The weather has been glorious and we have just had another fantastic weekend. I love summer weekends, time in the hot tub, eating outside, lots of dog walks and generally just lots of time coming together as a family or sometimes just as a couple, everything is so much easier and nicer when the sun is out! This weekend started on Friday evening as my Daughter was coming over for dinner, she left home last year and I do miss the female company in our house of boys.
Dinner was a roast chicken started in the oven and then finished off on the BBQ, new potatoes and Rosie’s favourite, Greek Salad. I did a large jug of water with strawberries and mint leaves that I allowed to infuse all afternoon, its such a nice way to enjoy water with a little hint of flavour and you can easily flavour the water to suit the meal.
Now Rosie has a sweet tooth, meringue by far is her favourite and with the gorgeous local strawberries for sale in the village it was tempting to make her a pavlova, however I did want to stick to my healthy clean eating and so decided to make a Healthy Fruit Tart. Not only is it so simple to make, it is also, no bake, gluten free and refined sugar free. Dessert without guilt. Perfect.
The base looks just like a biscuit base, but its a healthy mix of almonds, dates and coconut oil, add a little cocoa powder (a good quality one of course) and you will be surprised just how many people will not realise that this is a super healthy dessert.
The yoghurt/cream cheese filling is refreshing and again I think you could play around with flavours here, maybe try different citrus fruits or even orange blossom or rose water, just think about what would work well with the fruit that you are using. You can make it all year round using fresh or tinned fruit and just flavour it seasonally.
I kept mine simple, just covered it with strawberries, but can not wait to make it again with different fruits and flavourings. This dessert is light, refreshing and good for you, perfect to enjoy during the Summer months.
Buon appetito
Base:
1 cup whole almonds (I used ground almonds)
15 whole dates (with stones removed)
2 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
Filling:(I doubled the ingredients below to fit my base as I wanted a deeper filling)
115g/4oz cream cheese
85g/3oz greek yogurt
½ tsp orange juice
¼ tsp orange zest
¼ tsp vanilla extract
Fruit topping:
Any fruit of choice or that is in season.
First up make the base by blitzing the almonds in a food processor until they have broken down into a fine consistency, almost like almond flour (if not using ground almonds). Add the dates, melted coconut oil, cocoa powder and vanilla extract and continue to blitz until the dates have been finely chopped and everything is well combined.
Press the mixture into a springform tin or tart dish and place in the fridge for an hour to set. If you don’t have much time then you can put it in the freezer for 15 – 20 minutes.
Make the filling by mixing the cream cheese, greek yogurt, orange juice and zest and vanilla extract together in a bowl. Now spread this mixture onto the top of your base and then decorate with the fruit topping of your choice.
Serve immediately or store in the fridge for a couple of hours until you are ready to eat it! This dish does not store well so a good excuse to eat it all on the day.
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