Mixed Berry Macaroon Tart

I recently saw this dessert featured in one of the episodes of My Kitchen Rules and it had high compliments from the judges and knew I had to make it. It did not look that difficult to make and went about to search the recipe on google, lo and behold it yielded a few results. I chose the recipe close to what I had seen on the show and found out that it was a recipe from Super Natural Everyday cookbook written by Heidi Swanson.

The original recipe uses Spelt (wheat free flour which is low in gluten) and coconut flour both of which is not a common ingredient in my pantry therefore I adapted the recipe and make a few changes.

Crust:

1 1/2 cups plain flour 3/4 cup unsweetened finely shredded Coconut
3/4 cup lightly packed Demerara Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
10 tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted

Filling:

2 cups unsweetened finely shredded Coconut
1/2 cup Sugar
4 large Egg Whites
1 1/2- 2 cups Berries (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries)
1/3 cup Pistachios, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 180deg. Butter an 8 x 10inch tart tin.
2. To make the crust, in a large bowl, combine the flour, coconut, sugar and salt. Stir in the melted butter and mix until dough is crumbly but no longer dusty looking. Firmly press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until barely golden. Remove and cool for a few moments.
3. In the meantime, prepare the coconut macaroon filling by combining the coconut, sugar and egg whites. Mix until well combined.
4. Evenly distribute most of the berries on the crust and drop large spoonfuls of the macaroon filling over the tops of them. Mush and press the topping around the spaces behind the berries. Add the last few berries to the top.
5. Bake for 20- 25 minutes, until the peaks of the macaroon filling are deeply golden. Let the tart cool, then garnish with the crushed pistachios before slicing.

Since I did not make the original version of this tart by the cookbook I cannot say for sure if there is a difference in taste but I must say the variation I make tasted really good. And since I did not have any pistachios, I omitted that from the recipe as well. If one fine day I have all the original ingredients I might just give this recipe another try. In the meantime I'm going to enjoy a slice of this moist goodness.