This Vegan Bakewell Tart was an utter revelation if I do say so myself. After finding out in 2017 that the reason for my discomfort and digestion problems was a dairy and egg intolerance I waved goodbye to many of my favourite desserts, bakes and treats.
Getting Bakewell Tart back on the menu for me wasn’t a priority, I always tend to put myself last. However, now at 40-something I’m of the thought that sod the family if I want a vegan cake or tart, then I shall have said vegan bake or tart. And so today, the Vegan Bakewell Tart was born – insert heavenly choir and trumpet fanfare sounds.
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- Can I make this Bakewell Tart just gluten free?
- Can I make this Bakewell Tart just dairy free as well as gluten free?
- Do you have to blind bake a Bakewell Tart Pastry Case first?
- What is the best jam to use in a Bakewell Tart?
- How do you make egg free frangipane?
- What is a Bakewell Tart anyway?
- How do I store this bake?
- Ingredients you will need
- Equipment you will need
- Other gluten free pastry recipes to give you inspiration
- Easy Vegan Bakewell Tart Recipe
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Can I make this Bakewell Tart just gluten free?
Yes you absolutely can make this Vegan Bakewell Tart so its just gluten free. In fact the recipe for my original tart is here Easy Delicious Bakewell Tart but made gluten free
Can I make this Bakewell Tart just dairy free as well as gluten free?
The recipe link above is in fact a dairy free recipe, this was kind of accidentally on purpose because the only cooking butter I have in the house is vegan butter. I use Flora plant based blocks of butter, but I hear that Pure has good results too. Just remember that you need to use a solid block of ‘butter’ and not a dairy free spread. In fact, now that such a thing exists on the supermarket shelves I will never go back to using spreadable soft dairy free butter for baking. Why? It’s down to the higher fat content and the fact it’s a solid, so when it cools it returns to a solid state whereas a spread is oilier and doesn’t hold it’s structure as well.
Goodness, I didn’t mean to give you a lecture on vegan butter there but you certainly got one!
Do you have to blind bake a Bakewell Tart Pastry Case first?
I have tried both ways. Baking the pastry case blind when making a Bakewell Tart is a risky business because the tart filling takes a long time to bake. This means that you run the risk of burning your pastry case if you blind bake it first.
Traditionally Bakewell Tarts are not blind baked, possibly for that very reason.
TOP TIP: remember to prick the pastry case with a fork, try not to pierce the pastry through to the tin, you could result in some jam seeping into the underneath of the tart. I tend to line my tin with greaseproof paper just in case.
How to make a simple sweet gluten free shortcrust pastry
200g plain gluten free flour
80g butter or dairy free alternative
20g lard or vegan white fat solid (such as Trex)
50g caster sugar (use a light brown sugar if you wish to have a more golden baked pastry)
1 egg or 50ml cold water
Using fingertips or a pastry cutter turn the flour, butter and fat into breadcrumbs.
Add the sugar and stir.
Add the egg or water and stir until crumbs start to clump together.
Turn out onto a floured work surface and knead for 3mins until the pastry comes together.
Chill for 30mins and use as directed in the recipe.
What is the best jam to use in a Bakewell Tart?
I have seen all manner of jams used in Bakewell Tarts so don’t feel afraid to use what you have in the cupboard (or fridge). Commonly, strawberry or raspberry jam is used in the traditional tarts. However, I have used apricot jam before and cherry jam makes a delicious flavour to compliment the almond flavour filling.
How do you make egg free frangipane?
Traditionally a Bakewell Tart is packed with eggs. The egg is intrinsic to the structure and moistness of the tart. To make a Vegan Bakewell Tart, I had to master making a vegan frangipane.
Now, I’ve made frangipane before on a smaller scale in these Blueberry Frangipane Tarts; gluten free, vegan and delicious. But I needed to make an eggless frangipane that could hold up to being in a big bake and still keeps its structure without being a gooey horrible mess in the middle.
I think you’ll agree I nailed it!
So to counteract the lack of eggs, I’ve increased the fat content, added rising agents in the form of self raising flour (egg is a raising agent) and mimicked the elasticity of eggs by adding a flaxseed egg and psyllium husk to help bind and glue the structure together.
What is a Bakewell Tart anyway?
What is a Bakewell Tart? It’s an almond and egg mix poured into a shortcrust pastry case that’s had a layer of jam added to the bottom.
What is Bakewell Pudding? It’s a wetter mix to the Bakewell Tart, with no jam and poured into a puff pastry case. Traditionally served hot with custard.
What is a Cherry Bakewell? It’s the Bakewell Tart I mentioned above but with a sweet white icing covering the bake and a cherry on the top.
How to make a flax egg
to make 1 flax egg you need the following ingredients:
– 1tbsp ground flax seed
– 3tbsp water
– 1tsp psyllium husk (optional but does add elasticity to baking)
Simply add all ingredients to a glass and stir before measuring out the other recipe ingredients, by the time you come to use your ‘egg’ mixture it will have thickened to a frog-spawn consistency (thicker if you added psyllium husk)
Then just add to your baking as you would an egg. For 2 eggs double the ingredients but note that recipes that require more than two eggs may fail due to lack of support in the structure.
How do I store this bake?
This bake doesn’t keep as moist as long as the non vegan version. I keep it in a Tupperware container on the side, no need to refrigerate. You will still be able to enjoy slices two days later. If you find the frangipane has hardened a little pop it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds and you’ll freshen the bake up.
It’s also worth mentioning that this is delicious served as a pudding with a soya or other dairy free custard, so for the later slices you may want to warm them for 30 seconds and drown in your favourite custard.
Ingredients you will need
Vegan Pastry Case
- gluten free plain flour
- ‘butter’ I use Flora vegan blocks of ‘butter’.
- fat (I use Trex white vegetable fat)
- light brown sugar
- flaxseed egg alternative [see method]
Vegan Frangipane Filling
- caster sugar
- ‘butter’ I use Flora vegan blocks of ‘butter’.
- ground rice
- gluten free self raising flour
- flaxseed egg alternative [see method]
- 1 tsp psyllium husk powder
- 2 tsp almond extract
- 100 g jam
Equipment you will need
- mixing bowl
- Kitchen Scales
- pastry blender
- fluted flan tin 20cm
- large saucepan
- set of measuring spoons
- silicone spatula
- rolling pin
Other gluten free pastry recipes to give you inspiration
Easy Vegan Bakewell Tart Recipe
If you make it and like the recipe I would be eternally grateful if you popped back and commented leaving a star rating as this will tell search engines that this recipe is worth checking out and others will get to find it in searches.
Easy Vegan Bakewell Tart made gluten free
Equipment
Ingredients
Vegan Pastry Case
- 200 g gluten free plain flour
- 80 g 'butter' I use Flora vegan blocks of 'butter'.
- 20 g fat (I use Trex white vegetable fat) a vegan white solid fat, you could also use Crisp n Dry.
- 50 g light brown sugar this give a more golden colour to the pastry
- 1 egg or flaxseed alternative [see method]
- 1 tsp psyllium husk powder (optional) optional (adds stability to the pastry)
Vegan Frangipane Filling
- 125 g caster sugar
- 150 g butter dairy free if necessary
- 150 g ground rice or you could use ground almonds as suggested in the post
- 50 g gluten free self raising flour
- 1 egg or flaxseed alternative [see method]
- 1 tsp psyllium husk powder (optional) optional (adds stability to the filling)
- 2 tsp almond extract extract is better that flavouring if you can afford it.
- 100 g jam strawberry, raspberry or cherry are ideal.
Instructions
To make the pastry
- Make your flaxseed egg by measuring 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed (I actually use a mix of flaxseed and chia seed combined so either is fine) and 3 tablespoons of water into a small jug, mix and leave.
- In a large bowl measure the butter, flour and sugar and using your fingertips or a pastry cutter combine to make breadcrumbs.
- To the breadcrumb mixture, add a teaspoon of psyllium husk if using it, and spoon the flaxseed egg into the middle of the bowl.with a rounded knife cut through the mixture to incorporate the 'egg' into the crumble mixture.
- Now tip this mixture onto a kitchen surface (no need to flour the surface) bring the crumble together for 3 minutes until you have a kneadable ball of pastry dough. Make sure you have no lumps of fat left and pop the pastry into a Tupperware container and chill in the fridge while you get on with the frangipane.
To make the frangipane
- Using the same small jug (saves on washing up) make another flaxseed egg and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan measure the caster sugar and 'butter'.
- On a medium to high heat, melt the 'butter' and sugar. Once completely melted remove from the hob.Good news! You don't need to wait for this to cool as your not using real eggs.
- Stir in the ground rice, self raising flour, psyllium husk and spoon your second flaxseed egg into the mixture. Stir well to combine.
- Finally add the almond extract, you should get a glossy thick mixture that drops off the spoon. Set aside to work on your pastry.
To build the Bakewell Tart
- Preheat the oven to 190°C | 170°C fan | 375°F | Gas 5
- Flour the kitchen surface and roll your pastry out to a good thickness, ½cm should be fine.
- Take your 20cm cake tin (lined with a disc of greaseproof paper) and carefully line the tin with your pastry pressing gently into the corners. Trim excess pastry with a knife tight to the top of the tin.
- Prick the pastry case multiple times with a fork, not too violently! try not to pierce the pastry all the way through.
- Measure out 100g of the jam you have chosen to use into a jug and mix with a spoon to break it down and make it easily spreadable. TOP TIP: If you find it's still too thick pop into the microwave for 10 seconds, this will make it very easy to spread.
- Spread the jam over the bottom of the pastry case liberally making sure you go into the corners.
- Now to add your frangipane mixture into the pastry case over the jam. As this is thicker than a normal frangipane you will need to spoon dollops of the mixture into the pastry case. I recommend moving in a circular motion around the edges of the case to prevent the jam being pushed to the edges. Eventually all you will need to do is use a spoon to tease the mixture and fill any gaps.TOP TIP: Make sure no jam rides up the sides of the pastry. You want no jam to be visible by the end.
- Bake for 30 minutes, keeping an eye on the pastry so that it doesn't burn. The Bakewell will continue to cook after you remove from the oven so don't worry in the middle feels a little soft. Besides, you want a lovely moist centre. It's traditional to the bake.
- Allow to cool completely and serve. Can be enjoyed warm with custard or ice cream or cream.
Notes
to make 1 flax egg you need the following ingredients:
– 1tbsp ground flax seed
– 3tbsp water
– 1tsp psyllium husk (optional but does add elasticity to baking)
simply add all ingredients to a glass and stir before measuring out the other recipe ingredients, by the time you come to use your ‘egg’ mixture it will have thickened to a frog-spawn consistency (thicker if you added psyllium husk)
Nutrition
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I boil for a second or two the flax mix in mw and it thickens OK.
Excellent tip Joe, I’m going to give that a go thank you.