Recipe: Vegan cherry bars.
My friends dumpstered two big jars of dark cherries in a light syrup. I was going to make cherry pie, but then I wondered how well cherries would work in bar form, like lemon bars. I used the crust recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking, and then winged it with the cherry filling. They turned out fantastically well, so I thought I'd share the recipe.
Vegan cherry bars: yields 16 squares.
Crust:
1/2 cup margarine
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 cup flour
Filling:
2 cups cherries drained of light juice
1 cup juice
4 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
Chocolate for decoration.
Preheat oven to 350/ 180.
Cream together icing sugar and margarine, then mix in flour until the dough starts to come together. You want it to still be a little crumbly, but it should hold together when squeezed.
Press the pastry into a lined baking tray so no gaps remain, prick lightly, and bake for 20 minutes, turning around the half way mark.
While the pastry is baking, mix cornstarch and half the cherry juice together in a cup until no lumps remain.
Pour this mixture into a saucepan, along with the rest of the juice, the cherries, and the sugar. Stirring continuously, heat until thick and syrupy.
Blend everything until totally smooth, then return to heat. Continue stirring the mixture until boiling, and very thick.
Pour blended cherry mixture over pre-baked crust and smooth out.
Bake for another 20 minutes at 350, before removing and placing on a wire rack to cool completely (leave everything in the pan - you don't want to try and move this hot sugary mess!)
Once cool, drizzle with chocolate, and slice into squares.