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Happy Monday!
Sweet potatoes are not native to Italy and so naturally they are not part of our traditional diet. I can’t remember the first time I heard about them or tried one (maybe in 2012?) – embarrassing! But I’ve been hooked ever since. I don’t know if this is strange but I use them in sweet recipes more than savory ones, as you may have noticed. Nonetheless I love them in pretty much any way.
This tart is sooooo delicious! The base could be used as is (baked snack bites anyone?!) but for me the real deal is the filling. It’s incredibly silky smooth and full of warming winter spices such as cinnamon, cloves and ginger.
I baked 2 smaller tarts: one for family and the other one I froze so it’s ready for the next special occasion!
BTW – I’m posting this today in honor of my aunt who asks me to make if every single Christmas so here’s what we’ll be having as (one of the many) dessert tomorrow for lunch!!! 🙂
P.S. here I used white sweet potatoes but as always you can use any color.
SWEET POTATO TART WITH COCONUT WHIPPED CREAM {vegan + gluten free}
by Marta Giaccone
Recipe
yields 1 standard or 2 small tarts
prep time: 10 mins, cook time: 45 mins, total: 55 mins
Crust
1 cup / 150 gr nuts of choice (almonds, cashews, pecans, etc)
1 cup / 100 gr grated coconut, unsweetened
¼ cup / 60 ml light vegetable oil
¼ cup / 60 ml liquid sweetener of choice
½ tsp baking soda
pinch salt
Filling
½ kg sweet potatoes
1 cup / 250 ml full fat coconut cream from a can or plant-based milk
1 tsp starch (tapioca, corn, etc)
¼ cup / 60 ml maple syrup or other liquid sweetener
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
pinch ground clove
pinch nutmeg
pinch turmeric
Method
- Wash, peel and chop sweet potato in small-ish pieces.
- Boil or steam it until just tender, about 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F
- Pulse almonds until you have almond meal, then add the rest of the crust ingredients to the blender and pulse to combine.
- With lightly wet hands, transfer mixture into a standard-sized tart pan or 2 small ones, lined with parchment paper. Bake crust for 10 mins until just golden. Remove from oven and set aside. Keep the oven on.
- Add starch to milk and stir until fully dissolved.
- Combine sweet potatoes with the rest of the filling ingredients to the blender and puree.
- Transfer filling onto the pre-baked crust. Bake for 20 minutes (or longer depending on the pan you’re using. If it’s large you may need to bake for 5-10 mins longer, until the surface starts cracking), remove from oven, let cool, then transfer to fridge.
- Tastes best straight from the fridge.
- Store in the fridge. Can be frozen.
Coconut whipped cream
1 can full fat Coconut cream
1 tbsp sweetener of choice, to taste
Method
- Place can in the fridge the night before without shaking it too much.
- Carefully turn the can upside down, open it, discard the coconut water (you can use it for a smoothie) and scoop out the solid cream.
- Whisk the cream in a large bowl until it starts forming peaks. Add sweetener to taste and continue whisking.
- Transfer to a container and refrigerate for a few minutes/hours to let it firm up (for this pie I didn’t have the time to let it rest in the fridge long enough so as you can see it’s not very firm!)
