Gluten-Free Cranberry Apple Tart with Homemade Cinnamon ice cream

photocredit: http://www.rawfoodrecipes.com/

I've been sick for two days with "the crud." It's like the common cold on steroids; sore throat, itchy eyes, sneezing, hacking. So for two days I've quarantined myself in my house and after about 12 hours of that, let's just say I got bored. Really bored.


I had apples, I had cranberries, I had time and I had enough almond flour to feed an army, and thus my new recipe was born. Sadly my camera is out of commission so I had to borrow a photo, but I kid you not, it looked almost exactly like this.


For that tart crust:

2 cups almond meal
5-6 medjool dates
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans (I like a mixture)
coconut oil 
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons organic palm sugar

This is the easy part. Throw all the ingredients in adding the coconut oil as you need to until it starts to form a ball in your food processor. Roll it out this on wax paper and place in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Then add it to your pie dish. Bake for 10 minutes on 375 until the edges get golden brown.If you add too much oil, never fear, just add more almond flour.

For the filling:

7 sweet small red (gala or crisp) apples chopped
1 bag whole cranberries
2 tablespoons coconut oil
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

In a saute pan cook the apples and cranberries together with the coconut oil and honey on medium-high for about 20 minutes. The cranberries should start to pop and open. Make sure to stir continually so that the cranberries do not burn and so the apples get consistently soft. They will be done when the apples are the consistency of an apple pie filling and the cranberries have opened to color the apples and the sauce a fuchsia pink.

Once you've cooked your pie crust as instructed above, simply pour the hot filling in and drizzle honey on top. Let it cool for about 20 minutes before cutting to serve with your ice cream.

For the homemade ice cream:

2 cups 2% milk
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla flavoring
1 cup organic palm sugar
1 tablespoon saigon cinnamon

In a saucepan, add the milk, flavoring, 1/2 cup sugar, and cinnamon and set it on medium until the sugar starts to dissolve. Once that is done, pull off heat and set aside. Meanwhile mix the three eggs with the other 1/2 cup of sugar and once the milk mixture has cooled, add that and again bring it to medium temperature slowly (so you don't cook the eggs). Do this until all sugar is combined and the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon.

Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker for 35 minutes or until firm, place in an airtight container in a freezer for at least one more hour before serving and voila!

Seriously, my whole family loved this. The almond crust pairs nicely with the apples, cranberries, and cinnamon ice cream. So good! If you're going dairy free, simply replace the cow's milk with coconut milk (full fat) to make your own version of the cinnamon ice cream. This recipe can also be vegan if you take out the honey and use either agave, coconut nectar, organic palm sugar or other sweetener to the filling.

Sometimes being sick has it's creative advantages!

Check out more healthy recipes here at Slightly Indulgent Tuesday here and here for the Newly Weds Recipe Link up!