fruit tart {gf}

I recently hosted a baby shower for one of my girls and I was in charge of the dessert. I wanted to go with a gluten free cake option, mainly because of my desire to smother it in buttercream frosting (after all, isn’t cake just a vessel for frosting?!!)! In the middle of baking the cake, I realized I didn’t have enough powdered sugar for the frosting… oops! So, I turned the oven off but left the cake inside while I zipped to the store to buy the sugar.

As it turned out, leaving the cake in the warmed oven for the additional 30 minutes it took for me to pick up the sugar made all the difference, and was a pleasant surprise upon my return. Instead of a fluffy cake, I ended up with a beautifully dense and flavorful tart! Thus, this fruit tart recipe – voila!

INGREDIENTS

Topping
1 cup frozen organic blackberries
1/2 cup frozen organic blueberries
1/4 cup coconut sugar
2 tsp organic orange zest
2 Tbsp organic orange juice

Tart 
Coconut oil (to grease pans)
1 cup unsalted butter, softened (I use goat butter)
2 cups coconut sugar
7 egg whites, at room temperature
1 tsp organic almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose gluten free flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup almond milk

Frosting
2 cups unsalted butter, softened (I use goat butter)
7 cups organic powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
2/3 cup full fat coconut milk (canned)

Garnishes
Rosemary sprigs, sage sprigs, bay leaves
Pomegranate seeds, strawberries, blackberries

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prepare Topping: Bring all topping  ingredients to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, stirring often, until mixture thickens, about 10 minutes; transfer to a blender. Process until mostly smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl; cool 1 hour.
2. Prepare Tart: Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 3 (8-inch) round cake pans with coconut oil. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper rounds; lightly grease paper with coconut oil.
3. Beat butter and sugar with a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment on medium-high speed until fluffy and sugar is almost dissolved, about 8 minutes. With mixer running on low speed, add egg whites, one at a time, stopping to scrape sides as needed. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts.
4. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to egg mixture, alternating with milk, in 3 parts, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat until blended after each addition. Divide batter evenly among prepared pans.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn off oven and let cake sit in warmed oven for additional 15-20 minutes until cake settles and is lightly brown. Remove from oven and let cool in pans on wire racks 15 minutes. Invert onto wire racks, and cool completely, about 30 minutes. Discard parchment paper.
6. Prepare Frosting: Beat butter with a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment on medium speed until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. With mixer running on low speed, gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth and stopping to scrape sides as needed. Beat in vanilla and salt. With mixer running on medium speed, gradually add coconut milk, beating until fluffy and spreadable.
7. Place tarts on a individual cake stands. Spoon a generous portion of frosting onto each tart and smooth with an offset spatula covering the top and sides (I left sides partially “naked”). Stir berry topping to loosen. Spread berry topping over top of tart and smooth with offset spatula.
8. Top tarts with a mound of pomegranate seeds, add bay leaves and small sprigs of rosemary and sage in whatever pattern you’d like. Garnish sides with rosemary, sage, bay leaves, strawberries and remaining blackberries.

Serve and enjoy!

{Adapted from Publix}