STRAWBERRY BASIL TART
POSTED ON July 5, 2017
I first got to know Pana Chocolate, the raw, vegan, handmade chocolate company in Melbourne (Australia) through their pretty, color-drenched Instagram account. The photos of Pana’s naturally sweetened chocolate bars, decadent cakes and interesting flavor combinations are always inspiring. After admiring their creations from afar, it was exciting to see their first cookbook: PANA CHOCOLATE THE RECIPES, which is out now in Australia. Beyond how to make chocolate, the volume contains a range of recipes for desserts of all kinds and a nice variety of breakfast recipes including a raw buckwheat porridge, chia pudding with a kick, a choc-brekkie granola and a no-nuts breakfast bar. Oh, and they also include an impressive selection of nut cheeses as well.
I was drawn to this tart recipe because of its simplicity—I wasn’t sure how a raw crust with so few ingredients (and zero vanilla?!) could work. It not only held together, but it also held up for almost a week as I found the time to complete the filling, photograph it and share it with friends. I love the use of brown rice syrup in the filling; it provides a gentle sweetness and less destructive effect on blood sugar levels—whilst still tasting like a celebratory dessert. The texture of the filling came out great. It is rich so be sure to cut small slices and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve it. If you’re new to raw desserts, this is a great recipe to try—the method is super simple and seems to me to be fail-proof. I imagine the filling is also a great springboard for many other flavor combinations. Above all, it’s perfect for making in summer as there is no heat required.
Enjoy and please let me know if you give the recipe a try.
Love from Australia,
Amy x
STRAWBERRY BASIL TART
They top their strawberry tart with a strawberry syrup and dehydrated cherry tomatoes. I just used strawberries and a Thai basil leaves. They suggest a 12 x 28 cm (5 x 11 inch) tart pan but I used a small round spring form pan and found I had extra crust but not extra filling. I’m guessing it would be a thinner layer of filling in the rectangle pans.
Recipe from:
Pana Chocolate The Recipes: Raw. Organic. Handmade. Vegan.
Published by Hardie Grant Books
Makes 1 7-inch (17cm) tart
NUT-FREE TART SHELL
1 ¾ cup (140 grams/5 ounces/1 ½ cups) dried, unsweetened coconut
7 medjool dates, pitted
Scant ½ cup (50 grams/1 ¾ ounces) ground flax seed
Pinch of pink salt
Coconut oil for oiling pan
BASIL CHEESE CAKE FILLING
¾ cup (115 grams/ 4 ounces) raw cashews, soaked
2 tablespoons (45 milliliters/1 ½ fluid ounces) cashew milk, recipe below
5 tablespoons (75 milliliters/ 2 ½ fluid ounces) brown rice syrup
2 tablespoons lemon juice (juice of one small lemon)
4 ½ tablespoons (65 milliliters/ 2 ¼ fluid ounces) extra virgin coconut oil
8 large basil leaves
Sliced strawberries
Basil leaves to garnish
Make the tart shell:
Line bottom of a 7-inch (17 cm) spring form cake pan with parchment paper, oil sides with a little coconut oil and set aside.
Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend until the mixture comes together. You may need to blend it for quite a while. Press thinly and evenly into pan. Place in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes while you make the filling.
Make the filling:
Add cashews, cashew milk, rice syrup and lemon juice to a high speed blender and blend until completely smooth. Warm the coconut oil until liquid (you can do this by placing the jar in a bowl of hot water) Add the coconut oil to the blender along with the basil leaves and blend until super smooth. Pour filling into tart shell and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Decorate:
Arrange fresh sliced strawberries over the top of the tart and garnish with basil leaves. Cut into small slices and serve cold.
CASHEW MILK from:
This recipe is a base recipe for making nut milks for different types of nuts. I’ve added details for using cashew. It is a rich and thick milk.
Makes 4 cups ( 1 liter )
2 ½ cups raw nuts, soaked for a minimum of 30 minutes
4 cups (1 liter/ 34 fluid ounces) filtered water
Drain and rinse nuts and add to an upright blender. Add water and blend until smooth. Strain through a nut milk bag and squeeze bag to remove all the milk, save pulp for other uses. When making cashew milk you will be left with very little pulp, if any.
POSTED IN Dessert, Gluten free
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Here I was thinking about my son’s first birthday and what I could make for a dessert that didn’t include a bunch of sugar and flour. Just then, your email with this recipe pops up in my inbox! It’s like it was meant to be. I can’t wait to try this!
Perfect! I hope he likes it!
X
Oh wow, this is a gorgeous tart. I love its simplicity and especially the use of basil and brown rice syrup. I bet lime would be a nice pairing with the basil, too. This is definitely going on the list to make. Thanks for sharing Amy!
What a beeautiful summer tart! Have already tried basil and straberries together in raw tarts, the taste is so exotic! Thanks for sharing this beauty, Amy!
Hi Natalia,
it is an unusual combination and I love the colors!
Best,
Amy x
Great recipe. When will the book be available in the US?
Hi Sharon,
I’m not sure…you could write to them through their site to find out.
Thanks!
Amy.
x
I tried this recipe this weekend for a summer rooftop party and it was a hit! Loved the fresh taste. Thanks so much for posting in time that I could try. Only comment is that I found my base didn’t stick together very much. It all crumbled as soon as I cut it and was more like meal/LSA than crust. I followed the recipe, blended for quite a while and had it in the fridge overnight but wondered if perhaps that was how it was meant to be.
Hi Jade,
I wonder if it was the texture of the dates? Perhaps it needed a splash of water to bring it together.
Mine was quite moist after blending, if yours was more like a meal then I imagine it was hard to press into a crust.
I would be careful of adding too much water as it might make it soggy since it doesn’t get baked. Maple syrup might be a good option ifyou didn;t mind using the extra sweetener.
Thanks so much for your feed back!
Amy x
Thanks Amy, I just made it again last night and tried your recommendations. I added a splash of water but that didn’t do enough, then added some local honey (had just run out of maple syrup) and that made all the difference. Will be serving it tonight but it already pressed into the container MUCH firmer. I will try getting different dates next time (although I used fresh medjool ones perhaps I’ll look at the local markets next time)
Thanks – winner!!
Great! So glad you made it work and yes good juicy dates are key.
Amy x
Hi this sounds wonderful and am getting ready to make it! Am curious how in the photo the filling has a green tint – is it the hue from the ingredients listed or are there basil leaves blended in also? Thanks for sharing so much inspiration Amy!
Hi Jennifer,
Yes the filling is green from the basil thats blended into the filling.
Let me know if you make it.
Best,
Amy x
I literally started having hunger pangs halfway through the post. It looks amazing and I bet it also tastes delicious too. It is the perfect dish to cook up in this season. I can’t wait to try it . Looking forward to reading more delectable recipes in the upcoming posts.
Hi Eshika,
Thank you for following along here! Let me know if you make the tart.
Best wishes,
Amy x
I wish it were still strawberry season – this tart looks amazing! For Thanksgiving, I made your pumpkin tartlets with ginger cashew crust for my family (we’re gluten/dairy free – and crust was a success w/ all purpose GF flour). We loved them so much I made another round of them with the leftover half of kobocha squash! So delicious. Looking forward to trying all the tarts from your book – and will definitely be trying this recipe in the summer.
Hi Andrea,
I love those tartlets and its been too long since I’ve made them. As you can tell I love tarts!
Enjoy baking them and this will be here next spring.
Thanks for cooking from my book.
Amy.
This tart is so good! I have been waiting for summer and fresh basil and strawberries to make it. The crust was a little too dry because of the dates so I added a little bit of maple syrup as suggested by Amy in the comments and it worked perfectly. I also doubled the filling recipe and used a 9 inch spring form pan which worked good with the amount of crust. What a wonderful summer treat!