From a Healthy Grain to a Delicious Chocolate Tart with Millet
Before I tried millet, I heard loads of positive opinions about it. For example, this tiny grain is a good source of magnesium and thanks to it has some heart-protective properties. It lowers the blood pressure and reduces the risk of heart attacks.
Another nutrient present in millet – phosphorus – plays a significant role in development and repair of body tissue. Eating millet is also supposed to lower the risk of type 2 diabetes.
However, my first experience with it was rather poor: I didn’t like its bitter taste. But keeping in mind all the health benefits of eating millet, I decided to give it another try.
I did some research and learned two ways of preparation the millet before cooking it that eliminates the bitter taste. So you can dry fry it for approx. 1 minute till it releases the aroma. Or you can pour boiling water into a pan with the millet, stir it well, transfer to a fine-mesh strainer and drain it.
I personally prefer the first method as it is faster and almost fuss-free. The simplicity is especially important in the morning when still half asleep I prepare healthy breakfast for my daughter (millet with fruit).
Chocolate Tart with Millet – Delicious Gluten Free Base with Yummy Filling
However, in the recipe below I used millet to make something more complex. I prepared a Chocolate Tart with Millet filling.
The cooked millet mixed with chocolate is already so yummy that you could have it by itself. However, adding whisked egg whites made the millet chocolate mixture light, almost like a mousse and I really liked that.
Since millet is gluten-free, I didn’t want to “spoil it” by using wheat flour to make a base. That’s why I used a recipe with ground almonds instead.
The base made this way is softer than one made with regular flour. But the overall result was very delicious, especially for millet and chocolate fans: light and airy millet chocolate mousse in a delicate gluten-free crust.
Chocolate Tart with Millet
Ingredients
Base:
- 150 g ground almonds
- 1 tbsp Demerara sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 0.5 tsp cinnamon
- 75 g butter
Filling:
- 100 g millet
- 1 pinch salt
- 375 ml water
- 100 g dark chocolate
- 1 tbsp cocoa
- 2 eggs separated
- 70 ml sunflower oil
- 3 tbsp Demerara sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 0.5 tsp vanilla extract
- raspberries to decorate
Instructions
- In a bowl mix ground almonds, salt, cinnamon and sugar.
- Cut butter into small pieces, add to the dry mixture and work with your fingers through, till it resembles small crumbs.
- Put the crumbs together to form a ball.
- Grease sides of a 20 cm round baking tin and put a greaseproof paper on the bottom.
- Working with your fingers spread the almond dough on the bottom of the tin and raise it slightly (1.5-2 cm) on the sides.
- Put the base in a fridge for 10-15 minutes and start preheating an oven to 175 Celsius degrees.
- Put the millet in a frying pan and start heating it up (dry) till it releases the aroma.
- Transfer the millet to a pot; pour boiling water mixed with salt and after it reaches the point of boiling, cook gently for 15-20 minutes till the millet absorbs the water and is soft.
- Put the base to the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
- When the millet is cooked but still hot add the chocolate broken into small pieces, stir well till it melts.
- Put the chocolate millet, oil, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, vanilla and egg yolks into a food processor and process it till the mixture is smooth.
- Whisk the egg whites till stiff and add half to a bowl with the chocolate mixture, stir gently and then repeat with the other half.
- Spread the mixture gently over the baked almond base and put raspberries on top, pressing them down gently.
- Bake for 30 min.
