Gluten-Free Vegan Fruit Tart

This Gluten-Free Vegan Fruit Tart is crisp and flaky, filled with creamy custard and covered in a shiny glaze! It’s the perfect easy yet impressive summery dessert.

I used to love fruit tarts – what’s better than sweet, crispy, buttery shortcrust pastry filled with rich, creamy custard topped with sweet fruits and a dazzling glaze? Well, we’re in luck because I’ve managed to recreate this winning combination, but my version is also vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar free!

Why you’ll love this Gluten-Free Vegan Fruit Tart:

• it’s crispy, buttery and flaky
• it’s filled with luxuriously rich custard
• it’s packed with fruit
• it’s easy customisable
• it makes an impressive dessert
• it’s simple yet elegant
• it’s refined sugar free
• it’s easy to make!

How to make this Fruit Tart

I used my go-to pastry recipe for the tart crust – it’s made with just a few simple ingredients:

• coconut oil for “buttery” flavour and flakiness
• ground almonds (almond meal) for binding and crispness
• gluten-free flour
• maple syrup for sweetness – I usually don’t add any sweetener to my pie crust recipe, but I think this fruit tart tastes better with a slightly sweet pastry. The maple syrup can be omitted, or substituted with any other sweetener.

The crust can be pressed into the pie dish with your fingertips, which means it doesn’t require a floured surface or a rolling pin – the best baking recipes are the easiest!

Tip: Make sure to use a fork to pierce the pie crust (don’t forget the sides!) to make sure it doesn’t puff up in the oven. You can alternatively use baking beans.

Once you’ve baked the pie crust until it’s perfectly crisp and golden brown, you can make the custard filling.

I like to use a shop-bought custard powder to make my custard recipes. This is because it’s much easier, and it’s the best way to get a pretty yellow colour without adding turmeric, which can affect the taste – who wants a curry-flavoured dessert? Not me!

I use this custard powder because it’s naturally vegan, gluten-free and sugar-free, and is made using just 4 simple ingredients! It’s super easy to use and tastes great made with plant-based milk – I recommend unsweetened cashew milk but other types also work!

If you can’t get hold of a shop-bought custard powder, you can substitute it with the same amount cornflour (cornstarch), which will result in the same texture and flavour, though the colour will be considerably less yellow.

Once you’ve made the custard and left it to set, you can get to work on the fun part – decorating it with fruit! I used sliced kiwi, halved grapes and cherries, but you can use any type of fruit you like!

Here are some other suggestions:

• strawberries
• raspberries
• mango
• blueberries

…the list goes on!

You can leave it like this, but for a more classic fruit tart look, I like to spread over a shiny glaze. This can easily be made using apricot jam and some hot water. It’s super simple but looks impressive.

I like to use this apricot jam as it’s refined sugar free and naturally sweetened, and is made using just 4 simple ingredients!

Equipment you’ll need to make this Gluten-Free Vegan Fruit Tart:

• glass mixing bowl – for mixing together the ingredients for the pastry dough
• pie dish – for baking the pastry pie crust
• measuring jug – for measuring out the plant-based milk to make the custard

More similar gluten-free vegan desserts:

• Coconut Cream Pie
• Blueberry Cheesecake
• Peanut Butter Pie
• Lemon Pie
• Strawberry Pie

If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you!

Gluten-Free Vegan Fruit Tart

This Gluten-Free Vegan Fruit Tart is crisp and flaky, filled with creamy custard and covered in a shiny glaze!

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Keyword: gluten-free fruit tart, gluten-free vegan tart, vegan fruit tart

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Servings: 8

Calories: 210kcal

Author: Rhian Williams

Ingredients

For the pastry:

• 30 g (1/8 cup) coconut oil
• 75 g (3/4 cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub rice flour, or plain all-purpose flour if not gluten-free)
• 75 g (3/4 cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
• 7 tablespoons water

For the custard:

• 530 ml (2 1/4 cup) unsweetened cashew milk (or sub unsweetened almond milk, or unsweetened oat milk for nut-free)
• 4 tablespoons custard powder ** (ensure vegan/gluten-free if necessary)
• 6 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)

For the topping:

• Kiwi, sliced
• Cherries
• Grapes, halved
• 1 tablespoon apricot jam (ensure refined sugar free if necessary)
• 1 teaspoon hot water

Instructions

For the pastry:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
• Combine all ingredients in a large bowl until it forms a firm dough - add the water a few tablespoons at a time so that you don’t add too much!
• You can keep this pastry dough in the fridge for up to a day if you like, but there is no need to chill it before using
• Place the pastry dough into a greased pie dish and use your fingers to carefully press it across the bottom and up the sides of the dish - I used a 20.5 cm/8 inch pie dish
• Use a fork to pierce the surface (remember the sides too!) of the pastry, so that it doesn’t puff up in the oven. Alternatively, you can use baking beans
• Bake in the oven for around 30 minutes, until the pastry crust is firm to the touch and golden brown
• Leave to cool slightly before pouring in the custard filling

For the custard:

• Measure out the milk in a jug or measuring container
• Pour the milk into a pan, leaving behind a few tablespoons of milk in the jug
• Heat up the milk in the pan
• Add the custard powder to the remaining milk in the jug and mix well, ensuring it has dissolved completely
• Once the milk in the pan is steaming, add approximately half of the hot milk to the bowl with the dissolved custard powder, mix well and transfer the custard powder mixture to the saucepan
• Mix well and keep stirring on a low heat for around 5 minutes, until thickened
• Add the maple syrup, taste and add extra if desired
• Once the pastry crust and the custard have both cooled a little, carefully pour the custard into the crust
• Leave the tart in the fridge for up to a few hours to set completely before topping with the fruit

For the topping:

• Ensuring that the custard has completely set, arrange the fruit on top of the pie
• Mix together the apricot jam and hot water in a small bowl, and use either the back of a spoon, a small knife, or a pastry brush to carefully cover the fruit with apricot jam
• Tastes best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days

Notes

*You can alternatively use  almond flour almond flour

**If you can't get hold of a shop-bought custard powder, you can substitute it with the same amount cornflour (cornstarch), which will result in the same texture and flavour, though the colour will be considerably less yellow.

Nutrition Facts

Gluten-Free Vegan Fruit Tart

Amount Per Serving

Calories 210 Calories from Fat 81

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 9g 14%

Saturated Fat 3g 15%

Cholesterol 19mg 6%

Sodium 69mg 3%

Potassium 84mg 2%

Total Carbohydrates 29g 10%

Dietary Fiber 1g 4%

Sugars 13g

Protein 3g 6%

Vitamin A 0.3%

Vitamin C 0.3%

Calcium 6.4%

Iron 4.4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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