Lemon curd crouton parfait

December 15, 2014 by Margaux 10 Comments

Ta ra! Today I’m sharing one of the other treats I had made as an option for the Virtual Vegan Potluck (even though I eventually decided on the lemon curd tiramisu). It uses pretty much the same ingredients, just fashioned in a slightly different way and with berries for extra zing, because I love tang and bursts of flavour when indulging in a post-dinner meal.

The cake croutons are because no-one can say no to crispy bits, and they just go wonderfully for bite in between lush lemon curd, bean custard, and raspberry sauce. Imagine my sadness (and relief?) to discover that cake croutons are an actual thing, but so it goes!

NB: Yes, the recipe list looks long and horrifying, but it’s really not, and you can do things whilst other things are in the oven, so you stay productive and stuff. I list Jessica’s lemon curd in the recipe as an ingredient, but that needs to be made beforehand and chilled for at least an hour. This will make life easier BUT if you forget and make it whilst you’re waiting for your mini lemon cake to bake or even when the berries are roasting it won’t be the train smash. The beauty of this dessert is that it’s actually pretty laid-back with some seriously tasty results.

Mini lemon cake (serves 2-3):

• 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 2 TBSP lemon juice
• 2 tsp lemon flavouring
• 2 packets stevia/2 TBSP sugar
• 1 TBSP liquid sweetener of choice
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Cinnamon and ginger powder to taste
• 1 tsp zest

How-to:

1. Preheat to 180C.
2. Mix the dry in a bowl, mix the wet in the other then add wet to dry.
3. Spray three mini loaf pans and pour in the mixture.
4. IF you have a mini loaf tray like I do simply mix your berries with some sugar and let them bake in the other loaf pockets (see picture above).
5. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown on top.
6. Let cool for 10 minutes, but do NOT switch off your oven.
7. If you do not have a mini loaf tray then roast your berries whilst the cake is cooling.

Roasted berries (serves 2):

• 2 cups berries of choice
• 2 tsp sugar to coat
• Cinnamon to taste

How-to:

1. Roast your berries on a lined baking tray for 15 – 20 minutes (if not using a mini loaf pan tray).
2. Do NOT switch off the oven.

Cake Croutons:

• 1 batch mini lemon cake
• 2 TBSP coconut oil

How-to:

1. After the 10 minutes are up for your cake cooling, remove from the pan and dice into 1 cm blocks.
2. Toss the blocks lightly in the coconut oil and bake for 10 minutes a side until browned and slightly crispy.
3. Meanwhile, make your vanilla bean custard.

Bean custard (serves 2):

• 1 cup butter beans (if you decide to use another type of white bean make sure you adjust the non-dairy milk ratio to ensure it is smooth. Cannelini beans may take more milk and sweetener).
• 3 TBSP custard powder
• 3 TBSP non-dairy milk
• 2 TBSP non-dairy milk
• 1 tsp caramel extract
• 1 TBSP vanilla extract
• 1 vanilla pod, scraped
• 2 packets Stevia/2 TBSP sugar

How-to:

1. Add your custard powder to the milk and stir til mixed.
2. In a food processor, blend all ingredients until smooth. Add more non-dairy milk and sweetener as required.

Assembly:

1. In tall glasses, add half a portion’s worth of berries berries at the bottom, followed by half of each portion’s worth of bean custard.
2. Pour 1/8 cup lemon curd next, followed by 1/2 a portion of cake croutons.  Add berries, followed by the rest of the bean custard, lemon curd, and croutons. Top with berries.

Even if I had a bowl just of the cake or the croutons that would be magical enough *swoon* In fact, I was snacking on leftover croutons for the rest of the day; with coffee, before bed, hidden in soup…they are just super divine.

I’m a big sucker for lemon though, and slightly under-sweet flavours, so the tartness of the raspberries and the silkiness of the lemon curd and bean custard with the crunch of delicious, ridiculously easy cake just made the dish a real glorious treat. I served these up in champagne glasses, which are narrow but the perfect size, since dessert isn’t meant to be another whole meal unto itself but rather a gentle rounding off (this could all be lies, of course. One day I will have a dinner party of just desserts and it will be marvelous, surely).

YUM!