tarts and raw chocolate sauce

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A family friend, Craig, used to make the most delicious pies. We'd go over for dinner and there'd be three pies! Blueberry, apple and strawberry rhubarb. Now, as a kid I thought rhubarb was horrible, and haven't gotten around to trying it again...but the other two pies were amazing!!

Since becoming vegan and gluten-free, I think that I've attempted a pie about 2-3 times. Which really isn't a whole lot, particularly considering that in theory I really like pie (although come to think of it, I don't think I made a whole lot of pies before either...). The first time I made it was when I had just begun gluten-free baking, and it was essentially just brown rice flour...i.e. not so nice. The second was made with Earth Balance and was buttery and flaky.

I wanted to try a raw pie, and thought almond pulp would do the trick. I tried a non-dehydrated version. It was quite nice and tasty, but kept falling apart. So, I thought adding flax seed and dehydrating the crust bit would help.

Don't be scared if this crust seems really tough when you try and cut into it. It's actually quite nice and even chewy when eaten. Just use a sharp knife to cut it. I attempted a butter knife, because every single other piece of cutlery was dirty (sadly, no joke); we ended up just picking them up and biting into them.

Crust (makes 4)
1 cup almond pulp
1/2 cup ground flax meal
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 cup dates, packed
3 tbsp water

In a food processor, blend the dates and the water until a paste forms.
In a bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Add date paste and coconut oil and mix well.
In a tart cup, or whatever you're using, firmly press the mixture into shape with your fingers.
Dehydrate 2 hours (or until the next step can be done somewhat easily). Remove carefully from your tart crust container and dehydrate until dry. I dehydrated overnight because I don't have a timer and getting up at 3a.m. didn't seem like the best of ideas. But, I think 4-6 hours should do the trick.

Fillings


Fillings are easy as pie (ahahhaaaa I'm hilarious). Seriously though, I served this to the boyface with whole raspberries in it, and it was perfect. Sliced strawberries work very nicely too, and stay in place a bit better than whole fruit does. Or, if you want something that really isn't in danger of rolling away, you can put the fruit in a food processor and pulse a couple of times.

Blueberry filling
2 cup blueberries
3 tsp lemon juice
1/4-1/2 tsp agave

blend in food processor.

If you're serving nonblended fruits in the tart, or have leftover fruit, top with raw chocolate sauce or raw almond cream. The raw chocolate sauce is delicious and chocolatey and super easy to make. It's made with a simple ratio:

2 parts cacao powder : 2 parts agave : 1 part coconut oil

for example,
2 tbsp cacao powder
2 tbsp agave
1 tbsp coconut oil


enjoy!!!
xoxo