It’s berry picking season and we’re here for it! Hitting up a farm is forever a #sundayfunday activity and today was almost perfect weather (it was hot AF) for heading out of the city to Andrew’s Scenic Acres in Milton. These guys have all kinds of picking throughout the summer – strawberries, raspberries and blueberries plus flowers like gladiolas, sunflowers and dahlia’s. Heck yes!
We definitely caught the tail end of the raspberry picking season but there were still some good ones left for the taking – and we had some serious plans for these bad boys that may or may not involve alcohol. Raspberry picking requires a delicate hand and patience. You’ve gotta be able to pull them off the bush without crushing them and then it’s crucial to lay them in a flat container rather than the square cartons they give you as they squish so easily. Your hard work will definitely pay off though. In fact, we’re going to be so bold to say that raspberries are the best berry of them all. Don’t hate if you disagree.
We also got in on the very beginning of blueberry season – which was something I had never picked before! Not all of them were ripe yet but they were some ready to go and they were delish.
Once we were home with all those berries we just had to get cooking. Raspberries are already really sweet, and we indulged in some breakfast pizza last week so we felt like making a crumble that was super light. We came across this recipe for a Raspberry Coconut Crumble Tart from Rachel Conners at Bakerita – it’s paleo, gluten-free, vegan and free of refined sugar! It’s also incredibly delicious. We made three smaller tarts instead of a larger one so we altered the cooking time but otherwise the recipe stayed the same.
Filling
- 1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries (even better if they’re freshly picked!)
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons tapioca starch
Crust
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¾ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons coconut oil solid
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Preheat the oven to 350°F.
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Add raspberries, honey and tapioca starch to a medium bowl and toss until coated. Set the mixture aside while you make the crust.
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Add the almond flour, shredded coconut, honey, coconut sugar, baking powder, and salt to a different bowl and whisk until combined. Add the coconut oil and use your fingers to work it in until coarse crumbs form and the mixture holds together when pressed.
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Remove a heaping ½ cup of the crumbs for the topping and pour the remaining crumbs into the bottom of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly into the pan. Pour the raspberry mixture over the crust, making sure the juices stay behind in the bottom of the bowl.
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Sprinkle the reserved crust evenly over the top of the berries.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the crust is lightly brown.
- Dig in once it’s cooled down. Feel free to top with ice cream.
As for the drink of the day, we drank Nickel Brook’s Sour Raspberry Beer while we made a cool concoction – raspberry infused gin – for a future #sundayfunday cocktail. Learn how to make it here.
These tunes perfectly capture what you love about that summer drive out of the city. Pop punk throwbacks and catchy pop rock.