Vegan Mofo #6: Tarte au Citron...

So... I wanted to make a dessert, and not just any dessert but a French dessert, and not just any French dessert but a tart. Why did I want to make a tart when I hate working with pastry dough? Who knows, but at the time it seemed not only to be a good idea but a delicious one as well. I chose something simple, Lemon Tart, it has few ingredients and seemed fairly easy to veganize and so without much experience making tarts from scratch I dove in.

The thing I really loved about this tart is that the pastry dough was a sweet dough - as many French pastry dough’s are - it perfectly complimented the simple tart. This also happens to be the easiest vegan tart or pie pastry I’ve ever worked with. Seriously, it doesn’t seem to matter who’s recipe I use or what is in it, but I am never able to get a vegan pie or tart crust off the counter in one piece, my pies are always misshapen - though no less delicious - but this tart turned out pretty darn perfect, except I’m not an expert at crimping.

Unfortunately there was a minor problem unrelated to the crust, while the overall flavor of the tart was amazing, and the texture was pretty good, there was this white foam that settled on the top. I’m not sure why, or what caused it. It didn’t change the taste at all, just doesn’t make the tart look very professional. Possibly I should have used a different milk, maybe soy was not a good choice and I might have been better off with coconut. At first I thought I wouldn’t bother with posting the recipe but blogging isn’t always about success right? And it isn’t about being perfect, you can easily use this as a guide and change the milk to see if something else works better. If you know why this went foamy on top drop me a line, and maybe I can try it again so the finished product ends up looking as good as it tastes.

Tarte au Citron 

1 Recipe Sweet Pastry (Recipe Follows)

1 Cup fine sugar
1 Cup Lemon Juice
1 Cup Soy Milk
3 Tbsp Grated Lemon Zest
2 tsp Agar Agar Powder

Sweet Pastry 

2 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
Pinch of Sea Salt
½ Cup Non-Dairy Butter
3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
5 Tbsp Non-Dairy Milk or as needed.

Instructions - Crust 

- Combine the flour and salt in a bowl.

- Cut in the butter and combine it with the flour until it forms coarse pebbles.

- Add in the powdered sugar and mix to combine

- Drizzle in the non-dairy milk a couple of Tbsp at a time until the dough comes together enough to be workable. You can add more milk or a little water as needed to make the dough stick together but make sure you add a little at a time, you don’t want the dough to be wet.

- Once dough is at the consistency you like, place it in the fridge for 20 minutes to chill.

- Remove the dough, roll it out onto a floured work surface. Roll the dough to fit your fluted tart pan. Then carefully transfer rolled dough to the pan. Crimp the edges, and use the tines of a fork to poke holes in the bottom.

- Put the crust in the oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the crust is cooked through but not browned. You want the pastry to remain as pale as possible.

- Once crust has finished baking, fill, and chill.

Instructions - Filling

- Whisk the Sugar, Lemon Juice and Soy Milk together in a medium sized pot on the stove over medium heat. Bring to a boil.

- Add in the agar agar, and whisk together. Continue whisking as it gently boils, about five minutes or until thickened slightly.

- Remove the pan from the heat. Gently fold in the lemon zest Pour the lemon mixture into the cooked crust and then place the tart in the fridge.

- Refrigerate for 4-8 hours until tart has set. Slice and enjoy plain, or dusted with a bit of powdered sugar.