Vegan custard tarts (and Bite-Sized Thoughts turns 4)

Today is the 4-year anniversary of Bite-Sized Thoughts. Coincidentally, it is also the 9-month anniversary of our move from Perth to London. I think both deserve celebration, and vegan custard tarts are my celebratory item of choice.

Before getting to the tarts, though, forgive me if I reflect just a little on the last blogging year. The top 10 posts of 2014, as per Google Analytics statistics, are...

• Vegan lemon meringue pie
• Healthier sticky date pudding in a mug
• Raw zucchini noodles with a spicy peanut sauce
• Hazelnut praline chocolates, and chocolate spread (my 2014 blog anniversary post)
• Cherry ripe balls for Mother's Day
• Chocolate sweet potato ice cream
• Raw apple-vanilla or banana-cinnamon buckwheat porridge
• Raw bakewell tart bars
• In My Kitchen July 2014 (featuring my new UK kitchen) and November 2014 (featuring products from Borough Market)
• Wave Rock, Western Australia

Tweet

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.

Tweet

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.

Tweet

Book club baking 2012: Vegan lemon tart and chocolate cupcakes

Last year when I hosted book club, I entertained myself with vegetable-based desserts: chocolate beetroot brownies, apple and rhubarb pie, apple zucchini slice, and a rogue non-vegetable (and non-vegan) contribution in the form of chocolate marshmallow truffles.

This year, slightly fewer people could make it along, I had slightly less time in the lead up to the day, and I was slightly lacking in confidence after my recent experience with sub-optimal pear and raspberry muffins. Thus, I made two desserts instead of four, and both were made exactly to a recipe. Most unlike me!

One was a lemon tart from Kris Holechek's The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes. I have adapted and posted many of the recipes from this book, but as this tart had no adaptations I won't share the recipe here. I will say, though, that it was easier than I anticipated and made for an impressive end result. I was also so taken with the lemon filling that I am already thinking of ways to adapt and use it again.

I would possibly change two things in future, both minor: one would be baking the base for slightly longer as it was quite a cakey base and a little softer than I would have liked, and the other would be putting the tart in the freezer for 10 minutes or so before serving. It set fine in the fridge, but softened relatively quickly at room temperature.

Even with those things, I was very happy with this and almost found it hard to believe myself that it was egg and dairy free. 

Base post-cooking and pre-filling; not altogether attractive

Filled tart; still not altogether attractive

That's better (albeit with different lighting...)

Set and sliced

The second dessert consisted of vegan chocolate cupcakes made using the recipe from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and colleagues' Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. It is available online here. I am always keen to try new vegan cupcake variations and this recipe was particularly appealing because the vanilla recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World is my 'go to' favourite.

The result?

Very good...but I think I still like vanilla best.

These ended up looking almost identical to the chocolate mint cupcakes I made last year, and I think I also preferred the mint twist to these slightly plainer versions. However, that comment comes from someone who doesn't much like chocolate cake, so it is possible I'm not a fair judge. They were certainly enjoyable (even for a non-chocolate cake lover), beautifully fluffy, and very well received.

What recipes have you made recently? And do you have a favourite cupcake base? There is something wonderful about fluffy vanilla bit it does seem like a boring favourite to have!


For those who are interested, our book club book was Zeitoun, which is listed on my books page :)

Tweet

Chocolate strawberry tart (which is also vegan)

On Valentine's Day I posted about kale. I'm pretty sure kale doesn't make the Top 10 List of Romantic Topics.

(Actually, I know that it doesn't. I just Googled 'Top 10 List of Romantic Topics' and kale was definitely not in there. I learnt a lot, but nothing about vegetables.)

Fortunately for Mr Bite, I didn't serve us kale on Valentine's Day.

I served us this:

I think it was probably more appropriate.

The inspiration for this tart actually came from one I made for Valentine's Day last year, which was a raspberry chocolate tart adapted from a recipe on my 2011 Chocolate calendar.

It was a good calendar, and it was a good tart.

I figure if I'm going to have any baking traditions, a chocolate fruit tart once a year is one I'm happy to have.

This year, the tart was adapted from the Chocolate Strawberry Tart in Kris Holechek's The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes.

It was chocolatey. And strawberry-y. And surprisingly jam-y.

So all in all, rather good.

Chocolate Strawberry Tart

Adapted from Kris Holechek's The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes

Makes 1 tart

Vegan

Print recipe

Ingredients

For the tart base -

1 cup plain flour

1/3 cup good-quality cocoa

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup non-dairy spread (I used Nuttelex)

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup plain non-dairy yoghurt (or regular yoghurt if preferred)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp non-dairy milk (or regular milk if preferred)

For the filling - 

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup corn starch / cornflour

1 300g pack frozen strawberries

1/2 cup water

Dark chocolate, ~60g

Strawberries, ~1 punnet

Method

For the tart base -

Combine the flour, cocoa and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the non-dairy spread and sugar until smooth. Add the yoghurt, vanilla and milk and stir to combine. Add the flour mixture in three batches, mixing well after each addition.

Flatten the dough, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180'C. Grease and/or line a tart pan, springform pan, or (in my case) a heart shaped baking pan.

When the dough is chilled, roll out between two sheets of baking paper until 1-2cm thick. Press dough into the prepared pan and prick the bottom with a fork in a few places, to keep it from rising.

(I forgot to prick mine. It rose! But I pushed it back down successfully post-baking.)

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until firm. Allow to cool completely in the pan.

For the filling -

Combine the sugar, cornstarch, frozen strawberries and water in a saucepan. Bring contents to the boil, stirring regularly.

Reduce the temperature and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until thick, stirring constantly.

(I didn't stir mine constantly, but you do want to keep a close eye on it as the mixture thickens up quickly.)

Remove from the heat and stir every few minutes until completely cool.

To assemble -

When the crust is cool and while the filling is cooling, melt 1-2 rows of dark chocolate (~30g) in a small heatproof bowl. Line the base of the tart with the melted chocolate. Set in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.

Chop strawberries into halves and grate another 1-2 rows of dark chocolate (~30g) into a small bowl.

When the chocolate lining on the tart is set and the strawberry filling is cool, pour the filling into the tart case. Decorate with the strawberry halves and sprinkle over the grated chocolate.

Set in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving.

I was surprised at how 'cakey' the base was when I made it, and I was quite concerned it wouldn't turn into a tart base at all. However, it did. It was deeply chocolatey and could be used as a base for any number of fillings.

I was also surprised at how jam-like the strawberry filling ended up being! On looking at the ingredients and method, I probably shouldn't have been: the steps are virtually the same as those for making jam. I liked it, but I think I could have had less of the jam-like filling and more fresh strawberries.

As for the comparison with last year? I think I may have liked the 2011 tart just a little bit more, but that may be skewed recollections over time as I can't pinpoint why. Both were certainly good, and Mr Bite seemed happy with this one.

Which, given the day, was the main thing.

Do you make tarts, chocolate or otherwise? I'd love to make a more traditional fruit tart one day, with a custardy base!

Tweet