Vegan MoFo Day 19 - Golden Crumb Treacle Tart

Golden Crumb Treacle Tart
Ingredients
For the shortcrust pastry:
200g plain flour
100g vegan margarine
2 teaspoons sugar
pinch of salt
a little iced water (about 2 Tablespoons)
For the filling:
2 cups coarse  breadcrumbs
Juice and rind from one orange
8 Tablespoons golden syrup

Make the pastry by mixing the flour, sugar and salt together and rubbing in the margarine until the mix ressembles breadcrumbs, add a little cold water until the dough is smooth but not sticky then place it the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven at 200°C.
Make the tart filling by mixing the breadcrumbs in a bowl with the orange zest and juice and the golden syrup. Mix to incorporate all the ingredients.

Once the pastry has been in the fridge for 30 minutes, take it out and roll it out onto a floured surface and line a greased 25cm tart tin.
Pour the golden syrup mix into the tart tin and place in the oven at 200°C for 20 minutes and then 180°C for 10 minutes.

Scrummy with custard.

 

GO VEGAN!

Go MoFo!

Vegan MoFo IV Day 4: Eggless Custard Tarts

I used to LOVE Custard Tarts in my B.V (Before Vegan) days and had basically written off ever having them again.

Well! Haha me who thought that; because me who doesn't like to give up without a fight has come up with a smakaroonie of a vegan version. Oh yes I have.

Ingredients

makes 8

For the Pastry

125g/4½oz plain flour
55g/2oz icing sugar
55g/2oz margarine

For the filling

half pint of coconut milk

half pint of sweetened soya milk
5 Tblsp custard powder*
2 Tblsp sugar
Grated nutmeg


Method

Sift the flour and icing sugar into a large bowl and add the margarine.
Use your fingertips to rub the fat into the flour until you have a mixture that resembles breadcrumbs. Add some cold water a tablespoon at a time - this took 2 Tablespoons but don't panic just add extra flour if the mixture is too wet or some more water if it's too dry, a teaspoon at a time.

Roll out on a lightly dusted surface and cut out rounds to fit your muffin pan (I have a trusty mug I use for this which is the perfect size).
Heat oven to 2ooº.

Mix the two milks together in a jug.

In a bowl place the custard powder and sugar and mix into a smooth paste with a little of the milk mixture. Heat the remaining milk to nearly boiling and pour onto the custard mix stirring all the time. Return to the saucepan and bring to a gentle boil stirring continuously. Leave to cool stirring every few minutes to prevent a skin from forming and then pour into each pastry round.

Grate some nutmeg on the top and bake for 20-25 mins.

Leave to cool - this is important as it firms the custard up just nicely.

*Custard powder is basically corn starch and yellow colouring so don't be frightened to give this a go just because you can't buy the lazy persons stuff.

What do we want? We want PIE.......

When do we want it?

NOW! OK so this wasn't the cries of my Salad overdosed family but they wanted something good and hearty and by gads they were going to get it! Served with Salad of course. In all honesty this isn't really a Pie. It is a Tart. But there's something about saying "I made a Pie" that deeply satisfies me where as saying "I made a Tart" just doesn't cut it. So I shall name this Tarty Pie. It's a Pie with it's summer wardrobe on - i.e no top. Or a skimpy tarty little top at that. I was inspired to make this from a little book called - 101 Veggie Dishes but that recipe called for Feta Cheese - YUK! So in true heathen vegan style - I completely re-worked it and me and my family were totally bowled over by it's deliciousness. You shall be too. Ingredients serves 4 2 tablespoons Olive Oil 2 large yellow Onions, thinly sliced half teaspoon Salt 1 tablespoon Demerera Sugar 1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar Sheet of ready made Puff Pastry 4 Sundried Tomatoes in Olive Oil, drained a little bit 8 Black Olives, sliced Fresh Basil to garnish Method Preheat your oven to 200ºC or 390F. Heat the Olive Oil in a frying pan and add the Onions along with a teaspoon of Salt. Fry gently for 10-15 minutes until the Onions are caramelised. Add the Sugar and stir then add the Balsamic Vinegar and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring all the time. Roll out the Pastry and use it to line a rectangle dish 6 inches by 10 inches or there abouts. Chop the excess Pastry off so as the crust is only about an inch and a half high. Of course if you have a swiss roll tin then this would be even better to use. Cover the base of the Pastry with the Onion mixture, scatter over the Sundried Tomatoes and Black Olives and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Scatter over the Basil Leaves and serve.

served with Patatas Bravas (recipe to come soon) and fresh Corn Salad

GO VEGAN!

Vegan MoFo: Day 5 - Cherry Tomato Tarts with Pesto Cream

I feel quite sad about this MoFo entry. Why? Because it uses the last of my Cherry Tomatoes and Basil. *sniff* But the sadness didn't last long. Oh no....about as long as it took to cook up these babies and scoff 'em down. Cherry Tomato Tarts with Pesto Cream serves 4 Ingredients 2 Tblsp Olive Oil 1 Onion finely chopped 375g Cherry Tomatoes 2 Cloves garlic, chopped 3 Sundried Tomatoes, chopped 1 sheet Puff Pastry (depending how big the sheets are - you need about 375g of pastry) I recipe Besto Pesto Salt and Pepper

Method Heat the Olive Oil in a frying pan and saute the Onions for 5 mins until soft. Halve about a third of the Cherry Tomatoes. Take the frying pan off the heat and add the Garlic, Sun Dried Tomatoes and then stir in all of the Cherry Tomatoes until lightly coated in the sauce. Lay out the pastry sheet and cut out 4 5 inch rounds (a small plate is ideal if you don't have a fancy tool). Lightly grease a baking sheet and sprinkle with cold water and transfer the pastry circles onto it. Make a shallow cut 1cm from the edge of each round to form a rim. Brush the rims with a little Olive Oil and pile the Tomato mixture into the centres of the tarts making sure it stays within the rims. Bake in a pre-heated oven, 220 degrees (425 Fahrenheit) for about 15 mins until the pastry is risen. Plop on a dollop of Pesto and Bob's yer uncle. We had these with Sweetcorn and Mashed Potato.

And because I'm a sucker for filling in fun vegan related survey's here's my answers to this survey here 1. Name a song that involves food in some way. one potato two potato three potato four........ 2. What criteria do you use when choosing a new cookbook to buy? One that's going cheap on Amazon 3. What did you eat today? Chocolate Cake so far 4. Name a vegan food that you know exists but you have never tried. Marshmallows 5. The Food Network just called and needs you to start your new show tomorrow. What will the title of the show be? Take 5 6. Favorite hot sauce or other spicy condiment? Black Pepper 7. How old were you when you became vegetarian/vegan? 14 - vegetarian and 34 - vegan 8. Favorite vegan cheeze? My own homemade 9. Cutest baby animal? hedgehogs 10. Favorite type of jam/jelly/marmalade/preserves? Gooseberry Jam (I am addicted to the stuff) 11. Do you take any vitamins/supplements? no 12. What food/dish most embodies the Fall season? Soup 13. What food would you have a hard time living without? Mushrooms - I would end it all if I couldn't have Mushrooms 14. Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate? tea - with milk 15. It's 10PM and you're starving. What do you eat? a Piccalilli sandwich 16. If you have an animal companion, what is his/her favorite food? One of my cats likes Peanuts another one likes birds and the other two will eat anything 17. Worst injury you've gotten in the kitchen? I spilled boiling oil on my finger 18. When you have a food-related question, who do you call? The PPK'ers 19. Summer is ending- What food will you miss most? Asparagus 20. What snacks do you keep in your purse/backpack/desk at work? Gum 21. Favorite soup to make on a rainy day? Any Soup, all Soup, Soup is goooood 22. What's your favorite combination of fresh vegetable and/or fruit juices? Carrot and Swede mashed together 23. Favorite brand of root beer? I don't have one 24. Make your own question What's the un-vegan food you miss the most? Tuna