Getting diagnosed with celiac disease can be looked as a blessing and a curse. It is easy to become demoralized when thinking about all the foods you can’t eat and how your body seems have a mind of it’s own. There are days when even if you follow the appropriate diet, you just feel like awful and find yourself wishing you could just lay at home in a ball.

But it is important to realize that there are so many positives to your diagnosis. First, I started to to feel so much better. I know that after getting diagnosed and switching up my diet, I slowly became a new me. I felt more in control and no longer had to make plans with the caveat of “I’m coming as long as I feel okay.” Second, I am able to do be more productive during the day. Third, I no longer have to know the location of the nearest washroom everywhere I go. And fourth, perhaps most importantly, as a food lover, I was able to apply my love of cooking, baking, and eating to find new restaurant gems and to develop new recipes that are sometimes even better than the original (as unbelievable as that sounds).

To motivate all those newly-diagnosed celiacs out there (and every other celiac), I am sharing a recipe I worked on for six month. Butter tarts are one of my favourite desserts (other than mincemeat, apple pie, oatmeal raisin cookies, and vanilla ice cream) and when I was diagnosed December 2016, I thought I would never eat a butter tart again. This thought still goes through my mind today with certain foods. I find myself asking questions like will I ever have a good baguette ever again? Can I ever eat New Jersey pizza ever again? The answer to a lot of these questions will be no, because the truth is to replicate certain foods you need the elasticity gluten provides. But, I am happy to say butter tarts is not one of those foods! After playing around with different flours and measurements, I was able to achieve a crispy and flaky crust and a gooey, raisin-packed filling.

INGREDIENTS:

CRUST:

• ¾ cup brown rice flour
• ½ cup + 2 ½ tablespoons sorghum flour
• ½ cup + 2 tablespoons tapioca flour
• ½ cup icing sugar
• ⅛ cup canola oil
• ⅛ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoon cold water (plus more if needed)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

FILLING:

• 1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 1 cup corn syrup
• ⅓ cup butter (cubed)
• 2 eggs (room temperature)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Raisin (as many as your heart desires)

INSTRUCTIONS:

CRUST PREPARATION:

1. In a large bowl, combine all the flours and icing sugar.
2. Add oil, eggs, and vanilla to dry ingredients and mix throughly.
3. Add water until dough sticks together and shape dough into a ball.
4. Flatten dough ball into disc. Wrap disc in plastic wrap and place dough in fridge for at least 30 minutes to chill slightly. The dough needs to be refrigerated so it is more workable and can be easy rolled out and place in tart molds. You can use a muffin tin, tart pans, etc. Here is a link to a pan with the appropriate shape: https://www.bedbathandbeyond.ca/store/product/gotham-trade-steel-ti-cerama-trade-nonstick-copper-muffin-pan/1060357748?Keyword=shallow%20muffin%20tin
5. Remove dough from fridge and roll out dough. Cut out circles to place into pan to form tart shells.

FILLING PREPARATION:

1. Bring light brown sugar and corn syrup to a simmer over medium-low heat. Stir continuously.
2. Once simmering, allow to simmer for 3 minutes and then immediately remove from the heat.
3. Let filling mixture cool for 5 minutes and then stir in butter.
4. Let mixture cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, beat together eggs, vanilla, and salt.
5. Pour butter and sugar mixture slowly over egg mixture. Be sure to stir continuously because if the butter/sugar mixture is still warm, it could cook the eggs.
6. Fill each unbaked tart shell up with filling. Fill approximately ¾ of the way.
7. If desired, place raisins in the tart filling at this point.
8. Bake tarts for 8 minutes at 400°F and then without opening the oven, lower the temperature to 375°F and cook for an additional 8 minutes. Tarts are finished baking when shell is golden brown and filling is bubbling (see the video below).
9. Allow tarts to cool before removing from the pan. Tarts are much more firm when cooled and therefor easier to remove from the pan. Warm tarts are more apt to fall apart.