Tomato, Gruyere & Basil Tart with Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus

The days are getting longer and I'm wanting to spend as much time as possible outside. I'm really looking forward to dining al fresco. A great dinner, or lunch, for a warm spring night is none other than this delicious tomato tart and side of bacon-wrapped asparagus.

What makes this tart so great is its freshness. Sweet tomatoes and fragrant basil... honestly, a match made in heaven. And then there is the asparagus and bacon. My mouth is watering just typing about this deliciousness.

Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus

     adapted from Just a Pinch Recipes

Ingredients

2 lbs. asparagus, bottoms trimmed

10-12 slices of bacon

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup butter

1 tbsp soy sauce

½ tsp garlic salt

ground pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a small saucepan, melt the brown sugar, butter, and soy sauce together. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Remove from heat once boiling.

Wrap one slice of bacon around 2-3 stems of asparagus. Arrange the bacon-wrapped asparagus in a shallow baking dish, drizzle with the brown sugar glaze. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the bacon is fully cooked.

Tomato, Gruyere & Basil Tart

from The Pastry Affair

serves 5-6

Crust Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp sea salt

⅓ cup olive oil

⅓ cup cold water, more if needed

Tomato Filling

≈ 2 cups Gruyere cheese, grated

½ cup fresh basil

5 tomatoes, thinly sliced

salt & pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a medium bowl, whisk dry ingredients together. Make a well in the mixture and pour in the olive oil and water. Using your fingers, working in circles, combined the dough. Add a little more water if the dough isn't coming together.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and carefully transfer to a tart pan or 9-inch pie pan. Prick the bottom with a fork and bake for 10-15 minutes. Let cool slightly before filling.

Layering the filling, start with the Gruyere.

Next, add a layer of tomato and basil. Repeat until you reach just below the top of the crust, sprinkling with salt and pepper as you go.

Bake for 30 minutes until the top is golden. Let cool briefly before serving.

Enjoy!!

   

A Vegan Cake Tasting

Trial and error time is in full swing and last weekend I put my vegan baking skills on the line and invited friends and family over to test my culinary prowess. Here's what I concocted...

  

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The Menu

Coconut Cake & Cupcakes

with Creamy Coconut Frosting

Four Layer Lemon Cake

with Lemon Frosting

Chocolate Cake with Vanilla "Buttercream" 
and Chocolate Ganache Filling

Chocolate Cupcakes 
with Chocolate "Buttercream"
~ ~ ~
  

Here we have the coconut cakes, the cupcake recipe is from a few weeks ago and can be found here, and the layered cake, very moist but a little dense, is a newbie, and a success. The flavor is great!

Moving on to the lemon, or as I like to call it, "The Leaning Tower of Lemon" for, well, obvious reasons. 

Lemony and sweet, this towering cake was very tasty but also dense. The lemon frosting actually received more love than the cake itself.

Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate!

These were crowd pleasers. The cake, an old recipe from my mom, was my personal favorite: a deeply chocolate cake only made more delicious by the ganache filling.

  

I asked my guests to give me some feedback which in addition to being helpful was also very enjoyable to read.

Thank you, little guinea pigs!

The Scorecard

2 points awarded for a "favorite" 

1 point for a mention

Chocolate Cake - 15 points

Coconut Cake - 6 points

Chocolate Cupcakes - 5 points

Coconut Cupcakes - 5 points

Lemon Cake - 4 points

And now, some recipes!

Chocolate Cake

     yields 1 8-inch square or round cake

     serves 8

     **I doubled this recipe in order to make a layer cake

     

Ingredients

1½ cups flour (I used 1¼ cups all-purpose flour, ¼ cup cake flour)

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup sugar

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

⅓ cup canola oil

1 cup warm water




Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease your baking pan(s) and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, sift the flour, baking soda, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Make a well in the flour mixer, pour in the wet ingredients and begin mixing on med-low. Scrap down the sides, making sure all the ingredients are being incorporated. Mix again on medium until smooth.

Pour into your prepared pan(s) and bake for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool slightly in pan before turning out and cooling completely on a wire rack.

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This cake is so good, it can stand on it's own BUT I'm making party cakes here folks. I'm going for the wow, the de-lish, the amazing. So, that's why I added a ganache filling and frosted it in vanilla buttercream, or the vegan version, found below.

Vanilla "Buttercream" Frosting

     from Have Your Cake and Vegan Too Cookbook

     yields about 1½ cups

Ingredients

½ cup margarine, at room temp

½ cup shortening, at room temp

1 tsp vanilla

3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

as much non-dairy milk as needed/desired

Directions

Cream the margarine and shortening together using an electric mixer. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat together, adding a splash of non-dairy milk as needed, until fluffy and smooth.


Chocolate Ganache

     from Have Your Cake and Vegan Too Cookbook

     yields about 1 cup




Ingredients

⅔ cup dark chocolate

2 tbsp margarine

¼ cup non-dairy milk

Directions

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, melt the chocolate, margarine, and milk together, stirring until constantly, removing from heat once melted and smooth. Remove from heat and temper until cool.

To assemble the cake, make sure your cakes are completely cooled and the tops are flat, cut off the rounded tops if they are very round. Place your first layer of cake on your cake stand and top with a hefty portion of the ganache. Add the second layer of cake and frost the entire thing with vanilla frosting. I added chocolate shavings to the top of the cake. Decorate however you like.

~ ~

Coconut Cake

     from Have Your Cake and Vegan Too Cookbook

Ingredients

2 cups flour

½ cup finely ground coconut

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

¼ salt

1½ cups sugar

¼ cup unsweetened applesauce

¼ cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup coconut milk




Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease 2 8-inch round pans, line bottoms with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, ground coconut, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a standing mixer, combine the sugar, applesauce, and oil until creamy. Then add in the vanilla. Add in half the coconut milk and half of the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Scrap down the sides. Add in the remaining milk and dry ingredients and beat until the batter is just moist. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans  for about ten minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

I used the same frosting as the Vegan Coconut Cupcakes. For a little garnish, toast some shredded coconut and sprinkle around the base of the cake.

~ ~

Lemon Cake with Lemon Frosting

     cake recipe from Have Your Cake and Vegan Too Cookbook

     frosting from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

Ingredients

3 cups flour

1½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

½ cup canola oil

2 cups sugar

2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce

1½ cups plus 1 tbsp soy milk

½ tsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp lemon extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease 2 8-inch round pans, line bottoms with parchment paper.

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl.

In a standing mixer, cream the oil and sugar together. Add in the applesauce, milk, vinegar, and lemon extract, beat until fully combined. Let stand for a couple minutes so that the vinegar can activate. Mix in the dry ingredients in two portions, scrapping down the sides, making sure everything is incorporated.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool slightly before turning out onto a wire rack. Cakes must be completely cool before frosting.

Lemon Frosting

     from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World   

Ingredients

½ cup shortening

½ cup margarine, softened

4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp lemon zest

Directions

Using a standing mixer, cream the shortening and margarine together.

Add in the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time, adding in a splash of lemon juice each time. Add in the vanilla and beat for 4 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest right before frosting the cake.

I topped my cake with some fresh raspberries. They taste great with lemony desserts.

Now you're all set for your own vegan cake tasting!

Enjoy!