Chocolate salted caramel tarts

So I fell off the dairy wagon the other night. I was craving a treat so bad (all my darling could offer me was a piece of marmite toast….and he calls himself a chef!?)  that I slipped and had a rather large bite of a Whittakers  coconut chocolate bar. With Easter looming high on the horizon I thought maybe I should have a few decadent dairy free treats hanging around to keep that dirty old Easter bunny at bay and dairy out of my belly.

So I found this luverly recipe on the cute blog This Rawsome Vegan Life and thought that sounds like a bit of me. I added some of my newest favourite ingredient to the base; hempseeds and swapped a few things around and voila- the yummiest cupcakes to ever grace this earth. I actually couldn’t wait to try one and ended up having one before 6am. That’s commitment. 

So, happy Easter my friends. Get into these,  they are super.

Whats in them? 

Base

½  cups of almonds

½ cup of hempseeds

1 cup of brazil nuts

1 ½  cups dates

Caramel:

1 cup dates

½ to 1 cup of water

2 tablespoons  white chia seeds

1 tablespoon apple syrup or coconut nectar or honey if you prefer

½  teaspoon of sea salt

Chocolate:

3/4 cup cacao

¼  cup coconut nectar

2/3 cup melted cacao butter

juice and zest from 2 oranges or tangelos

How do you make them?

To make the base:  Put all the nuts and seeds into the food processor and process them until they look like breadcrumbs. Add the dates and process until they look like they are somewhat sticking together. Press the base into individual either lined or greased tart  or muffin trays.

Caramel surprise: blend all ingredients in the food processor until smooth, adjusting to your desires. Put a spoonful of it into each base and pop into the freezer to set fully.

Chocolate top: Melt the cacao butter in your dehydrator or over some warm water. If you don’t care about it being raw, you can do in a pot over the element.  Add to the blender and add all of the other ingredients. It should be thick and gorgeous. Wait until the caramel and bases are completely solid and set and then spoon the chocolate on top. Top with orange zest or some dehydrated calendula flowers.

Enjoy!