Chocolate Turtle Truffle Torte

[Bohemian_Vegan]

I made this a toasted almond torte by modifying it as follows:
Crust - I used 1/2 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup oat flour, 1/2 cup almond meal, 1/2 cup coconut, and 1 cup of coconut oil (melted) with a tsp of vanilla. This crust is fantastic, it tastes very similar to a graham nut crust but with more toasty almond goodness.
After baking the crust, I let it cool and then chilled it in the freezer, therefore my caramel layer (added 2 tsp of cornstarch- turned out excellent) did not seep at all into my crust. I think other people might have been having that trouble because the crust needs to be cold in order for the caramel to semi-solidify when it hits it.
After that I topped the caramel with toasted almonds and let cool, using only 1/2 the truffle recipe to top it off in the end. This made a fantastic tiny treat that my family just couldn't get enough of 

[veggeroni]

This was really good, but OH BOY, is it RICH!! I had to make some substitutions but I think the essence was the same. I used turbinado sugar and sucanat instead of fructose/brown sugar, I used Smart Balance Light for the soy margarine, I used almonds instead of pecans (purely by accident - I actually toasted the almonds and everything before I realized it said pecans - duh!  , 1 and 1/4 bags of Ghirardelli semi-sweet chips, and I used almond milk. I made the crust and let it chill a bit. I made the caramel and thought it was very runny. I added about a teaspoonful of AP flour to it and stirred. It still looked runny but I poured it on the crust anyway. I put the toasted almonds on top and put it in the fridge to set overnight. It did actually set pretty well even though I didn't think it would. I made the chocolate topping the next day and smoothed it out with a spatula. I topped it with some more toasted almonds and put it back in the fridge. I actually served it on the third day (Easter). I think it came out really well but it is definitely very rich. I think I might only use 3/4 of a bag of chocolate next time. Very tasty though and it definitely looks like a fancy dessert! Also it was easy to make because I did it in stages. You might want to do that because it made it easier and more relaxing for me.

[i_h8meat]

that picture looks amazing! I want to try this really bad!

[Tangient]

It was pretty good, but I had trouble, even with cornstarch, with the caramel thickening. It just stayed runny. I think next time I will use a better caramel recipe and double the crust or decrease the amount of chocolate, and absolutely double the pecans. I can't express how much the pecans bring this recipe together, and with this few the chocolate just overpowers everything else!

Along with layering the pecans over the crust, they should be mixed into the chocolate just before you pour it in.

This recipe has great potential but it just needs some refining (in my humble opinion.)

[vernix_says]

I haven't made this (yet), but try cooking the caramel a bit longer.  sugar hardens as it heats up, hence "caramelizing", and the difference between soft ball to hard crack in candymakers thermometers. basically, you want to get the sugar to a heat  so that it is hard, but not hard candy, and not syrup.
That means,  around 170°C/338°F.  or the "brown liquid" stage. this should eliminate the need for thickeners. Also: when I make this next week,  I bet I'll eat the whole thing.  seriously. 

[mirrya1]

Very delicious but holy crap is it rich.  I ate a small piece and got a little quesy by the last bite.  Not that it stopped me from finishing.  Heck no...I practically licked the plate clean!   

[MaHee]

I made this for a potluck and people liked it a lot.  It is super rich, but it's super good!