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Easy Strawberry Pie with Gluten Free Option

I had a barbecue last week and along with that a very strong craving for old fashioned strawberry pie.

What I really wanted was a tart crust that could handle the strawberries and bake like a tart, only without the pastry cream that is generally associated with a fruit tart. I just wanted an amazing gluten free pastry crust and the freshest, sweetest strawberries I could find.

I got my wish and you will too. My dinner guests LOVED this pie. I call it a pie, even though I baked it like a tart, because I didn’t use pastry cream.

Making a tart is always an option, but I was looking for that old fashioned strawberry pie we all grew up with. No one knew this was a rice flour based pastry crust as opposed to a wheat flour crust.

The biggest compliments were actually for the pastry crust and Mr. Spinach Tiger said, “this is good period, not good for a gluten free dessert.” That is why I made a separate post for the gluten free tart crust which comes from America’s Test Kitchen. 

If you are eating gluten free, you will be blown away. I used the recipe from the America’s Test Kitchen, and dessert will never be the same again. I think I will use this for everything, including cobbler, so stay tuned.

Having said that, I did make their gluten free flour after ordering a LOT of various flours from Bob’s Red Mill. However, you can use the Bob’s Red Mill one to one flour and it will be just as good. The only thing I would add is tablespoon of non-fat dried milk, but that’s not totally necessary.

The tart recipe is outstanding. When I served this strawberry tart (more like an old school strawberry pie), my guests couldn’t stop talking about it. I sent home the last big piece because they liked it so much. I kept one small piece for the morning, and when placed in the refrigerator  overnight, the tart crust remained stable and actually even more delicious.

Easy Strawberry Pie Recipe

As for the strawberry filling, I didn’t add sugar or any kind of gelatin. Instead, I mixed the strawberries in a very small amount of a combination of apple jelly and strawberry preserves. As odd as this sounds, trust me; it was a magical flavor profile.

This is the dessert to make for guests when you want something a little special without a lot of time involved. You can make the tart crust in advance and keep in freezer. You can bake it that day at anytime, making sure you have enough time to have it cool off.

The strawberries can be prepared in the morning and can sit happily in the refrigerator. When it’s time to serve, it’s as simple as dumping the berries into the crust. I actually did this two hours before dinner and kept in the refrigerator.

You can always buy a pre-made crust if you need super easy, but it may not have the wow this easy strawberry pie recipe has.

We served this with ice cream, but of course whipped cream is an option. Prepare a stabilized whipped cream as I did here and refrigerate until serving time. It will be lovely.

Turn this Easy Strawberry Pie Recipe into a Tart by Adding Pastry Cream

You could also prepare a tart cream filling,  as I did in this recipe, prior to adding the fruit.

You can also make your own gluten free flour. Recipe here.

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Best Ever Gluten Free Strawberry Tart Recipe

A gluten free tart crust that works well with fresh fruits.

Course Gluten Free Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 6

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 baked tart crust see Notes
• 2 pints of fresh organic strawberries
• 1/4 cup strawberry preserves or strawberry jam
• 1/4 cup apple jelly

Instructions

• Reserve 6 to 8 strawberries for the strawberry sauce.
• In a saucepan heat the preserves, jelly and strawberries. Mash strawberries as they soften.
• Heat on very low until you have a thick sauce consistency.
• Cut strawberries in half. Toss with strawberry sauce. Refrigerate.
• The sauce will be just enough to glaze each strawberry.
• An hour prior to serving, put strawberries in tart crust. Refrigerate.
• You can make the tart hours in advance if you prefer. I found that the tart crust remained stable even the next day.

Notes

Gluten Free Tart Crust (will be posting separately Tomorrow).
All Purpose Flour Tart Crust Here

The post Easy Strawberry Pie Recipe, Gluten Free Option appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

I did this recipe years ago but it was featured as a French Tomato tart instead of a goat cheese, honey tomato tart, the name it deserved all along. I wasn’t proud of how it came out or what my photos looked like, but that all changed the other day when I made it over for a Food Blogger’s Picnic.

The tart sat there very nicely on the table along with my now legendary kale salad, Lisa’s amazing amazing pimento cheese deviled eggs and Scarlet’s frittata served in a cast iron pan.

Now let’s be honest. No one is going to take a dish to the Nashville Food Blogger’s picnic that they can’t share proudly with the whole world. So I did it over!

How many times in life have you heard yourself saying, “I want a do over” or  if I could only go back and change what I did or what I said, or where I drove.

Just the other day, I was driving my slow pokey self on a side street to pick up Mr. ST at a truck rental place and a cop stopped me and said I was going 15 miles over the 30 mile limit. I have to be honest. I think he made it up.

Everyone that knows me knows I’m a slow, carefree driver, not usually in a hurry, because driving is my thinking time and I enjoy it. I admit I was intensely preoccupied with the news regarding the Naval Base shooting, but I am quite certain his radar or whatever he used was for the driver in front of me. For the rest of the day, I fantasized about taking a different route. I turned on that side street when I could have just gone straight.

To make matters worse, I was in my most unattractive moment and trust me, I think I could have managed a warning had I combed my hair. Sexist thinking you say? Get over it. He had a gun and tablet full of tickets that he could write anyway he chose to, and I have my own weapons, aka make up and a flat iron, none of which I was armed with. So now I have to face traffic court, a big fat fine and/or go to the judge properly armed and plead not guilty. Sounds so 1950’s you say. Well, how 1950’s is it to get a speeding ticket at 45 miles per hour. (which I still say I wasn’t driving). If my speeding ticket (the first of my life by the way) was going 85 in a 70, then that would take us to 2013 and I would just say, “officer, you should ticket me.”

I can’t do that day over, the same day that Mr. ST went to the emergency room with a splinter under his nail, but I can make over this tart and tell you just a little more about why a tart crust is different from a pie crust. It should hold together more, be flaky but a little stiffer and that’s where adding in an egg helps. Often, I’ve made my pie crust without eggs and I’m fairly good at adjusting pie dough, but adding in the egg is a big help to the beginner, when baking a tart that you are hoping will slice nicely and stay in one piece.

The honey in the goat cheese honey tomato tart is the real secret, and now that I’ve resurrected this recipe, it is something I want to make over and over again. Use lots of honey. Don’t be afraid for the tomatoes to be honey kissed all over. The combination is simply divine, heavenly, sweet, all balanced by the tanginess of the goat cheese which is also drizzled with plenty of honey. This reminds me of an appetizer I made years ago that was a big hit and never made again, but while I’m thinking of it, perhaps bring it to the next blogger’s together or holiday party.

I saw the goat cheese, honey, tomato tart years ago on this blog. I was captivated by the fact that it was baked in Paris and had romantic appeal and swept me off my feet. My pictures never turned out quite right and I didn’t enjoy the tart the way I should have. But, today is a new day.

This is an amazing recipe that has me so re-excited, I am going to try it several different ways. Just the tomato with the goat cheese with the honey is enough of a flavor busting combination to make me want to give it a paleo twist. Never would I think that honey should touch tomatoes.

Never would I think that a grainy mustard belongs in this combination. But it does and when you taste all three together with a backdrop of tart crust, you will smile. Smile big. I promise. It will take you by surprise the way the boy you didn’t like all that much kisses really well and you go wow! (or girl). It’s the nice surprise of the day.

I used my end of season tomatoes, some honey cultivated via blueberries, and a good goat cheese log. Surpassing the recipe for tart crust, I simply added an egg to my own basic pie crust, but changed the quantities and added in a egg yolk.

So tell me, what’s the one thing you did this past year that you would love to have a do over for?

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Goat Cheese, Honey, Tomato Tart

Goat cheese, honey, tomatoes comes together to make a delicious end of summer or anytime tart with fresh herbs adapted from David Lebovitz.

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

Tart Crust (makes 1 large tart)

• 1 1/2 flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 9 tablespoons unsalted butter placed in freezer for 15 minutes
• 1 tablespoons iced cold water
• 1 egg yolk

Goat Cheese Honey Tart

• 1 tart shell or pie crust
• 2 tablespoons of dark grainy mustard or enough to cover bottom of tart
• herbs such as thyme tarragon, basil
• 3 large meaty tomatoes not too juicy sliced thickly
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 ounces of goat cheese in a log easy to slice
• 2 tablespoons of honey may use more

Instructions

Tart Crust

• Using a food processor:
• Using a food processor, mix together flour, sugar, salt.
• Blend in butter and on medium speed, count to 10 seconds.
• Blend in water and blend for a few seconds.
• Blend in egg.
• Bring together to form a dough ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes at least.
• Using your hands:
• Mix together the dry ingredients. Blend in the butter until you have a mealy flour mixture. Add in water and egg and knead gently until the dough forms a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Roll out to three inches more than size of tart pan.
• Gently place in tart pan, and using rolling pin, roll off the edges.

Goat Cheese Honey Tart

• Fork the bottom of the tart shell. Spread on mustard until the base is covered.
• Cover with a scattering of fresh herbs.
• Arrange slices of tomato, keeping in mind that tomatoes do shrink.
• Drizzle olive oil over tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
• Arrange 6 to 8 round discs of goat cheese cut about 1/2 inch thick on top of the tomatoes.
• Drizzle honey over the entire tart, saving some honey for drizzling once tart is out of the oven.
• Bake at 400 for 30 minutes. If making smaller tarts, reduce baking time.
• Goat cheese will bubble and turn a golden brown. Serve hot or at room temperature.
• Add more fresh herbs.

Notes

I found it best using lots of honey.

The post Goat Cheese, Honey, Tomato Tart with Gluten Free Option appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

I wrote this so long ago that I needed to come back and share this plum tart again. The nice thing about a good recipe like a summer plum tart that is juicy, sweet and seasonal is the the season return and we never grow tired of it.

How to Pick Plums for a Plum Tart

Unless you want to use massive amounts of sugar, pick ripe plums. Smell your plum. It should smell sweet and be a bit pliable to the touch. If you can’t find ripe plums, put unripe plums in a brown paper bag, a trick I also use for avocados. Just make sure to check daily.

I hope you enjoy the rest of summer and every chance you get to enjoy stone fruits. You may also like this plum brandy ice cream.

Did you know that prunes are just dried plums. Dried plums are fabulous in oatmeal cookies .

This Hunger Games Lamb Stew with Dried Plums  is very popular and so delicious.

More Tarts from Spinach Tiger

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Plum Tart and Closing Arguments

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 pound of plums sliced keeping skins on
• 1/2 to 1 cup sugar if your plums are sweet you may need only 2 tablespoons

Pastry Crus

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 9 tablespoons unsalted cold butter cut into small pieces
• 1 large egg yolk
• Add baked plums to pastry crust Cover entirely with foil and then rip the foil in the middle so that the plums are exposed but not the crust.
• Bake for ten more minutes. Serve warm or room temperature with vanilla whipped cream or ice cream.

Instructions

Pastry Pie Crust

• Butter a tart pan that has a removable bottom.
• Pulse flour, sugar, salt in food processor for a few seconds. Add butter.
• Mix for about 30 seconds to one minute (it will look like coarse oatmeal).
• Add egg yolk. Pulse for 20 seconds. Dump onto counter. Bring together, making sure all ingredients are incorporated. Press into tart pan. Freeze uncovered. Once frozen, wrap in foil.
• To Bake: Bake at 375. Butter shiny side of foil. Place that side onto pastry. Bake frozen for 25 minutes. No need for pie weights.

Notes

I baked the plums and the pastry crust separately and then put it together and baked for ten more minutes. Bake plums in oven proof dish for 25 minutes. You could bake the plums in the tart shell at its frozen stage for about 40 to 50 minutes.

The post Plum Tart and How to Pick Plums appeared first on Spinach Tiger.