Steemit-ironchef Act 02 Round 11: Tropical fruit and nut mini tartlets

I missed out on last week's challenge due to being in the middle of an earthquake zone, it would of been tricky to enter anyhow as I didn't have a freezer for the popsicle challenge but after the earthquake there was also no electricity and I was living in a tent. There was no food available to buy but plenty of fresh fruit picked straight from the trees. There is something to be said about living in such a raw way, you feel alot closer to nature.

My visa for Indonesia expired so at the moment I'm back in Kuala Lumpur with modern comforts like a freezer, making it easier for me to enter this weeks iron chef competition to create a tartlet. With the ingredients available to me and as I don't eat traditional pastry for health reasons, I've created my own version with javanese dates and sunflower seeds and also some toasted oats. I pitted the dates and chopped the nuts finely. Normally I would use a blender but I left it in lombok so I mixed it by hand.

I pressed the date pastry mixture into small foil cups to make the shape base for the tartlets. I popped them in the freezer. Then I mashed a banana and a mango by hand. Using a blender would be better for smooth consistency. I filled the tartlets and placed them back in the freezer.

Once frozen I cut the tops of to smooth them and then added organic all natural peanut butter and goji berries. I placed it back in the freezer to set.

Then I garnish the tops with passion fruit and Mangosteen. Peanut butter and mango are surprisingly delicious combo and of course the banana and peanut butter is a classic!

I've been collecting all these wonderful seeds and nuts and all sorts of fallen pieces from the trees here in Kuala Lumpur that I used to style my dish.

These little tastes of sunshine are exactly what I need right now, to cheer me up from all that has happened. I hadn't been eating properly for days since leaving Indonesia, my plan was to go back there and now everything is uncertain. I'm worried for my friend and his family, and the community I was staying with.

Ingredients

The base

Dates
Sunflower seeds
Toasted oats

Filling

Banana
Mango

Topping

Good quality peanut butter
Goji berries
Mangosteen
Passion fruit

As I've switched more to a fruitarian diets since being in the tropics these little tartlets are perfect for a small and sweet appetite. As they are kept frozen they are also cooling and hydrating but you can wait for them to thaw and because all gooey and decadent.