Icing Tart and Cream Cheeze Woes

Last week, my mom made chocolate cream cheeze frosting for chocolate cupcakes for my super-sweet sixteen (graduation) party, and the frosting never set.  She used blue-label Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese, which contains partially hydrogenated oils, tastes chalky, and weeps in the fridge.  

It is, however, what ShopRite sells, and so it’s what we use for cream cheeze in Casa Miceli.  When I’ve used it for frosting, I drain it first.  Ownie Mom did not drain it of the excess water, and the resultant frosting didn’t quite set (even after a week in the fridge).  She saved it for pie, and I “upcycled” it today.

Piecrust for a tart with leftover frosting

1 cup dates, soaked and drained

1 cup brown rice flour

1/4 cup almond meal

1/4 cup corn flour (or cornmeal for crunchy crust, but they’re not the same thing)

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

about 2 1/2 cups runny chocolate cream cheeze frosting

9 chocolate lattices or 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease a 14” tart pan (or a 9” pie plate if you want a deep pie).

In a food processor, process the bejeebees out of the dates, flours, almond meal, xanthan gum, and salt until they begin to cohere and form a mass.  Press into the bottom of the tart pan and up the sides.  Bake for 10 minutes.  It will crack, like people as they age.  It’s OK. 

Remove crust from the oven and place on a rack (careful if you’re using a removable-bottom tart pan).  Immediate fill with the frosting.  Top with chocolate bits.  Let the crust cool for about 20 minutes then refrigerate until ready to serve, about 4 hours or overnight.

Serve in wide wedges with fresh berries and mint leaves.  An 8-dollar dessert, yes indeedy!

Anthropomorphic toast!  I saw kawaii toast jewelry on various “cute stuff” websites, so I made my own.

Yeah, Toast!

One last note: my parents made popcorn on the grill today.  Look it up.  It's a fun way to make an appetizer.

I'll be giving a talk on vegan, gluten-free desserts called "Desserts for the Often-Deserted" at the Lawrence Headquarters Branch of the Mercer County Library System at 14:00 on Wednesday, 13 June.  There will be refreshments (aka: samples).

Q