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Wednesday, May 23, 2007

The Best Vegan Dessert In the World. Period.

As promised, here is what I (and my friends and family) think is the very best vegan dessert ever made. I have become rather well-known in my own little circle for this recipe and am often asked to make "the tart." I can't take too much credit though, it was easy to veganize from a recipe published in one of our local papers, the North Coast Journal, a couple of years ago.




Crust:
1-1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) soy margarine

Creamy Layer:
12 ounces Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Fruit Layer:
Your choice of, um, fruit

Glaze:
1 cup orange (or other) juice
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch

To prepare crust, sift together 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar and flour until, then cut in the margarine until it resembles coarse crumbs. Press into tart pan(s). Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool.

Blend cream cheese, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and vanilla thoroughly (I use a hand mixer) and spread evenly on cooled crust.

Top with sliced fruit arranged artfully over creamy filling.

Combine juices, cornstarch, and 1/2 cup sugar in a small-medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until thickened and pour over fruit. Chill in refrigerator for one hour or more.

Notes:
  • The original recipe called for a 14" tart pan. The largest I could find was a 12" so I bought that plus a mini 4" tart pan, and this recipe makes one big and one little tart. If you don't have a tart pan, a springform pan should work.

  • You can use any kind of fruit you like - in the past, I've used mandarin oranges, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and cherries. You can also use different kinds of juice - once I did pineapple juice with kiwi fruit - be creative!

  • Beware of razor blades disguised as tart pans. The first tart pan I bought had an edge so sharp that I cut myself washing it, almost bad enough to need stitches. I returned that pan and found another one with a slightly rolled-over edge. Much safer for clumsy cooks like me!

7 comments:

Michelle said...

that looks really good! if only i had a tart pan. or a spring form pan! hey, do you think that an ordinary pie crust pan would do the trick?!

Tamara said...

It would work, you would probably just wind up with a 'thicker' tart. You'd probably have enough crust mix to spread up the sides of the pan, then the cream and glaze layers would just be thicker. If you try it, let me know how it works. :-)

Insomniac Chef said...

I will try this one out when I am over feeling fat from all my recent baking. However, I challenge your claim about this being the best simply because these cinnamon rolls are probably more addictive than heroin. They should probably be illegal.

Tamara said...

well insomniac, I'm planning on making those cinnamon rolls in the next few days so I'll let you know. ;-)

Anonymous said...

this looks to die for! I'll be back for more. :D

Sandra Eileen said...

on my way to grocery now, this would be great with the vegan lasagana i'm creating today.

Yummy said...

Seriously, this was the best vegan dessert ever. Every friday my cousins and friends gather to make dinner and break bread together. We spend the night eating, drinking, laughing dancing, singing etc. Every friday someone different cooks and every thursday Tony and make dessert for the following night. I am the only vegan and everybody else eats anything. We make one vegan dessert and pne non-vegan dessert. Usually this is jus to make me feel good. Last night we had cheescake with cherries and my tart. My tart was by far the biggest hit ever. These are hard core dairy loving meat eaters and they pushed the ricotta cheescake aside and devoured the tart. They asked if I would make anotehr today, the day after. In fact even the non-dessert eaters loved it. Thanks again. This will be a great addition to my vegan recipe folder.
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