This week my mom had us over for dinner and for dessert she made blackberry tarts. I was thoroughly enjoying them until she told me the tart shells were made from lard. My mom is lactose intolerant so I knew there wasn’t any butter in the shells. I was already trying to block out the fact that I was eating vegetable shortening (have you ever read the ingredients in that stuff?), but as much as I appreciate lard for its “real food” status, as a vegetarian I don’t go there. Rendered pig fat just isn’t for me. I guess I shouldn’t have asked.
I love that my mom always bakes from scratch though and so I was inspired to take a picture of them. Ta da! Notice the interesting bicycle design I made especially for her? That’s a piece of pottery I made about 10 years ago. Oh, and please note that the Cool Whip (can you tell?) is my mom’s secret vice, not mine. I like the taste of it, but no, I don’t buy it. It’s up there with the scary ingredients of vegetable shortening. Ick.
I decided to make my own berry tarts. They were just going to be plain, old strawberry tarts, but I decided to use a handful of cherries I had in the fridge as well as one apricot. Thus they became my strawberry, apricot, cherry tarts. I encourage you to use whatever summer berries or fruits you have for this easy tart recipe, which because of the honey isn’t too sweet. Just how I like it. Oh yes, and the crust? So yummy! Like almond shortbread. I loved it!
The tart shell recipe came from Simply Recipes. I modified it to suit my own tastes.
Strawberry, Apricot, Cherry Tarts
Butter Crust with Almonds
- 2 cups organic all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
- 1/2 cup finely ground blanched almonds or almond flour
- 16 Tbsp (2 sticks) organic or raw unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 heaping teaspoon organic dry sweetener
- 3 to 6 Tbsp ice water
Directions:
1) Cut butter into cubes and place in freezer for at least 15 minutes. While butter is freezing, grind almonds in a food processor to make “almond flour.”
2) In a large food processor, combine flour, almond flour, salt, and sugar, pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add water 1 Tablespoon at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it’s ready, if not, add a little more water and pulse again. (I ended up having to do this part by hand as my food processor wasn’t large enough to get at the butter. A pastry cutter works just as well.)
3) Remove dough from machine and place on a clean surface. Carefully shape into 2 discs. Do not over-knead the dough! You should still be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These bits of butter are what will allow the result crust to be flaky. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
4) Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle some flour on top of the disk. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, use a metal spatula to check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. Add a few sprinkles of flour if necessary to keep the dough from sticking. Using the mouth of a large glass, cut 12 circles into the dough. It might take you a couple times of rolling the dough out again. This crust can also be used as the bottom part of a pie and the second disc in the fridge can be used for later or for more tarts.
5) Bake at 350° for 20 minutes until tart shells are golden brown.
6) Add fruit filling.
The Filling
- 3 cups of organic berries or ripe summer fruit
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1/3 cup raw honey
Directions:
Dissolve cornstarch in water. Place in saucepan with mixed fruits and cook on low-medium heat until mixture thickens. Add honey at the end. Mix well. Add more to taste as needed. Spoon 1-2 Tbsp of the mixture into cooked tart shells.
Serve hot with real homemade whipped cream and enjoy a delicious gooey mess like we did (you should have seen her dress!), or wait for the tarts to cool first and eat politely with a fork.
Linked up at Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum, Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade, Friday Food at Momtrends, Food on Friday at Ann Kroeker, Wholesome Whole Foods at Health Food Lover, Family Food Fridays at Get Healthy Cheap, Recipe Swap at Grocery Cart Challenge, Two For Tuesdays Blog Hop at A Moderate Life.
Welcome to Vegetarian Foodie Fridays! Where we’re not just Meatless on Mondays, but all week through! Hi! My name is Melodie and I’m a long time vegetarian who’s into real food, holistic nutrition, and healthy living but suffers from a sweet tooth! (I love homemade baked goods and ice cream). To learn more about why I became a vegetarian or why I choose to raise my children vegetarian please click on my links.
Carnival Guidelines
- You do not have to be a vegetarian/vegan or have a vegetarian/vegan blog to participate.
- Your dish must be completely meat-free (no meat based broths, etc). Eggs and dairy are fine. Desserts and other baked goods are welcome as are vegetarian friendly food-related and health posts.
- Please link back to the carnival in your post.
- Please use your best carnival manners.
- Please try to visit others’ posts.
- Have fun!
Hi! I think the lard story is funny (not if you ate rendered pig and didn’t want to) but because my pizza dough recipe calls for olive oil – which I used this time- and next time I want to use lard!
Your tarts look out of this stinkin’ world! YUMMMMMO!
Christy´s last [type] ..Pizza Dough
My oldest son is lactose intolerant. I use Spectrum Organic All Vegetable Shortening. It is non=hydrogenated and made from pressed palm oil.
I love the picture of the sticky hands!
Alea´s last [type] ..Herb Roasted New Potatoes
Hey Mel baby! Looking forward to the weekend! Hope all is well on your Island, as it is on my Island! Alas, I didn’t have a vegetarian recipe to link up with you this week, so you get my Thoughts on Friday link love filled with great real food information and news! Big hugs! Alex
alex@a moderate life´s last [type] ..Two for Tuesday Recipe Blog Hop-Volume 8
[...] was shared at Real Food Wednesdays, Fight Back Fridays, Vegetarian Foodie Fridays, About Michelle: Michelle is a gal from Melbourne, Australia. She loves making nutritious food [...]
These look great, I would love for you to share them at my Family Food Fridays blog carnival!
[...] today, chock full of delicious recipes and cooking tips. This post is linked to Fight Back Friday, Vegetarian Foodie Friday, and Food on [...]
That reminds me – last year I was at a canning class at my CSA and someone made apple pie. The baker, upon realizing it was being served, looked up from her canning and said “wait! It has lard in the crust! It has lard in the crust!” Because she thought there might be some vegetarians in the crowd.
I hope to try palm oil shortening pretty soon – I have a tub of it just waiting for when the spirit moves me to make pies LOL.
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Your tarts are so pretty…little baskets of shining jewels! I linked up my broccoli tofu today. Have a great Friday, Melodia =)
girlichef´s last [type] ..Go aheadmake your own Chorizo!
Oh, these summer fruit tarts look so delicious.
Olga´s last [type] ..Pasta Bowls and End-of-Summer Pasta Recipe
Your tarts look lovely – so fresh and delicious! Your Mom’s look lovely too, but I agree about the lard – even though I’m not vegetarian, I just can’t handle the idea of it!
haha… I love the last pic of your little one. Adorable – so glad to see she enjoyed the tarts!
ButterYum
ButterYum´s last [type] ..Shoyu Chicken
Hey Melodie, thanks for the visit and the invitation to move my boogers up to the big kids table at the new post!
You and your mom might be able to solve the gross pig lard vs. scary veggie shortening dilemma by trying Earth Balance margarine. It’s a nonhydrogenated nondairy margarine that I use for baking, including pie crusts.
Libby´s last [type] ..Garden Burgers
Melodie Reply:
August 7th, 2010 at 2:03 am
Thanks for the reminder. I used to use Earth Balance and I need to tell my mom about it for sure. I wasn’t even thinking. So glad you brought that up!
Those look beautiful! And delicious! Thanks for sharing!
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Thats’s great.
Amazing.
Kitvy´s last [type] ..Strawberry Juice
Ah! I had no idea what lard was exactly. Now I’m also not sure I wanted to know. Gorgeous reimagined tarts, and I love the telltale mess the resulted. Always the sign of deliciousness.
I linked up a drink post — hope that’s cool!
Lauren @ HoboMama´s last [type] ..When to leave children overnight
The tarts look fantastic!! I linked up late today, I almost forgot! Thanks!
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My mouth is literally watering right now! Those look so cute.
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Hi Melodia, would love it if you would consider sharing this post or another of your insightful blogs at Monday Mania. Hope to see you there!
Melodie Reply:
August 7th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
Thanks Sarah! I will plan on it from now on! Thanks for the invite!
Melodie´s last [type] ..Vegetarian Foodie Fridays- Summer Fruit Tarts
…I totally didn’t mean to call you Melodia in that comment up above…I don’t proofread (shame on me). Anyhoo…thanks for sharing your delicious berry tarts w/ two for tuesdays this week, too MelodiE
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