It’s the first sunny weekend in a while and I am dying to go do outdoorsy stuff. I have a slightly embarrassing confession. Instead of opting for erm… more respectable/strenuous Swiss activities along the lines of hiking and biking, I decided to have a ‘domesticated Saturday morning’ and (very nicely) dragged Mark to this strawberry farm in Urdorf, just 20 minutes outside of Zurich.
When you get to the farm (it’s very easy to reach by
public transport), you are given a paper basket to collect your
strawberries. Then a nice man in a fluoro orange reflector jacket will give you
a row of strawberry plants which you can pick from. You can’t go to any other
rows! Remember to follow the rules, this is Switzerland! You then start picking
strawberries from that row, as much and as long as you want. Afterwards, you
check out, weigh and pay the strawberries you take home (5CHF per kilo,
bargain!). This is much cheaper than supermarket strawberries which are
normally transported from Spain!
So we went home with 2 kilos of strawberries and I
immediately started researching recipes on the train back home. I had big plans
for a million dishes. But the strawberries were so freaking good we kept eating them fresh,
and now only a few hours (and one very rich tart) later we are down to half of
the harvest!
Here is my new found knowledge on strawberries:
- Strawberry season in Switzerland goes between May – July, peaking around June – July.
- Heaps of farms allow strawberry picking (selber pflücken), but some places are open only on certain days or weekends. Check out www.selberpfluecken.ch for a list of these farms.
- New tip I learned: store strawberries uncovered in a colander in the fridge, and don’t wash them until just before you eat or cook them. Eat within three days of purchasing.
- If you can’t finish them all before the 'expiry date', you can always turn them into coulis (recipe below), strawberry syrup (boiled strawberries in water, sugar and cornstarch, which is then strained) or strawberry jam.
This is a simple vegan strawberry tart recipe. I used an almond flour-based tart crust and avocado-based filling. The avocado filling is actually inspired by a sugar-ladden Indonesian dessert, jus alpukat (avocado juice). It’s a simple mix of ripe avocadoes, sweet condensed milk and sugar. It’s a very similar consistency to pudding or a thick shake, which makes it perfect for a tart filling.
Although this tart sounds pretty healthy, it’s actually very
high in calories (513 cals per serve) which mainly come from the avocado and
almond flour. So try not to eat all in one sitting, if you can help it!
Vegan Strawberry Tart with Chocolatey
Avocado Filling and Strawberry Coulis
Serves 6
Ingredients
Tart crust:
2 ½ cups of
almond flour
½ teaspoon
baking soda
½ teaspoon
salt
1 teaspoon
psyllium husk
2 heaped tablespoons
applesauce
¼ cup canola
oil
Filling
2 ripe
avocadoes
1 ripe
banana
4-5
tablespoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon
vanilla essence
½ cup coconut
cream (the top layer of coconut milk which is a lot thicker than the coconut
water)
1 heaped
tablespoon cocoa powder
About 200g slices
of strawberries, to top the filling
Strawberry coulis
7-8 normal sized
strawberries, hulled and quartered
2-3 tablespoons
agave nectar
2
tablespoons water
3 teaspoons
cornstarch
Method
Firstly,
prepare the tart crust. In a big bowl mix all crust ingredients together until well
combined. Shape into a ball. Place the tart crust dough in a 9-inch spring form
cake tin. Using the back of a spoon (or your knuckles) press down the dough
onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan to create the tart shell. Make sure
to create a deep enough ‘wall’ to contain the filling (about 2-3 cm high). Then, using
a fork, poke a lot of holes on the tart base.
Pour yourself a glass of champagne (erm, or prosecco…) with strawberry.
Baking is hard work.
Turn on the
oven to 180 degrees Celcius. Bake the crust in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the
sides start to turn golden. Take the tin out of the oven and let the crust cool for 20 – 30 minutes.
While cooling the crust will crisp up.
Prepare the
filling. In a blender, mix all the filling ingredients except for the
strawberries until you get a pudding consistency. Spread the chocolate filling
inside the pre-baked tart. Set in the fridge for about an hour.
Prepare the
strawberry coulis. Place all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to boil,
then reduce to simmer. Use a hand blender (or transfer the coulis mix into a
blender) to blend the coulis mix into a syrup. Continue cooking for about 5
minutes until the sauce has starts to thicken. Take off heat and cool.
After an
hour, take out the filling and crust. Arrange slices of strawberries on top of
the filling. Place back in the fridge. Place coulis also in the fridge. Chill
for 4 hours before serving, preferably overnight.
Serve a
slice of the tart with a drizzle of the strawberry coulis.
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