tarts

Peach Blueberry Ricotta Tart

I have made this filling many times. I used a simple, sweet, press in, gf pie crust as I can’t roll pie crust right now. It adds a bit of sweetness and is super easy; no rolling out the pie dough. I added peaches and made it in a larger 11 inch round tart pan. Success!

Notes; you can leave out the lemon ingredients if you don’t want that flavor. I use King Arthur’s basic gf flour blend when I make a homemade crust, the one that is just flours, no xanthan in it. I used fresh peaches and blueberries but I am sure you could make this with raspberries or other fruits.

The ricotta adds a delicate texture and crumb. I used a little of the rind and juice of a lemon. I suggest that you let the ricotta cheese and eggs warm up to room temp before using them, always good advice with gf baking.

Peach Blueberry Ricotta Tart

Cookie crust:

1 1/4 cup brown rice blend; King Arthur Basic GF Blend

1 rounded tsp. xanthan gum

heaping ¼ cup sugar

6.5 Tbsp. cold butter cut into 10 pieces

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix the dry ingredients in stand mixer bowl.  Add the butter, mix until fine like sand.  Add extract. Blend briefly.  Spray pan with cooking spray.  Sprinkle in the mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Press lightly in with your hands. DO not press too hard or it becomes way too firm.

Or, roll out that premade pie crust and fit into your pan; trim off extra crust. Fill.

Filling:

1 cup ricotta cheese, whole milk is best but part skim will do.

2 lg eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. lemon extract

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon rind grated

1 Tbsp. plus 1 Tsp. tapioca starch or corn starch

Pinch sea salt

1 heaping cup fresh or frozen blueberries

4 peaches, peeled and sliced (not too thick or too thin!)

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put the oven rack as low as possible. Heat a wide pot of water to boiling; gently lower peaches into hot water. Leave in 3 minutes. Remove with a spider ladle. Let cool a few minutes and slip peels off. Slice into 8-10 slices per peach; not thick and definitely not thin!

Mix ricotta with eggs in the mixer bowl you just made the crust in and then add the rest of ingredients except the peaches and blueberries. Lay the fruit in the crust. Scatter or arrange as you desire. Carefully pour into the tart crust.

Bake tart 40 – 45 min at 350 degrees. It should be fairly firm in the center.  My crust was a little pale at 40 minutes; next one will be 45 minutes in the oven. Let cool before slicing.  You can sprinkle it with powdered sugar if desired. I am always so eager to try everything I bake that I totally forget to do this! Enjoy.

King Arthur Basic GF flour blend: GF Flour blend (if you want to make it yourself)

2 cups brown rice flour

2/3 cup potato starch

1/3 cup tapioca starch

Blueberry Ricotta Tart 2.2

I have made this tart many times. This time I used a simple, sweet, press in, gf pie crust. It adds a bit of sweetness and is super easy; no rolling out the pie dough. In the past I always had leftover filling that I baked in a separate pan. This version endeavors to end that practice; I reduced the volume to make just enough to fill the tart pan, success!

Notes; you can leave out the lemon ingredients if you don’t want that flavor. I use King Arthur’s basic gf flour blend when I make a homemade crust, the one that is just flours, no xanthan in it. I used blueberries but I am sure you could make this with raspberries or a mixture of the two.

The ricotta adds a delicate texture and crumb. These were definitely end of season blueberries but tasty none the less. I used a little of the rind and juice of a lemon but even better is the Meyer lemon which has a delicate flavor compared to regular lemons. Do let the ricotta cheese and eggs warm up to room temp before using them, always good advice with gf baking.

Ricotta Blueberry Tart

Cookie crust:

1 cup brown rice blend; King Arthur Basic GF Blend

1 tsp. xanthan gum

¼ cup sugar

5 Tbsp. cold butter cut into 10 pieces

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix the dry ingredients in stand mixer bowl.  Add the butter, mix until fine like sand.  Add extract. Blend briefly.  Spray pan with cooking spray.  Sprinkle in the mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Press lightly in with your hands. DO not press too hard or it becomes way too firm.

Or, roll out that premade pie crust and fit into your pan; trim off extra crust. Fill.

Filling:

1 cup ricotta cheese, whole milk is best but any will do.

2 lg eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. lemon extract

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon rind grated

1 Tbsp. plus 1 Tsp. tapioca starch or corn starch

Pinch sea salt

1 heaping cup fresh or frozen blueberries

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350 degrees/ Mix ricotta with eggs in the mixer bowl you just made the crust in and then add the rest of ingredients except the blueberries.  Carefully pour into the tart crust. Top with the berries.

Bake tart 40-45 min at 350 degrees. It should be fairly firm in the center.  Let cool before slicing.  You can sprinkle it with powdered sugar if desired. I am always so eager to try it I totally forget to do this! Enjoy.

GF Flour blend (if you want to make it yourself)

2 cups brown rice flour

2/3 cup potato starch

1/3 cup tapioca starch

Blueberry Tart 2.2

I have made this tart many times. This time I used a simple, sweet, press in, gf pie crust. It adds a bit of sweetness and is super easy; no rolling out the pie dough. In the past I always had leftover filling that I baked in a separate pan. This version endeavors to end that practice; I reduced the volume to make just enough to fill the tart pan, success!

Notes; you can leave out the lemon ingredients if you don’t want that flavor. I use King Arthur’s basic gf flour blend when I make a homemade crust, the one that is just flours, no xanthan in it. I used blueberries but I am sure you could make this with raspberries or a mixture of the two.

The ricotta adds a delicate texture and crumb. These were definitely end of season blueberries but tasty none the less. I used a little of the rind and juice of a lemon but even better is the Meyer lemon which has a delicate flavor compared to regular lemons. Do let the ricotta cheese and eggs warm up to room temp before using them, always good advice with gf baking.

Ricotta Blueberry Tart

Cookie crust:

1 cup brown rice blend; King Arthur Basic GF Blend

1 tsp. xanthan gum

¼ cup sugar

5 Tbsp. cold butter cut into 10 pieces

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix the dry ingredients in stand mixer bowl.  Add the butter, mix until fine like sand.  Add extract. Blend briefly.  Spray pan with cooking spray.  Sprinkle in the mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Press lightly in with your hands. DO not press too hard or it becomes way too firm.

Or, roll out that premade pie crust and fit into your pan; trim off extra crust. Fill.

Filling:

1 cup ricotta cheese, whole milk is best but any will do.

2 lg eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. lemon extract

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon rind grated

1 Tbsp. plus 1 Tsp. tapioca starch or corn starch

Pinch sea salt

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350 degrees/ Mix ricotta with eggs in the mixer bowl you just made the crust in and then add the rest of ingredients except the blueberries.  Carefully pour into the tart crust. Top with the berries.

Bake tart 40-45 min at 350 degrees. It should be fairly firm in the center.  Let cool before slicing.  You can sprinkle it with powdered sugar if desired. I am always so eager to try it I totally forget to do this! Enjoy.

GF Flour blend (if you want to make it yourself)

2 cups brown rice flour

2/3 cup potato starch

1/3 cup tapioca starch

Almond Tort

I found this recipe on line somewhere for an almond cake but it was in British measurement and oven temp. I did some math and measuring; a lot of number changing and a bit of guessing. I gave it a whirl; made some minor changes to amounts, simplified a bit and added some almond extract for more flavor. And it turned out so delicious.   More of a torte in my mind so that’s what I am calling it. Next time I think I will use a slightly smaller spring-form pan; an 8 inch rather than the 9 inch I made it in.  That will make it thicker; might have to bake it longer. Otherwise; perfect dessert treat: tender with a delicate almond flavor. The coconut is a back note but I liked it in there. Just sweet enough for us. You can add another quarter cup of sugar if you are mad for sweet…

I wasn’t planning to blog this so I took no pictures. This is the last slice left 24 hours after it was baked. Went fast…definitely a keeper recipe! Next time I will snap a shot of the whole torte and some pictures of the process of making it.

almond torte slice3

Almond Torte – serves 6-8

Ingredients:

11 Tbsp. butter; melt it and let it cool to room temp. Plus a tsp. to butter the pan.

1 ½ cups almond meal plus a Tbsp. to coat the buttered pan

2/3 cup sweetened coconut, flaked

¼ tsp. sea salt

1 cup sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla

½ tsp. almond extract

3 Tbsp. sliced almonds

DIRECTIONS:

Place shelf in center of oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the 11 Tbsp. of butter and let it cool. I did that in my microwave. Butter (1 tsp butter) a 9 inch spring-form (8 will work too) on bottom and first inch and a half up the sides and then dust with almond meal; about a Tbsp of almond meal should do it.

Mix almond meal, coconut, sea salt in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl beat the eggs until frothy; add almond extract and vanilla extract. Add the cooled butter. Mix. Add to dry ingredients. Mix well with whisk. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle the sliced almonds over the top evenly. Bake 35-40 minutes.

Top should spring back lightly when touched, lightly browned. You can dust with powered sugar but I liked the look of it plain. Guessing it could be yummy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Cover to store leftovers; doubt they will last long. Enjoy!

Originally published in spring of 2019

Blueberry Tart 2.2

I have made this tart many times. This time I used a simple, sweet, press in, gf pie crust. It adds a bit of sweetness and is super easy; no rolling out the pie dough. In the past I always had leftover filling that I baked in a separate pan. This recipe revision endeavored to end that practice; I reduced the volume to make just enough to fill the tart pan, success!

Notes; you can leave out the lemon ingredients if you don’t want that flavor. I use King Arthur’s basic gf flour blend when I make a homemade crust, the one that is just flours, no xanthan in it. I used blueberries but I am sure you could make this with raspberries or a mixture of the two.

The ricotta adds a delicate texture and crumb. These were definitely off season blueberries but tasty none the less. I used a little of the rind and juice of a Meyer lemon which has a delicate flavor compared to regular lemons. Do let the ricotta cheese and eggs warm up to room temp before using them; always good advice with gf baking.

Ricotta Blueberry Tart

Cookie crust:

1 cup brown rice blend; King Arthur Basic GF Blend

1 tsp. xanthan gum

¼ cup sugar

5 Tbsp. cold butter cut into 10 pieces

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix the dry ingredients in stand mixer bowl.  Add the butter, mix until fine like sand.  Add extract. Blend briefly.  Spray pan with cooking spray.  Sprinkle in the mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Press lightly in with your hands. DO not press too hard or it becomes way too firm.

Or, roll out that premade pie crust and fit into your pan; trim off extra crust. Fill.

Filling:

1 cup ricotta cheese, whole milk is best but any will do.

2 lg eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. lemon extract

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon rind grated

1 Tbsp. plus 1 Tsp. tapioca starch or corn starch

Pinch sea salt

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350 degrees/ Mix ricotta with eggs in the mixer bowl you just made the crust in and then add the rest of ingredients except the blueberries.  Carefully pour into the tart crust. Top with the berries.

Bake tart 40-45 min at 350 degrees. It should be fairly firm in the center.  Let cool before slicing.  You can sprinkle it with powdered sugar if desired. I am always so eager to try it I totally forget to do this! Enjoy.

GF Flour blend (if you want to make it yourself)

2 cups brown rice flour

2/3 cup potato starch

1/3 cup tapioca starch