The Naturopaths Kitchen

Tart Dough

1. Mix the butter, xylitol and salt together in a bowl until creamed, add the vanilla bean seeds and continue mixing until light and airy. Add egg to the mixture and mix until well combined. Add gluten-free flour and almond meal and mix until it forms a dough consistency.
2. Place between two sheets of cling wrap, flatten and refrigerate for 2 hours to rest.
3. With a little extra gluten-free flour, flour the bench and place pastry on the bench, once again dust with flour. Roll the dough until it is nice and thin, cut out 12 cm rounds to fit 10cm tart cases. Place into tart cases and prick the dough all over with a fork. Trim any overhanging edges of the tarts and place into the fridge for an hour.
4. Heat oven to 160°C and bake the tarts for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

Pecan Salted Caramel

1. Over a medium heat, place xylitol in a saucepan and stir until dissolved into liquid. Simmer well, (xylitol does not turn golden like sugar).
2. Deglaze the mix adding the cream, then add the salt and remove the saucepan from heat. Allow the mix to cool slightly and whisk in butter until the mixture becomes smooth and glossy.
3. Mix in the chopped pecans and half fill the tart cases with the pecan salted caramel. Place into the refrigerator to set.

Chocolate Ganache

1. Over a medium heat, pour cream into a saucepan and almost bring to the boil. Add sugar-free chocolate and stir until smooth. Add butter and mix until well combined.
2. Fill chilled tarts with the chocolate ganache and return to the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes to set.
3. Remove tarts from cases and top each with a few pecans to serve. You may like to serve alongside some sugar-free vanilla bean ice cream or whipped cream.

Teneille’s Tips

• This decadent, but sugar-free dessert is a real showstopper and a great addition for dinner parties.
• If you prefer another type of nut, this dessert also works well with pistachios, brazil nuts, walnuts or hazelnuts.
• Did you know that pecans are actually not technically a nut! They are part of the hickory family and the pecan itself is the fruit or drupe!
• Pecans a good source of plant sterols, compounds that have beneficial effects on cholesterol balance.