Midnight Black Sesame Tarts

These tarts are modestly sweet, with a nutty flavour and secret ingredient; give them a go and fall in love! Vegan, dairy, egg, gluten and refined sugar free.

Prep Time 25

To set 2

Servings mini tarts

Calories 739kcal

Author Buffy Ellen Gill

Ingredients

Base

1 c almonds
1 c dates
1/2 c sesame seeds
2 tbsp black tahini
1-2 tbsp coconut oil melted
1/4 tsp vanilla powder
1/8 tsp sea salt

Filling

1 1/4 c cashews soaked 1-2 hours
1/2 c water
1/2 c coconut oil melted
1/4 c black tahini
3 tbsp sweetener brown rice syrup/coconut nectar/maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp sea salt

Instructions

Base: Blitz the almonds, half of the sesame seeds (1/4c) and dates in a food processor until finely ground and starting to form a paste.
Add black tahini, coconut oil, vanilla powder and sea salt and blend again until the mixture sticks together between your fingers. Add remaining sesame seeds and blend on low until combined.
Press evenly into 6x10cm tart tins lined with biodegradable clear wrap, on the base and up the sides until they are about 5mm thick on each side. Place in the freezer to chill while making the filling.
Filling: Blend all ingredients except the coconut oil in a high speed blender (I use this Vitamix here) until super smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Then, pour in coconut oil slowly while blending, allowing it to emulsify into the mixture.
Remove the bases from the tins and place on a flat tray, then pour the filling evenly into each. Place in the freezer for a few hours to set, or in the fridge overnight.
Sprinkle with black and white sesame seeds and serve.

Notes

If you don't have any black tahini handy, I also love making these tarts with the Chantal Hulled Tahini (check it out here). However, I do really recommend getting some sometime (you can order some from our online store right here), it has a lovely and unique taste that adds a beautiful depth-of-flavour to these tarts.
To make this nut free, simply replace the almonds in the base and the cashews in the filling with sunflower seeds or watermelon seeds.
I've use dried and activated nuts in the base here - to read more about how and why you might like to activate your own nuts and seeds, check out my blog post here. We also stock a range of activated nuts and seeds on our online store here.
I’ve used a combo of almonds and sesame seeds in the base, for an added sesame texture and flavour. You could just use 100% almonds here if that’s easier.
You don’t have to soak your cashews, if you don’t want to. If you have a strong blender like a Vitamix (you can get the same one I have here) they’ll blend just fine from dry. Soaking is good to remove the phytates, but there are less on cashews - and I often run out of time to do this in advance!
As with all my recipes, this tart is only modestly sweet. If you prefer it slightly sweeter you can increase the liquid sweetener in the filling to 4 Tbsp (1/4 c).
If your food processor isn’t that strong, you may want to blend the almonds and sesame seeds into a flour first before adding the dates.
You can also use silicon tart tins here if you have them – super easy to remove at the end, but hard to find in the french fluted style (I just have the stainless steel ones).
To line your tins, sprinkle a little water on the tins before putting the clear wrap on top – this helps the wrap to stick to the tin before you press in the crumbly base.
You can actually get away with making these with a single mini tart tin – you just have to make each base and let it set for 10-15 minutes before removing and making the next. This is what I did as only had one, although having a few more to rotate them around would make it quicker!

Nutrition