I can’t quite believe I’m writing this but it’s that time of year – Christmas is fast approaching so I thought it time to roll out a few festive delights. Starting with this delicious, easy to whip-up Rich Chocolate Tarts – because who doesn’t love a rich chocolate tart hee hee!
This is a great make-ahead dessert for Christmas day as you can prepare all the components in advance and then assemble prior to serving. The buckwheat flour makes for a really simple, biscuity pastry crust. I love to use it in gluten-free baking because it is such a cost effective flour. I hope you love it!
Health benefits
Buckwheat is a very nourishing, fibre and protein rich seed. It is anti-inflammatory, a great source of antioxidants and supports a healthy digestive system. Cashews are a great source of many minerals and good fats.
Take a look at the variations (below the main recipe) for suggestions to alter the recipe to suit any specific dietary requirements.
Rich Chocolate Tarts
Ingredients
Chocolate Cashew Cream
- 125 g raw cashew nuts (approx. 1 cup) soaked 3-4 hours, or overnight
- 60 ml coconut water (¼ cup)
- 85 g rice malt syrup or maple syrup (¼ cup)
- 2-3 tbsp cacao (unsweetened Dutch process or raw)
Chocolate Pastry
- 280 g buckwheat flour
- 125 g butter room temperature
- 80-100 g coconut sugar or rapadura (approx. ½ cup)
- 2 tbsp cacao (unsweetened Dutch process or raw)
- 1 free-range or organic egg/s
Fruit
- 1 cup fruit -of your choice. I love fresh berries or cherries (think Black-forest flavours)
Instructions
Cashew cream
- Start with the cashew cream. It can be made a day or so ahead, up to you. Soak the cashews for 3-4 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse.
- To make the chocolate cream, blend the soaked cashews in a powerful food processor or blender until a course texture. Thermomix 20 seconds speed 4.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and blend again until a smooth cream is formed. Thermomix 30 seconds, speed 4-5 (you may need to scrape the sides once or twice).
- Set it aside until you're ready to serve.
Chocolate Pastry
- Pre-heat your oven to 180℃ (fan forced) and grease one large or four small springform tart tins.
- In a food processor, combine the butter and buckwheat flour until a crumb like texture forms. Thermomix 20 seconds, speed 4.
- Add in the remaining ingredients and mix until the dough forms a disc. Thermomix 30-40 seconds, speed 4. As you mix it it should come together.
- Wrap the dough in baking paper and pop in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Cut the dough in half (you have enough for two large tarts or 8 small tarts - see tip below). So for this recipe, you only need half of the dough, the other half can be refrigerated or frozen until needed.
- Roll the dough to about 5mm thickness. It's important to work quickly, especially in a hot kitchen - as the dough softens, it's harder to work with. Cut the pastry to suit the tin you are using. You may need to bring the pastry back together and re-roll to use it all up. You can mend any tears or thin areas by pushing the dough into the tin with your fingers.
- Any leftover you can cut into shapes to decorate or just enjoy as biscuits.
- Cover the tarts with a sheet of baking paper and weight it to blind bake the shells.
- Cook for just 7 minutes for a small tart, 10 for a larger one. Remove from the oven and cool in the tins for a few minutes, then, when cool enough to handle, carefully push out of the base and cool completely on a wire wrack.
- Keep in an airtight container for 1-2 days until ready to serve.
To serve
- Place the fruit in the bottom of the tart shells.
- Top the shells with the cashew cream and garnish with more fruit and shaved dark chocolate (optional, as pictured).
Tip
- Individual tarts are most fool proof as the larger tarts can crack when cutting (unless the pastry is cooked perfectly).
Store
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge.