Making your own pastry is a good skill to master. As then you don’t have to rely on store-bought pastry, often made with palm oil. You can make a batch and freeze the rest, ready to thaw and use for another day.
Keep pastry away from young children and pets (can expand in the stomach) and may contain unsafe ingredients (salt, garlic etc). Read more on food safety for people and pets.
This homemade vegan pastry (Doves Farm) makes enough for one large pie (top and base) or 24 small tarts. Wrap and freeze leftovers in eco-friendly zip bags
To make your own pastry, just mix cubed cold vegan butter with no palm oil (like Flora) with organic plain white flour, a pinch of salt and a little water. You’ll need a little oil for the baking dish, and a little flour for dusting.
After leaving the dough to stand for 15 minutes, roll out on a floured surface, before baking. You can freeze raw pastry in an airtight container for up to 3 months (thaw in the fridge).
For gluten-free diets, use a lighter coconut flour pastry recipe (Doves Farm) made with ground almonds (more flaky to handle, so press the finished dough into a quiche dish).
Find coconut flour in good health shops, and use organic European almonds (not the US) for better ethics (some almonds use farming practices that harm bees).
Most gluten-free baking recipes use xanthan gum, but one investment should last a long time.
Homemade Puff Pastry Recipe
Secrets For Making Good Vegan Pastry
- Cold ingredients make good pastry. Chill all your ingredients first.
- Don’t Over-knead. This leads to a chewy tough pastry.
- Get Your Water Ratio right. Too much leads to sticky pastry, too little leads to crumbly pastry (add a teaspoon of ice water at a time).
- A Brush of Plant Milk. Replace egg wash with a little oat milk for a brown crust.
Homemade Vegan Jam Tarts
These homemade Jam Tarts (Rainbow Nourishments) are simple to make, simply filling your pastry shells with organic jam. Avoid chia seeds for choking hazards.
If you make your own jam, you’ll have to sterilise the jars:
Put jars, lids and rubber seals on hot dishwasher cycle (fill with hot water, while warm). Or wash in hot soapy water, and ‘cook’ in pre-heated oven (to 160 degrees C) for 15 minutes (again fill with hot water, while still warm).
