Berry Cherry Tart

 

We moved to California about a decade ago from the East coast for work reasons. The first thing I told my husband  once we talked about the move was we need a house with fruit trees. I always had this dream of having a house with a large veggies patch and fruit trees amongst other things.

We moved into a brand new house, clean slate, so we could do anything we needed. I got myself a Meyer lemon, Bing cherry, Asian pear, a pomegranate tree and a veggie patch
Since then we were always blessed with a bounty of cherries and other produce seasonally, thanks to the Mediterranean like climate, produce grows really well around here.
Every year around this time we get a good supply of fruit, the past few did not yield due to the CA drought, this year it was different we got pretty good rainfall and things seem really good.

We end up eating most of the cherries, distribute some and bake some. I don’t do a whole lot of baking, 3-4 times a year, mostly around the holidays and a couple times in the summer with summer fruits.
This tart is gluten free, vegan and has very little sweetener added as the fruits are naturally sweet.

This is a fully baked tart, you could also bake the crust and top with fresh fruits.

Use any combination of berries and chopped summer fruit, it’s all good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very Berry Cherry Tart

This recipe makes about 6- 4.75 inch round tarts.

You will need:

• 3/4 cup ground walnut or almond flour I used whole walnuts and blitz till they are flour like consistency, don’t over process as it turns into butter, I’ve made it with almonds and it’s just as good.
  1 cup rolled oats, ground to a flour, gluten free if needed
  2 tbsps ground psyllium
  1 tablespoon corn starch
  ¾ tsp sea salt
  1 tsp vanilla extract
  2 tablespoon coconut oil
  3-4 plump mejdool dates mashed or 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  For the fruit topping
  4-5 cups fresh berries and cherries pitted, I prefer a combination strawberry, blueberries, raspberries
• 1 tablespoon key lime juice (if you can’t find key limes use lemons)
• 1 kaffir lime leaf chiffonade or zest from 1 small lime (optional) but makes all the difference
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup to macerate the fruits
• 2 tbsps fresh thyme or mint leaves leaves only , finely chopped.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

• Combine the walnut flour oat flour, ground flax, corn starch and sea salt in a bowl. Add the date paste and melted coconut oil.
• Using clean hands, work the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients to form a dough.
• Cover the dough ball with in clingfilm and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
• Toss the berries with lemon juice and zest, maple syrup and herb in a bowl and set aside for a while to help the flavors develop.
• Press the dough evenly into your desired pan; makes 6 – 4.75 inch tart pans.
• Trim the dough off from the edge of the pan, or alternatively leave a little hanging for a more rustic tart.
• Prick the bottom with a fork and pre-bake for about 10 minutes.
• After pre-baking is done spoon the mixed macerated berry-cherry equally in each tart.
• Bake for about 30 minutes or until the crust is golden and the berry filling is bubbly. Remove from the oven and add more  berries on top if needed. Serve as is, with yogurt or a la mode of course.

 

 

 

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