Do you get potluck anxiety like I get potluck anxiety? It's never a simple contribution of food. It's a vegan ambassador. It's got to represent for the people. It should astound with how delicious and satisfying it is. "This is vegan!? I think I'll reconsider all my previous assumptions!" it might, for example, elicit. (Cake is good.)
Now to further complicate things there might be other special diets to consider. Throw in a couple celiacs, some nut allergies, and the soy intolerant, and you have a real potluck conundrum on your hands.
Oh, and then there's the fact that I have two small children and very little time to actually execute the perfect contribution.
And that's where frozen puff pastry comes into play. (Sorry celiacs and hungry family.) Throw anything on puff pastry and it will impress. Spread it with a thick smear of pesto and top it with slices of tomato, and you have a beautiful savory tart. But to really aim for assumption shattering it's best to go sweet. Throw a few ingredients in the food processor to make a rustic almond cream. Spread that on your pastry and top it with whatever fruit you have on hand. Slices of peach or nectarine are lovely; raspberries would be nice; apricot is classic; plums are really pretty; and when summer is over, pears are my favorite.
I am currently smitten with this puff pastry that they sell frozen at Super King (and maybe other Middle Eastern markets? Have you ever seen it?) Unlike the classic Pepperidge Farms incidentally vegan puff pastry, it doesn't contain a a crazy long list of chemical additives. It's made of flour, shortening, and salt.
After you defrost it, mark where your crust is going to puff up around your filling with a sharp knife. Then dock the middle part with a fork so that air escapes and this part stays flat under your filling.
Then spread it with the almond cream.
And layer with fruit.
What about you? Do you have a go-to potluck dish? Or a current favorite? I am always on the lookout for recipes to have in my arsenal to ease the anxiety.
Rustic Vegan Almond Cream for Tarts
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's superb recipe to be less French and refined and more vegan and easy (like your mom). Classic almond pastry cream is made with blanched almonds and eggs. Here ready-to- go almond and flax meals make an equally decadent (just darker in color) cream.
makes: enough cream for a thinnish smear on 9 5 x 5 pastry squares, or for 1 classic 9-inch tart like this one
takes: 10 minutes
- 6 tablespoons vegan butter, room temperature
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup almond meal
- 2 teaspoons flour
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon flax meal
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
In a small bowl, cover the flax meal with the water and let it sit until the flax swells and turns goopy. In the bowl of your food processor, whizz the butter and sugar until it's satiny smooth. Add the almond meal, and puree again. Add the flour and cornstarch, and then the flax goop, and process until combined, about 15 seconds. Add the extracts, and give it a couple more pulses until you have a smooth cream.
