Bek's Sweet and Healthy Strawberry tart

I love strawberries. Always have, they are a burst of colour and healthy deliciousness. I have even worked as a strawberry planter and picker when I was young. They are also one of my absolute favourite plants to grow and fruit to cook with.
Wherever we live we always have hanging baskets and pots of strawberries growing, just as my mum did when I was a child. I am so delighted that picking fresh delicious, organic strawberries are as much a part of my two daughters childhoods as it was mine. I can still clearly remember my school friends always marveling at the growing jewels and especially at her alpine strawberries.

Recently I took part in a very exciting opportunity for me, a 6 part fresh local food column in a fantastic local magazine, WHY Fitness. WHY Bfresh with Rebecca Mugridge.

This delightful deliciousness was one of the recipes I created for them using local gourmet deli and store Bfresh's beautiful local strawberries.

Bek’s Sweet and Healthy Strawberry Tart

Ingredients

Pastry

·         2 cupsNutworks macadamia meal (this is a great local producer I like to support, you could also use almond meal)

·         2 cups rice flour

·         ½ cup coconut oil

·         1 free range egg

·         1 teaspoon pure vanilla paste

·         1 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt

·         ½ cup Rapadura sugar (see notes)

Filling

·         ½ cup coconut oil

·         ½ cup Rapadura sugar

·         5 free range eggs

·         Finely grated rind of 1 orange

·         Juice of 2 oranges

·         1 tablespoon tapioca flour whisked in an equal amount of water

Topping

·         1 punnet fresh strawberries

·         1 packet Tortengus ( natural fruit glaze available from supermarkets)

·         250 mls fresh orange juice

·         Extra rapidura sugar

Method

·         Pre heat oven to 180’c

·         Grease 1 large or 6 small spring form tins.

·         In a large bowl combine the macadamia meal and rice flour for the base.

·         Add the vanilla paste and rub into the flour mixture the hard coconut oil until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.

·         Mix in the rapadura sugar and the egg, gently mix it all together until it resembles a smooth dough. If needed you can add a little extra water.

·         Press pastry evenly into the prepared tins.

·         Bake blind for 10 minutes by covering with a layer of baking paper and spreading with a layer of rice or baking beans.

·         Then remove baking paper and rice and cook for few extra minutes until lightly golden brown.

·         Remove from oven.

·         Filling. Melt the coconut oil in a saucepan. Add in the finely grated orange rind, stir through and remove from heat.

·         Sift the sugar into coconut oil mixture, add in the eggs and whisk it all together.

·         Add in the tapioca flour and the orange juice, whisk.

·         Bring it to the boil and then remove from heat and pour into a shallow dish and refrigerate for around 10 minutes or until cool.

·         Pour the cooled egg mixture on top of the pastry bases; sprinkle each evenly with the extra rapadura sugar.

·         Cover all pastry edges with alfoil and put the tarts under a medium hot grill to caramelise, and they will visually firm up.

·         Remove from heat and allow to completely cool.

·         Combine 1 packet of the fruit glaze with 250 mls fresh orange juice in a medium saucepan.

·         Bring to the boil, stirring and then remove from heat.

·         Cut up the fresh strawberries and arrange them on top of the tart.

·         Cover with the fruit glaze.

·         Allow to set.

·         Serve.

Notes

·         Rapadura sugar is a much healthier, whole foods alternative to refined sugars. It isn’t processed under hot temperatures or spun so it retains its many mineral and vitamin qualities.

·         Macadamias are not just an exciting Australian native they are also full of health benefits and loaded with important nutrients including healthy proteins, minerals, vitamins, monounsaturated fats, dietary fibre and phytochemicals. They also have no trans fatty acids. Here on the Sunshine Coast we have locally processed macadamias and macadamia meal (much like almond meal) as used in this recipe here from Nutworks in Yandina.

·         Coconut oil is a great healthy alternative to butter with many health benefits.

·         The fruit glaze used here is a natural product made from seaweed.

·       Fab Slabs schopping boards  (pictured with the tarts) are a local Sunshine Coast ethical company making beautiful chopping boards from Camphor Laurel trees which are a pest species in this area.

Strawberries

Strawberries, as a garden plant, were said to be being taken from the forests to the gardens in France in the 1300’s and are even mentioned in ancient Roman literature. They have vast become a beloved fruit. 

At BFresh on the Sunshine Coast and when in season people can find a locally produced variety of strawberry that has been grown here for over 20 years, right here due to a special relationship between the grower and BFresh. These strawberries are all about taste, you know the ones, bright red and they taste and smell amazing, they are not ones that are bred to travel and store well, rather they are the kind you remember from your childhood.

Strawberries don’t just taste wonderful; they are a great source of vitamin C, flavanoids and anti oxidants. And as a snack they are guilt free with 1 cup of fresh strawberries being generally less than 50 calories!

Strawberries are also easy to grow and are beautiful looking plants; they make a gorgeous hanging basket.
They can be grown from seed or runners, I prefer to grow mine from runners, their natural way to reproduce. Give them plenty of sunshine, really good drainage ( they do not like soggy feet), if growing in pots, do not scrimp and buy only really good quality potting mix, in the ground a slightly acidic soil with composted material is best and a good thick layer of mulch makes strawberries happy. Companion plant with marigolds, borage, basil, spinach, silverbeet. Remove dead leaves, water in the morning if you can and keep a big watch out for aphids, easily removed with soapy water.

Recipe and photography © RebeccaMugridge2013