Bakewell Tart

I never really thought it would be possible to make a vegan bakewell tart, but I'm so glad I tried because it is possible, in fact, it came out perfectly first time and was soooo good I just had to polish it all off..... by myself!

I started by making a shortcrust pastry base by mixing together 100g plain flour, 25g icing sugar and then rubbing in 50g vegan margarine until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Then add some water, a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture comes together into a pastry dough.

Roll the dough out into a circular shape on a floured work surface, until it is about 5mm thick, then push into a shallow tin of 7-8 inches diameter.

Prick the pastry with a fork and bake in the oven at 180°C for 10 minutes until just starting to harden up. Take out of the oven and out of the tin, and place on a baking tray.

Make the filling by adding the following ingredients to a mixing bowl: 50g ground almonds, 40g self raising flour, 30g sugar and 1/2 tsp baking powder. Stir these together well before adding in 1 tbsp vegetable oil and 60ml cold water. Mix together and you should get a sort of gloopy cake mixture that looks a bit rough because of the ground almonds.

The pastry base should have cooled enough by now to add about 4 tbsp raspberry jam. I use St. Dalfour jam because it doesn't contain any sugar but is just pure fruit, and very tasty! Spread this evenly over the base before carefully spooning the almond mixture on top. Spread this with the back of a spoon so that it makes an even layer with no jam poking through! Pop back in the oven at the same temperature for 25 minutes.

The middle should rise, essentially it is like a cake mixture, and you can test it after 25 minutes by putting a cocktail stick inside and seeing if it comes out clean. If it isn't yet done, put it back in but keep a close eye on it to ensure the pastry edges don't burn.

When cooked, remove from the oven and set aside until completely cool.

Once cooled, sift about 200g icing sugar into a bowl and add water a little bit at a time, to make a fairly stiff icing. Bear in mind, this icing needs to be spreadable, but you don't want it all thin and running down the edges of your pastry case! Spread evenly over the cooled almond topping and voila. Your tart is complete.

Complete in my book anyway.... you may wish to add some glacé cherries or a spider web pattern of drizzled chocolate, but that's not my thing.....
Don't eat it all at once. Enjoy!