Cashew Coconut Chocolate Tart

Good Monday morning to you all! We’re starting off the week sweetly with chocolate and cashews and coconut, oh my! If you’re looking for an alternative to pecan pie this holiday season and want to kick it up about 10 notches, I think you really, really oughta give this Cashew Coconut Chocolate Tart a try! Talk about holiday decadence!!!

I bake a lot and can usually exercise a good measure of self-control, but when it comes to chewy, chocolate, coconutty, nuttiness, do not leave me alone in the room!! This wonderful tart delivers on so many levels!

In addition to be being utterly delish, it’s also pretty easy to put together—yes, there are a few steps, but none of them are difficult and it can totally be made a day early, a real boon for holiday planning, especially in this crazy year!

It all starts with a press-in chocolate crust which gets mixed up in the food processor and doesn’t require any pesky rolling or crimping.

Next, the caramel-y filling comes together easily on the stovetop and it’s just loaded with, coconut and crunchy, roasted cashews. YUM!!!

Now, we’re painting on a layer of melted chocolate all across the bottom of the crust—

And allowing it to harden…

Which means that in addition to the chocolate crust and some chocolate drizzled across the top of this beauty, there is also a layer of chocolate that comes between the crust and the filling, which pretty much guarantees to a deep, dark chocolate experience with every single bite!

In a year where we are cooking for smaller crews and forcing ourselves to have to limit the amount of desserts we can get away with serving, this wonderful tart hits the non-apple and pumpkin trifecta in so many ways that you might not actually miss the coconut cream, chocolate cream and pecan pie after all. And that my friends, is indeed something to be thankful for!!

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Cashew Coconut Chocolate Tart

Makes one 10-inch tart

You will need a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom for this and a candy thermometer.

Prep Time for crust: 10 minutes, plus 30 minutes chilling time; Bake Time for crust: 18-20 minutes; Prep Time for Filling: 30 minutes with cooling; Assembly and Baking Time for Tart: About 1 hour

Ingredients

For the Crust

• 1 ¼ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

• ⅔ cup sugar

• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced and chilled

• 1 ½ tablespoons ice cold water

For the filling

• 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed

• 1 cup heavy cream

• ⅓ cup pure maple syrup

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 cups unsalted roasted cashews

• 1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut

For the assembly

• 5 ounces good bittersweet chocolate, chopped

The Recipe

1. To make the crust: Spray a 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom with nonstick spray and set aside. Place the flour, sugar, cocoa and salt in the bowl of a food processor and blend together briefly. Add in the chilled butter and pulse until a sandy texture forms. Add in the water and pulse until the dough comes together. Press the dough evenly across the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pan and chill the crust for 30 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Place the chilled crust on a baking sheet and bake the crust on the pan for about 18-20 minutes, until the crust is dry-looking and slightly puffed—you won’t be able to tell by the color because this is dark. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely but leave the oven on.

3. To make the filling: Place the brown sugar, cream, maple syrup and salt in a medium, heavy-weight saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking a bit until the sugar dissolves. Attach the candy thermometer to the side of pan and lower the heat so that the mixture is at a low boil. Let cook until the temperature is 222ºF, whisking every now and then (this should take 7-8 minutes). Mix in the cashews and coconut. Remove from the heat and let cool for 20 minutes.

4. Melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave in 15 second intervals stirring until the chocolate is almost fully melted and then stir it by hand to finish it up. Use a pastry brush or the back of a spoon to spread some of the melted chocolate all across the bottom of the cooled tart. Place the tart in the freezer for 15 minutes to allow it to harden. Reserve the rest of the melted chocolate for later.

5. Remove the tart shell from the freezer and pour the filling into it, smoothing the top. Place the tart on the baking sheet again and bake until the filling is dark on top and bubbly, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Remelt the bowl of melted chocolate and drizzle the chocolate all across the top. Let set and serve, cutting into wedges. This can definitely be made a day ahead. Cover and store at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Note: Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz via Bon Appétit. I cut the fresh ginger, used unsalted nuts and added some salt to the filling instead.