Cherry Mousse Tarts

It's President's Day, and I wanted to make a cherry pie again (see last year's recipe), but my buying club out-of-stocked my frozen cherries today. When I stopped by the co-op, they didn't have any fresh, frozen, or canned. All they had was organic Tart Cherry Juice, so I bought some of that and while driving home tried to think how to use it to make a pie. Something gelled with agar flakes, also known as kanten, a seaweed product? Or a pudding made with arrowroot powder or organic cornstarch?

I decided in the end to make CHERRY MOUSSE by using both. I made eight little pie tarts and two big glasses of mousse.

Nutcracker Sweets

I asked my sister Cynthia if I could include her NUTCRACKER SWEETS in this blog, and she said that was fine. She had gotten the recipe from the mother of a friend of her daughter, but thought she might have changed it a little, plus she gave it this name. I have made these for the dance school's fund-raising refreshment table during The Nutcracker Suite, where they seemed to sell well and no one knew they were eating a vegan treat. Try to find fresh pecans to make them with, as that is the most important ingredient.

 

INGREDIENTS

Crust

2 cups  — organic white flour and/or whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup — organic brown sugar

1/2 cup — organic plant-based butter

Sprinkle — vanilla

Middle Layer

1 cup — pecans

 

Next Middle Layer

2/3 cup — plant-based butter

1/2 cup — organic brown sugar 

Top Layer

1 package — dairy-free malt-sweetened chocolate chips

 

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, stir together two cups of organic white flour or whole wheat pastry flour and a cup of Sucanat, which is an organic brown sugar. With a fork, mix in half a cup of Earth Balance or organic Smart Balance non-hydrogenated butter substitute. Possibly you could try this with a bland oil, like sunflower, but since the rest of the ingredients are expensive, I have yet to experiment. I added a sprinkle of vanilla.