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It was always on the cards my Gluten Free Blueberry Bakewell Tart recipe, it was only a matter of time! Not only gluten free but also dairy and egg free too. But wait! Fear not if you turned your nose up at dairy and egg free, I have an egg-filled, dairy-filled Bakewell topping for you too so read on…
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Skip to the good bit
- Should you use fresh or frozen blueberries for baking?
- How to make this Blueberry Bakewell with dairy/egg?
- How do you make a flaxseed egg?
- How to make an easy gluten free lattice decoration?
- What to serve this Blueberry Bakewell Tart with?
- Ingredients you will need
- Equipment you will need
- Do I need to blind bake the gluten free pastry?
- Gluten Free Blueberry Bakewell Tart Recipe
Should you use fresh or frozen blueberries for baking?
You’ll be pleased to know that you can use both fresh and frozen blueberries for baking. However, the type of bake you are making will depend on whether one works better than the other.
Fresh Blueberries
Fresh blueberries are not always in season or a decent quality or size (if bought overseas when out of season). For this recipe, I prefer not to use fresh like my Gluten Free Blueberry Frangipane Tarts where I simply pop berries into the pastry cases.
I find this Blueberry Bakewell Tart is so much better if you take that extra bit of time to make a quick and easy blueberry jam.
Frozen or Defrosted Blueberries
Home Frozen blueberries or shop bought blueberries are great quality all year round.
Note that shop bought rarely retain their shape and are likely to ‘bleed’ in bakes. They can also be a bit wetter in texture too so this may lead to a soggy bottom tart, nobody wants a soggy bottomed tart!
To avoid the ‘bleeding’ you need to congeal the juices using arrowroot as you’ll see in my recipe method.
How to make this Blueberry Bakewell with dairy/egg?
If you don’t need this Blueberry Bakewell Tart to be egg and dairy free then there are some simple swaps and another recipe I can point you in the direction of.
Dairy version
The dairy free version is simple, just swap the plant based butter for normal butter. This recipe uses solid block vegan/dairy free butter (not margarine or spreads which do not work as well in baking). Because I use solid blocks of ‘butter’ the swap for normal salted butter is like-for-like.
Egg version
To make this tart egg-filled is not a straight swap in terms of ingredient or method. Therefore I would recommend making the blueberry jam and pastry case then head over to my Simple Gluten Free Bakewell Tart recipe for the frangipane topping recipe.
How do you make a flaxseed egg?
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 to make an easy gluten free lattice decoration?
There are two main ways to make a lattice top to your Bakewell Tart. Method one is the simple version where you lay your pastry strips across the tart sideways and then more strips lengthways over the top. [see my images]
Method two is a wee bit more tricky and not a method I’d recommend with this dairy and egg free pastry as it’s too fragile. This method requires you to ‘weave’ the strips in and out of one another so you have an over-under-over pattern. I have managed this method with my Simple Gluten Free Bakewell Tart as the pastry is more stable and flexible to lift and weave.
Let me know if you agree but I think the overlay method I’ve used in these photos is still as impressive and sure to wow those who have the pleasure of eating it with you.
NOTE: this recipe will have just enough pastry for you to add a lattice top, alternatively you could have a thicker pastry case, or why not decorate it with some cut out pastry shapes like I did in the bakes below
What to serve this Blueberry Bakewell Tart with?
All my Bakewell & frangipane recipes in one place!
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
- 1 egg or flaxseed alternative
Vegan frangipane topping
- caster sugar
- butter dairy free if necessary
- ground rice (check for may contains)
- gluten free self raising flour
- 1 egg or flaxseed alternative
- psyllium husk powder (optional)
- almond extract extract
Blueberry jam filling
- fresh or frozen blueberries
- water
- arrowroot
Equipment you will need
- mixing bowl
- large saucepan
- Kitchen Scales
- pastry blender
- fluted flan tin 20cm
- wooden spoon
- silicone spatula
- set of measuring spoons
- cooling rack
Do I need to blind bake the gluten free pastry?
The pastry for this Bakewell Tart is quite a short pastry (high in fat content and delicate). Therefore, there is no need to blind bake the case first. I tend to prick the base of all my pastry cases. This encourages an even bake as the heat permeates the pastry base. Be careful not to prick all the way through the pastry bottom, if you do you run the risk of any wet ingredients leaking into the pastry making it stick to the tin.
Gluten Free Blueberry 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.
Gluten Free Blueberry Bakewell Tart
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)
- 50 g light brown sugar this give a more golden colour to the pastry
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
- 3 tbsp cold water
Vegan frangipane topping
- 125 g caster sugar
- 150 g butter dairy free if necessary
- 150 g ground rice check for may contains
- 50 g gluten free self raising flour
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed [see notes]
- 3 tbsp cold water
- 1 tsp psyllium husk powder adds stability to the frangipane topping
- 2 tsp almond extract extract is better than flavouring if you can afford it.
Blueberry jam filling
- 200 g blueberries
- 25 g caster sugar
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tsp arrowroot
Instructions
To make the blueberry jam
- I do this step first to give it time to cool. Simply add the blueberries to a non stick saucepan, add the water and sugar, place a lid over the pan and heat on a medium heat until the blueberries start to breakdown.
- Next mix the arrowroot with the cold water and add to the stewed blueberries, stir continuously as the liquid will thicken quite quickly to form a glossy jam consistency.
- Set aside to cool while you continue with the rest of the recipe.
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.
- Make a well in the breadcrumb mixture 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 (this time with psyllium husk if using) 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 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.
- Spread your blueberry 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 otherwise it will seep during baking.
- Bake for 30-5 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 or 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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This was tasty and turned out pretty well. However, my crust and topping were darker and top didn’t rise as much (tried to make my own self rising gf flour as I can’t find it here in the US). Do you have tips on making your own self rising flour? I also wondered if you can use whole chia seeds for the flax egg or if that will leave it crunchy. Thanks!
Hi there Tanica. To make your own self raising flour from all purpose GF flour you need to add 2tsp of baking powder per 150g/1 Cup I also add 1/4 of a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to aid the rise. The egg alternative has to be ground chia or flaxseeds not whole seeds as the magical thickening/glue properties won’t be released into the baking. I sometime us e a mix of chia and flax seeds that I have ground myself in my Ninja blender. I hope this helps. Rebecca x