When I first served this to the family, my 10 year old daughter spluttered, through a mouthful, “omigoshbesttartever” She went on to have another two slices. Kids can been your harshest critics, so this was high praise indeed. She then also said “if you served this tart at my birthday party, I’d be really happy”. You’re on, Trixie! This may look like a raw tart but it’s actually a simple baked not-too-sweet pastry base, with a chilled, jelly-like, soft filling. No special equipment is needed here – mix the base in a bowl, simmer the filling in a pot, that’s it.
Don’t be put off by the length of my instructions below! It’s a very simple bake, but I’ve offered lots of nerdy explanation and trouble shooting tips.
The only unusual ingredient is agar agar, a jelly-like substance made from seaweed, making it a perfect vegan substitute for gelatin. The white powder is cheap to buy, I get mine from my local bulk food store ($3) or from Asian stores.
Also, if you don’t have fresh plums, you can use tinned. Since the tinned version usually has added sweetener, reduce the sugar in the filling recipe – I’ve found that 2 Tbsp is fine.
My tart tin is metal with a removable base and fluted edges. It measures 20cm in diameter (and I bought it from the dump store for fifty cents!)
Base
1 cup ground almonds (or almond meal, see notes below)
2 Tbsp coconut sugar
¼ cup (brown) rice flour
¼ cup tapioca starch
¼ cup softened coconut oil, possibly a Tbsp more
a little extra oil & gluten free flour for dusting the tart tin
Filling
6 plums, chopped
1 cup coconut milk or cream (both work fine)
2 Tbsp corn flour
½ cup sugar (I used raw)
1 ½ tsps agar agar powder
Preheat oven to 175C. We’re going to start by making the tart base. In a mixing bowl, combine the dry base ingredients well, ensuring to ease out any lumps of tapioca. Add the coconut oil and mix until a simple cohesive dough forms. Get in there with your hands, if you like.
If you’re using almond meal, you might find that the mix is a little dry – if so, add up to a tablespoon more coconut oil until it holds together as a dough. You could even add a drizzle or two of milk of your choice. (note: if the packet doesn’t call it almond meal already, you can tell the difference between regular ground almonds by noticing that the almonds had skins on them when they were ground; you’ll see tiny brown husky bits, as opposed to uniformly pale nut flour)
Grease your tart pan generously (I use coconut oil) then dust with (gluten free) flour – coat it lightly then shake off the excess. Press the dough into the pan as evenly as possible. We’re going to be pouring liquid into this pastry shell once cooked, so be sure to press dough evenly up the sides. With a fork, prick the base surface of the dough all over and pop into the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes.
Kitchen note: if the base looks as if it has risen a little when it comes out of the oven (even though we haven’t used baking powder!), and you feel like you’ve lost some of the classic ‘dish’ structure, wait until it cools and settles a little. If you still feel like it needs a better shell-like form, use the back of a spoon to gently press the dough down into a better shape. I certainly had to do this around the edges in one of my bakes. Also, one final pastry note, don’t be alarmed if it seems a little undercooked. Since this is going to be chilled, and since it’s mostly almonds, it is still lovely when served.
Set the base aside while you work on the filling: Chop up the plums then puree them in a bullet or blender. Put the thick plum puree and all the filling ingredients into a small pot. Bring to a low simmer (isn’t that colour lovely?) and whisk whisk whisk for about four or five minutes. It needs this long for the agar agar to bloom & activate. It will thicken up nicely as you whisk. Pour into the base and pop into the fridge to set, for at least an hour, probably more. Enjoy!
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