Chocolate Frangelico Mousse Tart

the whole tart pre-sliced

OMG this turned out so well!!! It was a complete test, I saw this recipe on BBC Good Food and started to think of ways to veganize it. Really all that had to be exchanged was the whipping cream, but that is a pretty hard item to replace. I had tried Granovita's Soya Whipping Cream before but thought it was absolutely disgusting! However I was hoping that the dark chocolate and adding Frangelico would mask this yet still benefit from the texture of the 'whipping cream'. (Of course if you like this product this isn't an issue for you, but it wasn't my cup of tea!)

Well, when it first came all together I could still taste that odd 'beany' taste from the whipping cream but chucked it in the fridge to set hoping that it would mellow out. Thankfully it did, after chilling and flavours mingling there is no odd taste at all, just yumminess, AND it has a perfect mousse texture. So much so that next time I'm going to make this just as a mousse, without the cookie crust, in individual bowls - so yum!

the inside showing the texture

Chocolate Frangelico Mousse Tart:
200g vegan biscuits (cookies) I used Hob Nobs
50g vegan margarine
1 Tbsp (25g) golden syrup
200g dark vegan chocolate (I used Bourneville Baking Chunks)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp Frangelico (Amaretto or Kahlua would be nice too!)
2 Tbsp icing sugar
200ml soya whipping 'cream' (see notes above)

First, the original recipe was a 'no-cook' one, this won't work with the base using margarine. Butter will harden up in the fridge, marg won't - so you need to bake the base.

Line a 12 x 36 cm rectangular tart tin (or 23 - 25 round flan tin) with foil and set aside. Preheat the oven to 190C. Crush the biscuits in a food processor or by bashing with a rolling pin in a strong plastic bag until there are no large chunks. Melt the margarine with the golden syrup and stir into the crumbs with a fork. Press into the pan until even and up all the sides. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

When cool, make the filling. Melt the chocolate in the microwave at half power, stirring frequently. When melted set aside to cool slightly, it will need to be close to temperature to the cream which will be chilled. Otherwise the chocolate will seize. Pour the 'cream' into a large bowl and whisk well, adding the icing sugar half way through. It will get light and slightly airy but not like dairy cream does. Whip it well. When the chocolate is room temperature but still melted scrape it into the cream and immediately whisk it up fast, again, you don't want it to seize up. Gradually add the vanilla and frangelico, whisking as you go.

You should have a light moussy chocolaty concoction but like I mentioned before, don't worry if it tastes funny now from the soy cream. Spread it over the cookie crust, cover and chill in the fridge for several hours or overnight.

To serve, remove the tart from the pan by simply lifting the foil lining out. Remove the tart from the foil and place on a cutting board. Take a large knife and heat under hot water and cut into 10ths, or more or less if you like. I decorated with grated chocolate and some chocolate sauce, but raspberries and icing sugar would be nice too, or chopped hazelnuts.