When I gave up gluten and grains I knew I would miss pies and fruit tarts, which I consider essential holiday fare. Since then, I have discovered that you can make some pretty great pies and tarts with almond flour and arrowroot, as well as other nut flours and coconut flour. This is a nice sweet-tart addition to the holiday table, and I doubt anyone will miss the gluten in the crust. Adding a small amount of arrowroot powder to the nut-flour base adds a little stability to the finished crust. This is my second post for Vermont Creamery’s “Keep it Fraîche” campaign, and there is still time to enter the giveaway–just head over to this post and follow the directions to enter. There’s a box of crème fraîche-filled chocolates in the prize package. That’s all the incentive you should need. Giveaway has ended! Congrats to Angela W., who won the gift set.
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/3 cup arrowroot powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, divided use
- 16 ounces fresh cranberries
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1/4 cup honey
- freshly grated orange zest
- 8 ounces Vermont Creamery Madagascar Vanilla Bean Creme Fraiche
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 10-or12-inch tart pan with a removable base.
- In a small mixing bowl, stir together the almond flour, arrowroot, and salt. Melt the butter with the honey, and stir this into the dry ingredients. Stir in the egg and one teaspoon of the vanilla. Press the dough evenly over the bottom of the tart pan, pressing some of it about a half of an inch up the sides. Bake the crust for 15 minutes, or until lightly golden around the edges. Remove and cool completely.
- Prepare the cranberry topping: In a medium saucepan combine the cranberries, orange juice, honey, the remaining vanilla, and a teaspoon of the orange zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries have opened and the mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and cool completely.
- To assemble, spread the creme fraiche evenly over the cooled crust, then top with the cranberries and sprinkle with some orange zest. Serve right away, or refrigerate for an hour before serving.
This is not overly sweet, which is my preference, but if you prefer your desserts on the sweet side you can increase the honey to a third of a cup. While this still tastes great the second day, it starts to look a little ugly, so I recommend making it the day you plan to serve the dessert. You can prep the crust and the cranberries in advance, however, and just assemble everything the day of the event. A reminder that if you do not have access to the Madagascar vanilla version, you can just stir a tablespoon of honey and the beans from half of a vanilla bean into some plain crème fraîche.
Thanks for reading,
-Angela