This sweet dessert is a great summertime dessert. It’s sweet, quick to make (under 30 minutes), and doesn’t require an oven! It’s also packed with nutritional surprises like dates, walnuts, & tofu. Don’t be afraid by these rather unusual ingredients though–it tastes like any great dessert. I made it for Chris’ family and no one even knew there was tofu in it and everyone wiped their plates clean.
Chris and I went blueberry picking today at a local farm and left with literally POUNDS of blueberries! They were so big and sweet, I couldn’t resist. While I wanted to eat all of the blueberries by the handful (which I easily could have!), we decided we should make a yummy dessert instead.
Blueberry Filling
You don’t need too much sugar for this filling because the blueberries are already quite sweet. Additionally, because the rest of the components are quite sweet, it’s nice if the filling is just a tad tart.
3 cups blueberries
4 packets xylitol or 1 tablespoon sugar/sweetener of your choice
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
very small sprinkle of sea salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch** look at note below
Put all ingredients except cornstarch in a small saucepot over low heat. Stir for about 5 minutes, until the blueberries are slightly thickened down. Then add in the cornstarch and continue to stir in well to make sure the cornstarch is thoroughly mixed. After another few minutes, put the sauce into another bowl and completely cool.
Walnut Date Crust
This pie crust was inspired by a typical “raw” pie crust. It’s a bit softer than a typical pie crust, but it’s equally delicious in a different way. While it’s quite dense and high in calories because of the walnuts, it keeps you satisfied and full through the rest of the night.
2 cups walnuts
10 large mejdool dates, pitted
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Soak dates in a small bowl of water. Then process the walnuts into a food processor until they have almost turned into a meal. They will be slightly moist and almost stick together. Then remove the walnuts from the food processor and set aside.
Take soaked dates and chop roughly. Put in food processor to create a rough paste. Then add in the processed walnuts and sea salt and grind so it is fully mixed. Press the crust into a pie plate using your hands. Try to make the crust as thin as possible, without creating any holes. Put crust into the fridge.
Sneaky Creamcheese Filling
I call this sneaky because it’s main ingredient is tofu! You’d never know it tasting it though. The tofu adds just the perfect consistency and makes it thick and creamy, while the rest of the ingredients add flavor.
1 container of silken tofu, drained lightly
1/4 cup reduced fat cream cheese
3 dates, chopped
3 packets xylitol
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor. Make sure to process for a while, otherwise the tofu won’t be creamy! Set aside.
Assembly
This is the easiest part. Just make sure that everything is fully cooled before you start to layer!
First spoon the cream layer onto the crust, spreading out with a spatula. Then put in fridge for preferably 10 minutes–enough for it to harden a bit so the blueberry filling doesn’t immediately mix with the cream filling. Then add the blueberries filling on top. Top with fresh, raw blueberries (about 1 cup).
Put the entire tart into the fridge for at least an hour, or the freezer for 10 minutes if you can’t wait! (I couldn’t wait).
**The only thing I wish I had changed about this tart was making it stick together a bit better. So if you want to try and make the layers a bit more separate, I suggest refrigerating after each layer for a good period of time, and adding more cornstarch to the blueberry filling. Also, perhaps you could freeze it? I think that may work. Please let me know if you try.
However, with all that said, everyone wiped their plates clean. As I was wiping my plate clean with my finger (politely, of course!), I happily remembered I had some extra blueberry filling–a perfect addition to my greek yogurt the next morning! You could also easily have the leftovers of this tart for breakfast the next morning. Yum!
