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Creamy, silky, and morish, this Vegan Chocolate Custard Tart is a perfect dessert when you want to have something sweet but healthier. Also, it’s very easy to put together, no baking required.
Chocolate custard is one of my favourite desserts to enjoy, either on its own or as an element in desserts. It’s also one of the things I missed a lot after I turned vegan (because traditional custard is mainly made from eggs and dairy milk).
But after reading more and more recipes and working in different vegan restaurants, now I know that vegan custard is really a thing that’s not far away from traditional custard.
Hence, I started making custard again. But this time, without eggs and any dairy products. And this Chocolate Custard Tart is one of the testing-and-trying results!
What’s special about this Vegan Chocolate Custard Tart?
- Soft, slightly chewy tart base with silky smooth chocolate filling
- Vegan, no eggs, no dairy
- No coconut milk or tofu (which are common in vegan chocolate tart recipes*)
- No baking required, just a bit of cooking
*PS: Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE using coconut milk and tofu in making desserts, but I know some of you may not be fans of either/both of them, or cannot get them easily.
I actually have shared quite a few chocolate desserts before using either of them, such as this Vegan Chocolate Tofu Peanut Butter Tart and Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cream Pie. Feel free to check them out if you’re interested as well. 🙂
Ingredients You Need for this Chocolate Custard Tart
- Pitted dates
- Instant oats (porridge oats)
- Toasted sunflower seeds
- Desiccated coconut
- Salt
- Tapioca starch
- Soy milk
- Pure Vanilla extract
- Cacao powder
- Dark chocolate (50~70% cacao content)
- Coconut sugar
- Maple syrup
- Sunflower seed butter
One optional ingredient is cacao nibs, which I only use for decoration. You can use shaved chocolate as well.
For substitutions, please take a look at “Questions You Might Have” section and the recipe card.
How to Make No-Bake Vegan Chocolate Custard Tart
There’s no baking involved, but we do need to use the stove for the filling part. All the measurement/amount used and details are in the recipe card in the end of this post.
- To make the crust
- Line the bottom of a 7” cake tin with baking paper.
- Add the pitted dates to a food processor. Blend to chop the dates finely.
- Add instant oats, sunflower seeds, desiccated coconut, and salt. Blend to mix all ingredients together.
- Add water and blitz again for 3 seconds. Check the texture to see if the mixture can stick together when pressed between your fingers. If not, add another 1/2 – 1 teaspoons of water and mix to help to bind.
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared cake tin and spread it out. Then use a spatula or a spoon to press down the mixture firmly to form the crust.
- Place the cake tin in the fridge while we make the chocolate custard filling.
- To make the chocolate custard filling:
- Place a non-stick sauce pan over low heat.
- Add tapioca starch and water into the pan. Use a spatula to mix them together very quickly. Then add 200 ml of soy milk, vanilla, and salt. Stir and cook until the mixture thicken up like pudding. If some tapioca starch gets lumps, sieve it through and add it back to the pan.
- Turn off the heat. Add cacao powder, chopped chocolate, coconut sugar, maple syrup, and sunflower seed butter. Use the remaining heat to melt the chocolate and mix everything together.
- Transfer the mixture to a small blender container and then add the rest of the soy milk (50 ml). Blend until smooth.
- To assemble:
- Take the cake tin out from the fridge. Pour the chocolate custard filling mixture over the base till it’s almost full to the edges. I got around 3 tablespoons extra filling, which I just devour on its own. (Yep)
- Place the cake tin back in the fridge overnight or until the filling is completely set.
- Gently remove the tart from the tin. Dust some cacao powder and sprinkle cacao nibs (if prepared) on top. Slice and enjoy!
How to Store No-Bake Vegan Chocolate Custard Tart
Store the tart in an airtight container in the fridge. It should last for 4 – 6 days. I don’t recommend storing this tart in the freezer because it will change the filling texture after defrosting.
Tips for Success
- Cook the custard filling with low heat. Because tapioca starch gets thick very fast, it’s better to start with low heat and keep stirring while cooking.
- Weighing your ingredients. I’ve written down the rough cup-gram conversion in the recipe card, but it’s always better to use a kitchen scale for accuracy.
- Pay attention to the temperature. Make sure to add the chocolate to the filling mixture when it’s still warm. Otherwise, your filling might not be so silky and smooth.
- Let it sit long enough in the fridge. The filling takes time to set up in the fridge. I’d recommend making this tart the day before and let it sit in the fridge overnight or at least for 8 hours.
Questions You Might Have
Final Words
This vegan chocolate custard tart is really creamy, morish, and light in texture at the same time, which makes it very easy to be devoured in a short amount of time. Hence, goes the saying – Sharing is caring. (wink wink)
I want to share this vegan chocolate custard tart with everyone, especially with people who have nut-allergy or don’t have an oven. (But you do need to have a fridge!)
On the other hand, if you feel like baking, I’d recommend making this Wholesome Vegan Hazelnut Chocolate Tart or this Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cream Pie.
I hope you will like this vegan chocolate custard tart as much as I do. If you have any questions or thoughts, please let me know by commenting down below.
Love, — Nora
More Vegan Dessert Recipes:
No-Bake Vegan Chocolate Custard Tart (No Coconut milk, No Tofu)
Ingredients
For the crust
- 42 g pitted dates, soaked in water for 15 mins if too dry (1/4 cup)
- 45 g instant oats, porridge oats, or rolled oats (1/2 cup)
- 28 g toasted sunflower seeds, (~3 Tbsp)*
- 2 Tbsp desiccated coconut
- 1/16 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp water
For the chocolate custard filling
- 1 Tbsp tapioca starch, or corn starch (cornflour)
- 2 Tbsp water
- 250 ml unsweetened soy milk, separated into 200 ml and 50 ml (7 oz and 1.76 oz) **
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/16 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp cacao powder, plus 1 tsp for topping
- 42 g dark chocolate, 50 – 70%, chopped (1.5 oz)***
- 1 Tbsp coconut sugar, or other vegan sugar
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp sunflower seed butter, *
- 2 Tbsp cacao nibs, optional, for topping
Instructions
To make the crust
- Line the bottom of a 7” cake tin with baking paper.
- Add the pitted dates to a food processor. Blend to chop the dates finely.
- Add instant oats, sunflower seeds, desiccated coconut, and salt. Blend to mix all ingredients together.
- Add water and blitz again for 3 seconds. Check the texture to see if the mixture can stick together when pressed between your fingers. If not, add another ½ – 1 teaspoons of water and mix to help to bind.
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared cake tin and spread it out. Then use a spatula or a spoon to press down the mixture firmly to form the crust.
- Place the cake tin in the fridge while we make the chocolate custard filling.
To make the chocolate custard filling:
- Place a non-stick sauce pan over low heat.
- Add tapioca starch and water into the pan. Use a spatula to mix them together very quickly. Then add 200 ml of soy milk, vanilla, and salt. Stir and cook until the mixture thicken up like pudding. If some tapioca starch gets lumps, sieve it through and add it back to the pan.
- Turn off the heat. Add cacao powder, chopped chocolate, coconut sugar, maple syrup, and sunflower seed butter. Use the remaining heat to melt the chocolate and mix everything together.
- Transfer the mixture into a blender container along with the remaining soy milk (50 ml). Blend to incorporate them together.
To assemble:
- Take the cake tin out from the fridge. Pour the chocolate custard filling mixture over the base till it’s almost full to the edges. I got around 3 Tbsp extra filling, which I just devour on its own. (Yep)
- Place the cake tin back in the fridge overnight or until the filling is completely set.
- Gently remove the tart from the tin. Dust some cacao powder and sprinkle cacao nibs (if prepared) on top. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
- *Sunflower seeds & sunflower seed butter: Here I use sunflower seeds and sunflower butter because they are easy to get and also are great nut-free options. But if you are not specifically keen on making this tart nut-free, you can use any types of nuts/nut butter instead. (See How to Make Nut Butter)
- **Milk options: I usually use soy milk because it’s my staple. But you can use any kind of plant-based milk here, such as oat milk and almond milk.
- ***Dark chocolate: Here I recommend using dark chocolate with 50 – 70 % cacao content to the perfect level of sweetness.
- Storage: Store the tart in an airtight container in the fridge. It should last for 4 – 6 days. I don’t recommend storing this tart in the freezer because it will change the filling texture after defrosting.
- Equipment & tools: I use this blender (affiliate link) in this recipe. For more of my favourite baking tools and ingredients, please shop my pantry staples & kitchen tools.
