Chocolate Orange Caramel Tartlets (Gluten-Free, Refined Sugar-Free, Vegan)

I'm getting back into healthier baking and found a few interesting ideas I really wanted to try out. The inspiration for these tartlets came from Livia's kitchen, an amazing food blog I can't believe I hadn't heard of previously! She had a recipe for a chocolate orange tart, which is refined sugar-free, gluten-free and vegan. As I'm training for a big race and am trying to eat cleaner, I adapted the recipe to make it a little lower in calories and sugar. For example, I cut down on the sugar content by making the caramel layer a little thinner, as well as leaving out the coconut oil (I didn't miss it!), and adapting the chocolate topping. The flavour is so intense you don't need much, so these tartlets are a perfect handheld treat.

I used a loose-bottomed 12 hole sandwich tin from Lakeland. If you don't have one of these, you could use a standard cupcake or muffin tin.

Makes 12 tartlets.

169kcal per tartlet

Ingredients:

For the base:

• 80g (3/8 cup + 1 tbsp) dates (pitted)
• 75g (3/5 cup) ground almonds
• 65g (2/3 cup) finely chopped walnuts
• pinch of salt

For the caramel filling:

• 150ml (2/3 cup) orange juice
• 175g (1 cup) dates (pitted)
• Zest of one orange
• pinch of salt

For the topping:

• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 15g (1 tbsp) shelled and skinned peanuts
• 100ml (2/5 cup) skimmed milk (or use a soy/nut alternative if you'd like the tartlets to be dairy-free and vegan)
• 80g (3/8 cup + 1 tbsp) dates (pitted)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180c (160c fan)/355F/gas mark 4. Lightly grease the base and sides of each well in the cake tin/muffin tray.

2. To make the base, blitz the dates in a food processor/high-power blender until smooth. Add the salt, ground almonds and walnuts, and blitz again until you have a slightly sticky dough.

3. Evenly divide between the tartlet moulds, pressing into the base and sides. Try to get the crust as thin as possible, around 2-3mm is ideal. You can use your fingers or the back of a teaspoon to press.

4. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes (the tartlets will be starting to turn golden on the edges). Take out of the oven and leave to cool.

5. Make the caramel by blitzing together the dates and orange juice until smooth. Stir in the salt and orange zest.

6. Evenly divide between the tartlet cases. They should be filled close to the top, but not overflow.

7. To make the topping, blitz the last batch of dates with the peanuts. Add the milk and cocoa powder and blitz until smooth. It will be fairly runny. Top each tartlet with the chocolate mixture and gently smooth over.

8. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the chocolate layer feels firm but not too hard. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

9. Once cool remove from the tin and place in the fridge for at least half an hour before serving.

10. Enjoy!