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By Alisa Fleming on Dairy Free Desserts, Dairy-Free Recipes, In The News
This impressive cashew crème pear tart recipe feels so symbolic. My favorite sweet vegan has come full circle. Over a decade ago, I met Hannah Kaminksy online. I loved her work so much, that my husband and I offered to publish her work. A year later, her first cookbook, My Sweet Vegan, was selling like crazy and our friendship was solidified. In the long run, we opted not to continue in the publishing business, but Hannah went on to produce more cookbooks. And now, she’s bringing My Sweet Vegan back to life in a second edition, Sweet Vegan Treats: 90 Recipes for Cookies, Brownies, Cakes, and Tarts.
As expected, Sweet Vegan Treats is filled with gorgeous new photography and many new and updated recipes. But it still has some of my old favorites, like Hannah’s cashew crème pear tart. To celebrate the book launch, and give you a decadent sample, I’m sharing that recipe with you today.
Vegan Cashew Crème Pear Tart with a Simple Almond Crust
It might look fancy, but Hannah makes every recipe easy with her friendly “hold your hand” instructions. She guides you through each step with descriptive and affirmative words. Plus, she keeps it realistic with things like press-in pie crusts and extra topping (just in case!). In fact, I love Hannah’s helpful style almost as much as her recipes!
When you open Sweet Vegan Treats, you aren’t immediately confronted with recipes. Hannah eases you in with things you might find in other cookbooks, like an ingredient guide and kitchen supplies. But then she takes it further with instructions for essential kitchen techniques. Transferring dough to a pie pan, fluting or crimping the crust (I feel like this one is just for me!), substituting frozen fruit for fresh, creating a golden-brown finish, and more are all covered in this how-to guide.
And then there is the all-important trouble-shooting section. Hannah is one of the most conscientious people that I know, and she wants to make sure you have perfect results. So she included tips for troubleshooting almost every possible baking disaster. And believe me, even the best bakers have them.
But What About the Recipes?
Don’t worry, the recipe section doesn’t disappoint. It’s filled with 90 desserts worth sharing – whether they are vegan or not. Here’s a small sampling of the recipe titles from Sweet Vegan Treats to entice you.
Golden Glazed Donuts- Butterscotch Blondies
- Cheesecake Thumbprint Coookies
- Party Mix Bars
- Turtle Shortbread Wedges
- Cookies and Crème Pound Cake
- Bananas Foster Cake
- Marshmallow Mud Cake
- Not Nog Cupcakes
- Peach Melba Layer Cake
- Cherry Cola Pudding Pie
- Harvest Pie
- Mont Blanc Mini Tarts
- Green Tea-ramisu
- Pumpkin Toffee Trifle
Now go ahead and make this cashew crème pear tart recipe, I guarantee you’ll be back for more!
Special Diet Notes: Cashew Crème Pear Tart
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, peanut-free, optionally soy-free, plant-based, vegan, and vegetarian.
Cashew Crème Pear Tart
Cook time
Total time
Imagine delicately spiced pears cooked until just fork tender, sitting atop a luscious pillow of maple-scented cashew crème, all contained within a soft, nutty crust. Sound like a dream? Well wake up, because this delight is easily a reality! This is one amazing finish to any meal, sure to please all palates and diets alike. Not only is it gluten-free, utilizing almond flour and cornmeal for an unconventional press-in-pan crust, but this tart can also be adapted for low-sugar diets. Simply omit the granulated sugar in the pear topping and crust with more almond meal. The only danger of serving a dessert suitable for all stripes of eaters is that everyone will want more than just one serving! You might be wise to save yourself a slice before presenting this grand finale to a crowd, as the likelihood of leftovers by the end of the night will be slim to none.
Author: Hannah Kaminksy
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Serves: 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients
Crust
- ¼ cup granulated sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 cup almond flour or almond meal
- ¼ cup yellow cornmeal
- ¼ cup chickpea flour
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup vegan butter or coconut oil
- 1–2 tablespoons water
Cashew Crème
- 1½ cups raw cashews, soaked for 4–6 hours and drained
- ⅓ cup plain non-dairy milk
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pear Topping
- 2 firm, medium-sized pears
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup sliced almonds, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325ºF (160ºC).
- Combine the sugar, almond flour or meal, cornmeal, chickpea flour, and salt in a medium bowl. Melt the butter or coconut oil and pour it in, along with the water. Stir to combine all the dry ingredients and press this mixture firmly into a lightly grease 9-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom. Bake for 10 minutes and let cool, leaving the oven on.
- In a blender or food processor, begin blending the soaked cashews, non-dairy milk, maple syrup, and vanilla. Once the nuts are mostly broken down, crank up your machine to high speed and thoroughly puree. It may take 5 to 10 minutes for the mixture to become completely smooth, so don’t stop short. Pause as needed to scrape down sides of the container with your spatula to ensure that there are no lumps. Smooth the resulting crème into your crust and set aside.
- Peel, core, and thinly slice the pears. Toss the slices with the sugar and cinnamon to evenly coat. Arrange them in an overlapping spiral on top of the cashew crème layer. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the pears are fork-tender. Let cool and sprinkle with sliced almonds before serving.
Notes
Pear Note: Any leftover pear slices that don’t quite fit on top of your tart shouldn’t be destined for the compost, but could top a thick slice of toast! Bake them in any small oven-safe dish for 10 to 15 minutes until fork tender. Let cool for a few minutes before piling on top of a buttered slice of toast, and enjoy for snack or breakfast. If you want to get real fancy, go all out and slather it with cream cheese first and top it with chopped hazelnuts.
Credit: This recipe is reprinted with permissions from Sweet Vegan Treats: 90 Recipes for Cookies, Brownies, Cakes, and Tarts by Hannah Kaminsky.
