Vegan Chocolate-Berry Tart

Perhaps by now, we all know that dark chocolate is good for us, right? (Polyphenols, Flavanols, iron, magnesium, raises HDL, improves brain function, blablabla). However, for chocoholics, chocophiliacs, or whatever whatchamacallem chocolate lovers who happen to be health-food lovers too, it can be quite a challenge finding healthy dessert options that meet both their palates and their healthy eating protocols.  In his New York Times article, “(Only) Two Rules for a Good Diet”, food critic Mark Bittman claims that “The overall environment means that you’re pretty much on your own if you try to eat healthfully in spite of the system, and you must take up that battle through a dozen or more decisions each day.”

In that case, when it comes to chocolate, it’s been wrongfully done with its bad rap. In other words, when we usually point our guilty fingers out at the the reason that’s making us sick and fat, guess who the culprit usually is?

Yep, you got it. It’s chocolate.

And that’s mainly because everyday “pop” chocolate culture doesn’t really deal with the heroic face of the bar–or the bean. On the contrary, it endorses Dr. Hyde and keeps Dr. Jekyll a secret–a dark one, for that matter (pun intended).

So how exactly can chocolate be tall, dark, and handsome? And how can this chocolate in shining armor retain its sweetness without the sugar?

We probably need to look at other sweet ingredients–like sweet potatoes, yams, and fruits.

Like how I came across this baby:

The filling of this pie happens t be one of our successful accidental culinary inventions (I say “we” because it was all originally my husband’s great idea to “chocolatize” some sweet potatoes I baked–click here for the vegan chocolate mousse recipe that resulted).

So this is what the whole deal needs–

For the crust:

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup canola oil
8 tablespoons cold water

Instructions: Mix together all the above ingredients, and knead well. Place into a pie dish and bake for about 25 minutes (at 180 degrees Celsius). In order to prevent the rising of the dough, pour some dried garbanzo beans (or ceramic baking beads) over the dough.

For the pie filling:

3 tablespoons raspberry sauce

600 g sweet potatoes, baked and mashed

1/3 cup plain, unsweetened cocoa

85 grams Dark Chocolate Pieces (around 2 small chocolate bars, or 2-3 handfuls of semi-sweet chocolate nibs)

1 tablespoon sucanat, muscovado, date syrup, liquid stevia, or any other pure, non-refined sugar

1 (14 g) A small hanful of walnuts or hazelnuts (or a mixture of both)

Instructions: Mix all the ingredients together in a food processor. Then, carefully spoon the mixture into the pie crust (after the crust has cooled). You may want to refrigerate for a couple of hours.

Enjoy! 🙂

Roula