Chocolate Ganache Tart for One

This little pie is seems European to me (perhaps it’s the olive oil in the crust instead of vegan butter?), and it’s only a little sweet. That’s just the way I like it.

For the Crust:

½ cup all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

½ TBLSP granulated sugar

Slosh of vanilla extract

2 TBLSP olive oil

1 TBLSP warm water (room temperature)

For the Ganache:

1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

½ teaspoon vegan butter

1/3 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)

1 ½ TBLSP maple syrup

Make the Crust:

1. In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt, and sugar. Add in the vanilla and olive oil. 
2. Blend with your hand, adding just enough water to make pliable dough.
3. Form the dough into a ball and put it between two sheets of lightly flour-dusted waxed paper (it’s less messy).
4. Roll the dough with a rolling pin until it’s just big enough to cover a single-serving pie pan and its sides.
5. Using the waxed paper (peel one off and use the other to transport the dough), slip the dough into the pie pan, pressing it gently into the bottom, corners, and sides. You can trim off the excess or make a nice fluted edge by pressing the forefinger of one hand between the thumb and forefinger of the other with the dough captured between them.
6. Prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork in a few places.
7. Chill the pastry in the refrigerator for about an hour.
8. When the dough is nearly finished relaxing in the fridge, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
9. Blind bake (rest some beans or beads wrapped in aluminum foil in the bottom of the crust) for 15 minutes, then remove the “blind” and bake for another 5-8 minutes, until the dough is golden.
10. Let the crust cool on a wire rack, and when it’s cool, remove it from the pie pan. Then put it back, because having the support of the sides will be nice later. But you’ll want to make sure that the crust comes cleanly out now, before it’s full of lovely chocolate.

Make the Ganache:

1. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter. Once it’s melted, remove it from the heat, but keep the chocolate over the hot water.
2. Add in almond milk, whisking merrily. If the chocolate seizes due to the milk’s high water content, worry not. Just keep whisking until it’s homogenous again.
3. Add in the maple syrup, stirring gently.
4. Once the ganache is smooth, let it cool, but not harden, before pouring it into the cool crust. This should take about 20 minutes.
5. Let the ganache set until it reaches room temperature, perhaps another half hour, and then put it in the refrigerator. Don’t put it in there early, or the ganache may shrink and crack, and that would be very sad. Let it cool in there for as long as you can stand it (or at least an hour), and then consume it like it was the last chocolate on earth.