Vegan Scottish Border Tart

Vegan Scottish border tart is a a yummy teatime treat!

It is based on the traditional Scottish border tart.

Scottish Border Tart is a popular bake that is served in bakeries and tearooms all over the British Isles.

The tart as its name declares, originated in the Scottish borders.

The Scottish borders are the towns and villages that are adjacent to the England-Scottish border line on the map.

Find out more about the beautiful Scottish borders over at Scotlandinfo.eu.

The borders are a lovely area to visit, crammed with history from old forts, abbeys, castles, grand estates, posh houses to visit and battlegrounds of old.

The Scottish borders also boast many stunning lochs and ethereal hills.

I think I will have to go re-visit the borders now. I feel a desire stirring to go back!

I have been many times but now I abide way up in the Scottish highlands.

If you visit the borders or even just pass through, be sure to try and sample an authentic Scottish border tart!

Of course that’s not possible if your vegan, so I have created the next best thing.

My recipe for Scottish border tart is close to the traditional recipe, but does not contain butter or eggs.

The vegan border tart maintains the traditional tarts integrity of crunchy nuttiness and sweet taste. The pastry is crisp, soft and tender.

It’s perfect for a picnic on a chilly day with a flask of something steaming to drink.

In place of eggs I’ve used Orgran egg replacer. All you need is 1 tsp plus 3 tbsp of water.

Whisk both together and that’s your egg replacer. It works well in this tart.

For other bakes Orgran is not so good, it’s all experimental.

Some supermarkets may stock Orgran, but if not it’s probably found in most health shops.

I live on an island and can purchase it in my local health shop for a few pounds.

It’s not too expensive when you consider that one packet can replace 66 eggs! It’s a very useful ingredient to have on hand.

The orgran powder tends to keep well in my cupboard for at least a few months once opened.

If you would like to bake a vegetarian border tart then you could replace the orgran with 1 egg.

I haven’t tried the recipe with an egg but I’m sure it would be fine.

I would love to know what you think of the vegan Scottish border tart. Let me know in the comments below. Thanks!

Print Recipe

Vegan Scottish Border Tart

A traditional bake from the Scottish borders.

Prep Time35 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: British

Keyword: Farmhouse, Plant-based, Scottish borders, Tart, Tradtional, Vegan

Servings: 8 slices

Author: Jacq

Equipment

• Flan tray, either circle (size 7-9 inch diameter, or rectangular (I used a 13 inch rectangular flan metal tray) It's best if you can use a removable bottom flan tin, as then it's just easier to remove the tart from the tin, without breaking the tart.
• Oven
• Mixing bowl
• Wooden spoon

Ingredients

• 200 grams plain flour sifted. (for the pastry)
• 100 grams margarine I used Vitalite, which is dairy-free margarine (pastry)
• 1 pinch salt (pastry)
• 1 tbsp caster sugar (pastry)
• Few tbsp water (pastry)
• 50 grams light brown sugar (tart mix)
• 50 grams margarine I used Vitalite (tart mix)
• 128 grams dried fruit mix (just the same mix as you'd add to a fruit cake) (tart mix)
• 60 grams glace cherries chopped (tart mix)
• 40 grams walnuts rough chopped, into quarter sizes (tart mix)
• 30 grams flaked almonds (tart mix)
• 2 tbsp soya milk I used Alpro, sweetened. (tart mix)
• 100 grams icing sugar (Icing)
• 1-2 tbsp water (Icing)
• 1 rind lemon, grated (Icing)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 170 Fan/190 Celsius/ 375 Fahrenheit/Gas 5. Grease the flan dish with some margarine.
• Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the sugar and mix.
  
• Rub in the margarine until mix resembles breadcrumbs.
  
• Add between 2-3 tbsp of water a little at a time. Just enough water to bring the mix into a pastry dough, that is not sticky. Just sprinkle more flour and knead gently if its too sticky.

  Gently knead the pastry into a ball for a minute or two.
  
• Rest the pastry in the fridge for at least 10 minutes, 20 minutes if you can be patient! You don't need to cover the pastry, unless you are preparing the pastry a few hours in advance. If so wrap the pastry with some greaseproof paper or a clean tea towel or muslin.
• Now prepare the tart filling.
• Cream the sugar and margarine together in a mixing bowl.
  
• Make up the Orgran egg replacer. I tsp of powder mixed with 3 tbsp of water. Whisk well with a fork so there are no lumps.
  
• Add the Orgran to the creamed marg and sugar. Whisk with a fork till well combined. Add the soya milk and mix.
• Add the dried fruit, cherries, almonds and walnuts. Mix till all combined.
• Remove the pastry from the fridge. Flour your work surface and rolling pin. Roll out the pastry to the desired size. Pastry shouldn't be too thick.
  
• Using the rolling pin, wrap the pastry gently around and use the rolling pin to place the pastry over your flan tin.
  
• Using a little knob of pastry (not your fingers) press the pastry down gently into place in the tin.
  
• Trim the edges.
  
• Add the filling, and spread out the top to a neat layer.
  
• Place in the middle shelf or 3/4 quarters down from the top of the oven, if you have a shelf there. As if the tart is too close to the top the dried fruit can burn.
• Bake until the pastry is cooked, and beginning to shrink away from the tin. And the tart mix looks firmly set. Just press the filling with the tip of a butter knife to check its set well.
  
• Baking generally takes between 25-30 minutes depending on your oven. Check after 20 minutes and then you can gauge how long it could have left. I have a fan oven so it's quicker and my tart took about 25 minutes to cook.
• Remove from oven when baked and leave in the tin until cool, on a wire rack.
  
• Gently remove the tart from the tin.
• Prepare the Icing sugar drizzle. Add enough water to the icing sugar to create a drizzling consistency. Don't add too much water at once as then it will get too runny. If this happens just add more icing sugar and mix until the correct thickness.
• Using a spoon or knife drizzle the icing sugar over the tart. Sprinkle the grated lemon zest over. The lemon is nice as it provides a tang that cuts through the sweetness.
  
• Leave the tart icing to set. And then slice into 8 slices.
  
• This tart is a perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea.
  
• Enjoy!
  

Why not try another tea-time or coffee-time treat. Check out my post for vegan chocolate almond muffins here

Be sure to bookmark my blog, as I will be adding many more plant-based traditional and farmhouse style bakes!