Opera Singer in the Kitchen

Artistry in Food, Music, and Life

Fruity Coconut-Cashew Cream Tarts

by 34 Comments

20110418_16

What? It is snowing this morning???? Well, after an hour of light snow, most of it is melted now. The strange thing is that it really is not that cold today. How about starting a Monday morning like that?


I am glad that I had a restful weekend because activities are going to start picking up here in the next 3 weeks. The end of the semester means a lot concerts for Ryan and some singing for me, but most of all, is not being able to do anything to help him out with his work load. I can make sure the house is cleaned, meals are prepared and any house-related issues are taken care of, but sometimes I just want to be able to help him.


That is what the weekend was mostly about. I took care of the house and errands and he was busy with rehearsals and performances. I am hoping he can have some downtime soon. This past Sunday I sang the Mozart “Alleluia”, which went pretty well. I have Easter Sunday solo, so I will be singing this song for my church.

20110418_23



Easter is such a beautiful time of year. It always reminds me of the sacrifice that Jesus made for our lives. I sometimes take each day for granted, not thanking God for the amazing blessings he has bestowed on our families and our lives. If you are not familiar with Easter is celebrated I encourage you to read about Holy Week leading up to Easter HERE.


My mother would be so proud of me this weekend. She has been great about reminding me about making sure I eat my greens. Since getting pregnant, I have not had a desire for greens, so I have been putting them in mt smoothies. Yesterday I decided to made veggie enchiladas with dinosaur kale.

20110418_8



I pureed black beans and then placed warm tortillas in the beans and heated them. I then placed one tortilla at a time on my plate and filled them with flash-fried garlicky kale, red onion, and red pepper. I topped it off with avocado and some queso fresco. It was the quickest lunch and most satisfying too!


I also was inspired to make a raw dessert too! I really wanted fresh fruit and some sort of creamy filling so I created a cashew-coconut cream filling, made a raw nutty crust and refrigerated the tart and then added some pineapple and blackberries as a topping. It was SO GOOD!


I can feel as though summer is approaching so I was inspired to make this raw dessert because I have not really desired it. I was excited and sad that I have not been creating too many raw desserts so I will be focusing more on that now that the season for fresh fruit is here.

I really recommend this combination of cashew cream made with coconut because it creates a creamier cream and it adds a tropical flair to it too! I hope you can make this! It can be doubled or tripled for Easter lunch or dinner too!
Are you looking for other Easter RAW desserts or treats? You should check out Better Raw’s newest e-book called Seduced: Raw Chocolate Recipes. More people should know about Tanya’s story and website. She has amazing recipes using all natural ingredients. I mean you really cannot go wrong with chocolate for sure! I can’t wait to try several of her recipes!

20110418_19
Fruity Coconut-Cashew Cream Tarts
Own creation: raw, vegan, and gluten-free
makes 2 tarts

Crust
1/2 cup raw almonds
8-10 Medjool dates

Cream Filling
makes 1 1/2 cups cream

1/2 cup raw cashews
1 cup dried unsweetened coconut chips, or shredded coconut
4-6 Tablespoons So Delicious vanilla coconut milk
2 Tablespoons melted coconut oil
1 Tablespoon vanilla bean paste (or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract)
1/4 cup agave nectar or maple syrup

Fruit of your choice or
10 blackberries and 8 pieces of fresh pineapple.

Soak the cashews and coconut in water for 6 hours. (Make sure water covers the nuts)

Meanwhile prepare the crust in a food processor. There is no need to soak the nuts or dates. Process the almonds and dates until the mixture resembles wet sand. Divide mixture between 2 small tart pans (size 4 1/4 inch with removable bottoms) Press the mixture into the bottom making sure it is even in the edges as well. Refrigerate until coconut cashew cream is prepared.

After the cashews and coconut has soaked, DRAIN the liquid and place the nuts into a Vitamix or other high-powered blender. Add the coconut milk, and the rest of the filling ingredients. Blend until mixture is smooth.

Add 1/2 cup cream into each tart pan. Use the 1/2 cup reserve for dipping strawberries or other fruit. Refrigerate tarts for no less than an hour.

Remove from refrigerator and decorate with desired fruit. Devour quickly!

About Noelle

I’m an opera singer, full-time mom, pharmacy technician, food and mom blogger, recipe developer, and wife to a super talented choral director living in the awesome outskirts of Philly.