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finished vegan cherry bakewell tart

Vegan Cherry Bakewell Tart - reduced sugar

Vegan cherry bakewell tart -this colourful filled pastry tart combines a pastry case filled with a layer of raspberry jam, succulent almond frangipane and a golden sugar fondant glaze decorated with glace cherries. It works great as a dessert - especially when served with vanilla ice cream and/or soya cream. It’s very eye-catching too.
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Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
refrigerator time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 30 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Servings 12 slices

Equipment

  • 1 Digital scales zeroable/tareable
  • 2 bowls or one if you re-use the pastry bowl - not need to wash it TBH
  • 1 electric whisk useful but not essential
  • 1 saucepan - medium
  • 1 pastry cutting wheel useful but not essential - you can use a knife instead
  • 1 Rolling Pin
  • 1 pallet knife
  • 1 25cm fluted loose bottom tart case high sided is best - 3cm approx
  • 1 stick blender not essential but much easier - you can use a fork but it takes much longer!

Ingredients
  

Pastry case:

  • 150 g wholemeal flour – can be S/R as it's finer
  • 80 g white flour – can be S/R
  • 60 g ground almonds or almond flour almond flour is finer
  • ¼ teasp salt
  • 150 g block vegan butter. Flora Vegan Block is good.
  • 1-2 Tbsp chilled water some folk use vodka or gin

Frangipane filling:

  • 200 g raspberry jam
  • 200 g ground almonds
  • 60 g whole meal S/R flour
  • 40 g cornflour or corn starch
  • 1 teaspoons baking powder
  • 50 g caster sugar - reduced to 50 from 90
  • 160 g vegan block butter Flora is good
  • 120 g unsweetened plant milk oat is best – but any will do
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • zest from 1 lemon

For finishing with icing etc:

  • 150 g golden icing sugar
  • 30 g lemon juice
  • 1 teasp orange extract
  • 25 half glace cherries
  • 15 g flaked almonds

Instructions
 

Making the Pastry

  • Weigh the 2 flours, ground almonds, directly into a good-sized bowl – zeroing the scale each time. Add the salt and mix well.
    weighing the flours and almonds into the bowl
  • Add the chilled, vegan block butter - cut into smallish cubes.
    Adding the flour and butter ready to rub in.
  • use a pair of large table knives (one in each hand like scissors) to cut the fat into the flour to get it going. When it’s in very small pieces, you can finish off by rubbing it in using just your fingertips. you’re looking for the mixture to resemble fine breadcrumbs with no lumps of butter remaining.
    fat fully rubbed into the flour
  • Add the cold water (or spirit if using).
    adding the water or chilled vodka
  • Mix with a pallet knife to combine. It should come together into a ball fairly easily – it may need just a little more water, but it’s best to avoid this if you can.
    mixing dough until it begins to "ball up" with a pallet knife
  • Form the pastry into an approx 15cm disc – but don't knead it. Place on a piece of grease-proof paper, and cover with a suitably sized bowl. Then refrigerate for about 45 minutes until cool & firm enough to roll out. Don’t leave it too long though or it will become too hard.
    forming into a disc and on greaseproof paper
  • Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured cool surface until you have a circle 3cm bigger than the base of a 25cm fluted round tart tin. A loose base tin is best.
    rolling out to 3cm larger than your pan base
  • If you have a loose base, remove the base, grease it and place a same sized parchment paper circle on it. Place it in the centre & on top of the pastry, and then cut round it.
    cutting out the pastry for the base
  • Carefully remove the edge pieces
    removing the edge pieces
  • Free the pastry from the surface using the pallet knife and some flour - so you can slide the base under the pastry circle. This is the most fool proof way.
    removing the edge pieces sliding the base underneath
  • Position the pastry so it perfectly covers the base, then return it to the tart casing.
    return the base to the tart case
  • Take the edge pieces and run them round the edge - so they join the pastry base – they will be more than long enough. Press the pastry into the flutes/corners then cut off the top with the pallet knife.
    putting the edge pieces back into the tray
  • If you can’t do it this way because you don't have a loose base tart case, you’ll have to attempt to get the pastry into the tin without it breaking or getting mangled – that is a very tricky way to do it though - especially with wholemeal pastry.
    the finished pastry case
  • Prick the base of the pastry all over with a dining fork then place it in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes until nicely firm. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan.
  • Line the pastry case with a baking parchment circle.
    lining the pastry case with a circle of paper
  • Then fill sufficiently with ceramic baking beans to keep the sides in place.
    Filling with ceramic baking beans
  • Bake for 10 minutes then remove the paper and baking beans and return the pastry case to the oven for a further 10 minutes until pale golden. Remove from the oven and set to one side.
    The cooked pastry case

Making the Jam layer

  • Weigh your raspbery jam - 200g – bon mamman or similar is good – into a jug and heat on half power for around a minute to make it more liquid
    weighing the jam
  • Blitz with a stick blender and then pour the 200g of jam into the pastry case.
    Pouring the blended raspberry jam into the case
  • Spread the fairly liquid layer of raspberry jam over the base of the pastry case by tilting and shaking, and put in the fridge for 30 minutes or until it is fairly solid.
    spread or shake the jam so that it covers the base evenly.

Making the Frangipane filling

  • While the jam is cooling, mix together the ground almonds, wholemeal flour, cornflour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl. I've reduced the quantity of sugar considerably as the first version was too sweet.
    weighing the dry ingredients - flour, almonds, sugar etc
  • Melt the vegan butter, plant milk and almond extract.
    Melting the butter in with the plant milk & almond extract
  • Pour the dry ingredients and lemon zest into the same pan and whisk until smooth and homogeneous.
    the whisked frangipane ready to add to the tart

Finishing the assembly & baking

  • Remove the chilled tart case from the fridge and spoon the frangipane carefully onto the layer of jam spoonful by spoonful without disturbing the jam.
    adding the filling spoonful by spoonful to the casing
  • Gently spread the filling so it's level. First use a fork, then, finally, I recommend using the back of a moistened spoon to get a really smooth finish.
    filling the pastry case with frangipane and smoothing it out
  • Bake in the oven set at 150°C Fan for 45 to 50 minutes check it's done by inserting a skewer or cake tester - it should come out clean. Allow to cool for 20 minutes or so befor proceeding. I think this is a little overdone - so I've adjusted the timings.
    cooked frangipane filling
  • When you take the tart out of the oven, put the almonds on a metal tray in the oven, and turn the oven off. They will toast nicely in the gradually reducing heat. Check on them after 8 to 10 minutes - you just want them lightly browned......
    Lightly toasting the almonds
  • While the tart is cooling, mix the fondant and pour and then brush it using a pastry brush to completely cover the surface - but not the pastry casing.
    Pouring on the fondant
  • So it looks like this......
    smooth level fondant layer
  • Place the halved cherries on in roughly the way shown, but you can place them how you like.
    placing the cherries on the tart
  • scatter the flaked almonds on the still slightly liquid fondant.
    scattering the flaked almonds on last
Keyword healthy, tasty, almonds, filling, low sugar, colourful
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