Vegan No-Bake Speculoos Tarts with Vanilla Custard
It's only a few weeks left until Christmas Eve! Maybe you already decided on your whole Christmas menu, or maybe you're still not 100% sure what to serve as a starter, main, or dessert. Here's a recipe that's not only a great pick for your Christmas dessert but also a sweet little treat for coffee time on any Advent Sundays. And if you think that Christmas desserts always take hours, here's the best news: these mini tarts are prepared in only 30 minutes, and you don't need to turn on the oven for them.
How that's possible? We save the baking time by preparing a no-bake crust with finely crumbled vegan speculoos and melted vegan butter. This is very practical for your Christmas dinner as you can prepare the tarts ahead of time in the morning or at noon – for dinner, you can serve them right from the fridge. If you'd rather enjoy a warm vanilla crust, prepare the crust a few hours in advance, and only prepare the vanilla cream fresh for dinner. Both options work out great! When buying the speculoos, make sure to check the list of ingredients as some products might not be vegan.
For the wonderful silken vegan vanilla cream, we used the Drink Natur from LUVE, which doesn't contain any artificial flavors, colorings, or taste enhancers. The plant-based drink is made from the protein of sweet lupine, which works similar to milk protein. The drink is gluten-free, soy-free, and made from regional lupines only. All of LUVE's packaging is made of recycled cardboard or other recyclable raw materials. In Germany, you can find their products at the supermarkets EDEKA, REWE, real, Kaufland, or at online delivery services like Vantastic Foods.
Vegan No-Bake Speculoos Tarts with Vanilla Custard
Ingredients
For the speculoos tart crust:
- 250 g (9 oz) vegan speculoos
- 125 g (1 stick) vegan butter
- vegetable oil for greasing
For the vegan vanilla cream:
- 1 vanilla bean
- 250 ml (1 cup) plant-based milk (e.g. by LUVE)
- 30 g (3 tbsp) flour
- 30 g (2.5 tbsp) sugar
- 125 ml (0.5 cup) vegetable oil
- 1 tsp lemon juice
For the toppings:
- 50 g (2 oz) vegan speculoos
- 50 g (2 oz) dark chocolate
Instructions
- For the tart crust, melt vegan butter in a small pot over medium-low heat.
- In the meantime, add vegan speculoos to a food processor and mix until you get a finely crumbled texture. Alternatively, add the speculoos to a sealable freezer bag and use a rolling pin to roll over the bag of speculoos for as long as needed until you get fine crumbles.
- Mix crumbled speculoos and melted vegan butter in a bowl. Grease mini tart pans with vegetable oil, then distribute the tart crust mixture to the baking pans and press down to create a crust on the bottom and sides of each tart pan. Refrigerate until the vanilla cream is done.
- For the vegan vanilla cream, cut open a vanilla bean and use the back of your knife to remove the vanilla pulp. Add plant-based milk, flour, sugar, vegetable oil, lemon juice, and vanilla pulp to a pot and stir to combine. Set the pot over medium heat and make sure to stir the cream constantly to avoid burning.
- Let the vanilla cream simmer for a few minutes until it's thickened and creamy. Remove the tart crusts from the fridge and spread the cream on top of each crust, then smooth out.
- For the topping, crumble speculoos with your hands and finely chop dark chocolate. Sprinkle both on top of the mini tarts.
Tip: These tarts are great when you eat them within 2 or 3 days. Still, it's best to prepare them on the same day as the vanilla cream can develop kind of a milk skin after a while. So enjoy them with a lukewarm cream or refrigerate them for only a few hours before serving.
