Start with the pastry…Mix yeast and warm water and set aside for about 5 minutes or until foamy. Wisk cream, salt, sugar, and egg replacer mix. In another bowl cut shortening into flour until crumbly and pea sized. Add the liquid & yeast mixture to dry mixture and stir until just mixed. Cover and chill in fridge for atleast 4 hours, or overnight.
Dust work surface with flour and bring out the dough. Shape into about an 8 inch square. Fold into thirds (it will look like a business envelope) Flip the dough and fold into thirds again until you have another square. Repeat 3 times until you end up with a 8 inch square. Refrigerate for 30 mins. Meanwhile mix all ingredients for filling and all ingredients for frosting.
Remove dough from fridge and roll out into a rectangle that is about 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle the filling mixture across the center, and then fold both sides in covering the filling. You will have a long rectangle.
Cut into 6-8 squares and pinch down ends to keep in the topping. To make it look more like a bear claw cut toes into one side and then you can bend the pastry back to spread the toes slightly.
Set them on parchment paper and let them rest about 30-60 minutes. They won’t double, but will look a bit puffy.
If you want your pastry to look shiny and still be vegan you can use this in place of an egg wash–
Cornflour Mixture:
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water
Mix the cornstarch with a bit of water to make a paste. Add the rest of the water then pour into a saucepan and bring to the boil until it looks glassy. Let cool.
Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool slightly and drizzle topping and sprinkle with almonds.
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