Deliciously decadent wholesome grain-free vegan tarts with chocolate orange ganache filling.
Special thank you to Amore di Mona for sponsoring this post.
I have discovered a whole new love for chocolate and orange in these lovely Chocolate Orange Tarts. The truth is I’ve never really been a huge fan of the chocolate orange combination, but this season, I’ve been feeling really inspired to use exactly these two wonderful ingredients.
Orange always reminds me of Christmas, the aroma coming from zesting an orange is one of the most beautiful scents and I love adding orange zest to all of my Christmas bakes if possible.
The tarts shell is a raw based nut-free dough made with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, dates, cacao, cinnamon and orange zest. If you don’t need these to be nut-free, you could use a combination of almonds and sunflower seeds, which is lovely too or even hazelnuts that are lovely with chocolate.
To make the ganache I’ve used vegan creme fraiche that gives them little more cheesecake flavor and together with the orange zest creates a divine combination. It is very simple yet such delicious filling. If you have problems finding vegan creme fraiche you can use vegan creme of your choice to make the chocolate ganache.
I have originally made this recipe as an 8″ cheesecake and it worked really well too. Alternatively, you can also make it as a large tart.
I’ve decided to make the decoration on these very simple, it really is a recipe that you can enjoy any time of the year and you can choose decoration to suit the mood of the season.
I didn’t want to make these really Christmassy but still wanting them to have the festive feel and decided to sprinkle them with little edible gold dust. I also feel that they look quite folky, and that is exactly what I was going for. I’m hoping that they will stir some joyous memories and emotions in you. Or maybe, oh yes, I’m making these!
Chocolate Orange Tarts (vegan & grain-free)
Deliciously decadent wholesome grain-free vegan tarts with chocolate orange ganache filling.
Ingredients
Crust layer:
- 1 cup sunflower seeds (120 grams)
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (60 grams)
- 2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch sea salt
- 6 medjool dates, pitted
- zest of 1/2 orange
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
Chocolate ganache:
- 12.3-ounce dark vegan chocolate (350 grams)
- 1 and 2/3 cup vegan creme fraiche (400 ml)
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar of your choice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch cloves
- pinch allspice
- zest of 1 orange
Topping:
- edible gold dust
Instructions
- Place sunflower and pumpkin seeds into food processor and pulse few times until they are coarsely ground. Add cacao, cinnamon, sea salt, pitted dates and orange zest and blend until the mixture starts coming together when pressed. Add maple syrup if needed and blend until the mixture sticks together.
- Lightly grease 6 tart tins. You can also line the base for an easy removal.
- Spoon the mix evenly into each, press tightly onto the base and the sides to form a crust. Set aside.
- Roughly chop the chocolate, place into heatproof bowl and gently melt over a pot of simmering water. Stir until smooth.
- In a medium bowl mix together creme fraiche, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, all spice and orange zest. If your mixture is not at room temperature once the chocolate has melted place it above the pot with the simmering water until it reaches room temperature.
- Now fold the melted chocolate into the creme fraiche mixture and stir until smooth.
- Pour or spoon the ganache onto the crust of each tart and place into fridge to set overnight.
- Place the leftover ganache into fridge to set overnight.
- Once set gently remove from the tart tins.
- Fill a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle with the leftover ganache and decorate your tarts. Sprinkle with little gold dust.
- Best served chilled.
Notes
- I've used 6 small 10 cm tart tins with removable base in this recipe.
- You can make this recipe as 8" round cake or large tart.
- If you can't find vegan creme fraiche you can replace it with vegan cream.
- You can replace the sugar (I've used blended rapadura sugar) with 1 tablespoon of maple syrup, but the sugar makes the filling little more dense.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving:Calories: 834Total Fat: 58gSaturated Fat: 30gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 23gCholesterol: 96mgSodium: 1376mgCarbohydrates: 73gFiber: 9gSugar: 54gProtein: 13g
Oh Hana you make everything look so pretty : ) and of course delicious.
This recipe might be a Godsend to me as the next week we’re expecting temperatures to be in the mid to high 40’s (the hottest in Australia). At this time of year I get a little nostalgic for England.
Happy Christmas to you and yours.
BTW we have a lovely orange tree in our garden. The fruit is so sweet and juicy : ) and orange and chocolate are a marriage made in heaven.
Oh Angela, thank you so much for your beautiful comment.
Wow, that is very hot! A friend of mine told me just this morning she will be moving to Sydney next year!
Well since you do have a wonderful orange tree in your garden you will have to try making these now :)
Happy Christmas to you and your loved ones. Love Hana xxx
Sydney is not a very good place to be at the moment (a friend just came back from there) because of the terrible bush fires – there’s a mega bush fire burning that is bigger than Sydney (which is our largest city). The air quality is said to be worse than Beijing and black ash has been washing up on the beaches. The air quality is so bad for people with chest conditions and I can’t help thinking of the poor poor animals who have been burned alive. But people are very resilient so hopefully all will be well again next year and the bush will start to regenerate – it’s an amazing thing to see because so many of our native trees need smoke and fire to crack the hard gum nuts and so start the new cycle of life.
Gosh,hope this doesn’t put your friend off : )
That all sounds quite scary, so much has been going on this year and I believe it’s to continue next year as well. I feel it’s part of Mother Earth cleansing and regeneration.
They say that the next 10 years will tell where we’re headed, I certainly hope it’s towards more Love, Compassion and Healing on all levels for all of us.
Hi Hana, This recipe looks outrageously yummy! I want to make it, however, I am deathly allergic to dates, what can I use in their place.
Thanks so much,
Susan
Hi Susan, thank you. I’m really sorry to hear that. You can use any other dried fruit in the crust, figs or apricots will be lovely too. You can add little water if needed or soak them first, they tend to be drier than dates.