I especially love the combo of slightly bitter matcha and creamy coconut so I rolled up my sleeves and cooked up a tray of small matcha coconut tarts. They are a perfect summer dessert.
serves: 2 small tarts
Ingredients
Gluten-free pastry
- ½ cup buckwheat flour
- ½ cup (gluten-free if required) oats or oat flour (packed ½ cup)
- ¼ cup / 4 tbsp desiccated coconut
- a good pinch of fine salt
- 4 tsp tapioca starch or cornstarch
- 2 tbsp raw cacao powder
- 3 tbsp / 45 ml melted coconut oil
- 3 tbsp / 45 ml maple syrup
Matcha Coconut Filling
- ½ cup / 75 g raw cashews, soaked
- 240 ml / 1 cup coconut cream (separated from a tin of full fat coconut milk)
- 2 tsp matcha powder (I used cooking grade)
- ¼ cup / 4 tbsp maple syrup, more to taste
- 1½ tsp agar flakes OR ½ tsp agar powder
Instructions
Pastry
- Grind oats and desiccated coconut to a powder in a coffee grinder or a food processor.
- Pre-heat the oven to 175° C / 345° F.
- Place ground coconut and oats in a large bowl with buckwheat flour, salt, tapioca starch and cacao. Stir well until evenly mixed.
- Add melted coconut oil and rub it into dry ingredients with your fingers. Then add maple syrup. If the mixture is still too dry add a touch more oil and maple syrup until the dough comes together easily. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- Grease the ramekins with a little bit of coconut oil and line the bottoms with circles of baking paper so that it’s easy to take the tarts out after baking.
- Divide the dough into 2 portions and press it into the base and sides of each ramekin. Press it well so that there are no gaps and the dough is bound tightly together.
- Bake on the middle shelf for about 16 minutes.
- Cool after baking and before filling.
Filling
- Place drained cashews, coconut cream, matcha and maple syrup in a blender.
- Place agar flakes in a small pot with ¼ cup (4 tbsp water) and bring to a gentle boil. Simmer, stirring frequently, for about 15 minutes until agar has ALMOST dissolved (I find that the flakes never dissolve completely no matter how long I stir). Cool it down a little so that it isn’t added to the rest of the ingredients piping hot.
- Add warm agar mixture to the blender and process until smooth, scraping the walls of the blender from time to time. Once smooth, divide the mixture between two pastry cases. Set aside to set – it should set in about 30 minutes.
