Chilli Chocolate Wholewheat Almond Tart

I'm going to keep this short because I'm excited and I cannot wait to share this recipe with you lot.

I found it. After months of trial and more errors than I can count, I found it. The perfect tart shell recipe. Whole wheat and Almond tart crust with flaxseeds.

What's more, it's healthy, full of awesome fibres, healthy fats and none of that white flour or white sugar thing. It's eggless, uses flaxseeds and adds another dose of Omega-3 and various minerals with it. It's perfectly chewy from the almonds, has a satisfying wholesome bite and is utterly UTTERLY delicious. Pair it with a stone fruit tart, nutty frangipane filling, apple pie fillings or a dark chocolate ganache (as I did), and it will simply blow you away.

The ganache that I filled it with was a Dark Chocolate ganache, that was spiced with red chilli, clove and cinnamon powder, making it a deep rich and smooth filling that had an underlying warmth from the spices. What an absolutely stunning dessert this was!

So here's the recipe for my Wholewheat Almond Tart, with a spicy Dark Chocolate filling.

Wholewheat Almond Tart, with a spicy Dark Chocolate filling

You need:

For the shell-

• 1/3rd cup powdered almonds, heaped
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• a tiny pinch of salt
• a sprinkle of cinnamon powder
• 2 tbsp chilled butter, cut into cubes
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp, any white flavourless oil
• 1 flax egg, (1 tbsp flax powder with 3 tbsp water, mixed and let rest for 15 min)

For the ganache- 

• 300 gms dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
• 200 ml cream
• 3 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1 tsp clove powder (add it if you have it)

The How:

• In a pan, take the cream, and add the chilli, cinnamon and clove powder in it. Stir, warm it very gently and steep it for some time away from the heat.
• Sift together the flour, almond powder, sugar and spices, or pulse a couple of times in a food processor.
• Add the butter and oil and pulse a couple of times more, it will become like sand.
• Add the flax egg and pulse a couple of more times, till it sort of comes together, but won't be dry and put together.
• Take a 9 inch tart tin with a removable bottom, and empty the crumbs into it. Press down with your fingers till the crumbs form an even layer on the base and around the edges.
• Preheat your oven at 180 celsius and bake it for 20 minutes. Once it's done, let it sit on the countertop and let it cool for a bit.
• Till then, make the ganache. Heat the cream till it bubbles around the edges, swirl the cream and dump it into the chopped chocolate. Let it rest for 3-4 minutes, then stir till the cream gets incorporated in, and the ganache becomes thick, smooth and shiny. If that doesn't happen, microwave it for 10 seconds (not more, the fats will separate and you will be sad) and stir.
• To assemble, pour the ganache into the tart shell. Smooth it over with a spatula.
• Pop into the chiller with a foil loosely covering the surface and keep it for 3-4 hours.
• Slice and serve!

That's it! It's easy, quick and stunning to taste.

Let me know how it goes :)