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Another year has flown by and I’ve managed to continue the tradition of making my own birthday cake (or in this case birthday tart) and sharing it here on the blog. Today marks the start of the last year in my 20s. I have mixed feelings about this birthday. I’m currently in a transition period after having quit my former archaeology job. I’m trying to figure shit out and make a plan for the future. I’m attempting to cultivate a new dream and make it happen. I have a lot of lofty goals and aspirations that are causing a lot of anxiety and stress at the moment but my hope is that in time, they will lead to something amazing.

Some of you may know that my dream was to open a gluten free/vegan bakery. I owned a small business that provided this blog with its name and sold gluten free/vegan baked goods on Etsy and at the farmers market in Longview, Texas where I lived for 6 years. After all of the work involved with getting everything going, I became comfortable. I didn’t take a chance to reevaluate what I wanted or see what might have changed. To be honest, it was easy not to change so I stuck with it. I knew I wanted to quit my archaeology job eventually so that became the new goal. Once I got moving with that, I didn’t consider what exactly I wanted to do afterwards, so I stuck with the familiar and told myself I still wanted to open a bakery and keep baking.

I moved back to Houston at the end of September and then just a couple of days later I nearly had a panic attack because I couldn’t keep up appearances by telling people I wanted to open a bakery without truly knowing if that is what I wanted. I kept that thought inside for a while and told no one for fear of letting them down. I spent a lot of time trying to think about what I liked and what I wanted. I kept up with blog posting because it’s the one thing I’ve always liked and I knew that it would be a good creative outlet for myself. In doing that it helped me realize that I’ve always really enjoyed recipe development and talking with people about food. Since I put it so succinctly, I’ll share some words from an e-mail I sent to my brother recently about the matter: the time I spent baking for Sweet Miscellany and selling at the farmers market made me realize how much I love food. That sounds funny, but I love talking about it with people. I love helping them discover healthier foods and encouraging them to buy local or organic. I love the correlation between health and diet. At its core, food is essentially what nourishes us. It provides what we need to live and thrive.

So, all of this is to say that my dreams have changed. I no longer want to open a bakery. I will most likely be closing down my Etsy shop in the coming weeks either for good or until I find something more suitable to sell there. It has been a really hard decision, but one that I know in my heart is right. As for what is next, I’ll still be posting here! And, I might be looking further into contributing recipes and such to various publications. And maybe at some point down the line, a cookbook will be a possibility. But for now, the biggest decision has been to look into taking the proper certification courses for holistic nutrition. It seems to be the one thing that sums up what inspires me and excites me at the moment. I haven’t picked a particular program yet, but I’ve made it a major goal to nail down the details in the coming months. I’ll keep everyone posted with how its going and what new developments may arise 🙂

If you’ve stuck with me this far, the reward is my birthday tart! I was going to make a cake until I realized I didn’t particularly want cake so it evolved into a tart. I suppose that process is a bit on theme with what I’ve just been talking about. Funny how that works out! The tart shell is a combination of almond, coconut, and candied ginger. The chocolate mousse filling is flavored with vanilla, cardamom, and espresso. And, it’s topped off with some candied pistachios and smoked sea salt. I’ll let the photos do the rest of the talking for me…

Dark Chocolate Cardamom Mousse Tart with a Candied Ginger Crust

for the crust

1 1/2 cups almond meal

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

2 tbsp finely minced candied ginger

pinch of sea salt

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

2 tbsp maple syrup or agave

for the chocolate mousse filling

3/4 cup vegan dark chocolate chips

1/4 cup coconut milk

3 avocados (small/medium sized)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 cup agave or maple syrup

good pinch of salt

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla powder

2 tsp espresso powder

1 tsp ground cardamom

for the candied pistachios

1 1/2 tsp raw cane sugar

1 1/2 tsp hot water

1/4 cup roughly chopped pistachios

1 tbsp turbinado sugar

tiny pinch of sea salt

CRUST

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the almond meal, coconut, candied ginger, and salt in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the melted coconut oil and maple syrup and stir until a dough starts to form and the mixture comes together into a ball. If it seems a bit dry, add a splash of warm water. Dump the dough into an 8-inch fluted tart pan. Press it evenly into the pan, then poke a few holes in the crust with a fork. Bake it in your preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes until golden in color. Cool completely.

FILLING

Over a double boiler, gently melt the chocolate chips and coconut milk together. Once all of the chocolate has been melted, set the mixture aside to cool slightly. In a food processor, combine the avocados, cocoa, agave, salt, vanilla, espresso, and cardamom. Pulse until the mixture starts to look smooth, then add in the melted chocolate mixture. Process until you get a smooth and thick mousse. Taste the mousse, then adjust with more sweetener if needed. Carefully pour the mousse into the cooled crust and smooth the top out with a spatula. Place the tart in the fridge for at least 3 hours to allow it to firm and set up.

CANDIED PISTACHIOS & ASSEMBLY

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a small baking sheet with parchment. In a small bowl, combine the 1 1/2 tsp of raw cane sugar and the hot water. Mix until most of the sugar has been dissolved. Add the pistachios, turbinado sugar, and salt to the sugar and water mixture and toss to combine. Spread the mixture onto your lined baking sheet and put it in your preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes. The pistachios are ready when the sugars are bubbling and the pistachios are just starting to turn golden. Remove the pan from the oven and cool the pistachios completely.

Once the tart has set up in the fridge, gently break apart the candied pistachios and decorate the top of the tart with them. Sprinkle the top of the tart with smoked sea salt or any other course sea salt if you wish. Serve and enjoy! Store any tart leftovers in the fridge.

I have to be honest and say that I was not a fan of the chocolate and mint combo until last year around this time. It used to be at the bottom of the list right along with lemon-flavored things and glazed doughnuts. I never understood why thin mints were so popular when you could eat a damn peanut butter patty (helloooo, chocolate + peanut butter!!). I’m not sure what changed, but last year I could not get enough chocolate + mint all of the sudden. I would finish a dark chocolate peppermint bar and wonder what the heck had become of me. If I had been able to get a vegan peppermint mocha somewhere, I probably would have been on that bandwagon, too.

Since regular peppermint patties are not exactly healthy, vegan, or even made from real ingredients, I wanted to see if I could create my own version and make it taste even better. After the first bite (and then the second, third, etc.), I think I can say with certainty that I succeeded. The key to these is using a good quality vegan dark chocolate and a culinary grade peppermint essential oil instead of peppermint extract. You can of course use an extract, but I feel like the essential oil provides a much better minty flavor and brightness.

These are being posted as part of cookie month, but the awesome thing is that they are no-bake! All you need is a food processor. These are perfect for a party of for having around for munching on during the holidays. They are reminiscent of both a peppermint patty and a thin mint, but waaaaaayyy better in my opinion. If you are worried about the fact that they have coconut in them, don’t. It’s not a pronounced flavor in the finished product. If you aren’t yet a fan of chocolate and mint, I would recommend upping the vanilla extract and leaving out the mint, or replacing it with something else you like. Happy baking (or in this case no-baking)!
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