As I had never before created anything suitable for the raw vegan diet I decided to try making something, and am very pleased with the results! I'm not entirely sure what to call it, since it's not a cheesecake or flan and not really a tart (I'm pretty sure 'tarts' have a pastry case), but after a really hard think I was stumped so settled on the inaccurate 'tart'! Oh well!
I love the lightness of it - the way I don't feel full like I would after eating cheesecake. I love the nutty, slightly chewy base with a subtle sweetness that lingers as an extremely pleasant after-taste. I love the soft, fruity topping that has a smooth and somewhat 'gooey' consistency. And I love how the chopped hazelnuts pressed into the base gives the sensation of chocolate chips. It works so well as a light summer dessert, and I will be making this again for sure. Not only is it a delicious treat but very healthy, considering it's made simply of nuts, seeds, dates, coconut oil and fruit. That's it! As always I would recommend you use organic ingredients so as not to risk an unwanted side cocktail of chemical residues :-)
Ingredients:
100g dates
150g ground almonds
25g hemp seeds
25g coconut oil
25g chopped hazelnuts
1 mango
1 avocado
1 ripe banana
30g chia seeds
Fresh blueberries to decorate
Method:
If you have a food processor you can just blitz the dates, but mine has broken so I chopped my dates finely using a knife.
Grind the hemp seeds (I used the coffee grinder attachment on my blender).
Put the dates, hemp seeds, ground almonds and coconut oil (melted on very low heat) into a bowl and mix thoroughly. I used my hands to scrunch the mixture really well.
Press into a lined cake/flan tin.
Sprinkle the chopped hazelnuts on top of the base mixture, and press down into the base using the back of a spoon. Pop into the fridge to harden.
Put the mango, avocado and banana into a bowl and puree using a stick blender.
Finely grind the chia seeds and stir into the fruit mixture.
Spread the fruit topping over the base and decorate with blueberries. Pop back into the fridge for a few hours to set properly before removing from the lined tin and slicing up to eat.
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Many thanks.
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All photos in this post are my own original.
