Friends, if you are even a semi-regular reader of this blog, you know that the above headline for this recipe is an anomaly here.
I am a HUGE FAN of sugar. I like it in all of its forms.
I like it in the form of a big piece of cake, balanced on my chest as I lie in the bed and watch TV.
I like it in the form of empty wrappers of Dove dark chocolates, the ones that I used to hand out at the end of my yin classes at Yoga Tree.
I love drippy ice cream cones, cheesecake, caramel apples, scones, muffins, pies.
Watermelon and fresh peaches.
I. Love. Sugar. ALL OF IT.
So imagine my surprise as I find myself in week three of a seasonal Renewal with my good friend Martha at Full Moon Acupuncture with nary a fine grain of sugar anywhere.
THREE WEEKS. I have not had sugar for THREE WEEKS. I haven’t cheated (which I think is stupid language to begin with. “Cheat days” and “cheating” are, in general, ridiculous constructs when it comes to food, and I do not in any way, shape, or form condone the use of them. I use it here to indicate that I have, against all odds, stuck with the program and eliminated all processed foods, including sugars in all forms, for a period that will last four weeks-ish. But I digress.)
Thankfully, and speaking of Weeks, my particular friend KWeeks had a birthday October 1st, and it is traditional for the birthday people in my life to get the dinner and the dessert of their choice on their day. KWeeks has simple taste, so dinner was (for him) French lentils over cornbread and topped with a fried egg.
TRUST ME. This is rustic and delicious. But I couldn’t eat it. See referenced Renewal above. And it’s hard to not share a meal on the birthday of someone you love.
He doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth, but I thought perhaps I could make something sweet that we could both eat.
Enter the vegan, sugar-free mixed berry tart.
Apple syrup made from 100% cold-pressed apple cider provides the sweet, and the gluten-free crust is six simple ingredients: walnuts, almonds, oats, salt, coconut oil, and apple syrup. Technically the oats are not allowed in the Renewal (no grains), but everything else is so damn good for you it doesn’t seem to matter.
It’s pretty, and it’s festive, and it gets real close to satisfying my (still) voracious appetite for sugar.
Vegan (Sugar-free) Mixed Berry Tart
KWeeks and I ate about half of this on his birthday and then shared the rest with his vegan co-workers at The Friends School of Baltimore. They have not been the beneficiaries of my baking, ever, and I am glad to finally be able to have something to share with them.
Ingredients
80 grams almonds (about 2/3 cup)
80 grams walnuts (about 2/3 cup)
70 grams oats (you guessed it: about 2/3 cup)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons apple syrup (divided)
1/2 cup lemon juice/water combo
1/2 teaspoon agar
3 cups chopped fruit of your choice (see Recipe Notes)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Method
Preheat oven to 350. Use cooking spray to grease a 9″ tart pan with removable bottom (you can use butter if you don’t want to keep it vegan) and set aside.
Place almonds, walnuts, oats, and salt in a food processor, and pulse to chop fine.
Add coconut oil and 3 tablespoons of your apple syrup and pulse until the mixture begins to come together. Dump into your tart pan and press into an even layer along the bottom and the sides.
Bake until brown and the bottom is firm (between 15 and 20 minutes). If the edges of the crust begin to burn, pull the tart out of the oven and place aluminum foil strips over the edges, then replace and finish. Remove to a wire rack and cool completely while you make the filling (the ‘fridge is great for a quick chill).
To make the filling, place 1/4 cup apple syrup and the 1/2 cup of lemon juice/water combo in a saucepan with the agar. Whisk to combine, and bring just to a boil.
Add the fruit and stir. Warm the fruit (especially if it’s frozen), then add to the chilled tart crust. Place back in the ‘fridge and allow to chill for at least three hours.
Serve with vegan whipped cream, or ice cream, or plain for breakfast. Just as you like.
Recipe Notes
Apple syrup is a delicious way to add sweetness to desserts (or yogurt or granola or whatever) without adding sugar. Well, ok, technically it’s fruit sugar, which the body does still recognize as sugar, but it’s not processed to within an inch of its life. Essentially, you are taking pure apple cider (NOT juice) and boiling it down until it reduces by half. I make this in two-cup batches, so I start with four cups of apple cider. Bring to a medium boil (not a simmer, but not too rolling either). Boil until the cider is reduced by half. If you want it to be even sweeter, keep going and reduce it even more.
Any fruit works here, fresh or frozen. I have used fresh and frozen blueberries, cherries, and nectarines in my tests, and they have all been delicious. You can also switch up the extracts if you like and use an almond extract, but use just 1/4 teaspoon if you do that.