In my early 20’s I was obsessed with a little French Patisserie near my work. I would find any excuse to pass by & pick up one of their lemon tarts. They were divine, but far from healthy. Fast forward to today & I still love that lemony tang in a dessert, but I want a healthier version. So I came up with this easy recipe for vegan lemon tarts. Originally I made them with a pastry shell because I love making pastry. At one point in my life I wanted to be a pastry chef, but let’s face it, pastry can be fiddly & time-consuming. So I remade these vegan lemon tarts with a raw base. Seriously they take no time at all, easy peasy – lemon squeezy!

My lemon tree hasn’t been doing too well this winter, producing hardly any fruit. Lucky for me I have these beautiful lemons from my mother in laws tree. This is my third delivery of a massive basket of them. I’m not sure what variety they are but the colour is amazing, almost verging on orange. They also have a sweeter flavour than regular lemons and are super juicy! The branches are spiky like a Lisbon, but they look like a Meyer… possibly a hybrid? I’m not sure. So just be aware when you’re making this, there are different lemon varieties, so you will want to taste the filling while you are making it. Feel free to add more sweetener if you think it needs it.

The magic of being able to make these wonderful vegan lemon tarts set without eggs is thanks to my secret ingredient – agar agar. A natural gelatine obtained from algae, making it vegetarian & vegan friendly. It has no colour or flavour and is often added to jelly, custard, even jam. A much stronger plant gelatin it sets firmer than animal-derived gelatin, so a little goes a long way. Keep your eyes peeled for more recipes to use up my supply of agar agar. I’m thinking a kid friendly jelly & an adult boozy jelly might be coming to the blog soon.

Hope you like the recipe & please tag me if you make it,
Tina xxx

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Yum

vegan lemon tarts – easy, no bake & ultra tangy!

Ingredients

The base

2 cups raw almonds

2 cups pitted dates

1 cup shredded coconut

The lemon filling

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 cups full fat coconut cream

1/3 cup rice malt syrup

1 tbs lemon zest

1 tsp powdered agar agar

tiny pinch of turmeric (optional: for colour, you shouldn't be able to taste it)

Instructions

The base

Pulse all the ingredients in a high speed blender or food processor until mixture sticks together. Try not to over blend, there should still be some texture from the almonds.

Press mixture evenly into mini tart tins approx 8cm.

Chill in the fridge while you make the filling.

The filling

Gently heat all the ingredients, except the agar agar in a small pot on low heat

Once heated through whisk in the agar agar

Bring mixture to the boil, reduce heat & simmer for a few minutes

Allow the mixture to cool a little

Pour into bases & chill in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

Decorate with fruit or edible flowers

Best consumed straight from the fridge

Makes approx. 10 tarts 8cm in diameter

If you would like to make less you could try halving all the ingredients.

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