If you love a real, old-fashioned, berry cobbler crowned with a crystallized sugary crust, but need it to be low carb, Trim Healthy Mama friendly, and naturally sugar-free, look no further! This Mixed Berry Tart, THM-S, Low Carb is the real deal.
I made this dish for the first time last month and just kept making and serving it to friends and family. We all enjoyed it so much that I just had to share it with you before summer gets underway.
Oh, and I can’t forget to mention that it is good reheated for about 10 seconds in the microwave or PERFECTLY good cold straight out of the fridge for breakfast. Big Win!!
After discovering the Lighter Low Carb Pastry Crust last year, I knew that this type dish was within my grasp; it was just a matter of figuring out how to make one that would be feasible for anyone with basic cooking skills to be able to walk into the kitchen and turn one out in a reasonable amount of time.
Although I favor crusty cobblers over their batter bread cousins you really need a double crust to make this type of cobbler. Since I wanted to save everyone the trouble of making two separate crusts, I needed a compromise.
So the trick here is to make a batch and a half of my Lighter Low Carb Pastry Crust so that there will be plenty of crust left in the pan to fold it up over the berries in this rustic crostata style. And of course, a major perk was that I got to use my cast iron skillet, which I always look for an excuse to do.
Please remember that since this dish contains acidic berries, it needs to be removed from the skillet pretty quickly or at least not stored in it for long as the dish might pick up flavors from the skillet and in my opinion it’s not good for the skillet either.
Although I own heritage cast iron skillets in many different types and sizes this preseasoned one (pictured below) is the one that I use every day! As of the writing of this post, it is 42% off it’s regular. Even at the regular price, it is well worth the cost as it will be usable coming out of the box and the sloped sides make for a much easier clean-up and use. Aff. Link:
Of course, you will most likely need ice cream at some point to enjoy this tart properly! We have a couple that you can purchase that are on plan to use occasionally at 1/4 cup per setting Carb Smart and Halo Top. If you’d like to make your own THM friendly, low carb ice cream, try this one from the “queen of sugar-free ice cream” Briana Thomas because it’s billed as a Basic Vanilla Scoopable Ice Cream and I’ve heard good reviews on it.
For my foodie friends that are unfamiliar with the differences in crostatas and regular fruit tarts and really NEED to know (like I did) I found this info over at TheKitchn:
“We’ve been talking about crostatas a lot lately, and we started to wonder what the difference is between our beloved crostata and the more refined-sounding galette, plus how they both related to tarts…
Turns out, a galette and a crostata are essentially the same thing (one French, one Italian). Both of them differ from tarts in the sense that a tart is baked into a tart pan. Crostatas and galettes are typically free-form and rustic, with the dough edges folded up around the filling, which can be savory or sweet.”
Although I believe that this low carb dish could be cooked free-form like it’s
For the latest from my blog in your newsfeed follow me on social media:
*Instagram *Pinterest *Facebook and let’s connect over at THM Southern Foodies with Nana’s Little Kitchen.
Watch for affiliate links to products I have used in these recipes when testing them and those which I can fully recommend.
If you need anything from the Trim Healthy Mama Store it would be a help to me if you could use my link and at no extra cost to you. Thanks for helping me keep producing and offering these free recipes. 🙂
To make sure that you see how achievable this Mixed Berry Crostata can be I even had a video made! I feel like this way you will know exactly what you’re getting into before you start. But I should warn you that once you make it you will be hooked!
Mixed Berry Tart THM-S Low Carb
Yield 6-8 slices
Ingredients
Lightly oil a 10" cast iron *skillet but do NOT preheat it.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Ingredients:
Berry Mixture:
- 3-4 cups (1 -16 oz package) frozen mixed berries, or a mixture of frozen raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and/or blueberries
- 1/3 cup gentle sweet* SEE NOTE OR 1/4 cup pyure (Wal-Mart carries it)
- 1 3/4 cup PLUS 2 tablespoons low-fat mozzarella shredded cheese
- 6 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces to melt more easily
- 1 cup THM Baking Blend or try this Local Blend
- 1 tsp. xylitol or erythritol or xylitol or 1/2 tsp. Pyure
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg white to brush on crust
- 1-2 tablespoons low carb granulated sweetener for sprinkling on the crust on top of the egg white
- low carb ice cream (I used Vanilla Carb Smart) and 1/4 cup per serving is allowed on THM*
Instructions
Prepare the mixed berries:
- Remove the berries from the package(s) and place in a bowl and sprinkle the sweetener on top, then mix carefully.
- Set aside.
Directions for the crust:
- Melt shredded mozzarella cheese and the cut-up butter in the microwave for 1-1.5 minutes until the butter is melted or at least soft enough to stir with no lumps left.
- Stir quickly once all is melted.
- Mix thoroughly then add the baking mix, sweetener, and baking powder to the top of all the wet ingredients and mix in with a big heavy fork or spoon.
- *This will mix a little better if you return it to the microwave and heat for 10-15 seconds before adding the egg.
- When it is well mixed add the egg to the top and mix in well again.
- Use a large cutting board or the back of the large baking pan to roll the dough out between two large pieces of parchment.
- Stop periodically and raise the top sheet of parchment to coax the dough into a round shape.*
- Make a circle of dough roughly 12" diameter or at least large enough to have at least an inch of pastry to fold over the berry mixture once it's added.
- Carefully fold the dough in half by placing your hand under the bottom sheet of parchment and folding it over the top sheet.
- Once it's folded remove the top folded sheet of the parchment and then place the folded crust in the skillet with the remaining parchment paper inside to keep the dough pieces from touching each other. Unfold the dough and position it in the middle of the skillet as much as possible and then remove the remaining layer of parchment.
- Spoon the berry mixture into the pastry and carefully fold the edges over the berries.
- Brush the crust top with egg white.
- Sprinkle the crust with the extra granulated sweetener like pyure or xylitol or Swerve.
- Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until you see a deep golden brown crust.
- Oven temps will vary so keep a check on it.
*Serves 6-8
Notes
Notes:
*This dough is not bad about sticking to your hands with normal handling but if you have any problems with it at all just dampen your hands a bit when handling it..
*This was not tested with fresh fruit since they aren't really in season yet so I'm not sure if the fresh will be damper than the frozen.
*By mixing 1/3 cup xylitol or erythritol PLUS 1/4 tsp THM stevia you can get a granulated sweetener that will work better than a powdered sweetener for this dish. I REALLY love the little sweetener crystals for this dish.
Please remember that since this dish contains acidic berries, it needs to be removed from the skillet pretty quickly or at least not stored in it for long as the dish might pick up flavors from the skillet and in my opinion it's not good for the skillet either..
*A heavy cast iron skillet works perfectly for a nice crust on this dish, I wasn't successful getting a good crust for this dish in a glass pie pan but another type heavy, oven safe, skillet, other than cast iron might work.
Hi Teresia,
Have you tried removing this from the skillet whole or does it need to be sliced? Also, how long does it keep refrigerated? I was considering making this a few days early for a gathering and didn’t know if this recipe would work well or not.
Thanks for your input!
Jill
It might could be removed from the skillet or just baked in another type heavy baking plate and served in it maybe? I’m not sure how well it would carry because I never have had leftovers. I only make it when enough people are around to polish it off because I love it so much. Sorry not to be more help.<3