Vegan Pastry Cream and Fruit Tart: Plum Tart

How is everyone holding up in these crazy quarantine times we’re going through? I hope everyone is safe and staying at home, hopefully cooking some delicious goodies.

We’ve been posting many podcast episodes and blog posts to better support you during these challenging times, giving general support on your journey and when building vegan meals, talking about mindful eating during quarantine, and in an upcoming mindful exercise during quarantine episode coming to you tomorrow, but of course we also need to cook something yummy together!

I find baking to be such a stress buster, and now that we're spending so much time at home, it can be such a nice project to bake a simple tart that is scrumptious and uses a fruit that I personally love to cook with: plums! 

Plums are in season right now where we live and they're so inexpensive yet vibrant, the tart is simple but you would never guess that by looking at it, and its lovely bright colors and presentation. You can make the dough ahead of time to divide the work, freeze it and then simply thaw it before using, or make this a fun project to be done all at once. The beauty of it? You get to eat this yummy tart after you're done!

By practicing with this this recipe we're learning how to make one of my favorite buttery vegan pie crusts, how to make vegan pastry cream, and how simply you can add or vary the fruit topping for a simple tart.

I hope you love our video, printable and recipe below!

Ingredients

For the dough: 
(You can make it ahead of time or even freeze it, if using frozen, thaw before using)

• 1 & 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus a bit extra for rolling the dough
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• A pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup non-dairy butter, chilled
• 2 tablespoons aquafaba (the brine of a can of chickpeas) 2 tablespoons very cold water

For the pastry cream:

• 2 cups + 1/2 cup soy milk, divided (or another thick variety of non-dairy milk)
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons non-dairy butter (optional but recommended)

For the plum topping:

• 4 plums, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon strawberry jam or plum jam, dilluted in a bit of water

Directions

1. To make the dough, combine the flour, the 4 tablespoons of sugar and salt in a food processor.

2. Add the 1/2 cup butter in several pieces into the food processor and process until it has the consistency of wet sand and you can still see some of the bits of butter throughout.

3. Add the aquafaba and water and pulse until you have a uniform. but very soft and sticky dough.

4. Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least half an hour or overnight. You can also make it ahead of time and freeze it. Simply thaw it before using.

5. Pre-heat the oven to 410oF (210oC) and prepare a 9 inch pie plate by rubbing it with some non-dairy butter using a paper towel.

6. Over a piece of parchment paper sprinkled generously with flour, roll out the chilled dough with some flour until it’s a bit larger than the size of your pie plate, and carefully transfer it and place it over the pie plate.

7. With a fork, create some holes in the dough to allow steam to escape, and if you’d like, decorate the border, or create a small fold along the border for decoration. This is optional of course.

8. Cover with the parchment paper and some pie weights or dried beans and bake in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes.

9. Remove from the oven, remove the paper, and reserve the pie weights or dried beans for next time (but don’t cook with these beans after you’ve used them as pie weights).

10. To prepare the pastry cream, combine 1/2 cup of the non-dairy milk and the 1/2 cup of cornstarch to create a slurry.

11. In a pot, add the remaining milk, sugar and vanilla. Whisk and bring it to a boil.

12. Lower the heat and add in the slurry, whisking constantly.

13. Cook for just 1 or 2 minutes or until you have the consistency of a rich cream.

14. Add the non-dairy butter if using (this will make it incredibly silky), and immediately pour it into the baked pie crust. Let it cool for about 5 minutes before adding the fruit topping.

15. Top the tart with the sliced plums layering them on an angle, one next to the other to form a fan-like presentation, until the whole tart is covered.

16. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top of the plums.

17. Brush the dilluted jam over the plums and bake the tart again for 10-12 minutes or until the fuit is bubbly and tender, and the crust is golden.

18. Chill for 1-2 hours before slicing into the tart and enjoy!