Vegan mango tart

Most of my life I was a slightly chubby girl who was best known for her love for a juicy cheeseburger and a pint of lager. I was in love with food and all things meat and dairy and I never saw myself giving it up. I had seen vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian or flexitarian diets slowly becoming more and more popular and to be fair, I was as skeptical as they come. How do they do it? I thought to myself. Surely, a diet like that can’t be in any way satisfying or pleasant? What do they order in the restaurants (yes, a typical fussy eater here)? I could never do anything like that. I kept telling myself that if I tried a plant-based diet I would definitely be hungry most of the time and would just end up giving it up and binge on fried chicken.

So how did I end up writing a story about vegan baking?

When the pandemic started, I lost my job and was stuck at home. I spent most of my time cooking and baking anything I could think of. I was getting depressed and ended up gaining a lot of weight. I was feeling very low and tired until I decided it was the high time to get my life and health back. I had found a dietitian who helped me in the first months of my weight-loss journey and I slowly started feeling better about myself, feel more energetic, and found a new job.

One day, my dietitian posted a new entry on her personal blog. As it turned out, that one post was enough to flip my life upside down. What was so special about it, then?

It included tons and tons of research and lengthy articles that can all be summarized in a few simple words – our planet is dying. It is dying, and we, and our love for burgers and sausages, are the reason. I am sure everyone has heard one thing or another about global warming on at least one occasion, right? But how many of you realized that animal breeding is speeding that process up on an amazingly large scale? I was stunned reading all the numbers, seeing all the graphs. Stunned and terrified at the same time. Imagine how scary it must have been to read, that I, a person who had spent a quarter of a century eating meat and dairy every day, has decided it was time for a change?

I am not going to sugar-coat anything here and tell you that it was easy. Or that I loved every plant-based food I ate. Or that tofu tastes just like chicken. No, nothing of the likes. But what I will tell you is that it was definitely easier than I imagined it would be. Nowadays, vegetarian and vegan markets are far more advanced than they used to be. And that little thought at the back of my head that my choices can contribute to saving the world? One of the most satisfying things I have ever felt in my life.

As I was getting more used to living without meat and dairy, I decided to take it up a notch. I started to look up recipes for vegan cakes, cookies, cupcakes, pastries – and how astonished I was when I saw there were vegan cheesecakes. Cheesecakes! How? A dairy product is literally in the name of this one and yet people found a way around it! That made me wonder, is there any food that actually can’t be made vegan? I started experimenting with loads and loads of traditional recipes, substituting animal-based products with plant-based ones and OH. MY. GOD. It was an absolute game-changer for me. I suddenly didn’t miss my old way of living anymore. Why would I? I was doing something good for myself and for the world, and what is more, it tasted oh-so-delicious.

Again, I won’t be convincing you here that vegan versions taste just like the ‘real’ deal. But truth be told, I was never looking for things to one hundred percent resemble the taste of the things I ate for my entire life. For once, I was excited about trying something new that would be delectable and inviting. And that’s exactly what I’ve found.

I’ve decided to share with you one of the simplest, no-fuss recipes for a vegan tart that I absolutely adore. If you were to try one vegan thing, and are anything like I was before, I guarantee that this tart will make you re-evaluate all you ever thought vegan food was going to be. And if you already are vegan and just looking for something new to add to your cook book – take my word for it, you will fall in love with this one.

What I love about this recipe is that it is so versatile – you can play with the flavor combinations any way you want, try out different crusts, decorate it differently each time. If you are not a fan of mango then any fresh fruit will work just as well really! Now, the reason mango is my go-to when it comes to this recipe is that I tend to use coconut non-dairy alternatives and they just go great with mango. Feel free to use any other dairy-free substitutes!

Ingredients:

• 310g of Golden Oreo cookies

• 80g of vegan butter

• 300g of mango pulp/fresh mango/any other fruit

• 250g of any vegan whipping cream/coconut cream (chilled well)

• 40-80g of powdered sugar, depending how sweet you like it/how sweet is your fruit (I usually omit when using mango pulp)

• 200g of full-fat coconut yogurt

• 1tsp of agar-agar

• 60ml of coconut milk

Instructions:

1. Finely crush Oreo cookies (with the filling) either in a food processor or using a rolling pin and a zip lock bag. Melt the vegan butter and mix it together with cookie crumbs until you achieve a wet sand consistency. Transfer into a 9-inch tart pan and firmly press the mixture onto the bottom and the sides. Chill in the fridge for at least half an hour.

2. If using fresh fruit, blend them first until smooth. If using forest fruit, you might want to sieve the seeds before proceeding.

3. Place blended fruit/mango pulp in a large bowl with coconut yogurt and blend together until combined.

4. Using an electric hand mixer, whip up the non-dairy cream until the stiff peaks stage.

5. In a saucepan, mix together agar-agar with coconut milk and bring to boil. Remove from the heat and let it cool slightly before folding it into the fruit and yogurt mixture.

6. Fold in the whipped cream until just combined.

7. Pour into the prepared tart tin and chill overnight.

8. Decorate with fresh fruit to serve.

I have decorated my tart with some forest fruit, mint and vegan meringue kisses. Yes, someone actually found a way to make meringues vegan, too. How awesome is that?

So there you have it! A guaranteed crowd-pleaser, full of summery flavors and colors, and more importantly, requiring less than 10 minutes of hands-on time.

What else could you ask for?