Berry Tarts with Vanilla Cashew Cream

A nutty crust and luscious cashew cream round out this beautiful vegan dessert. Feel free to get loose with the fruit: if you have tons of blueberries, you can stick with those, or do a mix of whatever's in season. Berries are such a great source of nutrients called polyphenols, which make them and the foods they are mixed with a lovely slow energy releaser, perfect to avoid those unwanted energy highs and then lows after eating refined sugar. These tarts are wonderful for when you are entertaining guests and need an easy and cool looking dessert.

Canola oil, for greasing

Crust:
½ cup Medjool dates, pitted
1 cup pecans

Filling:
2/3 cup plain cashews, soaked
¼ cup Medjool dates, pitted
seeds from 1 vanilla pod

Fruit:
¼ cup blueberries
¼ cup raspberries
¼ cup blackberries

To Serve:
½ bunch fresh mint or basil

Grease four (5") individual, loose-bottomed, fluted or straight-sided tart tins and set aside on a tray.

Place the dates and pecans for the crust in a food processor or mini blender and blitz until they start to clump together. Divide this mixture equally among the tins. Press the mixture onto the base and up the sides of each one, making sure it is of even thickness. Place in the fridge to set for 30 minutes while you get on with the rest of the recipe.

Place the soaked and drained cashews, the dates and vanilla seeds in a food processor or mini blender along with ½ cup of cold water. Blend until as smooth as possible to give a creamy mixture.

Once the tart bases have set and are feeling firm, remove them from the fridge and divide the cashew cream among them. Spread it out evenly with the back of the spoon. Top with the berries and then scatter over the mint or basil to serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Cook's Notes: Ideally, the cashew nuts in the filling would love to be soaked for 4 hours or so in water, but if you are in a hurry just put the cashews into a bowl, pour over some boiling water to cover them and leave them to sit for an hour instead. Once the cashews have been soaked and have begun to soften, then just drain them completely and set aside while you get on with the rest of the recipe.