Vegan Peach and White Chocolate Tart (Vegan, Gluten-free, Nut-free option)

A delicate and delectable tart with a crumbly and crisp crust, tangy peach puree, smooth and silky white chocolate filling, and a topping of glazed fresh peaches. Celebrate peach season in style with this delicious, dreamy dessert.

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Peaches are such a wonderful summer fruit; sweet, juicy, refreshing and perfectly paired with light and delicate flavours. We’ve been buying them in abundance from our local greengrocer but eating them too quickly for me to bake anything, but I finally had the opportunity to make this crowd-pleasing peach and white chocolate tart.

There are a few different elements to this dessert but none are difficult to put together. The pie crust is made from ground almonds and oats, it doesn’t need resting, and you simply press in into to the tin before baking. The oats and almonds add a lovely extra dimension of flavour, and are incidentally gluten-free (just make sure you use gluten-free oats if necessary). However, if you want to make things even easier (or want to make a nut-free version) you could use store-bought vegan shortcrust pastry.

The fillings use surprisingly few ingredients. The puree is made from a tin of peaches with some lemon juice and sugar, thickened with a little cornflour. The white chocolate filling uses silken tofu for a luxurious creamy texture, and is flavoured with vegan white chocolate, vanilla essence and a little maple syrup. And finally for the topping you’ll need some fresh peaches, which are sliced and brushed with a glaze made from the left-over juice from the tinned peaches, with a little cornflour or arrowroot to thicken. You’ll need a bit of time but only a small amount of effort, and the rewards are just peachy.

How to make peach and white chocolate tart

To begin, we need to make the pie crust. You’ll need a loose-bottomed flan tin – mine was 26cm but anything there abouts would be fine. Grease it thoroughly and line the bottom with baking paper. Use a food processor or high-speed blender to grind the oats into a flour-like texture, then add to a large mixing bowl with the ground almonds. Mix in a little sugar, salt, and a touch of baking powder, then stir in the melted vegan butter (a vegan butter block is best, or you could use half vegan spread and half coconut oil). You should have a stiff dough.

Tip the dough into the flan tin and press into the base and up the sides. Start by pressing the dough in the middle of the tin and work outwards, ensuring you have as even a layer of dough as possible. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden and crisp, then leave to cool.

You can start the peach puree while the base is in the oven. I used a tin of peaches in fruit juice but you could use peaches in syrup as well, just add a little less sugar to the puree and taste to ensure it’s not overly sweet. Drain the peaches, reserving the liquid, and add the peaches to a food processor or high-speed blender along with the lemon juice and sugar. Blitz until smooth, then taste and add a little more sugar or lemon juice if you like. You want a tasty and tangy puree.

Pour the puree into a small saucepan, along with some cornflour mixed with a little water. Stir constantly, over a medium-high heat, until just boiling, then set aside to cool. The puree should be slightly thicker, and will continue to thicken as it cools. Once the base and puree are completely cool, pour in the peach puree into the base and spread so it forms an even layer. Place in the fridge for the puree to set, while you make the filling.

Vegan white chocolate isn’t always easy to come by. Supermarket own brands tend to be the least expensive and most widely available, and in the UK, Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s all do some form of ‘free-from’ white chocolate in either buttons, bars or chocolate chips. Whatever you can get hold of, melt in a heat-proof bowl suspended over a pan of gently simmering water.

Drain your silken tofu, and use a muslin, clean tea towel, or nut-milk bag to squeeze out as much excess liquid as you can. Add to the bowl of a food processor along with some vanilla essence, a pinch of salt, and maple syrup (you can use agave, brown rice syrup or golden syrup instead, but these tend to be a little sweeter so start with less and taste before adding more). Whizz until smooth, then once the chocolate has melted, stream it through the lid of the food processor while the motor is still running. Taste and add a little more syrup, vanilla or salt if you like, then spoon it over the chilled peach puree, and spread right to the edges of the tart case. Refrigerate for a couple of hours for the filling to set properly.

Finally, the topping. Remember the liquid from the can of peaches we reserved earlier? This becomes the glaze with just a dash of cornflour to thicken it up. This will work with fruit juice or syrup, though if your syrup is very thick you may not want to use cornflour at all. You could also use arrowroot which is often preferred for glazes, and you use it in exactly the same way. Just mix a little cornflour or arrowroot with a dash of the liquid, then mix with the rest of the liquid in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil over a medium-high heat, and remove from the heat as soon as it’s bubbling, then set aside to cool.

You’ll need about three fresh peaches to cover the tart and it’s a good idea to use ones that are just shy of being ripe. Mine were a little overripe and there was a considerable amount of swearing while I attempted to halve them to get the stone out without them disintegrating into a peachy mush. Finely slice them, and arrange on top of your tart once the filling has had a decent amount of time in the fridge. Once the glaze has cooled completely, gently brush it over the peach slices using a pastry brush, until the top of your tart is glistening.

Keep refrigerated until it’s time to serve, then remove the flan tin and slide the tart onto a serving plate. You should have a thin layer of crisp pastry, a beautifully vibrant slither of peach puree, a silky smooth wedge of creamy white chocolate filling, with a few juicy fresh peach slices for each portion.

Please let me know if you give this a try! I would love to hear what you think. You can comment below or use the star rating at the top of the post, or tag me on Instagram or Twitter @greedybearbakes.

Happy eating!