Coconut Chocolate Truffle Torte (Shh! It’s dairy free but no-one will ever know…)
Quite a few years back, I remember our family having Delia's chocolate truffle torte one Christmas, specifically because, since I lived in the 'big city' at uni, I was asked to find some amaretti biscuits that were clearly proving elusive in deepest darkest Hawick! I still remember finding a deli that stocked about six different types, and having no idea what quantity they were required in, so buying about four packets.
Anyway, it was a decadent, rich, chocolatey concoction, and buoyed up by the success of my dairy free chocolate truffles, I began to ponder if it could be made dairy free by using coconut milk instead of the cream, and dairy free dark chocolate.
This post is proof that it can! I made it for a weekend away with friends and it got a whole hearted thumbs up, as well as general disbelief that it was dairy free, which is always a good thing. Substitutes that taste like substitutes always make me a bit sad - I want things to taste fantastic in their own dairy-free right.
I'm just gutted I didn't manage to take some better pictures of its fantastic-ness!
Coconut Chocolate Truffle Torte (serves 10-12)
- 75g dessicated coconut
- 450g dark chocolate (high cocoa solids, dairy free)
- 5 tbsp liquid glucose
- 5 tbsp cherry brandy
- 2x 400ml tins coconut milk
This recipe has an unusual first step... about a week before you want to make the torte, put your coconut milk in your fridge. Shove it to the back, and go away and forget about it.
When you're ready to make the torte (and remember it needs to chill overnight before serving) toast the coconut in a dry frying pan over a low heat, or under a grill until lightly browned.
Grease and line a 8-10 inch loose bottomed cake tin (line the sides as well as the base, since you don't want it to taste 'greased').
Sprinkle the toasted coconut over the base of the tin.
Break the chocolate into pieces and add to a heat proof bowl with the liquid glucose and cherry brandy.
Heat it over a pan of gently simmering water until melted and completely smooth.
Take your tins of coconut milk out of the fridge, and don't shake them or turn them upside down. Remove the lids and carefully spoon out all of the thick coconut cream. By chilling it, it will have separated into a thick creamy layer on the top, with a smaller layer of very watery coconut milk at the bottom.
Once you've spooned out all of the thick stuff, give it a quick whisk with an electric beater to thicken it a little more.
Add the cooled chocolate mixture and mix gently to combine, then pour over the coconut into the prepared tin.
Give it a shoogle to settle the top level and tap it off the worktop a few times so that the bubbles rise to the top.
Chill it overnight in the fridge.
To serve, tip it out of the tin onto a serving plate - worry not, it is pretty robust! Carefully peel off the greaseproof paper, and there you go. Rich dark chocolate coconut creamy goodness with a subtle hit of alcohol - a perfect grown up pudding!
