No-Bake Cherry Tart

Happy Sunday!
During the hottest summer days, there is nothing better then a cold no-bake dessert!! We really love our sweets here!!! Still had a lot of cherries left; we recently bought a lot at the farmers market…made a no-bake crust using ingredients I already had in my pantry like oats, nuts and dates, whipped up my yummy coconut custard and decorated the tart with cherries. Pretty simple but so yummy!

No-Bake Cherry Tart

For the crust:

• 2 cups oats
• 10 Medjool dates
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup mixed nuts (cashew, walnuts, pecans)
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2tbsp nut butter of your choice
• pinch of sea salt

Coconut Custard:

• 500 ml canned coconut milk
• 4 tbsp corn starch
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• about 600 g cherries, pitted

-In a medium saucepan whisk together all ingredients except vanilla extract. Let come to a boil, while whisking, then reduce heat and let cook until thickened. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla extract and let cool a few minutes then fill into a bowl and let cool completely in the fridge.

-Line the bottom of a 28 cm tart form with parchment paper, grease the sides.

-In a food processor or blender, add the oats, nuts and dates (medjool dates are usually very soft, if using other dates, soak in a bit of water to soften), process until everything is into small pieces, add the oil, honey, nut butter and sea salt. Process until well combined. It will be a sticky dough.

-Press dough evenly into prepared tart form. Fill tart with the coconut custard and decorate with the cherries.

-Refrigerate several hours or overnight before removing from baking form.

-The crust is pretty soft, place the tart in the freezer for an hour or longer, to make it easier to cut and serve into individual pieces.

Enjoy!

Ursula

xo

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Strawberry Tarts

Summer is just around the corner, we already had a few hot days. I’m looking forward to all the seasonal fruit and veggies growing here in Ontario, especially all the delicious berries!

For my birthday, beginning of June, I’ve made the Strawberry-Coconut-Cake:  Strawberry-Coconut-Cake

One if my favorite strawberry desserts are these yummy and pretty strawberry tarts. It’s a staple in every bakery in Switzerland, that’s usually what I would pick out!

First you need to prebake the tart shells.  I used a mix of ground almonds and shredded coconut to give it a bit of a different taste, it was really good! The cooled tart shells can be filled with custard or just simply with sweetened whipped cream! Topped with Strawberries and glazed with warmed jelly.

Strawberry Tarts

For the tart shells:

• 125 g spelt flour
• pinch of salt
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 50 g butter, cold, cut in little pieces
• 50 g ground almonds
• 40 g shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

-Mix flour and salt, add butter and mix like a pie dough until it resembles fine crumbs. Combine with the almonds and coconut. Add the maple syrup, vanilla extract and egg, stir first and then knead only until soft dough forms.

– Let rest in refrigerator for at least one hour.

-Between plastic wrap roll out dough thinly, cut out circles to fit into muffin form.

-Press dough into greased muffin form, prick bottom with a fork.

– Bake in preheated 350 F (convection oven), for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely.

Filling and garnish:

– Fill tarts with a vanilla custard or just simply with whipped cream, I used 1 cup of cream, sweetened with 2-3 tbsp of honey and added 1 tsp of vanilla extract.

-Top with Strawberry halves. Optional step is to brush the berries with a jelly glaze. I used warmed up red currant jelly.

Enjoy!

 

Happy June and stay safe and healthy!

Ursula 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swiss Leek Quiche / Lauchwaehe

Quiches are one of my favorite things to eat- sweet or savory.  Now for us the sweet ones are more for dessert, but I grew up having sweet quiches for a meal ; )

We usually make a leek, onion, cheese, spinach, or my kids favorite, a meat quiche. Serve with a tossed salad and you have a lovely meal!

 

 

Leek Quiche

Quick and easy pastry:

• 250 g spelt flour
• 2 tbsp canola or olive oil, or 80 g butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 5 – 6 tbsp warm water

-In a medium bowl mix the flour, salt and baking powder, add oil and water, stirring until smooth dough forms, adding water if needed. Chill in refrigerator for 30 min.

Leek filling:

• 3 large leek stalks, finely sliced
• 150 g bacon cut into small pieces
• 1 tsp sea salt
• pepper to taste
• big pinch of nutmeg
• 100 ml milk or cream
• 2 eggs

-In a large saucepan fry bacon until crispy, drain excess fat. Add finely cut leek, season with salt and pepper, cover and let cook on low heat for about 30 min, stirring occasionally. Add nutmeg and add more salt and pepper if needed.

-Whisk together milk and eggs and mix under the leek mixture. Remove from heat.

-Grease a 9-inch pie or tart form. Preheat oven to 375 F.

-Roll out dough to fit into the prepared tart form. Prick bottom with a fork. Add the leek filling and bake for about 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

-Enjoy warm or cold.

Tip: Can be made vegan, leaving out the bacon and eggs. Replace spelt flour with all-purpose or whole wheat flour.

Find more tart recipes here:

Plum Tart / Zwetschgenwaehe

Peach Tart

 

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raspberry Coconut Tarts

Happy Sunday everyone!

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! It is still very hot here and we are trying to stay cool. My daughter and I spent an afternoon a the beach this week, that was very nice and relaxing! The water is very cold, I only put my feet in, lol;)

Huron Lake, Ontario, Canada

And we are picking raspberries in our garden!

I am not turning the stove on that much since it is to hot to do so. But I made these yummy raspberry coconut tarts. Filled with my coconut custard or just simply a vanilla pudding.

 

Raspberry Coconut Tarts

Tart shells:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup white spelt flour
• 1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
• 1 tsp vanilla
• pinch of salt

-Whisk together the butter, honey and egg yolk. Add salt and vanilla. Stir in flour and coconut until well combined. It is a soft dough. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.

-Preheat oven to 350F/180C.

-Take the dough out of the fridge and using your hands, press dough into greased muffin form, prick with a fork. Makes about 6-8.

-Refrigerate for a few minutes.

-Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes or golden brown.

-Let cool completely.

-Can be filled with my coconut custard: Coconut Custard mini tarts with mixed berries or a simple vanilla pudding. Prepare ahead as the filling need time to cool and set in the fridge.

-Fill tarts with custard, then top with fresh raspberries.

-Keep refrigerated.

 

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

Follow me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zucchini and Sweet Potato Tart

This week went by rather quick. The weather is still in April fools mood, giving us a taste of everything, the only sign of spring has been some crocus blooming in my garden.

My veggie tart has been inspired by these gorgeous ratatouille tarts I’ve seen online. Instead of using all ratatouille ingredients, I’ve skipped the tomatoes and eggplants and used sweet potatoes and red peppers for some red color. Pretty simple ingredients but it will take some time and patience to assemble the veggies. In the end I was happy with the result, gorgeous and delicious!

Before

and after baking

 

Zucchini and Sweet Potato Tart

Crust:

• 300 g white spelt flour
• 100 g butter, melted
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• room temperature water

-In a mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt, add the melted butter and a few tablespoons of water. Mix together, adding more water if needed. Knead only until well combined. Let rest in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Vegetable filling:

• 2 sweet potatoes
• 2 green zucchini
• 2 yellow squash
• 1 red pepper or italian tomato
• 1 small onion
• 50 g grated old cheddar or Gruyère cheese
• milk or cream
• sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, nutmeg, dried oregano and basil, or herb the provence

-Slice all vegetables thinly by hand or use a mandolin. The sweet potatoes have to be thinner than the other vegetables, because they need a little longer to cook through. You want to be able to see the green and yellow skin of the squash and zucchini. (You might not need all the vegetables)

-Line bottom of a 11-inch/ 28 cm tart/pie form, grease sides. Roll out dough to fit the form. Prick bottom with a fork. Sprinkle evenly with the grated cheese.

-Starting on the outside, alternate with sweet potato, green zucchini and then yellow squash until you fill the entire form. I’ve added the onions and red pepper last.

-Add some milk or cream and season generously and evenly with salt, pepper, garlic powder, nutmeg and herbs.

-Bake in preheated 350F/180C oven (convection setting) for about 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown and sweet potatoes are tender. Cover with aluminum foil halfway through baking. If it looks dry, add some more milk or cream. Let rest for a few minutes before cutting.

Tip: Try to get same size, and not to thick, vegetables for the slices to be similar, it will be easier to assemble.

 

 

I would like to dedicate this to all the lives lost and those injured in the tragic #Humboltbroncos accident last week on Friday, in Saskatchewan, Canada. Our thoughts and prayers go out the families and everyone involved.

 

Ursula 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mango Coconut Rose Tart

I hope you all had a happy Easter and a great start into April!

I can’t believe I am saying this but last week I did not feel like baking anything special for Easter. Last year I have made a Swiss Carrot Cake , this year instead of something Easter themed I was in the mood of making something bright and flowery. Thinking of daffodils, it looked more like a rose in the end, but surely made me happy. The mango pairs nicely with my coconut custard, a little exotic taste that makes you dream of a beautiful island.

 

 

Mango Coconut Rose Tart

Crust:

• 150 g white spelt flour
• 50 g buckwheat flour
• 100 g butter, soft
• 2-3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 egg
• pinch of sea salt

-Whisk together butter, maple syrup and egg until creamy. Add salt, spelt and buckwheat flour, mix until combined. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

-Line the bottom of a 9-inch/23 cm tart form with parchment paper, grease sides. Preheat oven to 375F/180C, convection setting.

-Roll dough out to fit form, prick bottom evenly with a fork, cover bottom with a piece of parchment paper, to add some weight, fill with some dried chickpeas or other legumes. Blind bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove parchment paper with the legumes half way through baking. Let cool completely before filling.

Coconut Custard

-You can find the recipe here: Coconut Custard mini tarts with mixed berries

-Prepare in advance as the custard needs some time in the refrigerator to set.

-(Instead of the 1 1/2 canned coconut milk, I used 500 ml coconut milk from a tetra pak that does only contain coconut milk.)

Mango Rose Topping:

• About 1 1/2 large mangoes, thinly sliced

-Fill tart shell with the coconut custard, about 3/4 full. To make the rose, start on the outside and work your way towards the center, as you like.

 

 

I hope you’ll give it a try, let me know if you do! You can tag me on Instagram so I can see your creation:)

littleswisslittlecanadian

 

I wish you all a lovely week!

Ursula

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plum Rose Tarts with an Almond Shortbread Crust

Happy weekend everyone!

Fall has finally arrived! It’s been crazy hot lately, which made it kind of harder to think of fall baking:) I’ve found some beautiful local plums and like every year turned them into some kind of dessert(s). Our annual favorite happens to be a Zwetschgen-Streusel Cake (Plum-Crumble-Cake). I took the recipe from my Peach-Crumble-Cake/ Pfirsich-Streuselkuchen just used plums instead of peaches, so delicious!

Instead of using apples to make roses I thought I give it a try with plums. It was a little tricky because the plums were very soft, you definitely need some patience;), in the end I was happy, it worked out beautifully!

Baked in a yummy almond shortbread crust

 

Plum Tarts with an Almond Shortbread Crust

Yields: 4 small tarts

Almond Shortbread Crust

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup almonds, finely ground
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/4 cup honey
• pinch of salt
• 1 lg egg yolk

-In a small bowl, with a whisk, mix together butter, honey almond extract and egg yolk. Add flour, almonds and salt. Mix until well combined. Wrap dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.

-Start with cutting about 5 plums into very thin slices, once you assemble the roses you see if you might need more.

-Preheat oven to 375F. Grease 4 small tart forms.

-Take dough out of refrigerator and let it sit for a few minutes, otherwise it is very hard to roll out. Then roll out and cut to fit into each form, prick crust with a fork and place again in refrigerator for a few minutes.

-Assemble roses by starting on the outside working toward the center.

-I used a simple milk, egg, honey and cinnamon filling from my Peach Tart , I only used a little bit in each tart.

-Bake in preheated 375F oven for 10 minutes then reduce heat to 350F, for another 10-15 minutes, bake until golden brown and liquid is set. Cover with tin foil if crust is golden brown but liquid is not set. Let cool before taking out of forms.

 

In memory of my late father-in-law who passed away one year ago.

 

Ursula

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forest Berries Meringue Pie/Waldbeeren Meringue Kuchen

Happy weekend everyone!!

While growing up in Switzerland, we used to spend a lot of time in the forest. With family or with school. They have nicely looked after hiking trails. There is just something calming and peaceful about it. We would also often look for and find a lot of blueberries and strawberries! Now these are sweet memories:)

I’ve had a lot of raspberries and we are still picking some strawberries in our garden. We used to have blackberries but after getting hurt (scratched) a lot, we had enough and we dug the plant out…but I tell you that is a stubborn plant, it keeps on growing back…My brother in Switzerland has a thorn-less blackberry plant!!! That is the most amazing thing. Haven’t seen this here so far.

For this berry pie I used a mix of what I like to call forest berries (Waldbeeren): blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. Deliciously melt in your mouth meringue filling! Totally worth trying out! Feel free to use your favorite pie crust recipe.

 

 

 

 

Forest Berries Meringue Pie

Pie crust:

• 200 g unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 100 g butter, cold, cut into very small pieces
• 2-3 tbsp honey
• 1/2 lemon, zest
• 1 egg

-Mix together flour and salt, add butter and with a pastry blender or your hands mix until crumbly.

-Add lemon zest, honey and egg. Knead only until it holds together. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

-Preheat oven to 375F/190C

-Grease a 9-inch pie form. Roll out dough to fit form. Prick dough with a fork. For blind baking I cover bottom with parchment paper, then as a weight I pour some legumes like dry chickpeas over paper. Bake for about 10 minutes then remove paper with legumes and lower oven temperature to 350F/180C and finish bake until golden brown.

Meringue:

• 3 egg whites
• 1 pinch of salt
• 150 g sugar (I used honey)
• 500 g berries of your choice (I used blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries)

-Beat egg whites with salt until peaks form, add half of the sugar, beat until shiny then add rest of sugar until stiff.

-Mix half of the meringue with the berries. Fill into baked pie crust. Then top with remaining meringue.

-Bake in 375F/190C oven for a few minutes until golden brown.

 

 

Hiking in the Swiss Alps 2016

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Wishing you all a happy weekend!

Ursula

 

 

 

 

You can find me on Instagram: @littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

Peach Tart

Simple, rustic, delicious fruit tarts, in this case I used peaches. Niagara peaches are in season now and they are so yummy. Of course I had to make some kind of dessert!

This is how you make pies in Switzerland. It is the Swiss version of North American pies I guess;) I just like to call it a tart, rather. This is a very traditional “meal” in Switzerland, documents writing about tarts dating back to as early as 1556!

Easy pie crust filled with either fruit, veggies, cheese or meat. I slightly changed the usual crust, adding some ground almonds. We also add some ground nuts onto the crust before adding the fruit to absorb some juice while baking. And maybe the filling is different as well, a egg-milk-sugar filling.

 

 

 

 

Delicious Niagara Peaches

 

Peach Tart

Pie dough:

• 100 g unbleached all-purpose flour
• 100 g almonds, ground
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 85 g butter, cold, cut into small pieces
• 2 tbsp honey
• 4-5 tbsp cold water

-In a small bowl mix together flour, almond, salt and honey, add the butter and mix with your hands until resembles fine crumbs. Add the cold water and knead quickly until dough holds together. Wrap into plastic wrap and let rest in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Filling:

• 5-6 peaches thinly cut into slices
• 100 ml milk
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp honey
• optional: cinnamon, vanilla sugar or extract
• 2 tbsp ground almonds or hazelnuts

-Whisk together milk, egg and honey.

-Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Grease a 8 or 9-inch pie form.

-Roll out dough and put into prepared form. Sprinkle the nuts onto the dough then add/layer the peach slices. Pour milk-egg-honey filling over the fruit.

-Bake for about 45 minutes or crust is golden brown and liquid is set. Enjoy warm with some vanilla ice cream or let cool completely.

 

 

Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!

Ursula

 

 

You can find me on Instagram: @littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

Semi-frozen Strawberry Tarts

I hope you all have or had a lovely Sunday!! We are going through the first hot weather this year, today it is 32C, and humid in southern Ontario! It would be so nice to jump into a pool right now…

We finally went to a Strawberry Farm at the beginning of the week and bought a lot of strawberries:) And we are picking the first few from our garden. After that amazing Strawberry-Coconut-Cake for my birthday I am back at making also a little bit more healthier treats again. I totally love strawberry tarts, I had two;) when I was in Switzerland (forgot to make a picture). So instead of making a pastry crust, I made an unbaked, raw nut base, filled it with my coconut custard from Coconut Custard mini tarts with mixed berries and put it in the freezer, then decorated it with strawberries-that easy, so refreshingly delicious!

 

Semi-frozen Strawberry Tarts

 

-Makes 10 tarts

 

Coconut-Custard:

-get recipe here: Coconut Custard mini tarts with mixed berries

-Prepare ahead of time. It needs a few hours to cool and set in the fridge.

 

No bake nut base:

• 3/4 cup pistachios
• 1 cup blanched almonds
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

-Blend nuts together until coarse crumbs, add rest of ingredients, pulse a few more time until holds together. Press into cupcake tins. I used silicon forms, slightly greased.

 

Decoration:

• Strawberries

 

-Once the custard is set, you can fill the cupcake tins. Let freeze for a few hours. It will be easier to take out of the form. Decorate with Strawberries and keep in the refrigerator for semi-frozen or put it (without the berries) back in the freezer. My husband and I liked it more semi-frozen, my kids liked it really cold;) LOL

 

 

 

How do you beat the heat?

 

 

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

You can find me on Instagram: @littleswisslittlecanadian