VEGAN VANILLA SLICE

What the hell even is Vanilla Slice/Custard Slice?

Something so simple and divine is surely stumbled upon over and over again in kitchens around the world. Sandwitching a creamy custard filling between crispy sheets of baked puff pastry can be found in Austria, Germany and other central-European countries as Cremeschnitte, and (how I came to love them) in Australia they’re just known as Vanilla Slice.

What goes inside?

Exactly as advertised, it’s a vanilla custard that you’ll find inside a vanilla custard slice. Custard cream is cinch to make without eggs, especially given ready-made custard powder mixes are often vegan-friendly already. You just need to choose which milk you’ll use.

Because vanilla doesn’t mask the flavour of plant milk alternatives as well as richer flavours like chocolate or caramel, it’s pretty important to make sure that flavour won’t be drowned out in a dish like this. Soy and oat milk are choices that’ll give you the most neutral flavour.

That being said, coconut milk has much more fat content so the vanilla slice it produces is that much richer to slide your fork through. I enjoy the coconut flavour in this recipe, and I think it goes delightfully with the passionfruit often added to the glaze in Aussie renditions of this dish. I choose coconut milk to make the custard cream on for this dessert, but my tests with soy and oat milk went fantastic - so pick your fave.

Right, but then isn’t puff pastry filled with butter?

Not in this economy! Pre-made and frozen puff pastry sheets (at least in Australia) are more often than not made without dairy. It’s much cheaper to use margarine than butter, so start off by checking the budget brands as I’m sure if you’ve got a supermarket freezer full of frozen pastry near you, there’ll be puff pastry without dairy in there.

Can’t find it? That’s OK! On page 48 of The Vegan Baker, there’s a full-fledged guide to making puff pastry at home from scratch. Too much effort? That’s also OK, just use the Rough Puff recipe on page 49 instead for a quick version that you’ll never know the difference of, especially once that glaze goes on and covers everything. Either way, going through my guide to try laminating pastry at home without dairy is a great accomplishment to check off the kitchen skills list, and helps you understand more about how pastry works - making you a better baker even when you’re using store-bought alternatives.

But what if I want to make it chocolate flavoured?

Great idea! Here’s how. When you remove the custard from the stove, stir in

100 (3 1⁄2 oz) crumbled dark chocolate

30g (1 oz) Dutch (unsweetened) cocoa powder

For the top, replace the icing with chocolate ganache. Make the ganache with

100g (3 1⁄2 oz) dairy-free chocolate, crumbled

100ml (3 1⁄2 fl oz) vegan cream or coconut cream

Add the ingredients to a small microwave-safe bowl and blast in the microwave, stirring at 15-second increments, until melted and dippable. Cool in the fridge for 15 minutes before using. The ganache will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.