Vegan mini fresh fruit tart with delicate summer custard
Garnished with a crown of fresh local fruits and filled with orange blossom water custard, theses mini vegan French-style tarts will be the talk at your next summer picnic or party.
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Keyword custard, fresh fruits, orange blossom water
500g(2 cups)your favorite plant-based milk, I like to use soy milk
30g to 45g(2 to 3 tablespoon )orange blossom water,, adjust according to your taste
½ tspvanilla bean paste
120g(½ cup)white sugar
60g(½ cup)cornstarch, also known as cournflour
60g(¼ cup)vegan margarine or butter
Garnish
Fresh fruits like berries, stone fruits, or tropical fruits
Neutral jelly or apricot jam strained and thinned with simple syrup(optional)
Instructions
Tart Shell
Preheat your oven at 375°F ( or 190°C)
Roll out the sweet pastry dough to a 3mm (⅛-inch) thickness, prick all over with a fork and cut 9cm (3 ½ -inch) diameter circles with a cookie cutter ( or use a round object as a guide).
Place each dough circles on the back of a flipped-over muffin tin. Press down on the dough so that the dough is pressed flushed against the sides of the muffin cavity.
Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until cooked through and golden brown.
Let the crust cool down at room temperature. Once the tart shells are not warm to the touch anymore, remove the shells from the muffin tin and brush the inside with melted cacao butter. Set the mini tart shells aside for later.
Orange Blossom Crème Pâtissière
Pour the vegan milk,orange blossom water and vanilla bean paste in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
In a medium bowl, dry whisk the sugar and cornstarch until completely smooth.
Pour slowly a third of the boiling milk over the sugar mixture and whisk until smooth and lump-free. Pour back the sugar mixture into the still-hot saucepan with the leftover milk.
Cook the preparation for 2 to 3 minutes on medium heat while continuing to whisk constantly. Check the sides and bottom of your pan with a silicone spatula from time to time to stop scorching from happening.
When the pastry creme has started to thicken and large bubbles start appearing, remove the saucepan from the heat while still stirring.
While still hot, add the margarine and incorporate it with the spatula until homogenous.
Transfer the cream onto the shallow dish (or back in the rinsed out medium bowl), and cover with plastic wrap so that it is in direct contact with the cream. Refrigerate until cold (minimum of 1h).
Transfer the pastry cream into a medium bowl and whisk vigorously until it becomes smooth and creamy again.
Transfer the pastry cream into a pastry bag with a 1M Wilton pastry tip.
Assembly
Clean and cut your fruits according to how you want to decorate your tarts ( slices, quarters, diced, fannes, etc.)
Garnish each mini tart crust halfway with the orange blossom pastry cream.
Decorate the tarts by placing the fruits over the cream in a design of your choice
If using, brush some warm neutral jelly or thinned jam over the fruits and the edge of the pie to preserve the fruits and give a shiny appearance to the fruits. Enjoy!
Notes
The vanilla bean paste can be replaced with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Best eaten the same day, but can be stretched to the next day if coating with jelly/jam and if lining the tart shell with melted cacao butter.