It's not that we need an excuse to have some chocolate, but if we did World Chocolate Day is a pretty good one.
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With this chocoholic's dream coming around every July 7, it's a great time to look at what things can be done with chocolate, and what unusual flavours it can be paired with.
And Leah Itsines' chocolate tart with a twist recipe fills both of those briefs, as the not-so-secret ingredient is dijon mustard.
The recipe comes from the free recipe e-book, Plant Based Exploration, the foodie and influencer has put together with French mustard company Maille.
"The reason why I did it was because I really wanted to show that mustard can be used in everything, and obviously dessert is one that you don't automatically think of," Itsines says.
"Myself and Thalia from Maille kind of thought, why don't we put it in a chocolate dessert that will give an earthy, zingy flavour to it, while we still get the sweetness from the chocolate, to balance it out.
"We thought it would be a cool addition and something that wouldn't freak people out too much. I thought it was an amazing way that we could put it in and showcase how we can use it across anything.
"It gets people talking and gets people questioning why I would do that because then they might try it themselves and be pleasantly surprised."
The collection of recipes is all - as the e-book's name suggests - plant-based as Itsines wanted to not only make sure the recipes were accessible to as many people as possible but because she wanted to go outside of the box for people who only grab the mustard when having meat.
The result includes not only the chocolate tart but maple roasted pumpkin, honey mustard tofu, and a plant-based shepherd's pie.
"Doing something that is plant-based, means you have loads of variety and you don't have to keep making the same sort of dish," Itsines says.
"It was nice to be able to do a bit of a dessert, some mains, and some breakfast as well. So it was nice to be able to challenge myself and getting mustard in all parts of your day.
"I just wanted to give a bit of everything and use a range of different products. The recipes turned out really delicious. The shepard's pie is my favourite. It's really warm and hearty so it's perfect for winter."
Itsines has been on social media for a few years now, creating enough food content to not only feed the beast that is Instagram but also to bring out two guides focusing on healthy and balanced eating.
She has a whole team, including a dietitian, helping her out to come up with new, healthy recipes for her followers.
"Our whole social media presence is just about how we can help women transform their lives in the way of food and nutrition," she says.
"By producing content and creating recipes and doing as much as we possibly can to reach that goal in helping women.
"Healthy eating has such a stigma around boring, restrictive, flavourless and I hate that. And I hate that people go through a healthy eating journey and hate it. Our goal is to get them to seek change on their own but also do it in a really sustainable and delicious way."
Unsurprisingly, this mission begins with discussions with her team about what everyone had for dinner the night before.
"They'll be like we had a shepard's pie and we all go around saying what we had and my brain just kicks and thinks: 'We could do a shepard's pie but put this in it'. My brain just works so quickly and I create something in my head," Itsines says.
"It doesn't always work when I go into the practical version but then I think about all these flavours and what I could do and how I can make it funky and I tried it until it comes out as something that will go in the book.
"It starts with a small idea and I add things while I'm cooking. I write the recipe down once we've finished and we trial the recipe one more time to make sure it's perfect and then we go with it. It's a really slow process that happens in my head a lot first."
Chocolate tart with a twist
Serves 8
Ingredients
1 pastry flan pan (or 8 mini pastries), baked blind
1/2 cup coconut cream
200g cooking chocolate or dairy-free chocolate
1/4 cup coconut oil
5 medjool dates
1/2 cup strawberries (extra for topping)
2 tsp dijon mustard
Method
Step one: Melt the chocolate with the microwave until melted and combined.
Step two: In a large blender, add the chocolate mixture, coconut cream, dates, strawberries and mustard. Blend for one minute.
Step three: Pour the mixture into the pastry pan and place into the fridge to set.
Step four: Remove, top with strawberries and serve.
- Recipe by Leah Itsines from the Plant Based Exploration recipe e-book with Maille Mustard - maille.com.au and leahitsines.com.au.