Bakewell Tart

• servings: 12 servings
• active time: 30 minutes
• total time: 1 hour 50 minutes

Ingredients

215 g All-purpose flour (~1 + ¾ cups)

135 g Vegan margarine* (½ cup + 1 tablespoon)

15 g Icing sugar (1 tablespoon)

1 Tablespoon Ice cold water

250 g Cherry conserve or jam (¾ cup, can sub for any other flavour you like)

120 g Vegan margarine (½ cup)

150 g Caster sugar (¾ cup)

1 Teaspoon Almond extract

200 g Ground almonds (2 cups)

50 g All-purpose flour (~3 tablespoons)

1 Teaspoon Baking powder

50 ml Soy milk (~3 tablespoons)

2 Tablespoons Flaked almonds

1-2 Tablespoons Icing sugar (to dust)

Handful Chopped glace cherries

Directions

For the shortcrust pastry:

Add the flour into a large bowl then rub the margarine in until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the icing sugar.

Add the cold water into the breadcrumb mixture and stir until it starts to stick together. Use your (cold and clean) hands to gently press it into a ball. It'll look crumbly at first but will come together.

Cover the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.

While the dough is chilling, preheat your oven to 200°C/400°F (or 180°C/350°F for fan or convection ovens).

When the 30 minutes are up, gently press the dough in your hands to remove any large cracks, being careful not to overwork it (this will result in tough pastry). Roll it out on a floured surface until it's large enough to cover a 9-inch tart tin. Rotate and add more flour as needed while rolling.

Drape the dough over the tin and use your fingers to gently press it into the sides. Cut off any excess around the edges.

Dock the dough by poking small holes all over it using a fork. Place some baking paper over it then pour some baking beans or uncooked rice on top. This will act as a weight to prevent the dough from puffing up while baking.

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the beans/rice and baking paper then return it to the oven for a further 15 minutes. It should be golden brown when it's done.

When you're done baking the pastry, turn the oven down to 180°C/350°F (160°C/325°F for fan or convection ovens) in preparation for the filling.

Stir the conserve thoroughly in a bowl to loosen it up. Spread it over the bottom of the tart.

Frangipane:

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar. Stir in the almond extract.

Next, add the ground almonds, flour, baking powder and soy milk. Mix well until you have a thick mixture that resembles sticky mashed potato. This is your vegan frangipane.

Spoon the frangipane into the tart in large dollops and carefully spread it out to the edges. It's quite sticky so be careful not to let it bleed into the conserve. Sprinkle the flaked almonds on top.

Cover the edges of the tart crust with tin foil before baking. This will prevent it from burning.

Bake for around 50 minutes until golden brown all over. You can check the filling is cooked all the way through by inserting a toothpick through the centre. It will come out clean when it's done. If the top is golden brown but the filling is still wet, turn down the oven slightly and continue baking until done.

Allow the tart to cool completely in the tin. Dust with icing sugar and top with chopped glace cherries, then cut into slices and enjoy!

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 slice
• Calories: 393 kcal
• Total Fat: 22 g
• Sodium: 56 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 42 g
• Dietary Fiber: 2 g
• Total Sugars: 25 g
• Protein: 6 g