Gluten-free, Vegan Bakewell tart (an almost daring bake-session)

So while waiting to see when I officially am dubbed a Daring Baker, I figured I would give the Bakewell Tart a go anyhow.

Bakewell Tart is one of those curiously British desserts, that is called something it isn’t quite.  For more on the history of the Bakewell Tart, go and visit Jasmine at Confessions of a Cardamom Addict, or Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar who have co-hosted this months Daring Bakers challenge.  Love these old recipes and the stories that go along with them.  I also love the older recipe books that just list the ingredients and baking times/temps, because they all assume you know how to cook.

Anyway, in the spirit of the gluten-free baked goods testing that I’ve been doing, I figured I would give the Bakewell Tart a gluten-free, vegan makeover, so that makes this version perfect for those on gluten-free, casein-free diets.  This challenge was perfect timing, as I had also just canned up a few batches of strawberry jam, so I thought I would open up one of the sugar-free, agave-sweetened jars to see how it holds up.

Let the games begin!

In making this, I had a couple of decisions to make:

• What gluten-free pie crust was I going to use?
• To blind bake, nor not to blind bake?
• The eggs play a pretty important role in the original recipe, both as binding but to provide a slight lift.  What was the best egg substitute?

To start, the original recipe calls for a shortcrust, so I ended up going with a gluten-free crust that makes use of coconut oil.  This seems to give the best “butter-like” mouthfeel to gluten-free, dairy-free baked goods, and I’m finding that I like it a little better than the Earthbalance shortening.  In order to create a nice roll-able crust with the gluten-free flours, some xantham gum is required, and I am finding that a mix of grains including millet gives a really nice flavour to the crust.

Anyway, so with the crust rolled out, I ended up deciding to blind-bake the crust, which meant first chilling the dough in the freezer for about 30 minutes, and then baking at about 350 for 20 minutes — not enough to brown it, but just enough to set it.  I didn’t want the crust tasting gummy from the xantham gum.

Finally, when it came time for the frangipane filling, I ended up following the recipe pretty closely, with only a couple of substitutions to make it gluten-free and vegan.  I used Earthbalance buttery shortening, as you can cream it nicely with sugar, something you can’t replicate as nicely with the coconut oil.

To replace the eggs, I thought I would try this silken tofu that comes in its own squeezy tube.   This is something new that our local supermarket (which carries lots of asian food products) has been bringing in.  I wasn’t sure about the binding quality, so I hedged my bets and added about 2 T of cornstarch to the mix.   I also opted for about 1 T of Amaretto in place of almond extract, and finally, used a basic AP gluten-free flour mix I had on hand.

Altogether, you can see the results turned out pretty good, although next time I’ll have to be a bit more careful about spreading the frangipane on top so the layer of jam is more distinct on the bottom.  For this recipe, I used 6 tablespoons of strawberry jam — I think I could up it to a full 1/2 cup.  The other modification I think I’ll make next time is to cut out the cornstarch and just go with the silken tofu, as the cornstarch amps up the binding, and counters some of the puffing tendencies of the tofu.

Overall, I also think the frangipane is a nice versatile kind of filling — mild enough that it goes with lots of things, but enough flavour that the sugar doesn’t overpower it.  I used almond meal that included pieces of the skins, so that also amped up the fiber, and cut out some of the sweetness, and I think made for a nice balanced flavour.

For sure this is a recipe that I would not have dug out on my own, so  Thanks, Daring Bakers!

here’s the proportions I used for a Gluten-free, Vegan Bakewell Tart

• 1 recipe Vegan Shortcrust
• 1/2 cup homemade strawberry jam
• 1 recipe Frangipane

Vegan Shortcrust:

• 1/4 cup garfava flour
• 1/4 cup tapioca starch
• 1/4 cup cornstarch or arrowroot starch
• 1/4 cup millet flour
• pinch of salt
• 2 Tablespoons organic evaporated cane juice
• 3/4 teaspoon xantham gum
• 4 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted until liquid but not hot
• 4 Tablespoons cold water
• 2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, combine all the flours with the xantham gum, salt, and cane juice.  Combine the coconut oil with the cold water and cider vinegar and mix.  Pour the oil mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  Dough will be wet.   Dust your rolling surface with gluten-free flour, and flatten into a disc and then roll out 1/4 inch thick.  Place the dough in the pie plate or tart dish.  Chill in the freezer for 20-30 minutes, and then blind bake for 20 minutes.

Remove the crust from oven, and let cool for 30 minutes.  When cool, fill with 1/2 cup strawberry jam.  Spoon the frangipane overtop, and smooth out right to the edges.  Bake for 30 minutes, until the frangipane is slightly browned and puffy.

Vegan Frangipane

• 125 grams Earthbalance buttery shortening (stick)
• 125 confectioners sugar
• 9 Tablespoons silken tofu, blended until very smooth
• 1 Tablespoon Amaretto (DiSarono is gluten-free)
  
• 30 grams your favourite gluten-free AP flour blend (I use 1 part garfava, 1 part sorghum, 1 part tapoica starch, 1 part arrowroot starch)
• 125 grams ground almonds (My almond meal contained some of the skins.  For a blonde frangipane, use skinned, blanched almonds for your meal)
  

Cream together the shortening with the confectioners sugar.  Add the silken tofu and combine well.  Slowly blend in all other ingredients, mixing until the mixture resembles cake batter.