Vegan Lemon & Earl Grey Brulée Tart
Zingy, creamy and aromatic, this elegant vegan lemon and Earl Grey brulée tart is the perfect dessert with wow factor.
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When lemon meets Earl Grey, it creates a flavour combination that can’t help but impress. And that’s never more true than in this sophisticated vegan brulee tart recipe.
What is a brulee tart?
In this recipe, two classic French dishes are joined together – creme brulee and lemon tart.
Creme brulee is a rich, creamy French dessert that features a thick custard base, with a hard, caramelised sugar top. The sugar is ‘burnt’ using a blowtorch or grill.
Instead of the usual lemon tart filling, this recipe flavours the creme brulee base lemon and then encases it in a beautiful shortcrust pastry case, so you have the best of both worlds in one dessert.
What is agar agar?
Agar agar is a jelly like vegan substitute for gelatine. It is made by boiling seaweed.
Sold in flakes or powdered form, agar agar is first dissolved in liquid, then you simmer it to thicken.
It has no taste, odour or colour and tends to set more firmly than gelatine. You can use it in any recipe to replace gelatine, as with this recipe where it’s used to set the custard for the tart filling.
Love your leftovers
Depending on the depth of your tin, you may have some lemon cream left over. Pour this into small glasses or ramekins and set it in the fridge for an alternative dessert option.
Total Time: 1 hour and 10 minutes
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Calories: 364
Servings: 8
Rating:
Total Time: 1 hour and 10 minutes
Calories: 364
Servings: 8
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
(Servings: 8)
- For the pastry
- 28.125 28.125 g plain flour, plus etxra for dusting
- 0.125 0.125 tsp sea salt flakes
- 0.25 0.25 tbsp caster sugar
- 15 15 g dairy-free butter
- 0.25 0.25 tbsp cold water
- For the filling
- 30 30 ml lemon juice
- 0.125 0.125 Earl Grey teabag
- 14.375 14.375 g caster sugar
- 0.25 0.25 tsp agar agar flakes
- 62.5 62.5 ml soya cream
- For the topping
- 6.875 6.875 g caster sugar
- Equipment
- 23cm, loose bottomed tart tin
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Measure the flour into a large bowl and stir in the salt and sugar. Chop the non-dairy butter into chunks and add to the bowl. Lightly rub the non-dairy butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Drizzle over the water and mix everything together until you have a rough ball of pastry. Wrap tightly in cling film and refrigerate for 10 minutes to firm up.
- Dust a work surface with flour and roll the pastry out to the thickness of a one-pound coin. Drape the pastry over the tin and gently press it into the base and sides. Roll your rolling pin over the edge of the tin to trim off the excess pastry. Line with parchment paper and weigh it down by filling the tart with rice or dried beans. Transfer to the oven to bake for 20 minutes. After this time, remove the parchment and discard the rice/beans. Return the pastry to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
- While the pastry is cooking, place the lemon juice, sugar and tea bag in a small pan and bring to a simmer. Leave to simmer for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat. Leave the tea to infuse in the liquid.
- In a separate pan, pour in the soya cream and sprinkle the agar agar flakes on top. Leave to come gently to a simmer. Once hot, whisk to incorporate the agar agar and allow to gently simmer for a few minutes until it is fully dissolved. Leave to cool slightly.
- When the pastry is cooked and the liquids have cooled slightly, squeeze and remove the tea bag from the lemon syrup, and whisk the syrup into the cream mixture. Pour the lemon cream into the pastry case and place the tart into the fridge to set for at least 3 hours.
- To brulée, the set tart, sprinkle the sugar over the top and use a cook’s blowtorch to caramelise the sugar until golden brown.
- Serve in slices, with non-dairy cream, ice cream or simply dusted with icing sugar.
Each 155g provides:
Fat 20g, Saturates 2.9g, Sugars 18g, Salt 1.1g
In need of another slice? Try making this tasty vegan treacle tart recipe!
