Blueberry tart

In my recent In My Kitchen post, I mentioned buying rather a lot of blueberries. 5 cups worth, in fact. I know this because I measured out 4 cups for this blueberry tart. It was an excellent use of the fruit, and still allowed me a cup to gobble up fresh.

I don't regularly make tarts, but making vegan lemon meringue pie sparked some interest in pie and tart-based desserts. The base for this tart is actually identical to that for the lemon meringue pie, and the filling is adapted from the lemon equivalent.

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Vegan lemon meringue pie

I think I may have reached the pinnacle of my baking adventures. Right now, I can't think of anything more magical than this lemon meringue pie. It has the requisite crisp base, zesty set centre, and fluffy - so fluffy! - meringue topping. And it is vegan. I wasn't confident going in, but can now say that meringue without eggs really is possible!

I knew I wanted to make a lemon meringue pie for Vegan MoFo, but this wasn't one of the dishes I prepared ahead of time. In fact, I only made it this week. I was worried it wouldn't work, or that I'd be up all night repeating my efforts if the first pie failed.

In the end, it was oddly easy. I made the meringue topping with egg replacer - a hefty 1/3 cup of it - which was whipped for 5 minutes with water while gradually adding sugar. In other words, it was just like making regular meringue. The same was true for the rest of the pie. There is a lot of sugar and the recipe is a little bit time consuming, but the end result is very much worth it. 

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Raspberry-topped, vegan, no-bake chocolate tart

I might have made some recipe repeats recently, but today we have something entirely new. I know it looks like vegan chocolate tarts I've made before, but...it isn't.

Amazing as it may seem (and amazing it does seem), this is the first dessert I have made that features tofu.

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Book club baking - Apple Zucchini Slice and Apple Rhubarb Pie

Book club baking Part 1 covered chocolate beetroot brownies and chocolate marshmallow truffles.

In this post, we welcome apples. And more vegetables. And still get dessert.

Apple Zucchini Slice

The combination of apple and zucchini has captured my imagination since I made these muffins earlier this year.

This slice might overtake the muffins as a favourite.

I adapted this Taste of Home recipe for Apple Zucchini loaf, and, as with the chocolate-beetroot brownies, was amazed at how moist the result was. Baking with vegetables really does have advantages.

This isn't the most attractive product in cake / loaf form, which is why I sliced it for serving. But you could leave it whole and drizzle it with icing.

Adapted from Taste of Home

Makes ~16 slices

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Ingredients:

• 1 zucchini, grated
• 1 400g tin of canned apples, no added sugar (or ~1 cup stewed apples)
• 1 tbsp apple sauce
• 1/4 cup non-dairy milk (I used soy)
• Egg replacer to the equivalent of 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1/2 - 1 cup sugar, to taste (depending on whether you want this to be neutral or sweet: I used 1 cup, given I was baking for diverse tastes and it was meant to be dessert)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

• ~2 tbsp brown sugar, extra for topping
• ~1 tsp cinnamon, extra for topping

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180'C and spray a loaf tin with non-stick spray.

2. Grate the zucchini in a food processor or by hand and set aside.

3. Mix the dry ingredients together (flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt).

4. Prepare your egg replacer and combine with the apple sauce and soy milk. Add to the dry ingredient mix. Stir to combine (the batter will seem too dry at this point).

5. Add the canned apple and zucchini. Mix through well, until all ingredients are combined.

6. Pour batter into the loaf tin and sprinkle the extra brown sugar and cinnamon over the top.

7. Bake for 45 - 55 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

So. Incredibly. Moist.

The edge of the cake is cakey, whilst the inside is all apple. No evidence of zucchini.

I will be making these again!

Apple Rhubarb Pie

Prior to this, I had never made pie before, even using a store-bought crust. Why? I guess it always seemed complicated, and pie has never been my favourite dessert.

It still isn't my favourite dessert, but after discovering how easy this was to make, I think it will be made again. It looks much harder than it is!

I made the dough in advance, and if you do this, the rolling and filling of the pie takes only 20 minutes or so before going in to the oven. Simple.

Dough recipe from The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes (Kris Holechek)

Filling adapted from She Knows Rhubarb Strawberry Pie, featured in a post on vegetable desserts

Serves 8 - 10

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Dough ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup cold dairy-free margarine (I used Nuttelex), chopped into chunks
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup cold water 

Dough instructions:

1. Pulse flour, salt, sugar and margarine in a food processor until well blended and the mixture resembles a coarse meal. 

2. With the food processor running, add water gradually, until the mixture forms a soft dough.

3. Divide dough into two balls and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or until ready to use.

Filling ingredients:

• 3 stalks rhubarb, sliced
• 3 granny smith apples, peeled and sliced
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp cornflour
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1 tbsp apple sauce

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180'C.

2. On a floured surface, roll out one half of the dough mix until it's just larger than your pie dish (I don't have a dedicated pie tin so used a suitably sized round casserole dish, lined with baking paper).

Drape the dough into your pie dish, allowing some to overhang the edges.

3. Mix the filling ingredients together in a saucepan. Stir over very low heat until the ingredients are well combined and the fruit starts to produce juice (~5 minutes).

4. Pour the filling mix into the pie dish.

5. On a floured surface, roll out the other half of the dough. Slice into 6 strips with a sharp knife.

6. Weave the dough strips across the top of the pie. By using fairly thick strips, you don't have to worry about the pastry breaking.

7. When the strips are in place, roll the edge of the pie crust inwards and pinch into place. Trim any excess dough if necessary.

8. Cover pie with foil and bake for 30 minutes, and then remove foil and bake for a further 15 - 25 minutes, until the crust is crisp and golden and the filling is starting to bubble.

This was well received, and is a nice example of something that is (virtually) naturally vegan. Swapping dairy free margarine for butter is all that's required.

Do you have a favourite pie recipe? Or, like me, are you more of a cake person?

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