Mini Vegan Fruit Tarts

Delicate and Light Pastry Cream Filled Buttery Tart Shells all Topped over with Fresh Fruit

This dessert is the perfect for any spring celebration. Fresh fruit is just coming into season, and this is the dessert just for it. The pastry cream is light and with subtle hints of vanilla and lemon. The shells are tender and buttery and pairs beautifully with the tartness of the fruit. Through experimenting, I found two separate recipes for pastry cream. One uses flour and the other uses corn starch. They are both delicious, but vary in both texture and flavor. I couldn’t decide which one I preferred better, so I decided to give you the option. The cornstarch is lighter and silkier in texture while the flour has more depth of flavor and the vanilla is more prevalent. Listed below are the ingredients and instructions for both variations. So try one or both and let me know what you think.

Pastry Cream

Flour

1 cup unsweetened soy milk or your choice of plant milk

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons Miyoko’s butter, softened

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Or

Corn Starch

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons water

1 1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk or your choice of plant milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup white sugar

1 tsp lemon

2 tsp Miyoko’s butter, softened

Crust

½ cup confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar)

½ tsp vanilla

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ sticks Miyoko’s butter, cut into cubes

Fresh Fruit, washed and cut if needed (Any kind of Berries, Kiwis, Oranges, ect.)

Procedures

Pastry Cream

Flour~ Place all the ingredients into a medium saucepan and whisk vigorously until there are no lumps. On the stove top, bring the mixture to medium low heat. Keep mixing with a heat-proof rubber spatula. Constantly scrape the bottom and sides of the pan to prevent any of the mixture from getting too hot.

Slowly the mixture will start to thicken, keep mixing and scraping the pot with the rubber spatula. Once the mixture is thick, taste to make sure the flour is cooked all the way through and doesn’t taste like raw flour. The consistency should be thick enough to coat the back or a spoon.

Once it is thickened, strain the pastry cream through a fine mesh sieve and into a clean bowl. Cover the pastry cream with plastic wrap flush to the top layer of the cream. This will prevent the cream from forming a skin. Let the cream cool completely at room temperature before placing into the fridge.

Cornstarch~ In a small bowl or cup, whisk together the cornstarch and water together, then place to the side. In a medium sauce pan, combine the soy milk, vanilla, lemon juice, sugar and butter. Whisk the mixture together well until completely dissolved. Bring the soy milk mixture to medium low heat over the stove top. Once the mixture is warm and barely simmering, drizzle in the cornstarch mixture slowly to the soy milk mixture while continuously mixing the soy milk mixture. Keep mixing with a heat-proof rubber spatula. Constantly scrape the bottom and sides of the pan to prevent any of the mixture from getting too hot.

Slowly the mixture will start to thicken, keep mixing and scraping the pot with the rubber spatula. Once the mixture is thick, taste to make sure the cornstarch is cooked all the way through and doesn’t taste raw. The consistency should be thick enough to coat the back or a spoon.

Once it is thickened, strain the pastry cream through a fine mesh sieve and into a clean bowl. Cover the pastry cream with plastic wrap flush to the top layer of the cream. This will prevent the cream from forming a skin. Let the cream cool completely at room temperature before placing into the fridge.

Crust

In a medium size bowl, whisk the flour and sugar together. Add the vanilla and cubes of butter and using your hands, press the butter into the flour mixture. The butter will start to melt and form a dough. Mold the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough into the fridge to chill for at least an hour.

Once the hour has elapsed, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take dough and cut into ten even pieces. Roll each piece and place into an open spot in a cup cake tin. Using your fingers or the bottom a small glass, press the dough out to form a small cup. The dough should form a thin layer covering the entire cupcake tin opening. Repeat with all the cupcake spots. Using a paring knife, cut the access dough that overhangs from the cup cake tin.

With a fork, poke the bottom of each tart shell three times all the way through to the cup cake tin to create air vents. This will prevent the bottoms of the shells from rising. Place the cupcake tin into the fridge for at least 10 minutes to chill.

Once the dough is chilled, place the cupcake tin into the oven for 17 to 20 minutes. Depending on how thick the shells are, baking times will vary. The shells will be done when slightly golden brown around the edges. Then remove the cup cake tin from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Once the shells have cooled completely, gently remove them from the cup cake tin and place on a clean work surface.

Assembling the Fruit Tarts

Once the tart shells and pastry cream are completely chilled, it's time to assemble the tarts. Using a spoon fill each of the tarts with pastry cream. Fill the tarts almost all the way to the top with cream and spread evenly with the back of the spoon or a small offset spatula.

Once all the shells are filled with pastry cream, layer the fruits over the cream in your choice of patterns and designs. After designing all the tarts, allow them to chill before serving. Best enjoyed the day they are prepared. The tarts and pastry cream can be made a day in advance, then assembled the following day if you desire.