The flaky and buttery shortcrust pastry is filled with a sweet raspberry and rose flavoured jelly and topped with fresh raspberries. This delicious tart makes the perfect valentine’s day treat!
Valentine’s day is around the corner and stores and supermarkets are packed with valentine’s day decorations, gifts, and treats. With all the love in the air, I felt inspired to bake this raspberry and rose tart. This fruity and aromatic tart is perfect for romantic occasions, it's vegan, easy to prepare and it can be made in advance. If you’re a fan of fruity desserts and flaky pastries, then you’ll love this tart!
How Does Raspberry and Rose Tart Taste?
A flaky shortcrust pastry case is filled with a fresh and aromatic raspberry and rose jelly. The raspberries give it a fresh, tangy flavour, and the rose extract gives it a flavour that is similar to rose flavoured Turkish delight. The tartness of the raspberries creates the perfect contrast with the sweet, delicately floral taste of the rose extract.
What is Vegan Jelly Made From?
To create a jelly-like texture, I've used a combination of agar agar power and cornstarch. The combination of the agar agar and cornstrach help to set the tart filling and to give
it a firm and creamy texture, similar to a combination of jelly and Turkish delight.
How to Store Raspberry and Rose Tart
This tart is best eaten on the day its baked, as the crust will lose its crispness the longer it’s left to wait. If you’re not eating it right away, you can store it for 2-3 days in an airtight container at room temperature. I wouldn’t suggest storing it in the fridge as this case cause the crust to become too hard.
Can this Tart Frozen?
Yes, you can freeze tart, but as I’ve mentioned before, this tart is most delicious when it’s eaten fresh. If you’re going to freeze it, place it in a container or wrap in in cling film, and store in the freezer for up to a month. To defrost, remove it from the freezer and leave out room temperature for around 4 hours, or until it’s thawed.
Can I Use Store-Bought Shortcrust Pastry for this Tart?
Yes, ready-to-roll shortcrust pastry can be used instead of making your own. If you want to save even more time, you could use a ready baked pastry crust, but I promise you it won’t taste as good as a homemade pie crust.
Raspberry and Rose Tart Ingredients:
Here’s everything you’ll need for this recipe – consider it your shopping list!
For the Shortcrust pastry:
Plain flour - Used to make the vegan shortcrust pastry.
Caster Sugar - The caster sugar will give the shortcrust pastry a subtle sweetness. You could use granulated or icing sugar instead of caster sugar.
Vegan block butter - I used the Flora vegan butter block, but any plant-based butter will do. using a block butter will give the shortcrust pastry a light and crumbly texture. I wouldn’t recommend using margarine as it won’t create the same outcome.
Sunflower or Vegetable oil - I find that adding a bit of oil to the dough helps to give to shortcrust pastry a flaky texture.
For the filling:
Agar Agar - I’ve used agar agar powder. I wouldn’t recommend using agar agar flakes as they don’t dissolve as well as the powdered form.
Caster Sugar - You can use white caster sugar or granulated sugar. I wouldn’t recommend substituting the caster sugar with dark sugars or fruit syrups as they'll darken the colour of the tart.
Lemon juice - A bit of lemon juice will add a delicious tartness to the filling.
Raspberries - If you do not have fresh raspberries, you can use frozen raspberries or raspberry coulis instead.
Corn starch - The cornstarch will help to thicken the consistency of the filling. Make sure that the cornstarch has dissolved completely, or it’ll give the tart a grainy texture.
Coconut Cream - I’ve used coconut cream, but any plant-based double or single cream will do.
Rose Extract - If you’re a lover or rose water you might feel tempted to add a few extra drops, but don’t! Rose water, especially if it’s a good quality brand, can get overpowering really fast, so unless you want to feel like you’re chewing on a rosebud, then I would strongly recommend you use the amount that’s listed in the ingredients.
For the toppings:
Fresh Raspberries - Not only do the fresh raspberries look beautiful on top of the tart, but they also add extra sweetness and a lovely texture.
How to Make Raspberry and Rose Tart
STEP 1:
To make the shortcrust pastry, place the flour, sugar, salt, vegan butter, sunflower oil and 2-3 tbsp cold water in a large bowl & mix until the ingredients start to come together. Knead the dough for a few minutes until a smooth dough has formed. Cover the dough with cling film & place in fridge to chill for 15 minutes.
STEP 2:
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Lightly dust a clean surface or a large piece of baking paper with flour and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to create a ½ cm thick circle big enough to fit a 20cm (8 inch) tart tin. Lift the dough away and place into the tart tin. Don’t worry if the dough breaks apart – just use leftover pieces of the dough to fill in any cracks. Press edges down and trim away the excess dough. Prick the base of the pastry shell with a fork. Line the pastry case with a large piece of baking paper – to make it easier to remove the baking beans, make sure the baking paper is large enough to extend out from the sides of the pastry case. Fill the lined pastry case with baking beans, and then place in the oven to bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the baking paper and baking beans, and bake for 5 more minutes until lightly golden.
STEP 3:
Remove the pastry case from the oven, and let it cool down for 10 minutes while you prepare the filling.
STEP 4:
To make the raspberry and rose jelly filling, add 300ml water, caster sugar and the agar agar powder to a medium sized saucepan, and cook for 2-3 minutes on a medium heat, or until the agar agar powder and sugar have dissolved. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the corn starch, rose extract, lemon juice and coconut cream until the mixture is completely smooth. Add this corn starch mixture to the saucepan with the sugar and agar agar powder and cook on a medium heat for about 7 minutes, until the mixture thickens slightly. Make sure to whisk continuously at this point to prevent any lumps from forming.
STEP 5:
Pour the filling into the cooked pastry case and leave it to cool down at room temperature for 15 minutes, then place the tart into the fridge for around 1 hour until the jelly filling has set. Once the filling has set, remove the tart from the fridge and serve at room temperature.
Notes and Tips
I’d recommend you use a tart tin with a removable loose bottom so that the tart is easier to removed once it’s baked.
I highly recommend using the gram measurements, rather than the cup conversions. When it comes to baking, accuracy is key, and cups conversions are never as accurate as grams.
For the best, crispy pastry, make sure that you don’t overwork the dough. Before rolling the dough out, place in the fridge to chill for 15 minutes.
When rolling out the dough, make sure to keep it about ½ cm thick – if the pastry is too thick, it won’t cook through, and it’ll be hard to slice.
Make sure your vegan butter is chilled when preparing the shortcrust pastry as it’ll give it a crisper texture when baked.