Bora Berry Tart with Coconut flour and Sugarcane Jaggery

The other day I was lucky enough to get hold of the first Bora berry harvest of the season. You might recall, that i had mentioned the Bora Berry – also known as Jujube Date – last year on this space. This red colored Asian berry grows all over India and it is apparently even common in other parts of Asia, such as China. They are seasonal fruits and now is the time to pick them from the neighborhood shrubs. Most other Indian berries such as the Zunna Berry are harvested in May and June and those are much more rare. However, the Bora Berry can be commonly found at roadsides and in the near by jungles in Goa. Yet, for some reason there are not many uses out there for this berry, therefore I had taken up the challenge to create a recipe or two with this special fruit.

Baking is not at all a traditional cooking form of food in Goa. Seriously, I can count up the amount of people in the neighborhood who actually have an oven at home and who are using it as well regularly. People here are experts in slow cooking and stir fries or in special fermentation and pickling techniques. Their cooking world is different to what I was taught in Europe, but as you know I am passionate to learn new food preparations and techniques and I assume some people in my surrounding feel the same way and are motivated to discover new cooking ideas. Therefore I had come to the conclusion that the Bora Berry would come nicely in a french inspired Tart.

I wasn’t sure which of my two jujube date tart versions I should share! One I baked with the whole fruits and the seeds inside for lazy or busy days and the second one without the seeds but with grounded fruit flesh for the patient and more detailed bakers out there. I thought it is better, to allow you to choose between the two tarts. Otherwise the ingredients, texture and taste are pretty much the same in my opinion. Of course the ground Bora berries in the second version give the whole pastry a more intensive fruit flavor, while the whole berries in the first version lend the tart a more mellow fruity feeling to it. Imagine a Cherry tart with the whole fruits and you will know what I mean to say, but don’t forget, cherries taste a million times differently compared to the Bora Berries.

The Bora Berry is a fruit that is difficult to be described in terms of flavors. I would say it has a bit of a date or apple aroma, but then its a bit more tangy and not that sweet in my opinion. The skin is rather tough, which some people dislike and the more it lies in the sun the more drier and the more though it gets. It’s quite interesting! I decided to add Coconut flour and sugarcane Jaggery into the tart to compliment the fruit’s flavor’s. Further, sugarcane and coconut are commonly used in Goan/Indian sweets. I thought, keeping that in mind would help local people to adjust easier and motivate them to enjoy a dessert such as a Tart, so this Bora berry tart can be described as a fusion recipe. A couple of friends and family member had the chance to be the first to try it out and the feedback was pleasantly positive. Although I did observe a difference of opinion between the 2 tart styles. Some people preferred the “whole fruit version” and some would rather go for the seedless Bora berry tart.

Which Bora Berry Tart style would you choose to make and why?

Whole Fruit Bora Berry Tart with Coconut flour and Sugarcane Jaggery

 

Author:

Helene D’Souza

Recipe type: Pastry

Cuisine: Cuisine

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 1 hour 15 mins

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Ingredients

For the Shortcrust:

• 200 grams White Flour
• 100 grams Butter
• pinch Salt
• ~1 Tablespoon luke warm Water

For the Coconut Paste:

• 50 grams soft Butter
• 100 grams Sugarcane Jaggery
• 2 Eggs
• 100 grams Coconut flour
• 2 Tablespoon White Flour
• pinch Cinnamon powder

and…

• ~100 grams clean whole Bora berries

Instructions

1. Mix all the ingredients to make the short crust pastry. Work the dough well out and smooth and let it stand for at least 1 hour in a cold room or fridge.
2. Take a Tart form and place it on a baking paper. Draw around the form on the paper with a pencil and cut it out. We will need it later!
3. Butter the Tart form and dust it well with flour. That will prevent the dough to stick on the form while baking.
4. Preheat your oven to a 180 Celcius!
5. Take out your dough and roll it approximately 3 millimeter thick out. Turn the baking form and place it on the dough. Calculate 2 cm more from the form and cut out around. 2 cm more are required or your dough will be too short to fit into the baking form.
6. Place the cut out dough into the buttered form and poke with a fork a few fine wholes into it. Add the previously cut out baking paper on top with some weight such as a handful of beans or lentils. That will prevent the dough to blow up in the center and will help to stay even. Bake the dough by itself for 15 mins at 180 C.
7. In the meanwhile prepare the paste. In a bowl mix Butter, Jaggery smooth. Add the Coconut flour, flour, eggs and cinnamon powder. Mix it all well so that no lumps are left.
8. Once the dough is finished baked, take it out and remove the baking paper with the beans/lentils. Fill into the short crust pastry the coconut paste mixture and arrange the clean Bora berries on top. Bake the Tart for about 30-40 minutes or until golden at 180 Celcius. Do the poking test to see if it’s done in the center (if anything sticks on the fork or tooth pick, it will need some more baking time)

Notes

I made my own Coconut flour, by drying the scraped coconut in the oven for 30 minutes a 100 Celcius. Then I grind the dried coconut to a fine flour. Store it in a airtight container.

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Ground Bora Berry Tartlet with Coconut flour and Sugarcane Jaggery

 

Author:

Helene D’Souza

Recipe type: Pastry

Cuisine: Fusion

Prep time: 1 hour

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 1 hour 30 mins

Print

 

Ingredients

For the Shortcrust:

• 200 grams White Flour
• 100 grams Butter
• pinch Salt
• ~1 Tablespoon luke warm Water

For the Coconut Paste:

• 50 grams soft Butter
• 100 grams Sugarcane Jaggery
• ~150 grams Bora berries without seed core
• 2 Eggs
• 100 grams Coconut flour
• 2 Tablespoon White Flour
• pinch Cinnamon powder

Instructions

1. Mix all the ingredients to make the short crust pastry. Work the dough well out and smooth and let it stand for at least 1 hour in a cold room or fridge.
2. In the meanwhile, rinse your berries and clean them by discarding the seed core. That might take a while! After cleaning, grind them coarsely to little bits and keep aside.
3. Take the small Tart molds and place it on a baking paper. Draw around the forms on the paper with a pencil and cut them out. We will need them later!
4. Butter the Tart forms and dust them well with flour. That will prevent the dough to stick on the forms while baking.
5. Preheat your oven to a 180 Celcius!
6. Take out your dough and roll it approximately 2 millimeters thick out. Turn the baking forms and place it on the dough. Calculate 1 cm more from the form and cut out around. 1 cm more is required or your dough will be too short to fit into the baking form.
7. Place the cut out doughs into the buttered forms and poke with a fork a few fine wholes into it. Add the previously cut out baking papers on top with some weight such as a handful of beans or lentils. That will prevent the dough to blow up in the center and it will help to stay even. Bake the dough by itself for 10 mins at 180 C.
8. In the meanwhile prepare the paste. In a bowl mix Butter, Jaggery smooth. Add the ground Berries, Coconut flour, flour, eggs and cinnamon powder. Mix it all well so that no lumps are left.
9. Once the dough is finished baked, take it out and remove the baking paper with the beans/lentils. Fill into the short crust pastries the coconut Berry paste mixture. Bake the Tartlets for about 20 minutes or until golden at 180 Celcius. Do the poking test to see if it’s done in the center (if anything sticks on the fork or tooth pick, it will need some more baking time).

Notes

I made my own Coconut flour, by drying the scraped coconut in the oven for 30 minutes a 100 Celcius. Then I grind the dried coconut to a fine flour. Store it in a airtight container.

WordPress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

3.2.1753

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Tagged as: berry, bora, coconut, date, flour, instruction, Jaggery, jujube, recipe, step by step, sugarcane, tart