Strawberry, pink pitaya and chocolate tart

Baked chocolate cookie crust filled with a creamy and fruit strawberry and pink pitaya filling! Vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free with alllll of the taste and texture! Recently, there was a massive national strawberry recall in Australia where millions of fresh punnets of strawberries at major supermarkets were sent back to their farms. It was on the news everryyywhereee and, as a food business owner, the local health council sent me warning messages every day.

Unfortunately, the strawberry farmers struggled massively and there was a massive waste of food. In response, some parts of the community made an active effort to buy and consume strawberries… plus who can say no when they are only $1 a punnet?! I bought a few punnets of strawberries and whipped up this colourful tart!

I reduced the strawberries on the stove top which created a richer and more colourful tart filling. I used an unbaked cashew filling because I prefer the taste of pink pitaya powder when its raw rather than heated. If you’re after a nut-free tart, feel free to substitute the cashews for sunflower seeds!

The crust is baked so it provides a lovely textural contrast to the smooth filling. Plus, who can resist a crunchy cookie crust?!

I brought the tart to a little afternoon up where there were two adorable 2-3 year old girls. They DEVOURED their slices of tart and reveled in the bright pink filling.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

If you try this recipe, I would love to hear about it! Comment below and rate it as it would really help us and other readers! If you post it on social media, tag @rainbownourishments and #rainbownourishments.

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Chocolate, strawberry and pink pitaya tart

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Total Time40 mins

Servings: 8

Ingredients

Filling

• 2 cups (300g) strawberries
• 1 1/2 cup (160g) raw cashews
• 1 cup (250g) canned coconut cream*
• 1/2 cup (200mL) any light-coloured sweetener, such as rice malt syrup or maple syrup
• 1/2 cup (100g) cacao butter, melted (or coconut oil but the tart will have a more prominent coconut taste)
• 1/4 cup (35g) pink pitaya powder

Crust

• 1 cup (160g) sunflower seeds
• 1 cup (100g) desiccated coconut
• 1/3 cup (135mL) any light-coloured sweetener, such as rice malt syrup or maple syrup
• 1/4 cup (25g) cocoa or raw cacao powder
• 2 tsp (20mL) light-tasting vegetable oil, such as sunflower or rapeseed

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 160C.
• Place strawberries in a small pot over high heat. Roughly mash berries with the back of a fork until some of the liquid comes out. Boil for 5 minutes then reduce to medium heat. Remove from heat when the strawberries have almost completely broken down and there is only around 1 cup (220g) of strawberries.
• For the crust, add the coconut and sunflower seeds to a food processor. Process for 1 minute or until everything forms fine crumbs. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until combined
• Line the bottom of a rectangular tart tin (I used one that was 13x36cm). Firmly press the chocolate mixture against the bottom and sides of tin. Bake for 15 minutes in the oven. Set aside to cool.
• For the filling, add the strawberry puree and rest of the ingredients in a high powered blender. Blend until as smooth as possible.
• When the tart crust has cooled to the touch, pour the strawberry mixture into the tart tin. Set aside in the fridge for at least 4 hours or until set.

Notes

*For the coconut cream, make sure you get canned cream which has no additives such as guar gum then leave the can in the fridge overnight. When you need to measure the cream, only scoop out the thick portion of the cream which has formed at the top and use it for the recipe. If the coconut oil has separated from the cream, gently melt it and incorporate it into the thick cream.