Tropical Fruit Coconut Tart (vegan)

We have had some truly glorious weather recently (interspersed between some very wet and miserable days...); as I write this I am overlooking our back garden, which is beautifully warm and sunny, aaand horrifically overgrown...all the plants have had a sudden growth spurt and it is getting towards the point where even the dog can't venture out any further than the patio due to the height of the weeds (he is only small).

It needs some serious work doing to it; not just weeding, but leveling, digging out a couple of trees, extending the patio, laying a path, building vegetable beds, mending the fences etc. etc. I thought about starting work on it the other day, but I just couldn't face it so baked this tropical fruit coconut tart instead which was a much more satisfying use of my time.

With the warm, sunny weather I had been craving tropical fruits, and what better way to use them than by pairing them with crisp, coconut pastry and creamy coconut milk creme patissiere? To make the coconut pastry tart base I added some coconut flour to my pastry, which not only adds a touch of coconut flavour but also makes for an extremely crisp, crunchy pastry.

You can use desiccated coconut in place of the coconut flour if you prefer, though bear in mind that you will probably need to add less water to the pastry to bind it together (coconut flour is very absorbent); just add the water a spoonful at a time until the pastry comes together.

The coconut creme patissiere is made in exactly the same way as regular pastry cream, except that I used coconut milk in place of the usual dairy milk; it is perfectly smooth, creamy and coconutty. I topped the tart with pieces of mango, pineapple and kiwi (which I cut into star shapes using a pastry cutter - this is totally not necessary) and some passion fruit.

I decided that the tart looked too yellow so scattered over some freeze dried raspberry pieces as I didn't have any fresh raspberries but again this is not really necessary and was purely for decoration rather than taste (although some fresh raspberries on there would be tasty). The combination of delicious fresh tropical fruit, creamy coconut creme patissiere and perfectly crispy pastry is utterly divine and this tart is the perfect dessert to serve on a warm sunny day, and so much more rewarding than gardening...

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Tropical Fruit Coconut Tart (vegan)

Serves 8

Course Dessert

Cuisine baking

Keyword tart

Author Domestic Gothess

Ingredients

Coconut Pastry Cream:

• 60 g (½ cup) cornflour (cornstarch)
• 100 ml soya milk
• 400 ml can full fat coconut milk
• 100 g (½ cup) caster sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 60 g (¼ cup) vegan block butter

Coconut Pastry:

• 200 g (1 + ⅔ cup) plain flour
• 30 g (1oz) coconut flour
• 30 g (⅓ cup) icing sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 100 g (1 stick) cold vegan block butter, diced
• 3-5 Tablespoons ice water

To Finish:

• 1 large, ripe but firm mango diced
• ½ small ripe pineapple diced
• 3 kiwis peeled and sliced
• 2 passion fruit
• raspberries/freeze dried raspberries

Instructions

Pastry Cream:

• To make the pastry cream, place the cornflour in a pan and gradually whisk in the soya milk followed by the coconut milk, sugar and vanilla extract.
• Place the pan over a low-medium heat and stir constantly until it comes up to the boil and thickens. Once it starts to thicken, whisk it vigorously for about a minute, making sure that you get right into the edges of the pan. When you stop for a few seconds, a few big bubbles should rise to the surface and pop.
• Remove from the heat, add the butter and stir until melted and fully combined. Pour into a bowl, cover with clingfilm directly on the surface then refrigerate until cold (or overnight, or up to a couple of days).

Coconut Pastry:

• Place the plain flour, coconut flour, icing sugar, salt and butter in a food processor and blitz until it resembles sand. With the motor running, gradually add the ice water until it comes together into a ball. Shape the pastry into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
• Roll out the chilled pastry thinly on a lightly floured surface and use to line a 25cm tart tin, trim off the excess, prick the base with a fork and place the pastry case in the freezer for 15 minutes while you pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
• Line the tart case with greaseproof paper or a double layer of good quality clingfilm, going right into the corners, edges and up the sides then fill with baking beans or dried rice making sure that the sides are propped up.
• Bake for about 25 minutes then remove the paper and beans, reduce the oven temperature to 170C/325F/gas mark 3 and return the tart case to the oven for about 15 minutes more, or until golden and crisp. If the edges start to colour before the middle is done then you can cover them with strips of tin foil.
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes then remove the tart case from the tin, transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. If you are making the case the day before serving the tart then keep in an airtight container once cool.

To Assemble:

• Give the pastry cream a good whisk with a balloon whisk electric mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until it becomes smooth and creamy again. (it will be very thick at first).
• Place the tart case on a serving platter. Spread the pastry cream evenly over the tart base. Scatter over the mango, pineapple and kiwi then drizzle with the passion fruit. Top with fresh or freeze dried raspberries. Best eaten on the same day as it is assembled. Keep refrigerated.