RAW CACAO & COCONUT TARTS

I can eat nothing but fruit and vegetables for breakfast, lunch and dinner and be perfectly satisfied, but those chocolate cravings never disappear. I struggle to find healthy, yummy desserts so when I happened upon this recipe over on Madeleine Shaw's blog, I couldn't make it fast enough. One small problem; if you don't like the flavour of coconut, step away now, this is not the answer to your prayers. If I'm honest, I wasn't blown away by these when I first tried them. After adding some chopped up strawberries to them, though? Delicious. The best bit? They're so rich that only a couple of bites satisfies all cravings. Win, win.

INGREDIENTS
makes 4 10cm tarts

BASE
75g ground almonds
25g desiccated coconut
25g dates
2 heaped tbsp raw cacao powder
1 tbsp melted coconut oil
a drop of vanilla extract
1 tsp stevia (adjust to taste)

FILLING
100g soaked cashews
15g slightly melted coconut oil
3 tbsp honey
1 tbsp raw cacao paper
1-2 tbsp stevia (adjust to taste)
A drop of water

TOPPING
A handful of chopped pistachios
Raspberries / blueberries / strawberries

METHOD
1. First, grab your tins and oil them up with a little bit of melted coconut oil. Leave the cashews to soak in a bowl of water.

2. Pop the ground almonds, desiccated coconut, dates, cacao powder and stevia into a food processor and blend for a couple of minutes. Add the melted coconut oil slowly and blend until combined completely with the rest of the ingredients. Add the base to the tins gradually, a spoonful at a time. Press the mixture into the tin on the base and along the edges. Make sure to divide the mixture evenly between the desired amount of tins. Put the tins into the fridge to set the base while you make the filling.

3. Blend the soaked cashews, honey, stevia and water in the food processor. Add the cacao and coconut oil and blend until fully combined and creamy. This might take at least a few minutes, and make sure to scrape down the sides and the bottom of the food processor to make sure everything is combined. Add more stevia or honey to taste.

4. Add the filling to the tins with a spoon or spatula. Sprinkle chopped pistachios on top or add some fresh berries. You can pop them back in the fridge but the filling will harden to the same consistency as the base, so leave them out to warm to room temperature before eating!