocoa powder, melted chocolate, vanilla, salt, and espresso powder (if using) and blend on high until the filling is completely smooth. It can take a few minutes of blending to get it smooth, depending on your blender. If the blender needs more liquid to get it going, add a tablespoon (15 mL) of almond milk (or a bit more) to help it along.
- 6. Pour the filling into the prepared crust, smoothing out the top evenly. Garnish with shaved chocolate and/or coconut flakes, if desired.
- 7. Place the pie dish on an even surface in the freezer, uncovered. Freeze for a couple of hours, and then cover the dish with foil and freeze overnight, or for a minimum of 4 to 6 hours, until the pie sets.
- 8. Remove the pie from the freezer and let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes before slicing. This pie is meant to be served frozen. Serve with homemade Whipped Coconut Cream (page 280 of the book) and finely chopped hazelnuts, if desired, but it’s fantastic all on its own, too. Wrap leftover slices individually in foil and store them in an airtight container in the freezer for 1 to 1½ weeks.
- Recipe reprinted from THE OH SHE GLOWS COOKBOOK, published by Penguin, 2014
