Vegan Bakewell Tart – Vegan MoFo Day 17

For today’s post, I’m veganising a local recipe. I recently moved to Derby and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to make something I’ve been planning on for a while – a Bakewell Tart!

Bakewell is a village in the Peak District in Derbyshire, and it’s from there that this gorgeous tart originates. You may be more familiar with the mass produced, not-vegan mini “cherry bakewells” that have white icing and a glace cherry on top – but the original version is so much better!

It consists of a crisp pastry shell, a layer of raspberry jam, a dense almondy frangipane, and flaked almonds. It takes a while to make as you have to blind bake the pastry first – but you could always use a shop bought crust if you really want. I just like the experience of making something entirely from scratch!

Serve on its own, or warmed up with cream or ice cream.

Vegan Bakewell Tart

• Servings: 1 large pie
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Ingredients

for the pastry:

• 210g plain flour
• 115g vegan butter, chilled
• 15g powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp cold water

for the frangipane:

• 150g vegan butter
• 150g ground almonds
• 150g sugar
• 100g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp cider vinegar or lemon juice
• 100ml milk (I used almond milk)
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 2 tbsp raspberry jam
• Flaked almonds, to top

Directions

Preheat the oven to 200C/390F
1. First, make the pastry. Mix the flour and icing sugar together in the bowl, and add the butter. Rub together with your fingers until you get a mix resembling coarse breadcrumbs.
2. Next, add the water, and bring together until a smooth dough is formed.
3. Roll out the pastry until it is about 5mm thick, and drape over a greased pie/tart tin. Do not trim the edges, allow to hang over the edge of the tin as the pastry will shrink in the oven.
4. Place tin foil over the pastry and fill with baking beans. Place in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
5. After 15 minutes, remove the beans and foil and cook the pastry for a further 10 minutes or until it starts to turn golden. This dries out the base and ensures no soggy bottom!
6. Once the base is cooked, set aside (leave the oven on!) and begin on the frangipane.
7. Melt the butter either in the microwave or in a saucepan, and add to a bowl along with the sugar. Mix well.
8. Add the almond extract and ground almonds and mix again.
9. Sift in the flour, baking powder, and bicarb, and mix through, adding the milk to get a smooth consistency. Finally, mix in the cider vinegar.
10. Spread the pastry base with the raspberry jam. If you need, heat the jam for 30 seconds in the microwave to make it spreadable.
11. Spread the frangipane mix over the jam, making sure to cover it all.
12. Evenly sprinkle the flaked almonds over the frangipane.
13. Place the tart in the oven for 20 minutes, then remove and cover with foil. This stops the top from burning.
14. Put the tart back in the oven for another 15-20 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
15. Leave to cool, and serve!