February 14, 2009

valentine pomegranate heart tarts


This month Kelly at The Spunky Coconut is hosting Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free and in honor of Valentine's day this month's theme is Sweets For Your Sweetheart. I really wanted to make something very special for the Trainer and myself so I asked him to think about what he might want. His answer was "that thing you made when we were first dating."

Very helpful, sweetheart. I can barely remember what I made last month, let alone two and a half years ago. So I decided that I wanted to make something pink and shaped like a heart. The Trainer agreed to pomegranate and I was off. I borrowed a silicon mold with 8 little hearts from S and decided to make tarts.

I wanted to make something like a pomegranate cheesecake so I did some research and brainstorming. Last night I tried my grand experiment and came up with these pomegranate heart tarts for my valentine. This is by no means a finished recipe, but I present it now, and I will continue to work on it for a future, more polished, offering.

Today, the Trainer and I slept in, all the way until 7:30 and headed to separate gyms. I worked out, he worked and we met up to see Coraline at one of our local theaters, followed by lunch at one of our old haunts, a Colombian restaurant on Roosevelt Avenue. When we got home we shared two of these and decided that they were very satisfying. The Trainer didn't even realize that they were made from yogurt (although he was in the kitchen the whole time I was making them last night).

Pomegranate Yogurt Tart makes 8 small heart shaped tarts
Crust:
3oz (1 cup) blanched almond meal
1 egg white
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon olive oil, other vegetable oil or butter
1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
1 cup thick yogurt
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
2 tablespoons honey
Preheat oven to 300°F. In a small bowl mix the almond meal, egg white, honey, oil and salt. Mix until a thick, pasty dough forms and there are no clumps left. Using a small spoon or your finger, press the dough into tart forms, filling in any holes, the layer of dough does not have to be to thick, since it will puff up a little as it bakes. Bake for 12-18 minutes, until edges are golden and no raw areas are apparent.

In a small dish bloom gelatin in the water. In small sauce pan gently heat the yogurt. Slowly whisk in the pomegranate molasses and honey until everything is blended. Keeping the heat low, whisk in the bloomed gelatin until it is all dissolved. Pour yogurt into cooled tart shells and place in the refrigerator over night to set.

5 comments:

Kelly said...

They are so cute! I love them!

Kelly said...

Awesome picture by the way!

Simply...Gluten-free said...

Those are adorable!

Check out my latest blog post for a chance to win a great gluten book! http://simplygluten-free.blogspot.com/2009/02/gluten-book-give-away.html

gfe--gluten free easily said...

Truly lovely, Vittoria. I just love the idea of the pomegranate molasses. Since we keep bees and have lots of wonderful honey, I can't wait to try it. I do a lot of crustless treats, but your crust recipe is fantastic in my book because it requires great, simple ingredients ... and again some honey--cool. BTW, I've been seeing you post on other GF blogs and now I've found you. :-)

Thanks,
Shirley

Naomi Devlin said...

These look fantastic vittoria! I love the pomegranate molasses and the lovely heart molds.

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