Vegan Berry Tart With Date Caramel

While summer is still here, you should use everything that it gives. And berries might be one of the best parts of summer. In this recipe you’ll discover how to bake a vegan berry tart that’s wholesome, gluten-free, crisp and very delicious.

Do you enjoy berry picking? It’s sort of a meditation for me. In my family’s home garden, we have a couple of gooseberry and redcurrant bushes and one blackcurrant bush. When I had to pick some berries for the tart, I called out my little brother for some help. We both sat under the bush, talked, fed redcurrants to my neighbor’s hens across the fence and had tons of fun.

When my mom was little, she had to spend hours picking berries in a forest with her parents. They picked wild raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, cloudberries, and cranberries. During the times when my grandparents were young, they had to live through tough times so they learned how to put everything in jars. They made their own sauerkraut, pickles, and tons of jams from all the berries they’d picked.

While writing this, I realized how many things in my life I take for granted. And food is one of them. It’s hard to imagine what my grandparents and their parents had to go through during the times of war. But they learned how to preserve food and how to cook anything from scratch. They were happy.

In the last couple of months, I’ve noticed that I’ve becoming a bit of a compulsive eater. I struggled a lot with overeating in my high school years. So I took a step back and made a decision to practice mindful eating. One of the first things I implemented was a simple gratitude ritual before I start my meal.

I encourage you to try the gratitude ritual yourself. There are so many people involved in the each meal you eat. All the food on your plate was grown, picked and transported by someone. So let’s say thanks to everyone involved and to the food itself for nourishing our beautiful bodies. 🙂

With that said, let me tell you a little bit more about today’s recipe. It was inspired by the beautiful creation of Luise and David from Green Kitchen Stories. This vegan berry tart has the simplest crust ever (and no chilling required!). It’s made from oat flour which is naturally gluten-free. If you can’t find oat flour in your local store, you can always make your own by simply grinding regular oats.

This cake is naturally sweetened with date caramel and bananas (for some extra sweetness you can add maple syrup!). For berries, I choose sour ones – blackcurrant and redcurrant. But you can also use raspberries, blueberries or gooseberries.

Apart from being vegan and gluten-free, this tart is also very healthy. Oats are filled with fiber which is very beneficial for your gut health. They’re also rich in magnesium, iron, and zinc. But berries are very high in vitamin C and antioxidants.

Yep, this berry tart is a real win-win. 🙂

Vegan Berry Tart With Date Caramel

Makes 6 servings (15 cm/6-inch tart)

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1 ½ cup oat flour (make your own by grinding regular oats)
• 2 tbsp coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
• ¼ cup melted coconut oil
• 3 tbsp cold water
• a pinch of Himalayan salt (or sea salt)

For the filling:

• 10 juicy, pitted dates (soak them in water if they’re too dry)
• 1 ripe banana (black dots on the peel indicates perfect ripeness)
• 1 cup mixed fresh blackcurrant and redcurrant berries (you can also use raspberries, blackberries, blueberries or gooseberries)
• couple of fresh peppermint leaves for decoration (optional)
• 2 to 3 tbsp maple syrup (optional)*

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Prepare the crust by combining the oat flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Then add the coconut oil and water, mix well using your hands until the dough starts coming together.
2. Press the dough into a lightly greased 15 cm (6-inch) cake or tart pan. Press it up the sides as well so you have the space for the filling. Prick the crust with a fork. Pre-bake the crust for 10 minutes and set aside.
3. While the crust is baking, prepare the date caramel. Place the dates into a blender and blend until you get a smooth mixture. Add a bit of water if necessary. If your dates are extra juicy and soft like mine were, you can mash them with a fork.
4. Spread the date caramel on the top of the pre-baked crust. Then add a layer of sliced banana. If you’re using maple syrup, mix it with the berries and spread on top of banana layer.
5. Bake the tart for 25 minutes until the crust is golden and berries are juicy. Decorate with fresh peppermint leaves.

* Note: dates and banana are the only sweeteners that I used for the tart. As the berries are naturally sour, the tart will be sour as well. I personally love the sourness and the sweet touch of the dates and banana, but if you have a big sweet tooth and want to opt for a sweeter version, add about 2 to 3 tbsp of maple syrup to the berries. You can also add more dates if you wish.