vegan pastry

Vegan strawberry tart with coconut pastry cream – crisp coconut oil pastry filled with vegan coconut milk creme patisserie and topped with fresh strawberries. The perfect dessert for Summer! Egg and dairy free. Post sponsored by Portmeirion.

The lovely people at Portmeirion recently challenged me to create a summery al-fresco sharing dish to show off their beautiful Atrium range of British made pottery.

As soon as I saw the stunning green Atrium embossed platter I decided I had to make a strawberry tart as I knew it would look so perfect displayed on it. And it does!

The arrival of Summer means more al fresco dining; and garden parties, barbecues and picnics are a perfect excuse to get people together over some good food. Dining with friends and family is so important but we don’t do it often enough.

This year Portmeirion are focusing on getting people together with their #GetTogether campaign. All you need is some good food for a lovely gathering, but taking the table out into the garden on a sunny day and adding some nice crockery and flowers will turn a get together into something really special.

Tag your photos with #GetTogether on Instagram to be added to Portmeirion’s gallery.

Vegan Strawberry Tart:

Strawberry tart is a French patisserie classic, but given that it usually contains lots of eggs and dairy it’s not exactly vegan friendly.

Thankfully, it’s not too difficult to create a vegan version that is still absolutely delicious; and pretty easy to make too!

To make the pastry, cold coconut oil makes a perfect swap for butter and results in wonderfully crisp pastry. It is quite delicate pastry to work with, and can be prone to cracking, but you can just press it back together if it does, no harm done.

For the pastry cream, full fat coconut milk gives a really smooth, creamy result; with cornflour (cornstarch) to thicken it and a bit of vegan butter (you can also use coconut oil) to replace the richness usually provided by the egg yolks and to help the pastry cream set.

To finish, I think that it needs nothing more than a scattering of fresh sliced strawberries. But if you want a neat, beautiful tart like the kind you would find in a patisserie, then you can arrange the halved strawberries in concentric circles and brush them with a little redcurrant jelly or apricot jam that you have warmed through in a pan until it is runny to glaze.

This vegan strawberry tart is the perfect Summery dessert to end a garden party or barbecue with; it goes wonderfully with a glass of champagne or Pimms!

Portmeirion Atrium Range:

The Atrium range from Portmeirion is an absolutely beautiful range of British made crockery which is perfect for eating alfresco, as well as dinner parties and just every day dining.

As well as being really stylish, the products are all very sturdy and high quality so there is no need to worry about taking them outside. And they are dishwasher and microwave safe too!

Find out more about the Atrium range:

Embossed Platter

Embossed Large Jug

Champagne Flutes

Stemless Wine Glasses

Floral Cream Jug

Floral Side Plates

Geometric Bowls

How To Make Vegan Strawberry Tart:

(For ingredients and full instructions see the recipe card below)

*For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.*

Start by making the pastry case as it needs to be blind baked. Place plain flour, ground almonds, icing sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine.

Add cold, diced coconut oil and blend until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make sure that no lumps of coconut oil remain. If you don’t have a food processor then you can rub the coconut oil in by hand but it might take you a while!

Add some cold vodka and water and blend again until the pastry starts to come together. You can add a drop more water if needed. Bring the pastry together into a ball with your hands.

Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface into a circle big enough to line a 25cm/10 inch tart tin. (If the pastry is too soft then you can pop it in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up a little but don’t let it get too cold or it will be hard to roll out.)

Very carefully lift the pastry into the tart tin and press it right into the corners. It is quite delicate but if it cracks then you can just press it back together with your fingers. Roll over the top of the tin with a rolling pin to trim off the excess pastry.

Prick the bottom all over with a fork then place it in the freezer for 20 minutes while you heat up the oven.

When the pastry is nice and cold, line it with tin foil, making sure that you press it right into the corners, then fill it with baking beans or dried rice.

Bake for 25 minutes then remove the tin foil and rice/beans and return the tart shell to the oven for 15 minutes or so, until it is golden and crisp. Once it is cool it can be stored in an airtight container for a couple of days.

Vegan Pastry Cream:

To make the coconut pastry cream; place some cornflour (cornstarch) in a pan and gradually whisk in full fat coconut milk (the tinned kind), making sure that there are no lumps of cornflour – you don’t want lumpy creme pat!

Add soy milk (or another non dairy drinking milk), sugar and vanilla extract. (Vanilla bean paste is best if you can get it).

Place the pan over a medium-low heat and stir constantly until it comes up to the boil and becomes very thick. Once it has thickened, cook while stirring for one minute, no more.

Remove the pan from the heat and add some vegan block butter or coconut oil (it must be block butter such as Naturli Vegan Block, Stork or Vitalite block or Earth Balance Buttery Sticks. The spreadable kind in a tub is too soft.).

Stir until it is melted and smooth then transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cover with baking parchment directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming and pop it in the fridge until it is completely cold. It can be made a day or two in advance.

Once cold, the pastry cream may have set quite firm. Just give it a really good stir with a wooden spoon and it will become smooth and creamy. If it is lumpy then you can press it through a sieve to remove the lumps.

To serve, fill the tart shell with the pastry cream and top with a pile of freshly sliced strawberries. You can also use any other kind of fruit that you like too.

Coconut Oil Pastry:

Coconut oil pastry is wonderfully crisp and delicious. It is a little more awkward to work with than pastry made with butter or margarine however.

It is utterly un-workable with when it is too cold as it becomes extremely hard and crumbly. I like to make the pastry and roll it out right away, THEN chill it thoroughly before baking.

It can be made in advance and stored, well wrapped, in the fridge. You will need to let it come up to room temperature for at least an hour before rolling it out however. If it is still too cold you can give it a good squeeze with your hands to help soften it.

I find that it is best made in a food processor, as the cold coconut oil is tough to rub in by hand – it is do-able but will take you a while!

I also have a (not-so) secret ingredient to help create perfectly crisp and flaky pastry – vodka! Adding too much liquid to pastry to bring it together can make it tough. But unlike water, alcohol doesn’t contribute to the formation of gluten (which leads to leathery crusts); it also evaporates very quickly in the oven, leaving you with crisp, tender pastry.

You can’t taste it at all in the pastry and if you don’t have vodka then gin, whisky, rum or brandy will all work too.

Can I Make This Vegan Strawberry Tart In Advance?:

Both the tart shell and pastry cream can be made up to a couple of days in advance of serving. Store the tart shell in an airtight container and the pastry cream covered in the fridge.

Once assembled the tart should be eaten the same day, the fresher the better. But any leftovers will keep in the fridge for a day of two.

You might also like my vegan no-bake chocolate tart with stem ginger and my vegan blueberry pie.

If you tried this recipe why not tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess

This post is sponsored by Portmeirion, thank you for supporting the brands that allow me to continue doing what I love – playing with food and making a mess of my kitchen.