These vegan bakewell tarts have a soft raspberry, strawberry and frangipane centre and a light, crisp top.
It’s a recipe that takes one or two liberties with the traditional bakewell, including fresh strawberries and an unexpected ingredient in the form of white bread.
In this instance, the bread is soaked and pureed to create a smooth vanilla-almond custard to which the ground almonds are added. The result is a very soft frangipane centre with a light macaron-style top.
The pastry case is made using a foolproof vegan shortcrust recipe, sweetened only slightly.
Although there are lots of layers in a bakewell tart, this is actually a really quick recipe. There is no blind baking (the jam prevents the strawberry and frangipane from soaking into the base) and once you’ve soaked the bread, it’s simply a case of blitzing in a blender and stirring in the almonds to create the frangipane.
Although in their unbaked state they look unpromisingly like little bowls of porridge, the finished tarts are actually very attractive.
vegan bakewell tarts…
ingredients
for the pastry cases
- 45 g soft vegan margarine
- 45 g coconut oil
- 160 g plain white flour
- 20 g icing (confectioner’s) sugar
for the filling
- 60 g white bread (baguette or any plain white bread will do)
- 90 ml oat (or other non-dairy) milk
- 70 g soft vegan margarine
- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
- 0.5 tsp almond extract
- 140 g white or golden sugar
- 130 g ground almonds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 14-16 small tsp raspberry jam
- 7 or 8 medium-sized strawberries
- a handful of flaked almonds for sprinkling
method
- Tear or cut the bread into small chunks and place these in the jug of a blender or processor.
- Add the vanilla and almond extracts to the milk and pour this mixture over the bread. Leave it to soak.
- Set the oven to 180°C/360°F. You will need enough tins for 14 to 16 individual tarts. Shallow mince pie tins are ideal. There is no need to oil or line them.
- To make the pastry, first soften the coconut oil a little if it is not already at warm room temperature. It should be of a similar softness to the margarine.
- Place both coconut oil and margarine in a medium-sized bowl and add the flour and sugar. Blend, using a pastry blender or rub with your fingers until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Try to avoid leaving any little lumps of unblended coconut oil.
- Add two tablespoons (30 ml) of cold water and mix with a fork until the dough comes together. Only use your hands at the last minute to form the dough into a ball and transfer it to a well-floured board.
- Roll the pastry to a thickness of 2.5-3 mm, flouring the surface as you go to stop it sticking. Cut rounds large enough to sit a bit above the holes in the tin (see picture of uncooked tarts above) and press them gently into the tin. Set aside in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
- Add the sugar and margarine to the bread and milk mixture and blend until smooth. It might involve a bit of stopping and starting and scraping down the sides, but will soon have the consistency of a thick custard.
- Measure the ground almonds into a separate bowl and whisk in the baking powder before pouring in the bread ‘custard’ and stirring until well combined.
- Hull and halve the strawberries. Spread one small teaspoon of jam in the bottom of each case, and lightly press a half strawberry into the centre.
- Spoon the frangipane mixture over the top, ensuring that no jam is visible. You will have to heap it up a bit to cover the strawberries (see picture above).
- Lastly, sprinkle a few flaked almonds over each tart before baking for around 25 minutes until the tops are a deep golden brown. The topping will settle a bit after you remove them from the oven – this is because of the soft fruit/frangipane filling and is supposed to happen!
- Allow the tarts to cool before removing them from the tin(s).
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