Tuesday, June 24, 2014

No-bake strawberry pudding tart

no-bake strawberry pudding tart

At this time of year, when fresh strawberries are ripe for the picking, there is only one way to eat them:

1. Place strawberry in hand.

2. Move towards mouth.

3. Bite.

4. Don’t bite stem though.

5. Chew and swallow.

And for my fellow environmentalists, there is the optional step of “carefully discarding stem in that adorable mini compost bucket you keep in the corner of the kitchen”.

green compost bucket
Meh. Ours is cuter. source

There really is nothing like a strawberry straight off the vine. That is why we always give the farmer an extra dollar or two after going strawberry picking—to, um, account for the pound-and-a-half of berries eaten before they even graced the bottom of the bucket. On a related note: yes, it is possible to get a sugar rush from solely eating fruit. Scientific fact right there.

But sometimes, after eating enough strawberries to permanently stain your tongue red and rot your teeth Lucky Charms-style, some stubborn little gems remain in the fridge, taking up all that space like they don’t even care. What to do? For Baby June, the answer is obvious—put ‘em in some sugary baked goods. The carby deliciousness almost acts like a lubricant, to help those all-too-healthy strawberries slide down your gullet more easily. Already, we have tried banana bread muffins and oatmeal cookie cups; now it is time to try a new tactic for eradicating those pesky strawberries before they rot. Something bold. Something grand. Something that doesn’t require turning on the oven in this goddamn early-summer heat.

cookies baking in car summer heat
Why do that when you can do this? source

So, as the courageous recipe developer that this blog requires me to be would do, I set out to develop a recipe to fit those stringent yet necessary criteria. I developed all day and all night, and finally vomited up this delicious, succulent tart, dripping with sugary tastiness straight out of my esophagus.

no bake strawberry pudding tart vegan
Now that is some sexy vomit.

And surprisingly enough, the tart does fit those requirements of being bold and grand and no-bake all at once. Comprised of a basic no-bake crust, some basic vanilla pudding, and the world’s easiest strawberry chia jam, there’s nothing in here that is not perfect for hot summer weather. Not to mention, it’s pretty healthy too. I mean, check this out:

strawberry no bake pudding tart nutrition facts calories
Look, ma, no cholesterol!

This, of course, was calculated with the products that I used in my particular batch, so these nutritional facts aren’t applicable to every possible tart. But still, you’ve got to admit that’s pretty impressive. Sure, there’s a bit of saturated fat, but there is nearly the same amount of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, which are much healthier. There’s a bunch of fiber and protein too. So yeah. That’s healthy, I think.

Under the vitamins and minerals section (not pictured), I also found that this tart was rich in vitamin E and manganese, with one slice containing about 40% of one’s daily needs for manganese. That’s a lot of rock in an ordinary-looking tart. 

manganese rock
Not sure how to feel about this. source

Why do I care if this is “healthy”, whatever that means? Well, mostly because it determines whether or not I can eat it for breakfast. I decided it was healthy enough; therefore I had a healthy slice of it this morning along with my jug of coffee. My kind of logic.

It turned out to be perfect for a hot summer morning, as luck and my recipe developing skillz would have it—the filling is sort of a mix between an ice cream pie and a popsicle, with icy sorbet-like strawberries alongside creamy frozen pudding; and the crust is perfectly sweet and chewy, almost like an almond butter-oat cookie.  

no bake strawberry pudding tart
Haha you're cute.

But you don’t have to eat it for breakfast. This stuff is perfect for dessert, too. Or a snack. Or dinner. Or any time of the day.

Here’s the recipe.
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No-bake strawberry pudding tart

Makes one 10-inch tart

Ingredients

Crust (adapted from Oh She Glows)

107 grams • almonds, raw or toasted • ¾ cup

54 grams • coconut oil • ¼ cup

60 grams • maple syrup • 3 tablespoons

1 gram • salt • ¼ teaspoon

141 grams • rolled oats • 1 ¾ cups

Filling

About 2 to 3 cups of your favorite vanilla pudding (such as this)

144 grams • strawberries, stems removed • 1 cup

40 grams • maple syrup • 2 tablespoons

30 grams • chia seeds • 2 tablespoons

Sliced strawberries for garnish

Instructions

To make crust, place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until the mixture has become clumpy and dough-like. Dump the whole thing into a greased tart pan (I used one with a diameter of 10 inches) and press crust evenly onto the sides and borders of the pan. Set aside.

To make filling, head over to Oh My Veggies to get instructions for the chia jam. Basically, you boil the strawberries and maple syrup, mash the strawberries, add the chia seeds, and let sit for about ten minutes until the seeds have done their magic; however, if you need more instruction the above link is very helpful.

Once the chia jam is fully cooled, place both the pudding and jam in the tart shell and swirl around a little, smoothing over the top. Place sliced strawberries on top in whatever pattern you choose. Freeze for at least half an hour to firm up. Now you can remove the tart from its pan. Let sit at room temperature for about five minutes before slicing. Serve with whipped coconut cream and fresh strawberries.
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As you can see, the dollop of whipped cream I placed so elegantly atop this slice of tart is unnaturally perfect, almost reminiscent of a jar of Reddi-Whip. How could this be so?

dollop of whipped cream no bake strawberry pudding tart how
Explain this.

The answer is this:

iSi gourmet half pint whipper review
*Salivates wildly*

Sometime last year, I discovered the weird and wonderful world of modernist cuisine, wherein you aren’t quite sure what you’re eating but at least it looks cool. It’s like abstract art.

One of the most important elements of this post-haute cuisine is foams—and not just milk foams, but egg foams, juice foams, chicken foams, vegetable foams. If you’ve ever dreamed about spraying fluffy kale juice all over your salad, today you can make that happen that simple piece of equipment you see above.

As a world-class whipped cream aficionada, I just had to have one. So for Christmas, we took the plunge and invested in a half-pint sized Gourmet Whip from Isi. It’s about a hundred dollars, but so far I’ve found it to be totally worth the price. I have made eggnog, chocolate mousse, (totally non-vegan) hollandaise, and of course batch after batch of fresh whipped cream, of many flavors and levels of sweetness.

In addition, because it uses a fancy schmancy nitrous oxide (a.k.a. laughing gas) charger, it can create whipped cream with about four times the volume of the original liquid, compared to the whipped cream only twice the volume that is produced by an electric stand mixer. It works beautifully with both dairy cream and coconut cream, even with additives like cocoa powder, spices, and spinach puree I mean, what?

Basically, it’s pretty awesome. Not to mention surprisingly easy to use. So consider that my product review du jour.

I just love kitchen things, can’t you tell?

insert whipped cream into mouth gif
And this. source

26 comments:

  1. YUM!! I am so making this - but I may have to leave out the maple syrup...haha :) And can I say how jealous I am that you have one of those isi gourmet whipped cream dispensers? I have had one in my cart at Williams Sonoma for about 6 months now and every now and then I almost pull the trigger and order it, but I'm always worried that I won't use it enough to justify the price. I need to just order one, get over the price, and decide that I want to spend the next year and a half topping everything with whipped cream. Maybe I'll ask for one for my birthday instead. Or I'll just live vicariously through your pictures. It's kind of a win-win.

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    1. I think it's worth it! There's actually a lot of recipes on the iSi website, like puddings and cocktails and such, so you can make a bunch of cool things besides whipped cream! :) Thanks for reading, anyway!

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  2. I love reading your quirky posts. Now I want some of this delicious strawberry pudding tart, pronto.

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  3. I debate with myself all the time over whether I should buy one of those fancy foam things! I'm afraid I'd break it on the first try. Anywhoo your tart sounds scrumptious. Love the chia jam. I never know what to do with those things.

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    1. Thanks! The chia jam goes really well with the pudding IMO. :)

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  4. Hahah, ok, so don't laugh too much, but I have that little compost bucket but in a tan, it is cute lol. This recipe tart looks great! And anything no bake? yes please!

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    1. Yay I love little compost buckets! Perfect for summer with all of this fresh produce. :) Thanks for reading!

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  5. Holy mackerel! That is one fine piece of tart right there June! Love it :D

    And the laughing gas foam-thingymajig looks pretty rocking too :D Why wouldn't you have cake for breakfast?
    And as for strawberries, I've had them for almost a week now, every day, because that's what happens when you go camping and stop by a fruit farm on your way and pick over a kilogram of those things, mmmm ^ ^
    And thanks for the AWESOME recipe! x

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for reading! I have problems with too many strawberries too, that's why I have to make all of these things with it! :)

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  6. Your no bake tart looks yumalicious. I need to try this! And I need to get
    a "fancy schmancy nitrous oxideur" thingy LOL You can never have too much whipped cream!

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    Replies
    1. Yeah I highly recommend it! Very worthwhile if you love whipped cream and foamy thingys. :D

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  7. Another great post June, you sure are creative. Love the fresh desert.

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  8. Since I live on the US tundra, strawberries are just now coming into season. Which means we've got about 2 weeks to stuff our faces with gobs and gobs of them. Strawberry Tarts are one of my favorite things to make and yours looks delish!

    Also, I'm jealous of your whipped cream thing. I want one. :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for reading! And it's cool you live in the tundra, wishing you luck while you consume all the strawberries! :)

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  9. I do eat most strawberries that enter my apartment out of hand, but I also love baking with them! Or no-baking with them? Hmmm. Lovely tart!

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  10. Yay for all things no bake!! This looks tasty as eating a fresh strawberry :)

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  11. Ha! I love that you did the research to determine weather this is an acceptable breakfast food, I can relate to that. Although for me if it has a good amount of fruit, then it's okay for breakfast. Pie and coffee = swoon!!

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  12. A wonderful tart! I really like the idea. I'll have to try it soon...

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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