The Orange Kitchen

Cacao and Peanut Butter Tarts.

I woke up a few days ago and I had the overwhelming, in actual fact all consuming, need to make tarts. Don't ask me why or how, I just got up one morning and it felt that it was imperative that I make tarts that day. But I found myself with a bit of a conflict because I couldn't decide if I wanted vanilla and orange tarts or chocolate and peanut butter ones. So, I asked some friends, who very surprisingly unanimously said I should make orange and vanilla ones. But I'm that person who asks for advice and inevitably does the precise opposite, which in this case turned out perfectly because these delicious morsels came into existence.

I am a long-term fan of the entire Mayver's range. I've always loved peanut butter, but the Mayver's peanut butter is by far my all time favourite and one of my kitchen staples. I can't actually recall the last day in my life in which I did not eat some, which should give some kind of indication of how addicted I am to the PB. I've taken it upon myself to experiment with the Mayver's range lately and try some of their products that I haven't used before. This is by no means a sponsored post, Mayver's actually have no idea I'm even doing this, I purchased all the products and ingredients myself and my opinion is 100% my own unbiased appraisal of the product. Let me say this; YOU GOTTA GO AND GET YOURSELF SOME MAYVER'S PEOPLE. THIS STUFF IS THE ACTUAL GOODS. If you're in Australia, it's available at Woolworths and Coles supermarkets and if you're not in Australia, get on skyscanner.com and book yourself some flights to get here NOW.

As if peanut butter wasn't delicious enough on its own, Mayver's went and put some cacao into it which has taken this spread to the next level. I used the spread as my inspiration, and added a whole heap of healthy foods and these are what I ended up with. In actual fact, not only is the spread the actual next level, but these tarts are just the next level in general. They've got PB and chocolate, they've got some more chocolate, they've got a whole heap of nuts and dates and then they've got some more chocolate on top. They're refined sugar free, oil free, dairy free and delicious. You need these in your life basically.

Ingredients;

The Base
1 cup raw almonds
6 medjool dates
2 tbsp Mayver's Cacao and Peanut Butter (if you are not in Aus, use 2 tbsp pure-state peanut butter and 1 tbsp raw cacao powder)
2 tbsp rice malt syrup

1. Put all the ingredients above into a quality blender and whizz away until you get a sticky mixture without any big chunks of nuts. Some chunks are okay though - they add a good texture to the base.
2. Take some tart moulds (cupcake/muffin tin also works in the absence of tart tins) and line with some baking paper/parchment. Take a spoon and put some of the mixture in each tin. Use your fingers and/or a spoon to press it down really well into the tin and up the sides so you end up with little cups. Place the tin in the freezer to set while you make the filling.

The Filling
1 1/2 cups raw cashew nuts (soaked in cold water overnight)
4 tbsp raw cacao powder
3/4 cup coyo (recipe here)
4 tbsp organic maple syrup

60gm dairy and oil free dark chocolate (I used Loving Earth)

1. Drain the cashew nuts. In a clean blender, combine the cashews, cacao, coyo and maple syrup on big speed until the mixture is not at all gritty. The cashews will take a while to blend properly but be persistent and keep blending and scraping down the sides until you have a super smooth and delicious chocolate mixture.
2. Remove the tart tins with the base from the freezer and pour/scoop the filling into each mould. Depending on how thick your coyo was, the mixture may be quite runny or somewhat hold its shape - both are fine because the tarts will be frozen, just be careful not to overfill (it ends up a lil messy!).
3. Place the filled tarts in the freezer overnight in an airtight container to set.
4. When you wish to serve the tarts, remove them from the freezer and set on the bench while you prepare the chocolate.
5. Take a small bowl and melt the chocolate. I did so in the microwave which I think is the quickest/easiest/least messy way to do so, being careful to keep an eye that you don't overheat and burn it!
6. Take a spoon to drizzle the chocolate over the tarts. Because they're frozen, the chocolate will set almost immediately. Serve or enjoy yourself and best of luck in not eating them all at once even though that would be kinda naughty...!