How to make healthy choices every day

White Chocolate Peppermint Torte

white chocolate peppermint torte

 

Hi friends.

It feels good to be back in this blog space. Since the beginning of this year, I’ve been focusing my attention on my latest project, My New Roots Grow – an online universe of wellness education – which will launch soon. Grow is the most energy-intensive and large-scale project since my cookbooks, and once again it feels like birthing something major. The blog has been on the back burner giving more space for Grow to, well, grow, but I thought I’d pop in with this stellar holiday dessert because ’tis the season for a White Chocolate Peppermint Torte!

I actually developed this recipe last winter, but wasn’t sure what to do with it. I thought about keeping it exclusively on Grow (since that is where a lot of my recipe content will live from now on!), but because it is so special and delicious, I felt that it should just be out in the world. Inspired by the Spiced Chocolate Torte that I make on the retreats in Mexico (remember places?!), I wanted to make a festive holiday version with white chocolate and peppermint… enter the White Chocolate Peppermint Torte.

The crust is dark chocolate and pecan, so rich and delicious with just the right amount of salt. The interior is velvety smooth and beguilingly creamy, made with cashews, coconut oil, and white chocolate. I love the kiss of peppermint in the filling, which is definitely present but not overwhelming. I didn’t want anyone to feel like they were eating dessert and brushing your teeth at the same time!

white chocolate peppermint torte

 

Some notes on the recipe…


If you’re using peppermint essential oil to flavour the filling, I find it helpful to measure it out on a spoon first, just in case the bottle is in a giving mood – one too many drops of this stuff will ruin a good torte with too much minty-ness! I like to use about 6 or 7 drops total, but if it comes out too fast, I have no way of controlling the amount. If you’re using peppermint extract, start at a quarter of a teaspoon and work your way up to the flavour that suits you.

If you eat a vegan diet, you can use maple syrup instead of honey in the filling, but the colour is going to be more brown / beige than creamy. Also, make sure to find dairy-free white chocolate, since the vast majority of commercially-made white chocolate contains milk solids. And then, if you do find vegan white chocolate, read the ingredient list to make sure that is doesn’t contain any hydrogenated oils or weird emulsifiers (or just pick your battles!).

 

white chocolate peppermint torte

The torte decorating is entirely up to you, although pomegranate seeds create a striking display of holiday cheer! Other options include fresh mint leaves, cacao nibs, or shaved dark chocolate. You could even include them all, if you’re feeling extra festive.

Store the torte in the freezer until you’re ready to enjoy it, then bring it out about 15-20 minutes before serving so that it’s not rock hard. It’s easier to slice and eat when it’s warmed up a tad. Use a smooth, very sharp chef’s knife, and run it under hot water before cutting into the torte to make it glide.

If you’re not in the mood to make a crust, you can turn this dessert into freezer fudge by preparing only the filling. Pour the filling into an 8-inch / 20 cm square pan lined with plastic wrap; top with ½ cup / 65g toasted pecans, cacao nibs, or chocolate shards, and freeze until solid (about 2 hours). Slice into squares and enjoy straight from the freezer!

white chocolate peppermint torte

 

4.75 from 4 votes

White Chocolate Peppermint Torte

Ingredients

  • For the crust:
  • 1 cup / 100g pecans
  • ¼ cup / 60ml coconut oil preferably flavour-neutral
  • 3 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
  • ¼ tsp. fine-grain sea salt
  • 1 ½ cups / 150g rolled oats divided, gluten-free if necessary
  • 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
  • For the filling:
  • 1 ½ cups / 200g cashews soaked for at least 4 hours
  • ¾ cup / 175 ml creamed honey sub with maple syrup, but be warned the colour of the filling will be brown
  • ½ cup / 125 ml coconut oil
  • 75 g / 2.6 oz. white chocolate melted (dairy-free / vegan if desired)
  • 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp. fine-grain sea salt
  • a few drops peppermint essential oil or extract to taste
  • pomegranate, mint, cacao nibs, shaved dark chocolate, for garnish, optional

Instructions

  • Make the Crust: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly grease a 9-inch (23 cm) spring form pan or pie dish with coconut oil.
  • In a food processor, blend ½ cup (50g) of the rolled oats on high until you have a rough flour, place a small bowl and set aside. Without cleaning the machine, process the pecans into a fine crumb with the texture of sand. Add the coconut oil, maple syrup, salt, oat flour and cacao powder, and process again until the dough comes together. Finally, add the remaining 1 cup of rolled oats and pulse until the oats are chopped, but still have some texture to them. The dough should stick together slightly when pressed between your fingers. If it doesn’t, try adding a bit more maple syrup or processing a bit longer.
  • Crumble roughly half of the dough evenly over the base of the pan. Starting from the middle, press the mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom, moving outward and upward along the side of the pie dish. The harder you press the crumbs into the dish, the better the crust will hold together. Taking a small section at a time, use the remaining crust to go up the sides, all around the form until complete. Poke a few fork holes into the bottom of the crust to let the steam escape.
  • Bake the crust, uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes, until fragrant and slightly darker around the edges. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
  • Make the filling: Drain and rinse the cashews. In a high-speed blender, combine the soaked cashews, honey, oil, melted chocolate, vanilla, salt, and peppermint, then blend on high until the filling is completely smooth. It can take a few minutes of blending to get it smooth, depending on your blender. If the blender needs more liquid to get it going, add a tablespoon (15 mL) of plant-based milk (or a bit more) to help it along.
  • Pour the filling into the prepared crust, smoothing out the top evenly. Place the torte on an even surface in the freezer, uncovered. Freeze for a couple of hours, and then cover the dish with foil and freeze overnight, or for a minimum of 4 to 6 hours, until the torte sets.
  • Remove the torte from the freezer and let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes before slicing. It is meant to be served cold. Garnish with mint leaves, pomegranate seeds, cacao nibs, melted or shaved chocolate, if desired.
Sarah Britton
Click here to print this recipe

I hope that wherever you are and whatever you’re celebrating this month, you are safe, healthy, and grateful. This year has thrown us all for the biggest loop of our lives, and finding the small joys and tiny triumphs (like getting out for some fresh air, putting dinner on the table) is enough to make me feel proud, anyway. The holidays will undoubtedly look different this year, but I know that I am just thankful to have a roof over my head and a torte to share with the ones I love. I hope the same for you, dear friend.

In light and love, best wishes for the season ahead.

Sarah B



31 thoughts on “White Chocolate Peppermint Torte”

  • This is such a touchy subject but you handled it really well.It really shows your immense knowledge and research on this topic. Please keep sharing.

  • 4 stars
    Loved this – it was a major hit in our home. It was such a lovely combination of flavours. The only thing was the crust – it came out quite crumbly and dry. I baked it at the low end of the time range. Any suggestions Sarah?

    • Hi Ashley! Did you weigh the oats vs. measure them with a cup? Sounds like there may have been too many oats in the crust! Try adjusting down the oats a little next time and adding a little bit more oil if you’re still having the crumbly issue. Hope this helps and so glad you loved it!

  • 5 stars
    I finally made this after wondering if I could craft such a beautiful dessert with my limited cooking skills. It turned out beautifully and I was complimented by my friends. I felt like the cooking queen of the day! LOL.

  • 5 stars
    It is not everyone’s business to write such a great post, one person in a million can write such a beautiful post and you are one of those millions. I hope that you will write more beautiful posts in life and also hope that you will keep climbing the ladder of achievement in your life, very few people do this but I have full hope from you.

  • I will totally take peppermint over gingerbread. It’s not that I don’t like gingerbread, but I love mint ALL year round! Especially with chocolate! This cake is a stunner!

  • Such a special treat! As always, I was skeptical that these ingredients would come together into something I’d enjoy, and as always I followed the recipe as written because otherwise you can’t really complain if it comes out wonky (and isn’t there just a small part of all of us that enjoys a good round of woe-is-me bellyaching?). But alas, I was deprived of my opportunity to complain as this cake is truly marvelous. Rich and smooth, and decedent as all get out, it was a perfect anniversary treat for my sweetheart and me. I did put it in a larger spring form pan, because that’s what I had, but since it’s so very rich, this was nice as it allowed for daintier slices. I drizzled a coconut milk 70% chocolate ganache on top for a bit of bitter to contrast with the sweet and sprinkled on some mint leave for some color and a little kick of extra mint. Delish. And soft enough to slice right out of the freezer, which was good since after leaving it to freeze overnight we’d waited long enough, frankly and didn’t want to be twiddling out thumbs waiting for it to thaw.

    Oh, and for those who worry upon discovering (as I did) that the freshly-made filling just tastes of cashews and honey , fear not – the peppermint and white chocolate flavors become more pronounced after freezing and the cashews and honey fade to the background. Not that this should stop you from licking the spatula. You should definitely still do that.

  • I made this for Christmas and it came out overwhelmingly sweet. I used regular honey instead of creamed honey, could that be the problem? If not, maybe you could suggest that people start with 1/2 cup of honey and then add more to taste.

    I ended up using 2 tsps of McCormicks peppermint extract, just in case that helps anyone else. It still didn’t taste noticeably minty, maybe because it was so sweet from the honey. But I was scared to add more 🙂

    Finally, I think the version in the photos came out so white because it used creamed honey (which looks much paler). I used regular honey and it came out more of a golden color. Not a problem for us, but just so people know.

  • This torte looks so pretty and sounds delicious. I want to make it but coconut anything is a problem for me. What would you suggest I sub for the coconut oil?

    • Hi Cheri! Though I haven’t tried, you could perhaps use cocoa butter in place of the coconut oil? Best of luck!

  • Thank you so much for this! I was just thinking about what to make for Christmas this year and viola! There you are with this amazing dessert perfect for making this year special. Xoxo

  • Thanks for the warning you gave in the note that too many drops of the peppermint essential oil ruin the torte with too much minty-ness. It was very helpful. Also, is there a way you can share the link to Grow since you said that is where most of your recipe content will be? I checked this article but couldn’t find any link to it. I wish you success on the Grow project. Thanks once again, for sharing this recipe, my family and I enjoyed it. Season’s Greetings.

    • Hello! Grow will launch soon and will be announced on the blog, on social media, and in the newsletter — you can’t miss it! Thanks for your kindness and your interest.

  • Hi Sarah, Thank you for this update and recipe! It does look stunning! And your comment about feeling like brushing ones teeth while eating dessert made me chuckle.

    I apologize if this is a bratty question, but: you mentioned that your recipe content will exclusively live in MNR grow, and I was wondering if that means that all your blog recipes will travel there? I am asking because I have a few favourites (such as the harrissa carrots or the comfy sweet potato) that I would sorely miss…

    all the best and thank you for all you have shared with us throughout the years!
    Anna

    • Hi Anna!
      All the content on the blog will remain as is! I will continue to add free recipes to the blog and IG as well but for those looking to go deeper into the My New Roots universe, Grow will be there to fill in the gaps. Thanks so much for your support!

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