Have you ever missed a beloved pie or tart then considered ‘revisiting’ it to take your creation up a notch or two? Time to head for the kitchen lab to experiment! I had an urge to make a berry tart discovered earlier this year but this time with just blueberries and some ground pine nuts added to the filling of egg, cream and cassis blackcurrant liqueur. Then some experimental low-gluten pastry and maple syrup, Stevia or xylitol instead of refined sugar. Of course all this playing around means I’ve had to bake and eat this tart twice! Yes it’s hell but luckily this healthier blueberry tart with pine nuts is low-gluten and refined sugar-free. As well as easy, fast to make and absolutely delicious! Hmmm, should I bake another one just in case …? 🙂
Healthier blueberry and pine nut tart
The Experiments
I invented my own blend of low-gluten flour with gluten-free cornflour (cornstarch), rice and millet flours plus some spelt flour, which has the kind of gluten that’s easier to digest and holds pastry together better for rolling out. And tada! A really tasty pastry that doesn’t fall apart! You should have seen my totally gluten-free one. lol. Will work on that. This low-gluten pastry here is ideal if like me you can eat gluten but feel better reducing your intake. And if you appreciate a lovely buttery, crumbly and tasty pastry!
low-gluten pastry
Use 65g of butter if you like a dough that’s easier to roll out. Or 70-75g if you’re confident about your rolling skills and love an even more buttery and crumbly texture. Feel free to play around with quantities and your own flours, or plain/all-purpose flour instead. You may even want to use … sugar! Eeek. 🙂
Healthier blueberry and pine nut tart
I also adapted the filling to make it less ‘greasy’ by adding ground pine nuts and a little extra cornflour. Yay! A photogenic tart is a happy me. Look, here’s the difference.
Tart 1 – delicious but so ‘greasy’ it absorbed almost ALL the icing sugar.
Blueberry and pine nut tart no.1
Tart 2 – delicious and not greasy-looking, even without sprinkling the optional icing sugar on top!
Blueberry and pine nut tart no.2
Finally I worked on neater pastry cases, having spent years ‘perfecting’ the rustic look. Lol. I got my little knife out and flicked outwards to trim the edges. Surprisingly effective especially if you keep your pastry a little thicker around the edges, but then I discovered neater means shorter cases and less space for the filling.
Tart no.1 – the neatest pastry shell I’ve ever produced! 🙂
So for tart number 2 the filling quantities were reduced and the pastry rolled out thinner. Please go for the rustic look and more filling if you prefer.
RECIPE
Blueberry and pine nut tart
Low-gluten pastry for a 22cm diametre tart ring/mould
- 40g/quarter of a cup millet flour
- 40g plus 1 tablespoon/quarter of a cup plus 1 tablespoon white spelt flour
- 45g/quarter of a cup white rice flour
- 20g/2 tablespoons and half a teaspoon ground almonds
- 10g/1 tablespoon cornflour/cornstarch
- 22g/1 and a half tablespoons sugar or xylitol sugar substitute or half a teaspoon Stevia
- a quarter teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
- a pinch of salt
- 70g/2.5 ounces/a little under a third of a cup cold butter cut into small chunks ((75g/a third of a cup for a crumblier and more buttery texture OR for easier to roll: 65g/a quarter cup and a tablespoon and reduce spelt flour by half a tablespoon; for 75g add half a tablespoon)
- 1 small egg (about 50g) beaten with half a teaspoon cold water
- Make your shortcrust pastry by whisking all the dry ingredients together, rubbing in the butter then mixing in the egg/water. Fraiser briefly on your worktop (more details on my making shortcrust pastry page).
- Use extra spelt flour to pat around your pastry ball then wrap in plastic film and store in the fridge 30 to 40 minutes.
- Roll out on greaseproof paper (lightly dusted with spelt flour) so it`s easier to wrap your pastry around the rolling pin to lift over and line your tart ring/mould (more details on my lining a tart ring and blind baking page, also on trimming and neatening the edges). You can knead in a little flour if your pastry’s really too soft.
- Freeze your pastry case 30 minutes. During this time preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F (static oven) and 180°C/350°F (fan-assisted).
- Blind bake as usual, for about 10-15 minutes till set but still pale. Lower the oven to 180°C/350°F (static oven) and 160°C/320°F (fan-assisted) then remove the beans and greaseproof paper from the pastry case and return 5-8 minutes till golden but not brown.
- Once out of the oven keep in the tin and wait at least 5 or 10 minutes before filling the shell. During this time prepare your filling.
Filling – increase quantities if your tart or pie mould is high
- 230g blueberries (you can also use blackcurrants, raspberries, blackberries or redcurrants)
- 1 medium-large egg (55g-60g)
- 75g/a third of a cup plus a teaspoon double cream or whipping cream 35%
- 25g/1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon maple syrup or 1 and a half tablespoons plus a scant teaspoon sugar or xylitol
- 30g/a quarter of a cup plus half a tablespoon ground pine nuts (or ground almonds) – ground with half a tbsp cornflour
- 10g/1 tablespoon cornflour/cornstarch (or plain flour)
- 1 teaspoon crème de cassis blackcurrant liqueur OR raspberry liqueur OR blackcurrant syrup
- a pinch of salt
Make sure your oven is still at 180°C/350°F (static oven) and 160°C/320°F (fan-assisted).
- Whisk the eggs and maple syrup (or xylitol/sugar) a few minutes then whisk in the cream, ground pine nuts, cornflour, crème de cassis liqueur and pinch of salt together till smooth.
- Spread your blueberries out evenly in the pastry case.
- Pour the cream filling carefully over the blueberries. Make sure it comes 2 or 3 millimetres below the edge or it could overflow.
- Bake around 30 to 40 minutes till your filling is golden brown and set. Cover with aluminium foil for the last 5-10 minutes if browning too much on top but very wobbly. You can cover just the parts browning too quickly.
- After a few minutes cooling, slip the French tart ring off or unmould.
Serving, eating and storing
This tart keeps up to 3 or 4 days in the fridge and is delicious warm or cold (leave out of the fridge 20 minutes before serving). You can sprinkle lightly with icing sugar and serve with chopped fresh mint leaves. Very yummy.
Healthier blueberry and pine nut tart
Since I have a couple of rapidly disappearing tarts I should take them to a party to share, like Tasty Tuesdays hosted by Vicki@HonestMum and Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily@aMummyToo. Check out all the great recipes there!
Help yourself to a slice or two. Despite the cream, this tart or pie seems very light. I managed to eat a third of a tart in one sitting. Ahem. Hope you’ll be inspired to make one too! 🙂
Healthier blueberry and pine nut tart
Wishing you a wonderful week ahead sweet reader! With lots of happy baking and eating of course! 🙂 x
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This is so dreamy, I would leave the pine nuts for me but I love the blueberry and low gluten pastry! It worked a treat. Your photography is wonderful. Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays x
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So glad it worked for you Vicki! Nice to get such lovely feedback on the photos and tart/experimental pastry! 🙂 Thank you so much for your lovely comments and for hosting #tastytuesday 🙂 x
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