VEGAN FRUIT TARTLETS

By Emma Sousa

These quick and easy fruit tartlets are really impressive for an afternoon summer tea - and you won’t believe they are vegan! The pastry is light and buttery and totally delicious. A little but naughty but very, very nice!

Ingredients:

115g vegan butter (Naturli block is good)

70g icing sugar (half for the pastry and half for the cream cheese)

120g all-purpose (plain) flour

Zest of half a lemon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

225g vegan cream cheese (you can buy this in all leading supermarkets - ensure you get the unflavoured variety)

1 tin coconut milk (use solid part only and discard the water)

Fresh fruit and berries

Sprig of fresh mint to garnish

Icing sugar to dust

Method

Beat the butter in a bowl until light and fluffy (or with a mixer). Add in the icing sugar and mix well. Add the flour and lemon zest and mix until just combined but do not over mix.

Roll out the pastry and cut out ‘rounds’ and press firmly into the pastry tray. Prick the tartlet bottoms with a fork and place in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes to chill.

While that’s chilling, take the solids from the can of coconut milk and mix it in a bowl with the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract until smooth. Place the bowl in the fridge.

After the pastry dough has chilled sufficiently, bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden (but not too brown) at 165°C, then remove from the oven and let them cool.

Fill the tartlets with the cooled cream cheese mixture and top with fresh berries/fruit to taste. Place a fresh mint sprig on each tartlet to garnish, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve. Keep refrigerated until use but note that they are best eaten the same day. Enjoy.

You have got to couple this with a cool and refreshing Mojito cocktail. Most spirits are totally vegan so if you choose to consume alcohol you are pretty safe choosing pure spirits. Other alcoholic drinks are not always vegan including wines and Prosecco unless labelled so. This is so simple to make and totally delicious and refreshing on a summer’s day.