Chocolate Ginger Caramel Tart with Thai Ginger Sea Salt {Gluten Free + Vegan}
You’re about to get a ton of backstory on this one….be warned.
Last weekend was largely spent making the new apartment liveable, the only casualties being my sanity and my right foot. An Ikea table was dropped, landing me in the Urgent Care on the the Upper East Side on Friday evening. I guess I was feeling rather sadistic last weekend, because on Saturday I ventured to Manhattan in search of more apartment wares as I refuse to have my apartment look like an Ikea showroom and I had to go pick up my flatware from Crate & Barrel and do some Le Creuset hunting at Sur La Table (welcome to my very domestic adult life). Anyways, after braving the horrible crowd (including inappropriately oversized “children” in strollers) at Bed Bath & Beyond, I headed to dinner at Rye and after a few Old Fashioneds, headed down to Camp bar to make some s’mores. I managed to set the table on fire, and after realizing you can’t just extinguish flaming napkins by smashing your palms on top of them, the bartender rescued me by simply dropping a wet rag on the table. It was clearly time to make an exit. I ended the night at Black Rabbit in Greenpoint after running into a dear friend on the train and closed out the night with more whiskey. All in all, I drank more than planned and realized the stress of acquiring home items had really gotten to me.
This leads me to Sunday. Easter. My friends, being brilliant ones that they are, came up with a themed zombie easter party at which we played various video games (at which I scored record low scores, I might add) and ate some great easter and/or zombie themed food amidst a backdrop of clever decorations (fake boarded windows? genius!). I failed at the whole zombie theme, but did manage to make some food to bring along. On Saturday I picked up this amazing Thai ginger sea salt from The Filling Station located inside Chelsea Market and knew exactly what I was going to use it for. You might recall this chocolate tart from a few years back, and it’s one item that has always remained in my mind, though I never had a chance to try making it vegan. I spent the morning cooking, listening to great music, creating a potato leek galette and this veganized version of the chocolate caramel sea salt tart. Rave reviews from all who tasted.
{Vegan + Gluten Free}
Chocolate Ginger Caramel Tart with Thai Ginger Sea Salt
(adapted from Saveur magazine)
1 1⁄2 cups gluten-free flour (tapioca, potato starch, sweet white rice flour, arrowroot starch, sorghum flour, garfava flour)
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1⁄4 cup plus 1 tbsp. high-quality unsweetened cocoa powder
1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
5 tbsp. coconut oil
5 tbsp. earth balance stick margarine
1⁄2 cup plus 2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
2 tbsp. ground flax seed mixed with 4 tbsp.
1⁄2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
3 tbsp. honey
1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
5 tbsp. water
4 tbsp. coconut oil
2 tbsp. earth balance stick margarine
6 tbsp. soy creamer (I would have tried full fat coconut milk if I could have found it…or even coconut milk creamer)GANACHE
1⁄2 cup soy creamer
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
Thai Ginger Sea Salt for finish
Chopped crystallized ginger
1. Make the crust: Heat oven to 350˚. Combine flour, cocoa powder, xanthan gum and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Using a handheld mixer, cream the coconut oil, earth balance, and sugar in a large bowl until mixture is pale and fluffy; mix in flax gel and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients. Transfer dough to a 9″ fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and press dough evenly into bottom and sides of pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Prick the tart shell all over with a fork and bake until cooked through, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool.
2. Make the caramel: In a 1-qt. saucepan, whisk together sugar, honey, salt, and 5 tbsp. water and bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer inserted into the syrup reads 340°. Remove pan from heat and whisk in coconut oil, earth balance, and creamer until smooth. Let cool slightly. Pour caramel into cooled tart shell and let cool slightly; refrigerate until firm, 4–5 hours.
3. Make the ganache: Bring creamer to a near boil in a 1-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Put chocolate into a medium bowl and pour in hot creamer; let sit for 1 minute, then stir slowly with a rubber spatula until smooth. Pour ganache evenly over tart and refrigerate until set, for a few hours. Sprinkle tart with salt, crystalized ginger: slice, and serve chilled.