Rum-Kissed Banana Butterscotch Cream Tart in a Cocoa-Buckwheat Crust {Gluten-Free}

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Ingredients

Gluten-Free Cocoa-Buckwheat Press-In Crust:
Rum-Kissed Banana Butterscotch Cream Tart in a Cocoa-Buckwheat Crust {Gluten-Free}
to a more kid-friendly dessert (though it adds more flavor than it does booze; the alcohol is hardly noticeable). This pie is best the day it’s been made, though it keeps well refrigerated for up to a few days.
1 10 12 tart, 10 large or 12 moderate servings
1/2 1/2 55 cup (2 ounces / 55 grams) almond flour
1/2 1/2 65 cup (2.25 ounces / 65 grams) buckwheat flour
1/4 1/4 3 40 plus 3 tablespoons (1.25 ounces / 40 grams) cocoa powder (preferably dutch-process)
3 3 25 T (.75 ounces / 25 grams) tapioca starch
1/4 1/4 40 cup (1.25 ounces / 40 grams) unrefined sugar (such as Alter Eco’s Muscobado) or brown sugar
1/4 1/4 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
6 6 85 1/2″ (3 ounces / 85 grams) cold, unsalted butter, in 1/2″ dice
1/2 1/2 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 1/4 45 cup (1.5 ounces / 45 grams) finely chopped bittersweet chocolate
Banana Rum Butterscotch Custard Filling:
1/2 1/2 2 100 1/2 2 T (3.5 ounces / 100 grams) unrefined muscobado sugar (or 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar)
3.5 3.5 30 tablespoons (1 ounce / 30 grams) cornstarch
1/4 1/4 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped
1 1/2 1 1/2 350 cups (12 ounces / 350 ml) whole milk
1/2 1/2 120 cup (4 ounces / 120 ml) heavy cream
4 4 55 tablespoons (2 ounces / 55 grams) unsalted butter, in several pieces
2 2 2 tablespoons black rum (I like The Kraken)
3 3 1 450 ripe but firm bananas (about 1 pound / 450 grams)
Whipped Cream Topping:
1 1 240 cup (8 ounces / 240 ml) heavy cream
1/3 1/3 140 cup (5 ounces / 140 grams) mascarpone (or sour cream, or creme fraiche, or more heavy cream)
1 1 2 to 2 tablespoons unrefined muscobado sugar, to taste
1 1 1 tablespoon black rum
1 1 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 2 tablespoons cacao nibs
small block a small block of bittersweet chocolate for shavings (optional)
Make the crust:
to 350ºF. 9″ in the center of the oven and preheat to 350ºF. Place a 9″ tart pan with removable bottom on a rimmed baking sheet.
to the bottom of the tart shell. Let cool to room temperature.
Make the custard filling:
to 1 pop gloopily. Once the mixture comes to a boil, continue cooking and whisking for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, whisk in the butter, then the rum. It should be the consistency of creamy yogurt.
30-45 the pudding through a sieve and into a bowl. Press plastic wrap right on the surface of the pudding, and let cool at room temperature until warm, 30-45 minutes.
Assemble the tart:
30 to to for 30 more minutes to set the cream, if you have the patience. Remove the ring from the pan, place the tart on a cutting board, and use a sharp chef’s knife to slice the pie into wedges, wiping the knife clean between each cut.
to 3 pie airtight in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Preparation

Step 1

Rum-Kissed Banana Butterscotch Cream Tart in a Cocoa-Buckwheat Crust {Gluten-Free} – The Bojon Gourmet

seasonal recipes from a recovering pastry chef

Rum-Kissed Banana Butterscotch Cream Tart in a Cocoa-Buckwheat Crust {Gluten-Free}

In this gluten-free riff on banana cream pie, an easy cocoa-buckwheat crust underlines butterscotch custard and whipped cream laced with rum, ripe bananas, and crunchy cacao nibs.

While I’m all for healthy eating, I can’t help but think that the dead of winter is the worst time to fast on green juices and smoothies. San Francisco finally had a cold snap this past week and all I want to do is burrow under the covers, drink tea, eat chocolate, and watch Gilmore Girls with a cat on my toes.

“This is ridiculous,” I thought as I whisked butter into custard, added a shot of rum, and spread the whole thing in a chocolatey tart crust. “Everyone’s probably on a diet. No one’s gonna eat this.”

At my brother’s house later that evening, I was elated to discover how wrong I’d been. My brother poured me a tall glass of brown sugar mint julep he’d whipped up. My sister had made a vat of sour cream garlic mashed potatoes to go with my sister-in-law’s roast and green salad slathered in buttermilk dressing.

After dinner, I cut the tart into tiny wedges which my family fell upon like hungry bears preparing for hibernation. Everyone went back for seconds. They ate the whole thing in a matter of minutes. I regretted not making two because I thought about it long after it was gone, and I overheard my nephew say later, a wistful look in his eye that echoed my own sentiments, “I wish there was more pie…”

Luckily, this tart is pretty simple to make, as far as tarts go. It starts with a press-in crust made from cocoa, buckwheat and almond flour, a bit of tapioca starch, unrefined muscobado sugar and butter. The crumbly dough gets pressed into a tart pan (no chilling or rolling necessary), quickly frozen, and baked without the need for pie weights. A smear of chocolate in the bottom shields the crust from absorbing moisture from the custard, keeping it buttery crisp like the most flavorful shortbread you’ve ever had.

) flavored with vanilla bean, black rum, and muscobado sugar from Alter Eco. If we’re anything alike, you’ll be hard pressed not to suck down all of the warm custard as soon as it’s made. But if you resist, let it cool, and spread it in the tart crust with sliced banana, you’ll see how gracefully all of these flavors bring out the tropical notes in the fruit. The whole thing gets topped off with billows of whipped cream laced with more vanilla, rum and muscobado. I like to add mascarpone to make the cream a bit thicker and more stable, but you can also nix it in favor of more cream.

When you stick a piece of tart in your mouth, buttery crust gives way to creamy custard and gooey bananas. The buckwheat pops out in a symphony of earth and spice, bouncing off of sweet fruit and mild cream. Buckwheat always reminds me of toasted hazelnuts mixed with chocolate and cinnamon, and this crust makes me think of Nutella. Cacao nibs on top add crunch, and the muscobado sugar gives the dessert subtle caramel notes that make it extra addictive. This is one of my all-time favorite desserts, one that I plan to make over and over again.

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Apple Quince Tart with a Buckwheat Crust {Gluten-Free}

Rum-Kissed Banana Butterscotch Cream Tart in a Cocoa-Buckwheat Crust {Gluten-Free}

Be sure to give yourself a good 4 hours to complete this tart; most of the time is hands-off waiting for things to chill. I used Alter Eco’s unrefined muscobado sugar here, but feel free to trade it out for lightly packed muscovado or dark brown sugar, or another unrefined sugar such as coconut, sucanat, maple, or date. I think this could be made vegan by trading the butter in the crust and custard for coconut oil, the dairy in the filling for coconut milk, and topping the pie with coconut whipped cream. Use bananas that are yellow with some brown spots for the best results. If you lack a vanilla bean, add a teaspoon of vanilla to the custard along with the rum. I like the robust molasses flavor of The Kraken Black Rum, but a golden rum would work, too. Or bourbon. Or leave the booze off for a more kid-friendly dessert (though it adds more flavor than it does booze; the alcohol is hardly noticeable). This pie is best the day it’s been made, though it keeps well refrigerated for up to a few days.

Makes 1 (9″) tart, 10 large or 12 moderate servings

Gluten-Free Cocoa-Buckwheat Press-In Crust:

1/2 cup (2.25 ounces / 65 grams) buckwheat flour

Make the crust:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350ºF. Place a 9″ tart pan with removable bottom on a rimmed baking sheet.

In the bowl of a food processor or stand mixer, combine the almond flour, buckwheat flour, cocoa powder, tapioca starch, muscobado sugar, salt, butter pieces, and vanilla, and process until the mixture forms large, moist clumps, about 30 seconds. (You can also do this in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a bowl with your fingertips.) Dump the crumbly dough into the tart pan. Press the dough first up the sides, then into the bottom of the pan, taking the time to make the crust even and square where the sides meet the bottom. (If the dough is soft or sticky, chill it for 5-10 minutes until it will behave.) Prick the bottom of the dough all over with the tines of a fork.

Freeze the crust until firm, at least 15 minutes (or wrap and freeze for up to several months). Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until dry, toasty-smelling, and fairly firm to the touch, 20-25 minutes. Scatter the chopped chocolate in the hot shell, let sit for a minute or two to melt, then use the back of a spoon or a small, offset spatula to spread the melted chocolate into a thin layer in the bottom of the tart shell. Let cool to room temperature.

Make the custard filling:

In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, salt, and vanilla pod and seeds. Whisk in the milk and cream. Bring the mixture to a slow boil over medium-high heat, whisking the dickens out of it, making sure to scrape the bottom and corners of the pans with the whisk. You’ll have to stop whisking for a few seconds to verify that the pudding is boiling, which you’ll know by the big bubbles that pop gloopily. Once the mixture comes to a boil, continue cooking and whisking for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, whisk in the butter, then the rum. It should be the consistency of creamy yogurt.

When the pudding has cooled, spread half of it into the chocolate-lined shell. Peel and slice the bananas, and spread the slices in circles over the pudding. Cover with the remaining pudding. Cover with plastic wrap pressed to the surface of the pudding. Chill until set, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

Whip the cream with the mascarpone and sugar until it billows softly. Add the rum and vanilla and continue whipping until it holds firm peaks. (If you take the cream too far and it begins to look grainy, you can usually rescue it by gently folding in additional heavy cream until it loosens up again.)

Chill the pie for 30 more minutes to set the cream, if you have the patience. Remove the ring from the pan, place the tart on a cutting board, and use a sharp chef’s knife to slice the pie into wedges, wiping the knife clean between each cut.

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