Chocolate and cardamom are always a winning combination in our eyes - and never more so than in this tart, a fantastic alternative to Christmas pudding to finish off your festive meal.

Now made even easier with pourable Oggs aquafaba or of course you can harvest your own from a tin of chickpeas or beans of your choice. We made life easier by using shop-bought shortcrust pastry for the base - many brands are vegan, but there are also lots of simple recipes out there if you’d prefer to make your own. Put your own twist on this tart by adding seasonal fruit if you like - we went with brambles but other berries or a scattering of toasted nuts would also work well.

Ingredients

  •  1 baked tart shell (the tin we used measured 36 x 12cm)

For the ganache

  • 280ml full fat coconut milk
  • 1 tsp ground cardamom
  • 200g dark chocolate
  • 50g dairy free spread

For the Italian Meringue topping

  • 140ml aquafaba
  • 1/4 tsp xantham gum
  • 140g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

  1. First, make the ganache filling. In a small saucepan, heat the coconut milk gently with the ground cardamom. Meanwhile, chop up your dark chocolate finely and put into a bowl or jug alongside the dairy-free spread. When the coconut milk is just simmering, take it off the heat and pour onto your chocolate/margarine. Give the mixture a whisk and the heat of the coconut milk should melt the other ingredients. When you have a smooth, shiny ganache, with no lumps remaining, pour into your tart shell and allow to set.
  2. Italian meringue is set not in the oven, but by adding hot sugar syrup to your whisked egg whites (or aquafaba in this case!) Put 80ml of aquafaba along with the xantham gum in the bowl of a stand mixer, and start whisking, keeping at it until fluffy.
  3. Meanwhile, put the sugar and 60ml of the remaining aquafaba in a saucepan, and bring to the boil. To set the meringue, this syrup needs to reach a very high temperature, and it’s really useful to have a thermometer on hand to make sure that you get it hot enough - the temperature that you’re looking for is between 116 and 120°C.
  4. Turn your stand mixer back on at a slow speed and gradually drizzle in the boiling hot syrup. When it’s all added, turn your mixer up to high, and give it a good whisk - it should transform into a smooth, glossy, thick meringue, something like the consistency of marshmallow fluff. Add your vanilla, and mix until incorporated.
  5. To finish the tart, spoon your meringue mixture onto the set base, the swirlier the better. Enjoy as it is, or toast the peaks of the meringue with a cooks blowtorch until golden brown.
  6. While the added xantham gum in this recipe should allow your meringue topping to stay fluffy for at least a day, the sooner you eat this the better, so make sure you have lots of hungry mouths on hand to enjoy straight away!