Pineapple coconut berry tarte

It was time to clear out some things from the freezer. I needed some space.

In December when my workplace closed down, my manager cleared out some items that would not be used. She gave me a huge can of pineapple. This is something I would never purchase. I took it anyway. I used some of it and froze the rest.

Although I rarely eat dessert, I decided to make a light pineapple tarte with the frozen pineapple. Sometimes I make a lemon coconut tarte. This was similar. It's so fast and easy to make.

If you have a guest showing up that you didn't expect, you could whip this up, lickity split and voila. You have dessert.

I usually use walnuts in this kind of crust, but I used oats instead. I baked it this time since the oats were in it. I didn't want to run out for nuts.

With the help of a food processor I can whip up the crust in minutes.

I also had some date puree in the fridge that was made from soaked dates. They were purchased as a paste. I softened them with warm water then blended.

After blitzing the mixture of the dates, coconut, salt and lemon zest, I make sure it's scraped from the sides then mixed again.

I used one whole lemon for the zest. Half for the crust and half for the filling.

The amounts were made up on the fly, but I weighed them and wrote down the measurements. It worked out good. There was no need for added sugar, since the dates were already sweet.

I used a small spring form cake pan. This was not my original plan. I was going to use my tarte pan, but I couldn't find it. It was fine this way.

Crust
100g rolled oats
50g dried coconut
200g soaked date puree
1 tsp salt
lemon zest from half lemon

Combine and press into a tarte or cake pan. I wasn't sure what temperature would be best so I stuck with 375F. I left it in for around ten minutes.

The two main ingredients for the filling are pineapple and coconut cream. I added lemon juice to add some tartness.

Filling
300g pineapple
200g coconut cream
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
60 g agave nectar
75 g raw cane sugar
40 g cornstarch
1 tsp agar agar
1/2 tsp salt

I sometimes use orange zest and orange juice, either as a substitute or an addition. I chose the more sour of the two since the pineapple was really sweet.

With the help of a bullet blender I added the ingredients and blended until smooth.

Simply put all of the ingredients in and blend until you have your desired smoothness.

Add to a saucepan and cook on medium until it becomes thick enough. When you lift the whisk or spoon it should stick to it a bit.

Pour into the pan and let it cool in the fridge.

i sprinkled coconut on top before I put it in the fridge. I guess it doesn't matter if you do it afterwards.

The preparation of this tarte should take no more than ten minutes, not including clean up.

The part that takes a little longer is the setting and cooling. It's probably around an hour. I put it in the fridge and tested it periodically by gently pressing on the top. We didn't consume any until a few hours later.

Berries have been coming in from somewhere south. The prices are decent and they taste really nice. During certain seasons they're not worth eating.

I took advantage of this and smothered the pie with raspberries and strawberries.

Alternatively I could have topped with fresh pineapple, but it's a gamble sometimes. I think they are sweet and ripe but they are not. I didn't feel like gambling.