My Aunt and cousins came for a special visit a couple weeks ago. I wanted to serve something extra special. In fact my Aunt is pretty amazing…can you believe she had ELEVEN children! And, each one of them is simply awesome! She is the one who first introduced me to the crazy drink called, Kombucha! I remember my Mom telling me, your Aunt Judy is drinking some sort of bacteria that she calls a mushroom. I thought it was disgusting! Then, I learned more about it and I have been brewing my own for 5 years. Pretty cool, huh!!
So, on to this fabulous tart! Whole Foods had a rare early season sale on organic peaches and organic blackberries in the same week. I could not resist, I bought some and dreamt up this common tart combo with a new twist…the crust.
TART CRUST
1 1/2 cups ground pumpkin seeds
1 1/2 cups ground sunflower seeds
1/2 cup softened dried figs
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1-3 Tbsp honey (it depends on how sweet you want the crust)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 12 inch tart pan thoroughly with coconut oil. Make sure you get in all of the little crevices.
Soak the dried figs in warm water. Grind the raw seeds in a high speed blender (I use my Vitamix) until it is the consistency of coarse sand. Put the ground seeds in a large mixing bowl. Grind the whole flax seed into a meal. Place the flax meal in a medium bowl with 3/4 cup filtered water. Allow it to form a goopy gel. Next drain the figs and grind them in your blender until it is finely chopped, right before a mush. Add the figs to the soaked flax meal along with the honey and stir to combine. Add the baking soda and sea salt to the ground seeds. Finally add the figs, flax and honey to the ground seed mixture and combine thoroughly.
Press the mixture into the tart pan and bake for 8-12 minutes until firm to the touch and slightly browned. Let it cool completely before filling. I made mine the day before and left it overnight in the refrigerator.
COCONUT CREAM FILLING
2 13.5 ounce cans of full fat coconut milk, refrigerated overnight
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
Open the can of coconut milk and cut a small hole in the top of the cream with a knife. Drain out the coconut water and save for smoothies. The coconut cream will be hard. Use a whisk to break it up gently and whip it until it becomes the consistency of whipped cream. Add the vanilla and cinnamon and mix it in. Spread the cream in the cooled tart crust.
Add the berries of your choosing. Arrange them in a pretty way however you wish.
Remember to use good high quality coconut milk. Avoid gut irritants like gums or other synthetic ingredients. Thrive market.com and Trader Joes have their own brands of full fat coconut milk without any added ingredients. They are great quality and affordable.
This is a dessert that can very easily be served as a healthy breakfast the next day for the kids. I did not add any honey to my crust and it was perfect. I knew we would have left overs and I wanted to use them in a non dessert way. So, I planned ahead and allowed the natural sweetness of the coconut and berries to carry the flavor!
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