Nothing says spring desserts like fresh fruit, crisp textures, and plenty of vegan white chocolate mousse. Light and airy, with a robust poppy seed and raspberry base, it is the perfect brunch item, especially served with espresso.
This is actually my favourite tart shell recipe. I've used it many times in many different forms, with or without nuts, even for shortbread-like cookies. It is simply that versatile and delicious. It will, however, be somewhat soft once you first make it, so if you are not comfortable with that, simply chill the dough for a bit, and it will be a dream to work with.
Ingredients
For the tart shell
75 grams plain flour
25 grams finely ground almonds
20 grams icing sugar
50 grams vegan block butter, cold
3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
70 grams vegan white chocolate
For the poppy seed filling
75 grams ground blue poppy seed
45 grams date syrup
25 grams vegan block butter
65 grams vegan double cream
For the tangy raspberry jam
120 grams raspberries, fresh or defrosted
80 grams maple syrup
20 millilitres fresh lemon juice
10 grams cornflour
1 tablespoon cold water
¼ teaspoon rosewater
For the whipped white chocolate ganache
150 grams vegan white chocolate
45 grams vegan block butter
150 grams vegan double cream
½ vanilla bean
Preparation
Start by making the vegan white chocolate ganache. Chop the chocolate finely and place it in a saucepan. Pour in the vegan double cream; add in the butter and the vanilla seeds scraped from a pod, and place everything over low heat. Melt it together slowly, stirring gently, until it's all blended. Remove from the heat, let it cool down to room temperature, cover with a piece of cling film or baking parchment, and place into the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight.
For the raspberry jam, add the fruit to a saucepan along with the maple syrup and lemon juice. Place it over medium heat and let it slowly heat up and come to a boil. Once boiling, cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often, until it slightly thickens. Whisk together the cornflour and the cold water; add the mix to the raspberries, and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat, mix in the rose water, and pour everything into a small flexible mould or a cake ring (10 or 11 cm in diameter). Place the mould in the freezer for at least 4 hours or overnight.
For the tart shell, start by turning the oven on to preheat to 180°C. Take a large bowl, add in the cold vegan block butter, diced into pieces, sift in the icing sugar and mash everything with a fork until it starts to come together. You can use your fingers for this, but using a metal fork helps the butter remain cold. Sift in the flour, add in the ground almonds, vanilla, and lemon juice, and then mix by hand until a smooth pie dough forms.
The dough will be soft, so you can place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so, to make it less sticky. Roll the dough out to about 5 millimetres in thickens between two sheets of baking parchment, and transfer it to a deep tart mould or pan (15 cm in diameter and at least 4 cm deep). This is important because it needs that room for the filling. Return the mould to the refrigerator until the oven is done preheating. Once ready, add a crumpled piece of baking parchment onto the tart shell, add in the pie weights, and bake for about 10 minutes at 180°C. After that, carefully remove the weights and the parchment, and bake for another 8-10 minutes. Leave the baked shell to cool completely, and then coat the inside with melted vegan white chocolate, so it stays crispy as long as possible.
While the shell is cooling and the chocolate is setting, make the poppy seed filling. Place the poppy seeds in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add in the date syrup, vegan butter, and vegan double cream, and mix together. Place the saucepan over medium heat, and let everything come together, while stirring gently. Remove from the heat and let it cool completely. It might look soft and runny, but that's okay.
When everything is cool and ready, spread the poppy seed filling evenly on the bottom of the baked shell, and add the frozen raspberry insert on top. Whip the white chocolate ganache with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, and carefully add it over and around the raspberry insert, covering everything in a cloud of cream.
Decorate the tart with the remaining ganache as desired, add some additional raspberries, and serve well chilled. Yields 10 servings.
