Chocolate, almonds and fruit
After my birthday, the year always seems to speed up and I can't believe that it's already mid-June. The longest day is in a week or so yet we are still shivering in socks and blankets in the evening, where is summer?! For the last month I have embarked upon the 5:2 diet and am restricting calories for two days a week. I'm nominally interested in the health benefits of doing this (encroaching middle age starts to remind you of your own mortality) but of course like most people, I also wish to lose a little weight too. In addition, I figured that this would also be a rather thrifty way of eating and would reduce actual pounds and pennies as well as whittling the waist. On 'feast' days I have been consciously trying to eat healthily but don't feel guilty about tucking into a cake or two and there are very definite results, so far so good. On Sunday I had a delicious lunch at my Mum's, a Middle Eastern lamb and onion stew with almonds and cinnamon scented cous cous (a recipe from Claudia Roden). To share the cooking, I brought up some fresh asparagus from a local farm and the dessert.
I wanted to create a French style fruit tartlet but with a slightly healthier slant and no pastry, reduced sugar and fat but at the same time making it seem like a real luxurious treat. I think this worked fairly successfully (certainly there was very little left, always a good sign!). I will try a dairy free variation of this next time using some silken tofu (in fact I have all sorts of decadent ideas to take this further), but here is the recipe for the version above.
Gluten free chocolate and almond fruit tart
200g ground almonds
2 tbsp maple syrup
3 heaped tbsp raw cocoa powder
70ml coconut oil, warmed and melted
180g very low fat cream cheese
142ml (one carton) low fat creme fraiche
100g unrefined icing sugar
assorted fruit (I used Sharon fruit, kiwi, physalis, strawberries and figs)
a square or two of dark chocolate (70% plus)
fresh mint
Mix the grounds almonds, maple syrup, cocoa powder and coconut oil until well combined and press into a 20 inch loose bottomed tart tin with your fingers, pressing well into the edges and up the sides. It's best to line the base with a circle of baking parchment prior to this, as this does make it easier to remove. Put the prepared tin into the fridge for a few hours, preferably overnight to chill. Whisk the cream cheese and creme fraiche together with the icing sugar, keep tasting, you may add more depending on how sweet you want the end result to be but I wanted the slight tartness of the creme fraiche to show through. You can prepare this a day ahead too and keep it separately from the tart base, adding it about an hour before you serve. Once the cream mixture has covered the base, pile the top with as many fruits as you dare, remembering that we eat with our eyes first, so the more colour the better! Shave the squares of chocolate with either the edge of a knife or a grater over the top and add a sprig of fresh mint here and there.
Enjoy!
I wanted to create a French style fruit tartlet but with a slightly healthier slant and no pastry, reduced sugar and fat but at the same time making it seem like a real luxurious treat. I think this worked fairly successfully (certainly there was very little left, always a good sign!). I will try a dairy free variation of this next time using some silken tofu (in fact I have all sorts of decadent ideas to take this further), but here is the recipe for the version above.
Gluten free chocolate and almond fruit tart
200g ground almonds
2 tbsp maple syrup
3 heaped tbsp raw cocoa powder
70ml coconut oil, warmed and melted
180g very low fat cream cheese
142ml (one carton) low fat creme fraiche
100g unrefined icing sugar
assorted fruit (I used Sharon fruit, kiwi, physalis, strawberries and figs)
a square or two of dark chocolate (70% plus)
fresh mint
Mix the grounds almonds, maple syrup, cocoa powder and coconut oil until well combined and press into a 20 inch loose bottomed tart tin with your fingers, pressing well into the edges and up the sides. It's best to line the base with a circle of baking parchment prior to this, as this does make it easier to remove. Put the prepared tin into the fridge for a few hours, preferably overnight to chill. Whisk the cream cheese and creme fraiche together with the icing sugar, keep tasting, you may add more depending on how sweet you want the end result to be but I wanted the slight tartness of the creme fraiche to show through. You can prepare this a day ahead too and keep it separately from the tart base, adding it about an hour before you serve. Once the cream mixture has covered the base, pile the top with as many fruits as you dare, remembering that we eat with our eyes first, so the more colour the better! Shave the squares of chocolate with either the edge of a knife or a grater over the top and add a sprig of fresh mint here and there.
Enjoy!
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