Coconut tarts, or, Why Rob is a better cook than Ailbhe

[ailbhe]

I had some coconut oil in the fridge so I took it out and mixed it with some flour and dessicated coconut, and now it's baking hot in the oven. With any luck, it will turn into pastry cases for the custard which is currently thickening up in the microwave.

But because I find recipes frustrating and irritating, especially baking ones which call for ingredients I'm not able to eat, I have no idea. Rob, on the other hand, finds that recipes make him feel safe and guided, and so has a fairish idea of what's coming when he cooks.

But neither of us has ever managed to make successful non-dairy pastry, ever ever ever, because of not being able to use soy margarine. All the other vegetable margarines are too soft and the flour absorbs them too fast.

Comments

[amethysta]

I've had good luck lining the pastry dish (at least my rectangular ones) with graham crackers, then using fine crumbs to fill in the cracks in between.

[serene]

Can't use butter?

[ailbhe]

Rob is the only one who can eat butter in this house. Well, unless someone somewhere has made sheep's milk butter.

[aquaeri]

I've only made pastry once, and I made it with oil because I had no butter in the house. It wasn't the world's greatest pastry, but I got a fair idea how to make it better next time. I did something like this.

[nitoda]

I've used a white veg fat - I think it's called Trexx? to make pastry - it's nothing like as good as pastry made with butter and lard though, which was my default method in the past.

[kaberett.livejournal.com]

FWIW I have managed to make pastry using non-dairy solid vegetable fats, which I don't believe contain soy, but I've only ever used supermarket own-brand, which doesn't help you much either. :/

[ailbhe]

Which supermarket? We couldn't find any solid ones when we were looking, and we did look in supermarkets.

[kaberett.livejournal.com]

Hrmm. I can't find anything on the websites admitting to the existence of either, which is annoying, but I have in the past used both a Sainsbury's vegetable fat (gold packaging, 750g blocks, I think) and a Tesco one (blue packaging, similar). They have historically tended to be shelved near the other butter-and-similar products. I'm not currently in the UK, so I can neither check my parents' fridge nor wander along to the local supermarket to check I'm not making stuff up. Sorry.

[iuil.livejournal.com]

I just checked the block of Tesco marg in the fridge, there's neither dairy nor soy in it.

It's similar to Stork margarine (foil wrapper not the tub), which would also be suitable for you, but about 1/3 the price. You may prefer to buy the Stork though :-)

[ailbhe]

Stork used to contain "marine oils". Which I can eat as long as I remember not to cook for vegetarians!

Kraft or Tesco... I wonder how to choose.

[happydisciple.livejournal.com]

Stork used to contain "marine oils".

Of the first ten Google hits for "marine oils", only four relate to the edible, derived-from-marine-animals kind (with the highest coming in fourth). The other six are lubricants for marine engines.

:-)

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

What about lard? Since we keep kosher in the house, I've never used it, but I'm given to understand that pig fat works even better than butter for pastry.

[ailbhe]

Heebie, meet jeebie. Jeebie, heebie.

I think I could use it for pork pies, but I'd find it really weird to use it for desserts. Of course, as well, a lot of the people who eat food in my house are vegetarian.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Well, I can't help you with the "vegetarian" issue, but it's a neutral-tasting fat, and is often used for desserts.

I also can't help you with the heebie-jeebies, and that's a perfectly sufficient reason on its own to avoid the solution.

[the0lady.livejournal.com]

FWIW, lard is the traditional thing to use in making short crust pastry, and I've heard it said that it's what gives it a lot of its "shortness". Almost all shop bought pastry will contain it, unless it's specifically suitable for vegetarians (or is kosher, natch).

[ailbhe]

Buying vegetarian stuff is pretty much automatic for me unless I'm buying actual meat.

[the0lady.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know - just thought maybe heebie and jeebie may be reassured by the fact that lard based pastry is something that they have probably been intimate with in the past. =)

[hfnuala.livejournal.com]

'Vegetarian' lard? I've had some success with it.

[hfnuala.livejournal.com]

A quick poke around the internet suggests Trex is the brand name. But I don't have soy problems so I can't be certain it's soy free.

[ailbhe]

That's the second Trex rec. I shall have to buy some and ask Rob to make pastry with it, so that success or failure can't be related to my, idunno, unusually hot hands, or whatever it is that usually messes my pastry up.

[myfirstkitchen.livejournal.com]

We use Trex, because I can't eat pork fat and the old recipes E likes to bake with state lard rather than butter, and it works. It makes lovely light pastry. We've also used white Flora which is intended to be a similar thing - whichever's cheaper/on offer at the time.

[mrs-redboots.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, Trex and similar solid fats (Purina is the other brand name to look for, in a bright yellow wrapper) are a mixture of half palm oil and half canola - at least, that's what I work them as when making soap from them. As you have allergy issues, I'm sure you could contact their customer services for the exact information.

However, badam, badaboum, I present unto you, an easy olive oil pastry-crust recipe (http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2009/05/easy_olive_oil_tart_crust.php). This one is designed for savoury tarts, but I'm 99.999% certain you can adapt it for sweet ones as well!

[livi-short.livejournal.com]

my grandma always uses Trex http://www.princes.co.uk/brands/trex/ for making pastry and her pies are wonderful.

I hope that there is nothing in it that prevents you from using it.

[wingedkami.livejournal.com]

My mum always used to use white flora to make pastry - it's a lard substitute. It's vegan and as far as I know, soy free.

I can vouch for the quality of my mum's pies.

[pogodragon.livejournal.com]

Seconding the vote for white Flora - I use it for 'savoury' pastry, but it could be supplemented with sweet things for dessert pastry.

[the0lady.livejournal.com]

Do you mean a better cook, or a better baker? I'll out my hand up to being a mediocre baker, because I find it hard to follow a recipe though without either a) forgetting something, b) making some unwarranted assumptions, or c) getting a bove myself and deciding to improve on it. None of those stop me being a pretty good cook, though. It's less of an exact science, cooking is. You really need discipline when baking.