Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart

This is a recipe that I came across and veganized, tweaked, adjusted measurements, and rearranged, as is my usual way, to get the end result I want.  And...that result is delicious!  Like some of my other desserts, this does have a few steps, but they are not overwhelming.  Just go steady like the tortoise, and before you know it, you'll be enjoying a slice of this wonderful treat.  Just a note: I find that using the freshest juices and peels possible creates the best flavor; if you've got fresh citrus, use them first before other sources.  Of course, it goes without saying, that the best flavor ever for this tart will come from the freshest strawberries.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart

A beautiful slice of said tart, mm-mmm!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbs. vegan sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
6 oz. vegan stick margarine, chilled
6 Tbs. fresh orange juice (from fresh oranges, if possible)

Filling:

2 pkgs. Tofutti cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup vegan sugar
1 Tbs. freshly grated orange rind
12 - 14 strawberries, thinly sliced lengthwise

Glaze:

3 Tbs. strawberry preserves
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice (from a fresh lemon, if possible)

Directions:

Crust:

In a food processor with the pastry blade, put in the flour, sugar and salt.  Process for a few seconds to mix.  Cut up the margarine into chunks, and add those to the dry mix.  Process again, until you get a grainy consistency.  With the machine running, pour the orange juice through the feeder hole.  Your dough should clump together into a sort of ball in about a minute.  Take this ball out, shape into a disc, wrap in wax paper, and chill for ten minutes.  (Alternately, you can use a pastry cutter or fork, if you don't have a food processor.)  Take dough out of fridge and place between two large squares of wax paper.  Roll dough out to a circle about thirteen or so inches in diameter, large enough to cover your spring-form tart pan and sides.  Note:  My pan is 11.5 inches; if yours is smaller you can adjust your circle and even your dough amount, if you wish.  Take top sheet of wax paper off dough, and gently flip the dough over your pan.  Press down to cover the bottom and sides completely.  If you have bare patches, and you have extra dough in other areas, take the extra dough to cover the patches.   Anything else that is extra, you can fold down into the pan, or take a sharp knife and trim the top of the pan to remove excess dough.  Prick the bottom of the crust several times with a fork.  Chill for 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line the crust with wax paper, and layer a pound of dried beans on it, making sure the entire bottom is covered.  Bake for eight minutes.  Take out the tart from the oven.  Remove the beans into a container for future use, and remove the wax paper as well.  Bake crust for another eight minutes.  Place on cooling rack to cool completely.

Filling:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese, sugar and orange rind, until well combined, about two minutes on low to medium speed.  Pour the mixture into the cooled crust.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Cool completely on cooling rack.  When crust is cool, release the sides of the tart pan, and place tart on serving dish.  Layer your strawberry slices on the crust in a circular pattern, starting from the outside and working your way in.  With any extra slices you may have at the end, fill in any gaps you see.  You want the top of the tart to be screaming strawberries!  

Glaze:

Heat the strawberry preserves and lemon juice in a small pan over medium low heat, until well-mixed and runny.  You can strain this through a mesh sieve to leave out any lemon bits.  With a basting brush, paint the glaze all over the strawberries.  Chill for at least one hour before serving.  So good, and it feeds five hungry vegans for a couple of desserts!

Lemony Lemon Tart

This was a nice little dessert I made this last weekend. It's got a nice lemon taste, so if you like lemons, you'll like this. By the way, this fits into the Feingold plan, if you're keeping track.

Lemony Lemon Tart (I'm cheating by using a leaf from our grapefruit tree as a garnish.)

This is how it looks when you weigh down your crust with beans before pre-baking it. Make sure you crinkle the wax paper first, so it lays down easier.

A wedge of Lemony Lemon Tart. See the sneaky grapefruit leaf again!

Lemony Lemon Tart

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 cup flour
A good pinch of salt
2 1/2 Tbs. vegan or raw sugar
6 Tbs. of chilled vegan margarine, cubed or coarsely chopped
1 1/2 tsp. EnerG Egg Replacer
4 Tbs. cold water
1 extra Tbs. water

Filling:

1 pkg. Mori-Nu tofu, soft silken
2/3 cup soy milk
1 cup vegan or raw sugar
2 Tbs. dried lemon peel
3 Tbs. lemon juice

Directions:

For the crust: Have a 9-inch loose-based tart pan ready. In a food processor put the flour, salt and sugar. Process until mixed. Add the margarine and process again until mixture is crumbly. In a small bowl, whisk together the Egg Replacer and the four tablespoons of water. Remove the feed tube cap and, with the machine running, pour in the water mixture. The dough should clump up into a ball in about a minute. Turn the machine off. Pat the dough into a disk shape, wrap it in wax paper and chill for 30 minutes. Unwrap the dough and reserve the wax paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll out your dough to about eleven inches in diameter (mine is never perfect); you can sprinkle a bit of flour on top of the crust, so the rolling pin doesn't stick. Gently fold in half and unroll into your tart pan. Use your rolling pin to roll across the top of the pan to release any extra dough. Use any extra dough to fill in gaps in your crust. Prick the bottom of the crust several times with a fork, and chill for another 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Take the chilled tart pan and dough out of the refrigerator. Spread out the used wax paper over the dough, making sure the bottom is completely covered. Open a one-pound bag of dried beans, and pour the beans over the wax paper. Spread the beans out so are they are in every nook and cranny of the covered dough. Bake for 20 minutes. Bring out and carefully lift the wax paper with the beans and put in a bowl - you can use these for a later dish. Brush on the remaining tablespoon of water on the bottom of the crust. Turn off oven, and let the crust completely cool.

For the filling: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Process all the filling ingredients in the food processor for at least a minute, until smooth. Pour into cooled crust. Bake for 30 minutes. The filling will be slightly jiggly when removed from the oven. Let completely cool, then chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours to finish setting. Unmold the tart before serving. Feeds five hungry vegans for a couple of days.

Pecan Raisin Tart

This is a beautiful tart that I think is so elegant looking and tasty. The crust always comes out great and is one of the best tasting ones I make. I made this for our Easter dessert. We had a very simple dinner since our potluck with the extended family was cancelled for unforeseen reasons. So, when I had only planned one dish to share at dinner and this dessert, I was suddenly faced with planning a whole holiday meal. Needless to say, I ended up keeping it very simple.

Here is our menu:

Spring rolls with dipping sauce
Steamed rainbow carrots (that my younger daughter picked out)
Kale with sausage (a very easy recipe that I will share in a later post)

For dessert:

Pecan Raisin Tart

Without further ado, here are the photos and the recipe. This will take an afternoon or morning to make, so don't rush it, and enjoy yourself and the fruits of your labor afterwards!

Pecan Raisin Tart

Wedge of Pecan Raisin Tart

Easter Dinner 2010

Pecan Raisin Tart
Ingredients:

Crust:

1 and 2/3 cups of flour
1/8 tsp. salt
2 and 1/2 Tbs. of vegan sugar
One stick and 3 Tbs. of vegan margarine, chilled and diced
1 Tbs. Ener-G Egg Replacer
5 Tbs. cold water

Filling:

1 and 1/4 cups of brown sugar, packed
2 sticks of vegan margarine
1 cup of homemade or your favorite store-bought maple syrup
A pinch of salt
3 Tbs. Ener-G Egg Replacer
12 Tbs. water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup raisins
4 and 1/2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped

Directions:

I make most of my crusts in my food processor. However, I also have a pastry cutter that I sometimes use. If you do not have a food processor, feel free to use your pastry cutter, or even a butter knife or fork for the following directions. With your pastry blade inserted in the food processor, mix the flour salt and sugar together. Add the diced margarine and process until it looks like fine crumbs. You made need to stop the machine occasionally and scrape the ingredients from the side of the machine before continuing. Whisk together well the Egg Replacer and cold water. Remove the lid from the feed tube and add the whisked ingredients with the machine running. Wait about a minute to see if it turns into a ball, or pretty close to a ball. This is successful almost every time for me. If it is still fairly dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time to get it into a ball. Be sure to not get it wet or sticky. Most of the time you will not need this additional water. Remove the dough onto waxed paper and keep it in a ball. Wrap the waxed paper around it and chill for fifteen minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and on a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to a circle about thirteen inches in diameter. I usually sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough before rolling, so the rolling pin won't stick. In a ten-inch spring form cake pan, carefully lay the rolled out dough. Mine almost always cracks, so don't worry if yours does. Simply press the dough together gently with your fingers. If there are uneven sides to the dough, take the extras and press it in the needed spaces. You will want your dough on the bottom and all around the side of the pan. Prick the bottom and side of your tart crust all over with a fork. Chill for ten more minutes. Remove from the refrigerator and line the crust with waxed paper. Pour one pound of dried beans on the waxed paper, being sure that the whole bottom of the crust has weight on it. Bake for fifteen minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and lower the heat to 350 degrees. Carefully lift two sides of the waxed paper, so it's slightly folded in the center. Use this fold to pour the beans into a spare bowl, and toss the waxed paper. Continue baking the tart for seven more minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, and reduce the heat to 300 degrees. Let the crust cool while you make the tart filling. In a medium pot, put in the sugar, vegan margarine, syrup and salt. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and cook for five minutes, stirring often. If it threatens to boil over, reduce heat slightly. Remove from heat. In a large bowl, whisk together the Egg Replacer and water. Add the vanilla extract and stir. Add the raisins and stir. And, finally, add the pecans and stir very well. When completely mixed, pour in the syrup mixture and stir thoroughly. Pour into the pie crust and bake for one hour. The filling will feel somewhat soft to the touch, but don't worry: it will firm up. Let completely cool on a wire rack. I suggest bringing to room temperature before serving, if you have to chill it. Feeds more than five hungry vegans.