Tart shell recipe that dries "soft" not teeth-breaking hard?

[Diana Cda]

I'm hopeful in a way I haven't been for some time when it comes to dehydrated crusts, etc. Anything I've ever made, either straight grains or combined with nuts, when dehydrated comes out so hard that unless extremely thin, I feel like I'll break my teeth on them! <g>

Yet anything that I've made so far, and there have been quite a log of trials, that combines things so that I don't get teeth-grinding hardness, doesn't dry completely and I'm extremely sensitive to dehydrated foods that aren't bone dry!

Yet for last 2 weeks, I've been buying these newly available raw vegan tarts from my local health food store that even when they've sat in their fridge for 3 days (that's about how long they last, I never get any after 2-3 days they all sell out!), despite being somewhat moist from the filling and sitting in the fridge, zip on that awful fermenty smell that _all_ dehydrated foods seem to have that aren't dried to a crisp. Yet these tarts crumble in your mouth. They're amazing!

But at Cdn$5.25 each, they're too expensive a treat to buy long-term. Yet they're one of only 2 or 3 items that are available to me to eat away from home.

Was hoping someone had a tried and true recipe for a crust that dries to hold its shape (versus a crumble layer like you'd put as "crust" for cheesecake), yet can be dried completely but won't chip/break one's teeth! <g> I now know it's possible, so hopefully someone knows of something. I haven't come across any recipe that dehydrates like this myself.

Thanks.

[anniez]

What are the ingredients in the crusts you purchase? If you can tell us that we may be able to help.
Annie

[Diana Cda]

Oh, good idea! I meant to say what I thought they had, but forgot! <g>

Well, they _seem_ to have some buckwheat, but not a whole lot because the flavour and look would reveal more, I think. There are 2 or 3 discernible raisins in each tart plus the rest seems to be some ground-up nut of some sort. But it's really very hard to tell. All I know is that they're not retaining moisture so that I'm not smelling even the tiniest whiff of fermentation. Unlike the raw vegan burgers and burger "ball" types of stuff they've sold forever which I've bought and tried to eat twice in desperation only to throw out, even though the tarts stay in the fridge, they don't continue to ferment.

So hope someone already has a recipe that they know dries very dry without being hard enough to crack teeth. I have to say that I'm a dunce when it comes to trying to figure out how to make something on my own <g>. But out of all the recipe books out there, maybe someone has already come across something that does this. Until I found these tarts, I didn't know something could come out like this!

Thanks.

[anniez]

Isn't there an ingredient list? Purchased products usually have this.

Annie

[Diana Cda]

No, there isn't one. I naturally would have included it if that was the case. Unfortunately, these particular tarts are part of the food the store provides for the lunch crowd, etc. They have a number of loose food items (muffins, food rolls, etc., etc.), inside and outside the fridge in quite a few bins that you buy by bulk where there are no particulars listed of any kind. Just like you'd get when you go to a bakery and buy bread/muffins, etc., from their bins. You don't get an ingredient list on a paper in the food wrapping since they come in bulk.

I really do wish there would be an ingredients list, even a name of the company that I could contact but nothing. I've asked, too, but no luck there as yet.

Again, this thread is in hopes of connecting with someone who has a recipe that already does this. I'm afraid that trying to deduce the ingredients and figuring this out Sherlock Holmes style is not the best way for me to try to reach my goal. I guess I've had too many fruitless years of doing that already that once the internet came along for me at home 10 years ago, I've been much happier trying to connect with ready-made solutions. So hopefully someone knows of a recipe that already does this. I'll keep looking, of course. This is the first time I've found something dehydrated that has grainds and/or nuts that I can eat. And, yes, the taste gives it away. These tarts are truly raw vegan, cooking can't be hidden. They're labelled that way, too.

Thanks very much! Appreciate it. :)

[anniez]

In her book Alissa has two recipes for "Toaster Tarts." The wrappers are dehydrated flat, but I would think they could be dehydrated as crusts. The wrappers are quite good and not at all hard as they do not have nuts. Maybe you could experiment with the wrapper recipe.

Be sure and report back to us.

Annie

[mallow]

I'm not sure if this would meet your preferences, but check out the "Pecan Love Pie" recipe on kimberlysnyder.net

The crust is really yummy, and only made from coconut, walnuts, and raisins if I remember correctly. You don't even have to dehydrate it.

[anniez]

The Canolli wrappers shaped as crusts dehydrated beautifully. I am making some fillings today to see how it works.

Also, in her book Alissa has a crust recipe with dates and nuts that doesn't require dehydrating and isn't real hard when finished. The dates really make it soft. Have you tried any of those recipes?

Good luck!

Annie

[anniez]

I filled the tart shells with cannoli filling and they were great. I will be using the wrapper recipe to make tart shells. Thanks for getting me inspired to do this!

Annie

[Diana Cda]

Thanks bunches!

I'm very happy to say that I finally have Alissa's book. I'm quite happy with it and have found it a wealth of very interesting sounding recipes that I'm dying, er living, to try out! <g>

I will see over time which ones, if any, of Alissa's dry completely without becoming jaw-breakers! <g> I suspect the ones made with grains may always cause problems but I'm not sure how others in the book will fare. I gave up dehydrating some time back due to all the trials and tribulations involved, mostly because my system hasn't handled anything but crackers. It's made the last 20 years on this journey extremely interesting, to say the least. <g>

If I ever do find something that works like these store-bought raw vegan tarts, I'll be sure to post back. I'm sure I'm not the only one sensitive to dehydrated foods.

Thanks so much, everyone! :)

[anniez]

Thanks bunches!

I'm very happy to say that I finally have Alissa's book. I'm quite happy with it and have found it a wealth of very interesting sounding recipes that I'm dying, er living, to try out! <g>

Why don't you join us over at Alissa and Annie? I am preparing every recipe in Alissa's book and reporting on them. We'd love to have your input!

I suspect the ones made with grains may always cause problems

What kind of problems are you anticipating?


I gave up dehydrating some time back due to all the trials and tribulations involved, mostly because my system hasn't handled anything but crackers.

Alissa's dehydrator recipes have a wide variety of ingredients. I'm thinking there will be some your system will like.

I'm sure I'm not the only one sensitive to dehydrated foods.

I'm not sensitive to dehydrated foods, but I have problems when I eat too many. And when I eat them, I make sure to eat lots of juicy foods with them. For example, if I eat a nut pate with a bread or cracker I will top it with lots of tomato and romaine.


Good luck!

Annie

[Diana Cda]

Hi, everyone. I'm checking out the link for Kimberly Snyder right now. That sounds intriguing.

Actually, yesterday when I bought another tart, I was struck by a possibility that this was actually not dehydrated. I don't see how but that would explain why no musty smell or anything. My nose seems to be able to sniff out that distinctive smell that all dehydrated juicy foods get within a few minutes out of the dehydrator. That smell just intensifies over time as the fermentation goes into rancid mode. I know of a long-time raw foodist who loves that and I'm happy for her, but it makes my gag reflex go very happy <lol>.

So I'll now also be looking for recipes that are for crusts that don't need dehydration to see if anything works.

The only dehydrated foods so far that don't do this are Juliano's meatloaf and the Pepperama wraps. I suspect the ingredients are naturally resistent to the bacteria or whatever that produces that fermentation, who knows ... (?) But for whatever reason, I can eat Juliano's Meatloaf with no problem even after it's been in the fridge for a while. 'course, doesn't last long in the fridge ... <g>

The pepperama wraps I make and then freeze and then have taken for lunch. They can stay out all morning in my lunch box and not be in a fridge and I can eat them just fine.

anniez, it's not that I'm anticipating problems, it's just that I've always had problems.

I have to confess something, I'm probably one of the more unique raw fooders you'll ever meet. I started my journey nearly 20 years ago now (20 years in November 2010) and have tried _everything_ sensible about raw food that came my way. I've never been able to stay raw. I know that in the past my system was unbalanced since I've been hypothyroid longer than I was aware of. I'd turned my back on allopathic medecine and there are still problems inside me that the Cdn govt won't cover in our medical insurance so I can't get tested for. I can't afford to go to the States to get tested and we can't buy testing here (major drawback, in my view, to our system though no one goes without basic health care no matter how poor). So whatever problem I have I'm blind to. I've been raw for 3 weeks this time around and this time I'm so far being able to ride it through. Fortunately, my system seems to have healed enough on 9 years of thyroid meds, I've felt the change, and I'm learning as I go along and trying to get into my thick skull that I must have more green juice than I'm having. This week has seen me finally know in my gut rather just in the head I kept pounding into the wall <g> that that is what is helping me keep some sort of balance despite lingering health issues. I hope that enough time on raw will help me achieve that goal that others have achieved through raw, to reach optimum health for me. If only I can figure out the right combination of foods since my system seems to be pickier than others.

So grains have always been a problem. I can't eat them partially dehydrated, yet when I dry till bone-dry, as in crackers, even at their thinnest, have to let the topping sit on it enough to soften because one day I'd crack a tooth if I didn't! <g>

Again, I'll be on the lookout for a non-dehydrator recipe that might do the job re a crust such as the tart one. I really need the time-saving of having pre-prepared foods, something I've never had much of a luxury of. And I'll keep asking at the store to see if the company can give out information on whether or not the tarts are dehydrated. It's one of those little companies that provides these things in bulk so there's not even an ingredients list.

Thanks all. :)

[Diana Cda]

I met the owner of the restaurant/business last week that provides these tarts! (Yup, folks, Ottawa or should I say Gatineau/Hull now has a raw food restaurant!!)

He told me that perhaps the trick re the tart shells being soft is that they freeze them. He was busy at the health food store helping them lay out some new renovations in part of the store so it was only a rushed conversation. However, another reason to go to the new restaurant, to see if they'd kindly pass along any tips.

I just would like to figure out why the crust is soft and yet there isn't any of that, for me, nasty fermentation smell all dehydrated foods have that are dried only till the moist stage and not till they're nearly bone dry like chips or crackers are.

In fact, as a side note, Juliano's meatloaf and the Pepperama Wraps from Raw Freedom Community are the _only_ things out of many, many, many, things I've dehydrated over the years that doesn't go off. All the burgers and stuff in the cooler of the health food store, etc., set off my gag reflex. So hopefully I'll know what other tips are good when making things that _aren't_ dehydrated till no moisture left. :D

Cheers. :)

[kaybee]

i dont have any advice but i can definitely relate to that "gag reflex at fermentation" thing. ive found this with most burgers etc that ive dehydrated and even alot of crackers and cookies. they end up in the compost :( i cant imagine how people even EAT some of the dehydrator recipes ive seen given how long they have to stay in the dehydrator, especially when they are thick things with layers of filligns etc. unfortunate about the fermentation thing becuase i would love to have more variety, but so much stuff just gets ick, even when i do that starting at 145 degrees for a few hours thing. and its happened with both my excaliburs so.. i dont think its due to there beign anything wrong with my dehydrator, unfortunately. I also have found anything i made with sprouted grains to be horrible to my tastes... :( i guess alot of people like the pop tarts, but when i made them they ended up in the compost, with me in frustration over wasting all that money on organic strawberries. likewise when i made the crackers with sprouted wheat.