Mini Strawberry, Rhubarb and Wintergreen Berry Tarts
Sweet, tart, and with delightful little bursts of mint, we’ve made the strawberry and rhubarb, foraged wintergreen berry recipe you’ve been waiting for. Or maybe only I’ve been waiting for it. In any case, the flaky little pastry exteriors are perfect match for the pink, flavorful filling. The delightful little tarts are a wonderful way to celebrate wintergreen (an Eastern American native), and perfect for a tea party, a special breakfast.
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Foraging for Wintergreen Berries
Year round, creeping low across the New England forest floor, dappled in the shaded light, I’m often able to spot a few bright red wintergreen berries. Many people will collect the leaves to make a strong, minty extract- I like to pick the berries. Usually I just pick one or two while out, biting into the cooling berries (that I like to call “nature’s breathmint”) as I walk along the trail, but every now and then I collect a few handfuls to make something special. The small plants don’t produce many berries- I usually find between 0-3 on a plant- and are often well hidden underneath the plants leaves. Collecting wintergreen is the repetitive experience of crouching low, picking a berry, and scanning for the next ripe berry. Once that one is found, you hurry over to it, pick it, and spot another berry inches from where you had just been. Repeat, back and forth, in slow, low to the ground, zig-zagging patterns. Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) is a plant native to eastern North America. It was used by Native American’s medicinally, for various ailments- which makes sense, as wintergreen contains a healthy dose of acetylsalicylic acid (aka aspirin). After Europeans came, they started using wintergreen for candies and in root beer. Currently wintergreen flavor is most often associated with dental products, like toothpaste, although none of that wintergreen flavor actually comes from the wintergreen plant anymore.
How to Identify Wintergreen
Disclaimer- use caution when foraging wild edibles, and always be certain of your identification. While I assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information provided on this site, I can’t responsible for the accuracy of your information. Consult multiple websites, books and local experts, and when it doubt, do without.
A quick note that, unlike most of the foraged plants I feature, wintergreen is not invasive and is more vulnerable in some areas. Where I live in Massachusetts the populations are secure, but in other areas they might be more vulnerable or endangered. Please check to see if wintergreen is flourishing locally, and make sure there aren’t any regulations against picking before you go foraging for wintergreen. This website can help you determine if it’s alright to forage wintergreen in your region. Wintergreen (also called boxberry, checkerberry, and teaberry) can be found year round, in small, close to the ground plants. The leaves are typically between 1-2 inches long, and are dark green, shiny, and fairly stiff. They tend to cluster at the ends of the stems, and have an oval shape, sometimes with pointed tips. When crushed the leaves have a minty aroma. The plant flowers in midsummer, with white, bell-shaped flowers. The berries appear in late summer or autumn, but will stay on the plant all winter and into summer if not picked. They are bright red, round, and pucker into a sort of star shape on the bottom. They have a slightly mealy texture, with a minty and a little fruity flavor. Lookout for partridge berries, as they look similar and grow in similar areas (partridge berries aren’t poisonous, so there isn’t too much to worry about).
Looking for Minty Vegan Recipes? Try one of these!
- Mayo-Free Radish Mint Pasta Salad
- Cucumber and Jicama Vegan Tea Sandwiches
- Thai Rice Noodle Salad with Vegan Chick’n
- Rhubarb Mint Salad
- Vegetarian Bánh Xèo (Vietnamese Rice Flour Crepes)
- Avocado, Persimmon and Beet Tartare
- TVP Vegan Larb: A Delicious Laotian Salad
Making Wintergreen Berry Tarts
The most difficult part of this recipe is making your crust, which isn’t really hard but it is a bit messy. If you’re not into making the pastry yourself, you can also always buy pre-made pie crust and skip a step- I opted for that route once in my recipe testing, and it does really speed up the whole process. If you are going for the homemade route, the best advice I have is to keep your dough as cool as possible when you work on it. Chill your vegan butter and vegetable shortening before hand, and use ice water instead of room temperature water. Some people go as far as to chill their bowls and utensils ahead of time, although I personally don’t bother. Once you make your dough, let it chill again for at least 20 minutes. I often make mine the day before I plan on cooking, and chill them in the fridge overnight. To make the wintergreen berry filling, combine strawberries, rhubarb, wintergreen berries, along with some sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla extract. The cornstarch and sugar will help the filling to thicken and set while the tarts bake- no need to pre-cook the filling at all. This recipe makes a dozen little tarts in standard-sized muffin tins.
Mini Strawberry, Rhubarb and Wintergreen Berry Tarts
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- ½ cup vegan butter, unsalted and chilled
- ¼ cup vegetable shortening, chilled
- Ice water, as needed
- ¾ cup chopped strawberries
- ¾ cup chopped rhubarb
- ½ cup wintergreen berries
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
- Before starting on the pastry, make sure your vegan butter and vegetable shortening is chilled. Right before you begin, pour about half a cup of water over several ice cubes, and set it aside.
- Start the pastry by combining the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl and whisk. Add the vegan butter and vegetable shortening, in chunks about 1 tablespoon in size. Use a pastry cutter to cut the fats into the dough, until there are no pieces larger than a pea. Add ice cold water, one tablespoon at a time, and stir until you have a crumbly dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and place in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Use a rolling pin to roll your chilled dough out between two sheets of plastic wrap. Use a circle cookie cutter or a glass or a jar, about 3 ½- 4 inches in diameter to cut 12 circles out of your dough. If needed, roll the dough scraps into a ball and re-roll the dough into a sheet to obtain the 12 circles. Place the circles into the wells of a muffin tin, and push them down sit centered on the bottom. Place the dough in the muffin tins into the fridge, and make the filling.
- Chop the strawberries and the rhubarb into small pieces. Add them, along with the wintergreen berries, sugar, cornstarch and vanilla into a mixing bowl and mix until they’re totally coated. Once the oven is to temperature, remove the crust from the fridge and divide the filling evenly between the 12 mini tarts. Place the tarts in the oven for about 12 minutes, until the crusts are slightly golden on the outside. Let the tarts cool fully before enjoying.
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