Easter baking part I and a vegan lemon pie slice

I spent a very happy 3 hours in the kitchen yesterday :) I didn't do overly well at reducing my options, although I did cull from 8 possibilities to 4 final creations.

One of those was a repeat effort of Oh She Glow's Berry Oat Squares, which I made just 4 weeks ago, but nonetheless wanted again (which shows how much I liked them!). I made a full berry batch this time and they turned out just as well as the first set.

Yum.

I also made a modified version of a Lemon Bars slice recipe. The original version called for butter, eggs, and 1/4 cup + 1 cup + 1/3 cup of sugar. I've been having fun with veganising recipes lately, so I thought I'd try turning this one vegan too. I also reduced the sugar and used more lemon juice than the original recipe.

Vegan Lemon Pie Bars

Makes 12 - 16; Adapted from All Recipes Lemon Bars

Ingredients

Base

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/4 cup caster sugar
• 1/4 cup non-dairy spread, melted
• 2 tbsp apple sauce

Topping

• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1/4 cup icing sugar
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Egg replacers to the equivalent of 2 eggs (I used Orgran: 2 tbsp powder mixed with 4 tbsp water, as per pack directions)
• 5 tbsp lemon juice
• Small amount lemon zest (~1 tsp)

Instructions

1) Start by pre-heating your oven to 175'C and lining a square baking dish with baking paper (see note below on baking dish sizes).

2) Combine base ingredients and press into pan; bake for 15 minutes or until just firm and starting to turn golden.

3) Combine dry topping ingredients (sugars, flour, baking powder), then add the egg replacement (or eggs) and lemon juice and zest. Beat for ~1 minute.

4) Pour the liquid ingredients over the pre-baked base. At this point you might be concerned that the topping is too liquid-y - don't worry!

 5) Return to the oven for 20 - 25 minutes, until the top is set and slightly golden. At this point you might be worried that the product doesn't look very attractive - again, don't worry!

Allow to cool before cutting into slices. Express some relief that when out of the tin, the slices look fine.

I was really happy with the finished product - nice and lemony, with a good combination of sweet and tart. I found the taste and texture to be similar to lemon pie, but less rich (although they are still quite filling).

The one criticism I had for these was that they were a bit 'flat' in appearance. I used a square baking tin and I think a smaller size than the one I own (or even a narrower loaf tin) would work better. Possibly the egg replacements also didn't give the filling as much 'fluff' as eggs would have, so the original recipe may have risen more.

Aside from that, though, I was happy with the end point and they were a good match for the berry oat slices.

Both were also welcomed by my non-vegan family last night, which I think has to be a good sign...when I saw my brother going back for seconds, I knew the changes in ingredients couldn't be too extreme!

The other half of yesterday's kitchen efforts will appear before long :)

Tweet

Pin It