Cranberry Orange Spice Mini Tarts.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving is a family holiday, but unfortunately our family is far away from us, so I am glad that this year we were invited for a dinner to our friends’ house. Great young couple with an adorable daughter Sophie ( our Sophia’s friend).

We’ve never celebrated Thanksgiving in Ukraine, so it’s becoming a new tradition for us, and because our daughter was born here I am trying to involve her in american culture and traditions as much as possible. We are learning with her too.

Because we were going for dinner, I didn’t cook anything at home. I only made some salad to take with us, and at the last minute I decided to fix some healthy dessert. Actually, it wasn’t at the last minute, because I spent 2 days to make it, but the result worth these two days spending in the kitchen.

Honestly, the recipe is simple, but there are three steps in making it, so I made part of it the first day and finished the next day.

The recipe is completely vegan, grain, gluten, dairy, wheat free.

Cranberry Orange Spice Mini Tarts.

Tart Shells:

2 cups almond flour

2 tablespoons maple syrur or coconut syrup or agave syrup ( I will use less syrup next time, because it was too sweet for me)

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line 12 cups in a regular-sized muffin tin with paper liners (I personally used silicone muffin cups).

Put all the crust ingredients in the food processor and mix very well. Let it become a very nice dough.

Add the crust mixture to the cups and press down firmly into the cup using your knuckles, going up the sides a tad bit.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then place the pan in the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble the tarts and serve. ( I used mine the next day)

Cranberry-Orange Spice Sauce:

1 cup fresh organic cranberries, washed

1 large orange, peeled, sectioned and pith removed, and cut into 1-inch pieces

Zest from that orange, set a little aside for topping when serving

1/2 cup maple syrup, coconut nectar, honey, etc.

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

Directions:

In a heavy saucepan over a medium heat, combine the the cranberries, orange pieces, maple syrup and ginger.

Cook for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries open and the orange pieces dissolve. I  used a fork to get in there and mash up the cranberries.

Remove from the heat, stir in the orange zest and allow the mixture to fully cool. Blend the mixture in the blender to smooth consistency.  Place into the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble the tarts.

Cashew Cream Layer:

3/4 cups raw organic cashews, soaked at least 4 hours ( I did it overnight)

Juice from 1/2 orange about 2 tablespoons

2 tablespoons filtered water

2 tablespoons maple syrup, coconut nectar, honey( I will use less next time)

Pinch Himalayan crystal salt

1 teaspoon coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Add everything to your high speed blender and blend on high for as long as it takes to make it smooth and creamy.

Remove the paper liner off of the tart shells. Top each of the tart shells with a spoonful of the cashew cream filling and a spoonful of the cranberries.

Enjoy!!!!

I made tarts and cranberry sauce the first day, and the cashew cream the next day.

They were really very delicious and everybody liked them.

You can find the original recipe here.