Blackberry Molasses Tarts, Banana Chai Tart

Last night, we were all out of chocolate.

Now I know that you're thinking. How can this be? No CHOCOLATE? Well... Let's just say that I like my Chocolate Chip Mini Cupcake recipe. :)

I have to admit that, when I'm feeling lazy, plain dark chocolate has always been (and probably will always be) my dessert of choice. We usually keep a tin of bulk dark chocolate chips handy for when just such an occasion arises. But alas, there was none to be had. I did, however, have a fresh new jar of blackberry jam from the farmer's market.

There's really nothing like blackberry jam, you know? I grew up picking buckets of blackberries at my grandparents' house for all kinds of different blackberry recipes. I have a very fond memory of about a dozen of us climbing up plywood boards onto the tops of the (several feet high) bushes to get all of the best berries. We'd often come into the house with our hands, faces, and clothes covered in that vivid indigo, completely stuffed from the hours of berry eating. I even used them to color my mud pies. :)

I almost called these mincemeat tarts, but they have no nuts or brandy, so I've settled with Blackberry Molasses tarts. The filling can actually be eaten without cooking (and we did eat this about a week ago, sans blackberry jam) but I thought it'd be nice to put into a tart.

I tried out Bob's Red Mill's recipe for 5-minute Teff Pie Crust(doubled and pre-cooked), and while I love the flavor of teff, I think the crust could have used a binder, and butter instead of oil. Next time I'll add some tapioca starch and Earth Balance.

Blackberry Molasses Tarts


16 prunes, chopped
2 tart apples, chopped
1 scant cup raisins
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1tsp lemon

Combine in a large bowl, and set aside.

In a saucepan, heat on low:

2 Tb. maple
2 Tb. molasses
1 Tb. lemon
5 Tb. blackberry jam
1 scant tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
4 tb. coconut butter

Whisk ingredients together until smooth and warm. It takes a bit for the coconut butter to melt. With a spatula, scrape the warm goo onto the fruit mixture, and fold in.

Pour into teff tart shells, and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until the apples have softened.

This made a full pie, and the deep dish tart you see in the picture.

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I had some pie crust left over, so I threw this together, also. :)



Banana Chai Tart

3 Tb. honey
1 tsp. lemon
2 bananas, sliced
1 banana, chopped
Juice of one orange
2 sprays of sweet chai essence
1/4 tsp. vanilla

Heat honey and lemon in a saucepan (I used my measuring cup) on low heat until melted. Pour over bananas in a large bowl, and mix thoroughly. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix, and transfer to the tart shell. Top with thin sliced orange segments, and bake at 350 about 30 minutes, until the top starts to brown slightly.

Hemp seed Furikake

I've been eating a lot of rice lately because of stomach issues (read: free pizza, oy!) and looked around the local asian market for some vegan Furikake with no MSG. Usually I can find this, but our market here doesn't seem to have it. C'est la vie. So I rummaged around my cupboards and made up this recipe instead.


Hemp Seed Furikake

5 sheets of nori, ground into a rough powder in the blender
Equal parts:
Black sesame seeds
Raw hemp seeds

Toss all ingredients into a pint jar, and shake vigorously until evenly mixed. (It helps to do a little dance and jump around a bit!)


I'm LOVING this mix. Salt-free, sugar-free, but full of flavour! Plus, you get a punch of nutrition from all sides. The hemp seeds particularly. You can it sprinkle on rice, salads (yum!), soups, noodle dishes, veggies - well, pretty much anything! :) Best of all, it's shelf-stable.


Blessings!
~L