Homemade Vegan Raspberry Chocolate Tart Recipe
This vegan raspberry chocolate tart (Addicted to Dates) is made with block vegan butter (Flora and Lurpak are good) and a cookie crust (use homemade or palm-oil-free vegan biscuits (Rhythm 108 is a good brand)). The only other ingredients you need are fresh raspberries, vegan chocolate, coconut milk and sea salt!
Before cooking, read up on food safety for people and pets. Keep these cakes away from pets, due to ingredients like nuts, spices, chocolate.
For tinned ingredients, remove and pop lids inside, or pop ring-pulls back over holes (pinch top closed) before recycling, to avoid wildlife getting trapped.
What are raspberries?
Everyone loves raspberries, and they are ideal in cake, desserts or even swirled through vegan ice-cream to make raspberry ripple flavour.
Related to roses, raspberries are not true berries, but very nutritious. They don’t ripen after being harvested, so buy ripe! Humans have been eating raspberries for a very long time, as they are so delicious! In history, they have been as medicinal herbs through to paint!
You may think our climate suits raspberries best, but in fact the world’s leading producer of them is ice-cold Russia. The flowers are also a wonderful source of nectar for honeybees and other pollinators.
How to buy, store and freeze raspberries
As raspberries don’t ripen after picking, they are very perishable, so only buy what you need and try to eat them straight away. As a local crop, farmers’ markets and PYO farms often have heaps of them on offer.
Buy bright firm and plump raspberries that are of good colour, and avoid ones that are wet, stained or leaking juice (this means they are over-ripe and could go mouldy). This often happens when sold in plastic punnets in supermarkets. Check the bottom of the container for mould or smashed fruits.
Once home, keep raspberries in the fridge (avoid the crisper drawer as it’s too damp), and only wash just before you eat them (again to avoid mould).
Fruit & Veg Wash helps reduce exposure to listeria, E.coli and salmonella. Code GSENGLANDNATURALLY (15% off order, minimum purchase £20)
To freeze leftover raspberries, rinse gently in cool water and air-dry on kitchen towels (ensuring they are dry helps to prevent ice crystals). Arrange them in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet, ensuring they don’t touch, then freeze for 1 to 2 hours until firm. Then transfer to a silicone freezer bag (remove as much air as possible, to stop freezer burn). Label with the date and store in the freezer for up to a few months.
Ideas to use up leftover raspberries
- Blend into homemade smoothies
- Simmer into a quick sauce with a little sugar, to make a coulis. Drizzle this on pancakes, or swirl into plant-based yoghurt or ice cream.
- Blend with plant-based yoghurt, then freeze in ice-lolly moulds.
- Dip in melted vegan chocolate, and freeze on a baking sheet for 10 minutes.
- Gently fold fresh berries into muffin or scone batter.
