vegan chocolate pear and almond frangipane tart

A gorgeously rich tart using my vegan sweet shortcrust pastry from the previous post, and a baked dark chocolate almond cream. Swap the pears for something more seasonal in the warmer months like figs or plums, or leave them out altogether.

The original version of this vegan adaptation used eggs, which I’ve replaced with aquafaba*. If you don’t need the tart to be vegan, simply swap out the aquafaba for two medium (approx. 700g) room-temperature eggs.

Makes one 9” tart.

One vegan sweet shortcrust tart shell, blind-baked (see previous post)

125g almond meal
6tbs aquafaba*
125g vegan margarine (I use Nuttelex), or room temperature unsalted butter
95g white sugar
185g dark chocolate (check it’s dairy-free if making this vegan), melted and cooled
2 brown pears, peeled, cored and sliced (or use seasonal fruit like figs or stone fruit)

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Make sure your blind-baked tart shell is completely cool before filling.

Whisk together everything except the chocolate and fruit until smooth.

~If using eggs, lightly beat them in a separate bowl before adding to the other ingredients~

Gently stir the cooled melted chocolate into the almond mix.

Fill your tart shell with the mix and lightly press the fruit slices on top..

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. You want the pastry to be a deep golden colour, and the filling to start cracking around the edges. 

Cool completely before serving.

*aquafaba ~ the starchy water you get in a can of beans or chickpeas. This remarkable liquid can be used as a very versatile egg replacer, so don’t throw it out!