Vegan Peanut Caramel Chocolate Mousse Tart

This recipe really got a thumbs up this weekend - sweet oaty coconut biscuit base, topped with a thin layer of peanut butter caramel and finished with a thick layer of dairy-free chocolate mousse. All vegan, all delicious!

Makes 1 20cm tart

Ingredients:

For the base:

• 60g ground almonds
• 20g plain flour
• 30g desiccated coconut
• 40g oats
• 45g soft light brown sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 70g coconut oil
• 1/2 tbsp golden syrup

For the peanut butter caramel:

• 140g crunchy peanut butter (like Meridian)
• 95g golden syrup
• pinch of salt

For the chocolate mousse:

• 250ml coconut cream, fridge cold
• 20g cocoa powder
• 30ml maple syrup (or golden syrup)

Method:

1. Make the base. Preheat the oven to 180c (160c fan)/gas mark 4. Grease the base of a 20cm fluted cake tin (loose-bottomed ideally!), and dust lightly with flour.

2. Mix together the ground almonds, flour, coconut, oats, brown sugar, salt and baking powder.

3. Melt the coconut oil, then mix in the golden syrup. Pour over the dry ingredients and bring the mixture together until it starts to clump together. 

4. Pour into the prepared cake tin and gently press into the corners of the tin, trying to get the biscuit as smooth as possible. Using the back of a spoon to press on the biscuit helps to get a smooth base.

5. Bake for around 10 minutes, or until starting to golden. Leave to cool completely.

6. For the peanut butter caramel, simply beat together the peanut butter, golden syrup and salt. 

7. For the chocolate mousse, pour the coconut cream, cocoa and maple/golden syrup into the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Whisk on medium speed for a few minutes until it has thickened and become fluffy.

8. Assemble the tart by spreading the peanut butter caramel onto the base of the tart. Cover with the mousse.

9. Place in the fridge for 3-4 hours, or until set.

10. Enjoy!

Vegan Salted Chocolate Caramel Nutty Tart

I attempted this tart out last week, whilst recovering from the flu, and my partner ate half of the tart in a day - I took this as a good sign and have since made the tart again for my office :) Again, it was a big hit, so here's the recipe.
The first time I baked the tart I used a 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin, the second a 23cm square cake tin - both worked equally well (but the square tart was easier to slice for work!)

Makes one 23cm tart

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

• 250g plain flour
• 110g icing sugar
• 110g soy margarine
• Pinch of salt

For the filling:

• 160g coconut cream
• 200g light soft brown sugar
• 1 & 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 200g hazelnuts
• 100g pecans
• 100g vegan dark chocolate (Asda dark chocolate chips work very well)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. To make the pastry, sift together the plain flour and icing sugar and add a pinch of salt. Rub the margarine into the flour/sugar until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

2. One tablespoon at a time, add cold water until the dough comes together into a ball. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.

3. Grease a 23cm loose-bottomed tart or cake tin and line with baking parchment. Place a sheet of cling film on your surface, roughly 30cm long. Dust with a little flour, and then tip your dough onto the floured clingfilm.

4. If using a circular tin, roll the dough out until it is a rough 28cm circle. If using a square tin, roll the dough until it is a 28cm square. It should be 2-3cm thick.

5. Carefully transfer the pastry to the tin - this is easiest to do by picking up the clingfilm that is underneath the pastry, flipping this into the tin, and then removing the cling film. Patch up any holes with spare pastry and trim so that the sides are 1cm high.

6. Chill the pastry for 20 minutes.

7. Preheat your oven to 180c/gas mark 4. Prick the base of the dough all over with a fork, and then bake for 15 minutes or until the base has turned a light golden.

8. Whilst the pastry is baking, make the filling. Pour the coconut cream and brown sugar into a pan and place on a low heat. Bring to the boil and heat for around 5 minutes, or until the caramel has reduced and turned a deep brown.

9. Carefully pour in the salt, hazelnuts, pecans and dark chocolate, and stir until all of the chocolate has melted and all of the nuts are coated in the caramel. Add the vanilla and stir in.

10. Once the pastry is out of the oven, pour in the nutty caramel and bake for another 3 minutes. Leave to cool to room temperature, and then chill for an hour before slicing.

11. Enjoy!!

Vegan Makowiec swirls (Poppy seed swirls)

I love the classic Polish cake Makowiec -  a sweet bready cake, rolled like a swiss roll, with a poppy seed filling. It's a classic bake for me at Christmas, but this year I decided to vary things, and instead made a yeasted sweet dough (like in my recent cinnamon rolls post), and filled it with the poppy seed paste. After proving and baking, I drizzled over some icing, and they were done! They are lovely to have as a midday treat, and everyone really seemed to enjoy them.

Once these are cool, keep them in an airtight container and they should stay moist for 3-4 days.

Makes c. 12 big swirls

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 475g strong white bread flour, plus an extra handful for dusting
• 25g cornflour
• 7g dried fast-action yeast
• 50g light soft brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 300ml soy milk
• 75g dairy-free (I used a soy-based) margarine

For the filling:

• 400g poppy seed paste
• 50g mixed dried fruit
• 25g glace cherries (Plus 20g for decoration, optional)
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

For the icing:

• 150g icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp water

Method:

1. Tip the bread flour and cornflour into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook. To one side of the bowl add the yeast, and to the other side add the sugar, cardamom and salt.

2. Heat the soy milk in the microwave for 30 seconds - 1 minute, until warm but not hot to the touch. Pour over the flour and add the margarine.

3. Turn on the stand mixer and leave to knead for around 8 minutes, until it is very soft.

4. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until the dough has at least doubled in size.

5. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is about 20 x 30 cm. In a bowl, beat together the poppy seed paste, cinnamon and dried fruit, and then spread evenly over the dough.

6. Along the long edge, roll the dough into a tight spiral. Slice into 12 swirls.

7. Grease and line the base of two baking trays, and then place the spirals on the trays, with at least 3cm between each swirl. Cover and leave to prove for around 45 minutes.

8. Preheat your oven to 180c (160c fan)/355f/gas mark 4.

9. Bake the swirls for 25-30 minutes, or until golden and firm to the touch. Check after 20 minutes and if browning too much, cover with foil.

10. Leave to cool.

11. Beat together the sifted icing sugar and water until it is a thick but droppable consistency. Once the swirls have cooled, pipe or drizzle over. If wanted, halve the glace cherries and place on the icing to stick.

12. Enjoy!