Vegan Lemon Essential Oil Tart
I have a slowly growing essential oil collection (which I barely use). I’ve been meaning to use them more and more but am still finding it hard to remember to use them. I do absolutely love using them in food however and I realised that I still hadn’t created a recipe using my lemon oil. This was a tricky oil for me to use as I use lemon quite often in a lot of my desserts and so never saw the need to use lemon oil instead of actual lemon. Since I really wanted to give it a try I thought I would experiment and I am so glad I did. The flavour comes out quite different from using normal lemon. It’s a lot deeper and more pronounced. The taste of the tart reminds me of a lemon lolly/candy which is very different from the taste of using an actual lemon. It almost heightens the sweetness of the desert and is just delicious. As a bonus I also didnt have to deal with lemon pips which drive me crazy!
I am definitely not an expert when it comes to essential oils, the main reason I am drawn to them actually have nothing to do with their healing benefits (although I’m sure they are great) but rather that you can use them to flavour food! (only the edible oils of course). It has recently been brought to my attention that some people believe it is unsafe to ingest edible essential oils due to the fact that it may affect the gut? Although I am no expert I get confused by this as the alternative is chemical laden, alcohol-based food flavouring which cannot be good for our digestion or any part of our health either! I know that many health-conscious food companies have turned to using essential oils in their products as a safer, cleaner for a natural alternative and I am so very happy about it! However, if you are uncomfortable using essential oils in this recipe or simply do not have any you can sub the oil for the juice and zest of 1 extra lemon in the filling.
For this recipe, I have partnered with a good Instagram friend of mine called Nicky who is an essential oil expert (unlike me) She has also made a recipe using Lemon Essential oil ( we both use Doterra brand) which I will link for you here:
https://www.nourishedandvibrant.co.nz/recipes/gf-vegan-raspberry-lemon-mini-cheesecake-bites/
We are holding an essential oil party on Instagram for yummy treats so please go follow us both here:
https://www.instagram.com/hazel_and_cacao/
https://www.instagram.com/nicky.skinner/
and submit your delicious edible essential oil treats! we will share out favourites and I will most likely choose a few favourites to recreate and blog about myself!
Hope you enjoy our recipes, my lemon tart is refined sugar-free, gluten free and dairy free and Nicky’s vegan cheesecakes are the same!
| Vegan Lemon Essential Oil Tart | Print |
- BASE:
- ¾ cup rolled oats
- 2 cups almond meal
- 3 TBSP grapeseed oil
- 3 TBSP maple syrup
- Zest 1 lemon
- FILLING:
- 3 cups cashews ( soaked for at least 4 hours)
- 1 can organic coconut cream
- 2 TBSP coconut oil
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- drop vanilla extract
- 4 drops good quality lemon essential oil
- For the base: mix all ingredients in a bowl until they become crumbly and sticky
- Press evenly onto the sides and base of a lightly greased tart tin
- Bake for 20 mins at 180 C or until crust looks golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
- For the filling: add all filling ingredients in a blender and blend on high until smooth and creamy.
- Once the base is completely cool, pour filling over base and spread evenly.
- Place in freezer for 3 hours to set.
- Decorate with sliced lemon and blueberries or raspberries.
- If you have leftover batter you can make cheesecakes in a jar or mini cheesecakes.
