Hello guys. Finally, my first post is up! I am so excited to get the show started with this tart.
Now normally I am not the biggest health nut. I mean, my blog is named The Glutton Diaries for a reason right? However I am loving this gluten-free crust. It makes this dessert almost guilt free. If you ignore the heavy whipping cream used to make the chocolate truffle filling and the butter to hold the crust together, this tart is made up of primarily healthy ingredients. However health aspects aside, I love the body that the sesame and nuts give the crust. It gives this salty savory taste that’s bordering on peanut butter which really balances out all of the sweetness that’s going on in the filling and toppings.
Above all, this is a really simple dessert that looks fancier than it is and that is probably my favorite part about it.
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 ½ cups almond flour
- ¼ cup sesame seeds
- 3 tbs sugar
- tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 4 tbs unsalted butter
- 1 egg
Filling
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 ½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Toppings
- ½ cup fresh berries
- Whipped cream (optional)
- Extra nuts or mint for garnish (optional)
Grind sesame into a coarse powder.
Add almond flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. Pulse until it is bordering on the texture of coarse sand.
Add the cubed butter. Pulse until butter is combined.
Add the egg to the processor, pulsing a few times to incorporate it. I realized here that the volume of my crust mix was starting to overwhelm the food processor. If this happens to you guys, feel free to pull some of the mix out to make space. As you see in the image, you can always give a couple extra stirs in a bigger bowl to combine everything at the last minute.
Press into greased tartlet pans.
Press a few holes into the bottom of the pan to prevent any bubbling in the crust while baking. If any do occur, feel free to tap them down with the back of a spoon while the crust is still baking or fresh out of the oven.
However I am getting ahead of myself. Baking is the next step. For now, put the crusts back in the fridge for an hour to let the butter re-solidify.
Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes until the crust becomes aromatic and slightly golden on the sides. This time will vary by about 5 minutes depending on how thick you make the crust. I chose to have a denser crust, almost like a cookie, so mine were in for closer to 20 minutes.
When finished let them cool completely.
While the crusts cool, heat up the cream in a saucepan on high while stirring. If you want to be safe, you can go medium or medium high. However I am not patient … so I will be a bad influence and say you can cheat the time with a higher heat so long as you stir frequently and keep an eye on the pan. When the cream starts to steam, pull it from the heat.
Add the chocolate. Stir until smooth.
It’s right about here where you will want to stop and get ready to pour the chocolate filling into the de-panned crusts. If you want, you can add extra flavorings like a few dribbles of vanilla or lemon extract, or even a shake or two of cinnamon. I, however, wanted to go pure and simple.
Refrigerate 20 minutes or until the ganache starts to set up. You want it to be stable enough for the fruit to barely sink in it.
Prepare your fruit.
…. And assemble it. I added a dollop of whipped cream and basil for color. If I am honest the basil really only came into play for color, but it actually worked pretty well with the strawberries. Of course for those traditionalists out there, mint would work perfectly as well.
Well here it is. My gluten-free berry tart. These are best straight out of the fridge because that’s when the chocolate will be the richest. I hope you guys like the recipe, and comment on what you think of it! If you have any suggestions on future posts, please include those as well.
Until next time … keep eating my friends.
-The Glutton
The Glutton Diaries 