Grilled Pear & Blackberry Chocolate Tart

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Grilled Pear & Blackberry Chocolate Tart

This decadent dessert is a real treat.  It's packed full of goodness and sure to impress friends and family. It was created by the fantastic Melissa Saint Hill - nutritionist, scientist and chef.

Ingredients

Tart Crust Ingredients:

• 25 pitted dates (1 cup)
• 2 cups oats (pulsed to flour)
• 1 cup ground almonds / almond meal
• 7 tablespoons coconut oil (plus a little extra to lightly oil tart tin)
• 1 inch fresh ginger root (ground ginger will also work fine)
• 1 tablespoon nutmeg
• ½ cup water
• Pinch of salt

Filling Ingredients:

• 200 grammes dark chocolate
• 400 mililitres coconut milk
• 3 ½ teaspoons cornstarch (sometimes it’s a little less, other times a little more…I find cornstarch can be temperamental)
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Tart Toppings:

• Handful of blackberries
• 1 conference pear
• Handful pecan nuts and flaked almonds
• A few tsp chocolate sauce from filling mixture
• Mint to garnish (optional)

Grilled Pears mixture:

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon coconut sugar (or chosen alternative)
• Dash of water

Method

1. Blend oats until you achieve a flour-like consistency.
2. Soak dates in boiling water until they expand and drain. Place them into a blender and blend into a smooth paste.
3. Place dates along with all other ingredients for the tart crust (minus the water) into a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly with a spatula or wooden spoon whilst adding 7 tbsp coconut oil. The water can be used to wet the dough if necessary by adding a little at a time to ensure you have achieved a dough-like consistency. Mix thoroughly.
4. Form the dough by pressing mixture into the tart tin and bake on gas mark 5 (190°C) for 20 minutes or until the crust has solidified and is lightly golden.
5. Melt chocolate over a bain marie and add coconut milk whilst whisking gently. Remove some of the mixture and mix in cornstarch (little by little) and then add back to the chocolate. Once the back of a spoon is coated, the mixture is ready. Pour into a pyrex (or plastic) jug and cover with crumpled wet parchment paper and place in the fridge to cool whilst the rest of the tart prep continues. (NB: Ensure it does not solidify).
6. Mix together all of the ingredients for the grilled pears mixture and add a dash of water to slightly loosen the paste. Wash the pear and slice the initial halves into halves until you have nice thin slices.
7. Coat the pear slices in the mixture and grill on a very low fire to gently caramelize and soften evenly. This can take about 20 minutes. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
8. Once cooled, pour the majority of the chocolate into the tart shell and place back in the fridge to set. (A couple of hours).
9. Upon setting, layer on the grilled pears and blackberries. Garnish with nuts and mint leaves.
10. Finally, drizzle the last bit of chocolate generously over that tart to set the fruit and nuts into place on top of the filling.
11. Place back into the fridge for 1 – 2 hours (ideally) until the last drizzle of chocolate has set, and then it is ready to serve and definitely enjoy.

Recipe and Photo: Melissa Saint Hill