Yesterday, my boyfriend turned in his last final to finish up his MBA! And then he got a treat! I try not to make a habit of using food items as congratulatory means, but…I’ve made a habit of it.
I learned recently that Garrett enjoys pies and tarts. We went to an Austrian bakery last weekend and got a lemon and raspberry cream tart and a pecan pie tart. Both were awesome. Both made me want to show up the Austrian bakery. Like that’s even possible, ha! When I set out to make Garrett his Congratulations-On-Your-MBA Treat, I knew I had a few {a lot} of constraints. We like to cheat the system and make everything as full of nutrition as possible. It’s an obsession. Doesn’t have to be yours. That means –
- No wheat
- No dairy
- No refined sugar
- If chocolate, must be dark
- If fruit, must be in season
- If tart, must be small
- If pie….can’t be pie…what would we do with a pie?
{Don’t be fooled – we do eat gluten, dairy and sugar-filled foods, I just like a good challenge. }
So what ended up happening was a gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free strawberry tartlet (what’s a tartlet?) with almond flour crust, sweetened with honey. Holy crap, it was good. AND EASY! The almond flour crust is likely going to be the new base for our nutrient-obsessed sweet-toothed baking adventures. I’m excited! Let’s get back on track.
Grad school holds a special place in my heart. It enabled me to prolong the inevitable (you know…getting a job…) and it brought me and Garrett together. The two of us little love bugs met in one of our grad school classes two years ago and for some reason, it. Just. Worked. I feel like I caught a Pegasus unicorn. And my Pegasus unicorn is named Garrett…but it’s manly. And it walks on two feet instead of four…uh, okay you can stop now, Julia.
I meant to make two strawberry tarts, one for each of us, but when I separated the dough in two and began construction, I was worried my tart crust was going to be too thin, so I used all of the crust for one tart and we shared (I’m glad I did this – it probably would have been too thin for two separate tarts). If you are interested in gluten-free, sugar-free pie crusts, use this recipe! And like, quadruple it!
So for a special man on a special day, we have a special treat. I highly suggest you make this, and you don’t have to wait for a special day to do so…because according to my not-at-all-trained-in-nutrition brain, this tart is, do…I…dare…say… good(?) for you. . . ? It’s great, try it!
Ingredients:
For the tart crust
- ½ cup Almond Meal/Flour
- 2 tablespoons Tapioca Flour (Starch)
- Pinch of salt
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 teaspoons grapeseed oil (or olive oil)
- 2 tablespoons ice water
For the Strawberry filling
- 2 large strawberries, sliced lengthwise into 6ths
- 1 tablespoon honey
Makes one special treat.
To make:
In a mixer or food processor, combine almond meal, tapioca starch salt and almond extract.
Mix to combine. While the mixer/food processor is mixing on medium speed, slowly drizzle the grapessed oil a little at a time. The dough should now be made up of small beads. Turn the speed up to a high setting and slowly add the ice water a little at a time. The dough should form one large lump. Lightly oil one cupcake slot on your cupcake pan. Press the tart dough into the pan firmly and form the sides to be taller than the cupcake pan. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Once the tart crust is firm and chilled, place the strawberry slices in layers, drizzling honey between layers and all around the slices. Cover with tin foil carefully and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the tin foil and bake an additional 10-15 minutes, until the tart crust is golden brown and the filling is sizzling.
Allow the tart to cool at least 30 minutes (this is the hardest part). As long as your muffin pan was oiled, it shouldn’t be too difficult to get the thing out…you can literally wiggle and rotate the top of the tart crust around and it will lift right out. Serve on a special plate!
