Raghad Fahmi and Ahmed Al Nasheet Cook Plant-Based Date Tarts with Manal Alalem

Episode 7 of Cooking Tales features Manal Alalem – who returns for a third time to show host Ahmed Al Nasheet and special guest Raghad Fahmi that plant-based cooking is the way moving forward. Will Raghad outperform her younger twin sisters Rawan and Rayan Fahmi in the Kitchen?

In this episode, Manal makes Date Tarts using only plant-based ingredients: Ahmed and Raghad also join in to help, but they seem to be doing a lot more eating than cooking. Before starting, Raghad asks Manal a very important question: how do they make a plant-based Date Tart? Plant-based butter and cream, kindly provided by Flora Plant – of course! Manal specifically uses Flora Plant butter and cream to make the delicious date filling and the pistachio and orange blossom infused dough.

Ultimately, Manal shares this plant-based Date Tart recipe to educate viewers on why plant-based eating is extremely important: not only is it good for your mental and physical health but it will ultimately help save the planet. Not to mention Flora Plant butter and cream are super tasty vegan alternatives!

If you are interested in cooking this plant-based Date Tart at home, then check out the recipe below. Also, make sure to head over to www.flora.com to ensure that you’re using the most delicious and high-quality plant-based ingredients.

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 2 cups almond flour
• ½ a stick of Flora Plant butter
• 1 cup pistachio, finely grounded 
• 1 tsp cardamom
• ½ tsp orange zest
• Pinch of salt
• 3 tbsp. carob molasses 
• ½ tsp orange blossom water
• 3 to 4 tbsp water

For the filling:

• 4 pitted dates
• 1 cup pitted dates to make paste
• 1 cup Flora Plant cream 
• ½ tsp orange blossom water
• 1 ½ tbsp cornstarch
• Pinch of salt

For the garnish:

• Some grounded pistachio
• Whole pistachio
• Almond flakes
• Dates

Instructions

• STEP 1: Warm-up your Flora Plant cream till steaming and soak the 1 cup of dates in it. Set aside.
• STEP 2: In a deep bowl, mix almond flour with grounded pistachio, Flora Plant butter, salt, orange zest and cardamom powder. Add the molasses and orange blossom water and mix it all together till you have some sort of crumble.
• STEP 3: Start adding the water 1 tbsp at a time until the texture is clumpy. Then squeeze and roll it into a sticky dough. 
• STEP 4: Divide your dough into 4 equals pieces. Press each piece of dough inside each mold to make the base of your tart. Cut the 4 pitted dates into cubes and then put 1 cubed date into each mold. Set the base aside.
• STEP 5: Preheat your oven to 180 C
• STEP 6: Pour the dates soaked in Flora Plant cream into your blender or food processor. Add all the remaining filling ingredients and blend until you have a smooth thick mixture.
• STEP 7: Pour the filling equally into the 4 tart bases. Then bake them for 45 minutes in the preheated oven. After 45 minutes, remove from the oven and let them cool down completely on your kitchen countertop.
• STEP 8: Garnish to your liking before serving. You can store these small tarts up to 5 days in the fridge.