AKA Kitchen therapy
I don’t know about you, but when I am stressed, I retreat to my kitchen. I have had enough of COVID. I am not a fan of cold weather. So I needed a mental health afternoon. Normally I play with strawberries most during June when we have them in the garden, but this is what was calling to me, and I adapted a few of our standard recipes and is what happened.
These are adorable, gluten and dairy-free, lactose-free and as a bonus, they are low FODMAP. They do not transport or keep very well—but they should disappear quickly, so that point should be entirely moot.
Enjoy.
Makes 6, 4-inch tarts
Tart crust
1 1/4 cups GF all purpose flour (I’ve used Jules GF and also King Arthur measure for measure)
2 TBSP almond flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
8 tbsp. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp. very cold water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Pulse dry ingredients with butter, then add yolk, vanilla and cold water. Chill dough for at least an hour in wax paper, can be done left in the fridge overnight as well.
Roll out on wax paper, press into tart pans. Prick with a fork in several places. Bake at 375
8 min covered, using pie weights (anything metal and sturdy works). Then bake for another 7 minutes. It may need 1-2 minutes more, until it is a *light* golden brown.
Filling
- 4 cups =2 cups pureed strawberries + 2 cups sliced (separated)
- 2 T cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
- 2/3 cup sugar
Puree 2 cups strawberries. Whisk water and cornstarch, add in strawberry puree. Heat on medium, whisking well, until boiling. Boil for 1 minute, whisking the whole time. Remove from heat. Allow to cool.
Place the other sliced strawberries in the tart shells, pour the strawberry filling evenly on top.
Meringue
- 4 egg whites
- 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Bring egg whites to room temp. Whip the egg whites and the cream of tartar until soft peaks form, ~5 min on high speed. Add sugar 1 TBSP at a time until you have stiff peaks, ~ 2 min more, then add vanilla. Pipe out in circles onto the tarts.
Bake for 12 minutes at 350 in the middle of the oven, or until the tops are nicely browning.
Enjoy right away. This is the easiest step.