One of my close friends made a killer cake for my bridal shower a few months ago. One of the ingredients was coconut flour. I loved how spongy the cake was and found myself fantasizing about it on the random late nights when I began craving unreasonable amounts of chocolate. I bought coconut flour shortly thereafter in hopes of experimenting with it and mostly stayed away because I didn’t know where to begin.
Then, Memorial Day was approaching and I felt like a lighter and healthier version of an angel food cake was in order. And then I suddenly remembered the coconut flour in my pantry. This is where the tart was born, though it’s more cakey than anything.
Whatever. It’s delicious and it doesn’t really matter what it’s called.
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I paired it with some summery Red White and Blue and a simple coconut cream. I feel like fruit and coconut cream shine in almost any recipe. And it definitely shined here.
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When I first showed these pictures to my SO he declared that he wanted to lick the screen. And that’s exactly what he did to his plate, too. And when this happens then I know it was a successful recipe.
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Angel Food Cake Crust:
a recipe
1 cup dates, soaked, pitted, and peeled
3/4 cup coconut flour
2 t vanilla (extract works, or 2 vanilla beans for all raw)
1/4 t sea salt
1 T coconut oil
3/4 cup water
Place the dates, along with some of the soak water, in a food processor and give it a whirl until there is a paste. You may need to scrape down the sides every few seconds. Add everything, save the flour, and process until incorporated. Then add the flour and process until everything is combined into a dough. Dump the contents out and press down into your base. I used 6 tart tins.
Berries:
the preparation
strawberries, sliced
blueberries
2-3 T coconut nectar
Toss the sliced strawberries and blueberries in the coconut nectar and set aside. When you are ready to serve you can spoon them onto the crust.
Coconut Cream:
a recipe
2 coconuts, meat scraped out
1/2 cup coconut butter
1/4 cup maple syrup (non raw)
1/2 t vanilla
1/4 t sea salt
Scrape the meat out with the back of your spoon and rinse under water, being careful to remove any pieces of coconut husk left on the meat. Combine with remaining ingredient in a high speed blender, and maybe a few tablespoons of the water from the coconut. Blend on high until a cream consistency is achieved. Chill in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
I do not have a machete or a butcher knife, so I use my basic (and sharp) chefs knife to open coconuts. Here’s a video I found on YouTube. Skip to about :30 seconds to get to the process.
