Vegan Eggnog Custard Tart

5 from 14 votes

A gorgeous festive vegan eggnog custard tart with a crisp, shortcrust pastry case and a delicately spiced, rum spiked custard filling.

Prep Time1 15

Cook Time35

Setting Time3

Total Time4 50

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, English

Keyword: vegan eggnog custard tart

Servings:

Calories: 329kcal

Author: Richard Makin

Equipment

High Speed Blender

Ingredients

For the Shortcrust Pastry Case

125 g very cold vegan butter (use the firm block variety sometimes called "baking block" rather than margarine. Miyokos Creamery or Naturli work best)
260 g plain white flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2-3 tablespoon ice cold water

For the Eggnog Custard

349 g silken tofu (this is one full pack)
230 ml coconut milk (make sure it's full fat)
100 g caster sugar
¼ teaspoon nutmeg (freshly ground)
2 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
50 g corn starch (aka corn flour)
½ tablespoon tapioca starch
3 tablespoon plant milk
70 ml spiced rum

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

To Make the Shortcrust Pastry Case

Cut the vegan butter into cubes. Place the flour and salt into a food processor. Add the butter. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs and the butter is evenly distributed.
Turn the food processor onto its lowest speed and add the water one tablespoon at a time until the mixture just comes together. You may not need to add all the water.
Remove the dough, shape into a rough, flat circle, wrap tightly and place in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
Lightly flour a clean surface and remove the chilled dough from the fridge. Remove and reserve ¼ of the dough. Form the remaining ¾ of the dough into a rough circle again and roll out to around 1.5 inches larger than the diameter of your tart tin.
Carefully lift the pastry with your rolling pin and drape over a 20cm tart tin. Gently push the dough into the corners, and trim off the excess, leaving around a 1cm overhang around the edge of the tart tin. Set aside.
Roll out the remaining ¼ of the pastry on a floured surface until it's around ¼ cm thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out holly leaves, stars or any other decorative shape. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and place both the decorations and the tart in the fridge to chill for the remainder of the 20 mins chilling time.
After the tart has chilled, place it on a baking sheet and line the inside gently with baking parchment. Fill the parchment with baking beads or dry, uncooked rice. Place in the preheated oven. Bake for 15 minutes before removing the baking beads by lifting the corners of the parchment and returning the case to the oven for a further 5 minutes. Don't allow the case to brown too much.
Remove the case from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool - do not remove the case from the tin just yet.
Once the tart case is baked, remove the shortcrust decorations from the oven. Prick them gently with a fork, brush them with plant milk and sprinkle with a little granulated sugar (optional). Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

To Make the Eggnog Custard

Place the silken tofu, coconut milk, caster sugar and nutmeg in the cup of a high-speed blender. Blend until very smooth. If you can detect any lumps, blend again until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a medium saucepan. Place the saucepan over a low heat and bring close to a simmer - It will steam but do not let the mixture bubble.
Once at temperature, remove from the heat and snap the two cinnamon sticks into the saucepan. Add the vanilla extract, stir, cover and leave to infuse for an hour.
While the custard infuses, mix together the starches, plant milk and spiced rum in a small bowl. Set aside.
Once the custard is infused, remove the lid and whisk well. Sieve out the cinnamon sticks. Add the starch/plant milk/rum mixture and whisk again until fully combined. Place back over a low heat.
Whisking constantly and vigorously, slowly heat the custard until it is very thick and smooth. Taste a small amount. If you can detect a slight powdery mouthfeel then the custard needs to be cooked for longer. The finished custard should taste silky smooth.
Once cooked, remove the custard from the heat. Whisk one last time to ensure it's completely smooth and pour into the cooled pastry case. Smooth the surface with a silicone spatula and decorate with the shortcrust holly leaves and berries.
Place the tart in the fridge to cool for a minimum of 3 hours. When ready to slice and serve, sprinkle with ground cinnamon.

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