One of the reasons that people fear going vegan is the thought of giving up things that they love to

eat. I was never a “steak and chips” kind of girl, but I profess a certain fondness for things of the
sweet and chocolatey variety. Now, it is common knowledge that there are lots of vegan desserts out
there, but my boyfriend Duncan is militant about them.

You should hear him moan:

“I’m chewing some rice bubbles coated in matcha powder with carob and mung bean extract and all
I’m thinking is WHERE IS THE FLAVOUR? WHERE.IS.THE.FLAVOUR?”

“It’s good for you and all natural.” I reply.

“Main course was good for me! I want a proper dessert!! I want chocolate ganache that makes me
wanna dive into it. I want beautiful pastry work, fluffy mousses and creamy icing. I want desserts
that people refuse to accept are vegan!”

“I’ll see what I can do.” I reply (while thinking: making a chocolate ganache with beautiful pastry
work using no dairy products doesn’t sound very easy to me. And he is clearly a bit of an ass. Maybe
even a lot of an ass).

Well, it is amazing what a little perseverance, self-taught technical skill and an always hungry tester
(my boyfriend – the ass) can do. This e-book is a top 10 list of our most elegant sweets. Astound your
guests with your incredible vegan creations or just eat them all on your own watching a movie on
Sunday night. Either way, we hope you love them as much as we do!

Ania & Duncan

 vegan Vegan chocolate
gluten-free
orange pots
This dessert may be small but it packs a punch. It’s a perfect marriage of dark (70% cocoa) chocolate
and juicy Greek oranges. If you are an experienced ganache maker, you may be alarmed once I tell
vegan
you to mix melted chocolate and orange juice as you would not expect that to work, wouldn’t you?
Well, I’ve done a lot of research into ganache making and it appears that ‘water based ganaches’
(orange juice has a high water content too) are all the rage. These vegan chocolate orange pots are
rich, creamy, very chocolaty, have a prominent orange flavour and are not too sweet. They used to
make me smile (until I ate too many) and I hope they will make those you make them for smile too.

4 x 100 ml pots 10 min 30 min

Ingredients
1 orange
55 g brown raw cane sugar
½ vanilla pod
200 g dark (70% cocoa) chocolate
80 ml orange juice (from about 2 oranges), strained (at room temperature)
80 ml water (at room temperature) + ¼ cup for the syrup

Method
1. First, we need to prepare orange syrup. Wash one orange, cut into slices. Put into a pot with ¼
cup of water, brown sugar and ½ vanilla pod. Cover and cook on the lowest setting for 30 min or
so until you get thin, orange-infused syrup to sweeten the ganache with. Set aside.
2. Slowly melt the chocolate over a water bath (water should not touch the glass bowl with
chocolate). Once melted, remove from heat, but keep the bowl with chocolate over the hot water.
Start adding orange juice tablespoon by tablespoon. If chocolate mixture seizes (it gets thick and
grainy), slowly add the rest of the juice and keep on mixing gently. It will eventually return to its
smooth runny state. Then slowly mix in 80 ml of water, pouring it in gradually.
3. Stir in 55 ml (it will be pretty much all the syrup you made, but still measure the correct quantity
out) of the orange syrup you made earlier.
4. Pour the ganache into 4 pots. Leave it to cool to room temperature and then into a fridge for 2-3
hours for the ganache to set.

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 100 %
vegan Chilli chocolate tarts
Once in a while, I feel like blowing my weekly chocolate allowance in one go and this is what this
recipe is all about. If you are watching calories, look away NOW. Despite being 100% vegan, this stuff
isn’t diet food, that’s for sure. It delivers a rich, velvety, intensely chocolaty pleasure with a good
amount of chilli kick, for good measure. I will be honest, you probably want to share one of these
tarts (or find smaller ramekins) with someone you like as it is a challenge to eat an entire one by
yourself (and my chocolate tolerance is probably higher than most people). It is a grown-up dessert
so don’t be tempted to share it with minors or pets, they probably won’t appreciate it anyway.

2-4* tarts 25 min 45 min

Ingredients
PASTRY

120 g white flour

2 pinches of salt
3 tsp brown sugar**
2 drops of vanilla essence (optional)
40 ml / 2½ tbsp olive oil
20-30 ml / 1½-2 tbsp water (at room temperature)

FILLING

150 g dark (70% cocoa) chocolate

2 generous pinches of hot chilli powder
¾ cup almond milk***
30 ml / 2 tbsp maple syrup
1 level tsp coconut oil

Method
PASTRY

1. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, salt and sugar. Pour in vanilla essence and olive oil. Start
working the dough with your hand adding about 1½-2 tbsp of water – enough to form pliable
pastry. Divide pastry in half.
2. Form half of the pastry into a ball and place it between two sheets of baking paper for mess-free
rolling (see photo 1 next page).

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3. Gently roll the pastry with a rolling pin (don’t press too hard) so that it is big enough to cover the
ramekin and its sides (see photo 2).
4. Put rolled-out pastry over the ramekin. Gently peel off the sheet of baking paper and work the
pastry into the ramekin (photo 3 and 4).
5. Once you are happy with the coverage, trim off the excess pastry by running a knife blade along
the edge of the ramekin (photo 5).
6. Prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork in a few places (photo 6).
7. Repeat steps 1-6 with the other half of the dough.
8. Preheat the oven to 175° C while you chill the pastry in the fridge for about 60 mins.
9. After 60 mins, blind bake the pastry for 20 mins and for another 5-10 mins with baking beads
removed so that the pastry case gets a bit of colour.
10. Let the pastry cases cool down. Once cooled, gently remove them from the ramekins.

FILLING

1. Melt the chocolate over a water bath. Once melted, remove from heat, but keep the bowl with
chocolate over the hot water. Start adding almond milk whisking gently the whole time. At this
point the chocolate may seem to have seized a little due to almond milk’s high water content,
don’t worry, keep on whisking gently and any lumps will eventually melt away.
2. Add in chilli powder, maple syrup and coconut oil, stirring gently after each addition.
3. Once you have a homogeneous ganache, let it cool off (but not harden) before pouring it into cool
pastry cases. Let the ganache set at room temperature and then transfer to the fridge. If you put
it into the fridge too early, the ganache may shrink and crack.

Notes
*I used two 12.5 cm diameter ramekins, but this amount of dessert could easily serve 4 people if you
have smaller ramekins you can use.
**I have ground my brown sugar in a coffee grinder for a smooth finish. If that’s too much hassle,
you can probably use icing sugar instead.
*** I used homemade almond milk, which was 1 cup of almonds to 3 cups of water. Not sure if shop-
bought one will work as it usually has far more water so better and healthier to make one yourself.

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 vegan Vegan chocolate
gluten-free
truffles
Like many good things in life, truffles were invented by a complete accident. One of the apprentices
of a famous French chef was trying to make a pastry cream, but his brain malfunctioned (or so it
vegan
seemed at the time) and he poured hot cream into the wrong bowl; the one filled with broken up
chocolate. As the mixture cooled off and hardened, he realised that he was able to work it with his
hands to form soft, chocolate balls. Once he rolled them in cocoa powder they reminded him of the
prized fungi known as truffles which is how he named his new invention. High quality truffles are
still rolled by hand so they usually come with a high price tag.

makes 25 5 min 30 min

Ingredients

BASE RECIPE

125 g of dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

½ cup of coconut milk*
1 tsp coconut oil (refined is recommended)
3 tbsp maple syrup**
2 tbsp cocoa (for rolling)
2 tsp ground cinnamon (for rolling)

WINTER-SPICED FLAVOUR ADDITIONS

vanilla bean, seeds

¼ tsp grated nutmeg
½ tsp ground cinnamon
3 pinches ground hot chili powder
3 tbsp fresh orange juice

Method
1. Take an unopened 100 g bar of chocolate and hit it against your work bench a few times so that
the inside breaks up into small pieces. Take the remaining 25 g you will need for this recipe and
chop it finely with a knife. Place the entire 125 g of chocolate pieces in a large bowl. If you are
making winter-spiced version, add in grated nutmeg, cinnamon and hot chili powder.

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2. Gently heat up coconut milk on the stove – don’t let it boil. Add in coconut oil, maple syrup,
vanilla seeds and orange juice (the last two only if you are going for the winter-spiced version).
3. Pour hot coconut milk mixture over broken up chocolate and spices. Whisk it until combined
into a silky smooth chocolate cream. It may take a bit of stirring, don’t be put off. If you have
a ceramic hob and are using a heat-proof glass bowl, you may want to place it on the turned-
off hob ring, which you used to warm up the coconut milk. Residual heat will speed chocolate
melting.
4. When the mixture cools down, leave it in the fridge for a few hours (or overnight) until it has
hardened. Cover the bowl with cling film or else it will dry up.
5. Scoop out a teaspoon of the thickened mixture at a time and roll into balls.
6. Mix 2 tsp of cinnamon with 2 tbsp of cocoa on a plate/tray and roll the truffle balls in this
mixture until evenly coated. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Notes
*What is needed here is coconut milk that comes in a tin, not the watered down coconut milk that
you can now buy in a carton. The milk I used has 60% coconut and 40% water.
**If you don’t have maple syrup, you can dissolve sugar in the orange juice instead.

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 vegan Fluffy vegan chocolate
gluten-free
mousse
I’m so excited to bring this simple yet indulgent chocolate mousse recipe to you, guys. Ever since
I’ve read about the brilliant invention of aquafaba ‘egg whites’, I’ve been massively obsessed with
vegan
it. I’m part of an inspiring Facebook group solely dedicated to making things with aquafaba and
I can tell you that every single person who tries to whip chickpea water like egg whites has the
same reaction – that of amazement mixed in with excitement. It’s because it’s a blooming genius
invention. It opens up so many possibilities, not only for vegans, but also for people with egg
allergies.

4 portions 0 min 20 min

Ingredients
1 cup /240 ml chickpea water (from 1 x 400g can of low-sodium chickpeas OR home cooked chick-
peas)
20 g / 1 heaped tsbp white caster sugar
140 g dark (70% cocoa) chocolate
2 pinches of hot chilli powder (optional)

GARNISH (optional)

1 tbsp chocolate shavings

a handful of pomegranate seeds
a handful of chopped pistachios

Method
1. IF COOKING YOUR OWN CHICKPEAS: Cook at least 1 cup of dry chickpeas as you would normally.
Soak in plenty of water the night before. Discard soaking water and rinse. Put in a pot with plenty
of fresh water and cook for about 1 hour or until tender. Do not skim the surface foam, do not use
salt or baking soda. Once chickpeas are done, fish them out with a slotted spoon and return the
water to the stove for about 10-15 minutes or so (without a lid), to reduce it slightly. You want the
liquid to get a little bit thicker, like a thin syrup. Take off the stove, cool and sieve any chickpea
bits that may be left floating in the water before whipping it up.
2. Break the chocolate into smaller chunks and melt it very slowly over a water bath. My electric
hob goes from 1-6, I used setting #2 to melt the chocolate – it’s important to do it slowly so that
chocolate doesn’t overheat. Once the chocolate has melted, take the bowl off the water bath and
place it on a kitchen towel to cool down.

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3. Open your tin of chickpeas and drain the chickpea water into large glass bowl (the bowl needs to
be completely grease-free and that’s easiest to achieve with a glass bowl). One 400 g tin should
give you 1 cup or 240 ml of chickpea water. Reserve the chickpeas for another use, like a salad or
burgers.
4. Using an electric egg whisk whip the chickpea water into stiff peaks. I used an old, £7 worth,
hand-held whisk and it took me about 15 minutes to get stiff peaks. If you are a lucky owner of a
stand mixer, it will happen quicker.
5. Once you get stiff peaks, start adding sugar, bit by bit, whipping the whole time. If sugar has
caused the stiff peaks to perish, whip the mixture until you get stiff peaks again.
6. Check that the chocolate has cooled down sufficiently – it should not be warm to the touch. Add
it in gradually, making sure you fold it gently each time. Use a manual egg whisk or a spatula.
Do not worry if your fluffy mixture deflates once the chocolate has been added – that’s perfectly
normal. By the time you’ve added all of your melted chocolate, the mousse will have more of
a pourable consistency. Add chilli powder if using and mix well. Divide the mixture between
4 glasses. Gently stir the mixture between putting it into individual glasses as a bit of melted
chocolate tends to drop to the bottom sometimes.
7. Put glasses into the fridge for minimum 3 hours for the mousse to set. I tend to chill mine
overnight and it’s perfectly set and fluffy each time.

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 100 % Vegan chocolate and
vegan walnut challah
When Duncan and I first started dating, I was very impressed that the boy can cook. He made me a
lovely meal on one of our first dates and I don’t think I let him know just how food obsessed I was
that early on. I was secretly pinching myself as I have never dated anyone with any sort of cooking
skills before. When I told him that I’ve never had a guy cook an elaborate meal for me before, he was
very matter of fact about it. ‘I’m from Melbourne..’ he said, ‘..and Melbourne guys can cook’. Today,
Duncan has made me an amazing vegan challah oozing deliciously rich dark chocolate and crunchy
walnut filling. It is to die for and despite my best efforts, I was not able to stop at a single slice!

1 loaf 25 min 45 min

Ingredients
CHALLAH

220 g of strong flour

250 g of all-purpose flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
10 g salt
7 g sachet fast-action dried yeast
300 ml of almond milk + a little extra for bread glazing
1 tbsp olive oil + a little extra for bread and pan glazing

CHALLAH FILLING

2 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp brown sugar
150 g walnuts, chopped
100 g dark chocolate, finely chopped

Method
1. Mix the flour, salt, yeast, and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
2. Pour in the lukewarm (not cold!) almond milk and stir everything together with a large wooden
spoon. Then add the olive oil and combine.
3. When the mixture has mostly stuck together turn the mixture out on to a work surface or bread
board. Knead the mixture by holding one end of the dough in one hand and stretching it out with
the other hand. Reform the dough, turn it 90 degrees and start again. Repeat this for 10 minutes.

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4. When the dough is shiny and smooth, put it in a large mixing bowl, coat in a thin layer of olive oil
and cover the bowl with a tea towel. Leave it in a warm place (but not too warm – ie not next to
an open fire!) for between one and two hours (until it has doubled in size).
5. Empty the dough out on to a work surface and push the air out with your fingertips.
6. Split the dough into three equal parts – best to use kitchen scales here. Roll one part of the dough
flat until it is 30 cm long and 8-10 cm wide. Next, follow these 5 steps:
• STEP 1 Coat the dough with olive oil making sure you cover its entire surface (photo 1).
• STEP 2 Sprinkle a thin layer of sugar on the dough (photo 2).
• STEP 3 Sprinkle a layer of chopped chocolate on the dough (photo 3).
• STEP 4 Sprinkle a layer of chopped walnuts on the dough (photo 4).
• STEP 5 Starting from the bottom, roll the dough tightly it so that at the end you have one
horizontal “dough snake” (photos 5 and 6). Make sure you seal it well.

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7. Repeat steps 1-5 for the remaining 2 dough parts.
Plait the bread following these steps:
• STEP 1 Arrange the 3 plaits as per photo 1.
• STEP 2 Take the very leftmost plait and fold it over the middle plait (photo 2).
• STEP 3 Take the very rightmost plait and fold it over the middle plait (photo 3).
• STEP 4 Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you run out of space and the 3 plaits are knotted together.

8. Place the finished challah (covered with a kitchen towel) to prove again for another hour.
Before the hour is up, preheat the oven to 180° C / 350° F.
9. Coat the challah with olive oil (this gives it a golden colour). Place it in the oven to bake for 25-
30 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Glaze the still warm challah with a mixture that is 50% almond milk and 50% olive oil. This
gives it an extra shine.

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 vegan Raw salted caramel
gluten-free
brownies
This recipe is an ideal hot weather treat that is perfect for placating your sweet tooth when you are
on a bit of a health kick. Don’t get me wrong, these brownies aren’t diet food. They are, however,
vegan
made out of nutrient-dense ingredients such as almonds, pumpkin seeds, raw cacao powder and
naturally sweet dates and are healthy, unless you ‘inhale’ an entire tray in one sitting. At the bottom
there is a rich chocolate layer and at the top is an indulgent salty caramel made out of dates. These
puppies require no baking and I’m pretty sure you could put them together with your eyes closed. As
an added bonus, they taste great straight from the freezer on a hot day.

20 x 15 cm 0 min 30 min

Ingredients
400 g dates
150 g pumpkin seeds (shelled)*
150 g almonds
½-¾ tsp fine sea salt
½ cup raw cacao
4 tbsp / 60 ml espresso (optional)
1/8 cup smooth (all natural) almond butter
1 tbsp / 15 ml coconut oil, refined is preferred (optional)
20 g chopped almonds, to garnish (optional)

Method
1. Pit the dates. Soak them in a warm water to soften unless you are lucky to have Medjool dates,
which are naturally quite sticky.
2. Line a tray with baking paper. I used a 20 cm by 15 cm tray.
3. Process pumpkin seeds and almonds into a coarse meal. Transfer them both into a big mixing
bowl.
4. Put soaked dates (without water) into the food processor with a good pinch of salt and about 2-3
tbsp of coffee (use just enough to get a smooth paste) and process until you get a smooth date
paste. I used coffee as it naturally enhances chocolate flavour, but if you don’t like it, you can use
water instead.
5. Measure out 150 ml (½ cup + 1/8 cup) of date paste and set aside for the frosting.
6. Transfer the rest of the date paste into the mixing bowl with ground pumpkin seeds and nuts and
combine into a ‘dough’.

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7. Add ½ cup of sifted cacao and work it into the ‘dough’. I found that it is best to use your hands
(unless you have a very good food processor), plus it’s also easier to judge if the paste isn’t too
dry. If you find it too dry, add another 10 ml of coffee (or water), but do it gradually so that you
only add as little moisture as necessary.
8. Spread the brownie ‘dough’ in the lined tray, pressing it down well and into the corners. Make
sure the base layer is even. Pop it into the freezer to set.
9. Clean your food processor. Put 150 ml of date paste back into the food processor with almond
butter and ½ tsp of salt (you can add more to taste). Add 1 tbsp of water to make it more
spreadable. You can also add 1 tbsp of coconut oil if you want the top to be a bit less tacky after
it has set, but that’s absolutely not necessary. Process until you get a smooth, spreadable salted
caramel.
10. Take the base layer out of the freezer and spread salted caramel on top. Sprinkle with chopped
almonds if you wish. Put into a freezer for 2 hours before cutting.

Notes
*Almonds are expensive so to minimise the damage, I used shelled pumpkin seeds too. Pumpkin
seeds are also very high in iron and as I need to keep an eye on my iron levels, I figured that incorpo-
rating them into raw brownies is a nice way to sneak some more iron into my diet. If you don’t have
them or don’t like them, feel free to use walnuts, pecans or double the almonds instead.

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 100 % Vegan hazelnut
vegan brownies
These brownies have a crispy exterior, very gooey interior, a satisfying crunch from roasted
hazelnuts and a subtle taste of hazelnut liqueur. If you don’t have any handy, you can simply swap
it for a different kind. It will work as long as the alcohol content is roughly the same (20%) and you
use matching nuts on top – almonds and Amaretto would be my second choice if I didn’t have a self-
imposed ban from making baked goods for the next two weeks at least. Now, excuse me but I need
to grab a piece before they are all gone!

makes 16 20 min 30 min

Ingredients
2 and ½ tbsp* flax meal mixed with 4 tbsp / 60 ml water
280 g white plain cake (as opposed to bread) flour
1/3 tsp baking soda
7 and ½ tbsp cocoa powder (I used raw)
140 g dark chocolate (I used 70% cocoa)
1/3 tsp salt
2 tbsp /30 ml hot espresso (or ½ tsp instant coffee and 2 tbsp water) + 50 ml boiling water (80 ml
liquid)
1 and ½ cup brown sugar (I used raw cane)
110 ml / 7 and ½ tbsp mild olive oil
50 ml hazelnut liqueur (I used Frangelico)
50 g roasted hazelnuts, chopped

Method
1. Prepare flax eggs by mixing flax meal with water (it uses less water than traditionally prepared
flax egg). Put into the fridge to chill while you get on with the other stuff.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 180° C / 350° F. Line 20 cm x 20 cm / 8 inch x 8 inch baking tin with baking
parchment. Make the baking parchment stick out of the tin so that you’re able to remove the
brownies from the tin as soon as they are out of the oven to stop them from cooking any further.
3. Weigh your flour, add baking soda and whisk the two together with a hand egg whisk. Set aside.
4. Chop your chocolate very finely. Put it into a big mixing bowl, with cocoa powder and salt. Stir
well.

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5. Brew an espresso. In a small pot boil 50 ml water + add 2 tbsp of hot espresso. Bring both to boil.
6. Pour boiling water & espresso into the chocolate, cocoa powder and salt mixture. Stir with a
spoon so that chocolate melts in hot liquid. Don’t add any more water.
7. Add in sugar, flax egg (by this time it should turn all sticky) and olive oil. Using a hand mixer,
blend the mixture until it’s smooth. Add hazelnut liqueur and blend it into the mixture.
8. It’s time to add flour and the baking soda mixture. Add little at a time and stir it into the choco-
late mixture with a spoon. Do not be tempted to use an electric mixer as it will overwork the bat-
ter. Be careful not to overwork the batter or else gluten will develop in the flour and it will affect
the texture of the brownies negatively. Stir just enough until there are no flour pockets anymore,
but no more than that.
9. Spoon the batter (it will be rather thick) into a baking tray. Smooth it with a spatula and sprinkle
chopped hazelnuts on top. Bake on the middle shelf for about 23-25 minutes (I baked mine for 23
minutes) depending how set you like your brownies. The top should be nice and crispy, but the
inside gooey.

Notes
* I’m assuming that a tbsp holds 15 ml here. Mine only holds 10 ml, for example, so it’s worth check-
ing yours as accuracy is crucial when it comes to baking, especially of the vegan kind.

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 100 % Vegan carrot cake with
vegan delicate frosting
As you can see by the short instructions, this cake is super easy to make and it does taste great even
without the frosting. You are welcome to put some chopped nuts inside for an extra bit of texture
(I sprinkled mine on the top instead). To get a moist (yet eggless) carrot cake, I used a homemade
apple sauce (see Notes below on how to make it) as a cunning egg replacer. It took a few attempts to
get the exact proportions right, but it does work a treat. The cake is moist yet light. Another thing
I love about it is the smell of spices. It exudes warming aromas of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and
ginger, which magically transport your mind to an exotic spice market.

2 lb cake 60 min 30 min

Ingredients
CARROT CAKE

Wet ingredients
1½ cup / 120 g carrots, coarsely grated
1/2 + 1/8 cup / 120 g brown sugar
½ cup + 1 heaped tablespoon apple sauce*
1/4 + 1/8 cup / 90 ml olive oil

Dry ingredients
1½ cup / 165 g sifted wholemeal flour
1 level tsp baking soda
1 level tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground ginger

VANILLA-ORANGE FROSTING

75 g cashews, soaked overnight

6 tbsp silken tofu
1 orange (you’ll need 5 tbsp juice + zest of ½ orange)
4 tsp coconut oil, melted
1½ tbsp maple syrup or other liquid sweetener
½ vanilla pod, seeds scraped
chopped pistachios, for decoration

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Method
CAKE

1. Set the oven to 180° C. Line a 2lb cake tin (dimensions: 18,5cm x 8cm x 6cm) with a piece of
baking parchment or grease it.
2. In a bowl mix together all wet ingredients. In another bowl, mix together all dry ingredients.
3. Slowly tip the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and incorporate everything together but,
like with all batters, be careful not to over mix.
4. Spoon the batter (yes, it’s meant to be that thick) into a baking tin. Bake for 50-60 mins
depending on your oven. It’s done when a toothpick comes out fairly clean.

ICING

1. Drain and rinse soaked cashews. Put them into a food processor to grind into a smooth paste.
2. Add in silken tofu and all other ingredients. Process some more.
3. Put the icing into the fridge for a few hours so that it thickens. It won’t be as thick as an icing
made with margarine and icing sugar, but it will stay on the cake.

Notes
Volume measurement I use is 1 cup = 237ml

* To make an apple sauce, peel, core and chop 3 apples. Put them in a pot with a cup of water
and spices and simmer covered until soft. I added the following spices to it: 1 allspice, 2 cloves, 1
cinnamon stick and ½ star anise. Once the apples are cooked, I pureed them with a hand blender.
You can make a bigger batch and freeze it for another use.

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 100 % Banana coconut
vegan cupcakes
Today, I’m happy to present you with a plate of pretty little cupcakes... Unfortunately, getting the
recipe together wasn’t as pretty and there was a lot of drama. The drama was to do with getting
a structurally sound vegan frosting without the use of vegan butter or margarine because a) I’m
not overly keen on them b) I cannot get them here anyway. In the end the trick was to whip up
homemade coconut butter. The consistency of the frosting is great and the flavour works brilliantly
too. Bingo! If you are a banana and coconut fiend, these cupcakes are definitely worth having a go.

makes 12 30 min 45 min

Ingredients
BANANA CUPCAKES

Dry ingredients
240 g white flour
1 tsp of baking powder
½ tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of all spice
pinch of salt

Wet ingredients
4 small ripe bananas / 2 cups mashed up
½ cup of melted coconut oil
½ cup full fat coconut milk*
100 g / ½ cup brown raw cane sugar

CARAMEL

½ cup brown raw cane sugar

1 cup full fat coconut milk
pinch of salt

COCONUT FROSTING

100 g desiccated coconut or 5 tbsp coconut butter

1 and ½ cup coconut cream or 2 tins (no additives) full fat coconut milk (chilled for min 48 hrs)
2-3 tbsp maple syrup, to taste

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EXTRAS

2 bananas, sliced
dark chocolate, grated finely (optional)

Method
COCONUT FROSTING

1. If using coconut milk rather than cream, put 2 tins of full fat coconut milk into the fridge for
a minimum of 48 hours. The longer it chills the better so put it into the fridge as soon as you
start thinking of making these cupcakes (mine was in the fridge for 10 days). After the time has
passed, remove the tins from the fridge very carefully, make sure you do not shake them. Open
the tins and scoop out heavy cream that should have risen to the top. Leave the watery part for
other uses (curries, smoothies etc.). Each tin should yield about 180 ml of cream. Choose coconut
milk with no additives (mine is 60% coconut and 40% water) as stabilisers will prevent the
cream from separating.
2. Put desiccated coconut (no need to pan-roast) into a food processor. Process until coconut
releases its natural oils and you get a fairly smooth coconut butter (similar to any nut butter).
From time to time, stop the machine to scrape coconut of the walls with a rubber spatula.
Depending on your food processor, it may take anything between 5-15 minutes to make this
butter. I have a budget food processor and mine took about 8 minutes with a few breaks so that I
don’t kill the motor. 100 g of coconut should give you a bit under ½ cup of butter.
3. In a mixing bowl, fold about 80 ml (3/8 cup or 5 tbsp) coconut butter into 1 and ½ cup coconut
cream. Sweeten with maple syrup. Do not use an electric mixer or food processor to do this as
coconut will continue to release its oils and the mixture will become very grainy. Fold it gently
using a spoon. The frosting will have tiny bits of coconut in it, but I found the overall texture to
be smooth enough. Chill the frosting for 1-2 hours before piping.

CUPCAKES

1. Warm up the oven to 190° C.

2. In one bowl, combine all dry ingredients. In another bowl combine all wet ingredients.
3. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir until just combined – do not overmix.
4. Grease standard 12 cupcake tin with a bit of coconut oil. Spoon the cupcake mixture into the tin.
5. Bake for about 27-30 minutes, the exact time depends on the individual oven. Remove from the
oven and let them cool down completely.

CARAMEL

1. While cupcakes are in the oven, make the caramel. Put sugar into a dry frying pan and let it
dissolve gently on very low heat. Refrain from stirring it.
2. Warm up coconut milk gently – this is not essential, but it will reduce splattering once you add
coconut milk into dissolved sugar.
3. Once the sugar melts completely and the sugar turns to an amber colour (careful not to overdo it
– caramel burns very quickly), whisk 1/2 cup of coconut milk into the sugar until combined.

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4. Warm it up again slowly until bubbles start to appear on the surface, then add the rest of coconut
milk and a pinch of salt. Stir the mixture well, let it bubble for a bit and take off the heat. Let it
cool before decorating the cupcakes – it will thicken slightly as it cools.

ASSEMBLY

1. Using a bread knife, cut each cupcake horizontally into 3 pieces.

2. Spread caramel on the first layer, then put banana slices on top. Repeat the same for the next
layer and cover with the top slice.
3. Pipe coconut frosting on to the top slice and sprinkle the frosting with finely grated chocolate.

Notes
*For the entire recipe, you’ll need 3 tins of full fat coconut milk (without stabilisers) OR 1 tin of
coconut milk and 1 tin of coconut cream.

Like dairy cupcakes, store these in the fridge. The frosting will harden when cold so bring the
cupcakes to room temperature again before serving.

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 100 % Vegan chocolate and
vegan salted caramel tarts
Our vegan chocolate and salted caramel tarts are a to-die-for dessert. They are made up of shortcrust
chocolate pastry, salted caramel and dark chocolate ganache layers. Ever since I started working
on this recipe, Duncan has become a massive fan of these little tarts. Whenever, after a tasting, I
decided that I am not 100% happy with the end result (be it looks, consistency or flavour), he was
secretly very happy that there will be a few more iterations of this dessert appearing in front of him.
He says that the world doesn’t need any more energy balls, it needs elegant and decadent desserts
that just happen to be vegan. He reckons that you guys will go crazy for these!

4 tarts 20 min 40 min

Ingredients
PASTRY

120 g white all purpose flour

a pinch of salt
6 level tsp icing sugar
6 level tsp raw cacao
40 ml / 2½ tbsp olive oil
20-30 ml / 1½-2 tbsp water (at room temperature)

CARAMEL SAUCE

½ cup sugar (I used brown raw cane)

½ cup full fat coconut milk + ¼ cup (see instructions)
¾ level tsp fine salt

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

75 g dark (70% cocoa) chocolate

60 ml / ¼ cup full fat coconut milk*
30 ml / 2 tbsp water
2 tsp maple syrup (optional)

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Method
PASTRY

1. Sift flour, icing sugar and cacao into a mixing bowl. Add olive oil and rub it into the dry
ingredients with your hands. Finally add water – be careful, do it gradually – how much water
you’ll need depends on how absorbent your flour is (mine needed 25 ml). Combine all the
ingredients into a dough gently, but do not knead. Wrap it in a piece of cling film and chill in the
fridge for 30 mins.
2. Remove the dough from the fridge and divide into 4 portions. Place each portion of the dough
between two sheets of baking paper and roll gently until you get a rough circle, about 2-3 mm
in thickness. (Below a photo from another tart recipe illustrates how to line tart moulds with
shortcrust pastry).
3. Put each rolled-out pastry over each mould and and work the pastry into the mould making sure
it reaches all nooks and crannies. Once you are happy with the coverage, trim off the excess
pastry with a sharp knife. Prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork in a few places. Place the
pastry in the fridge for about 60 mins.
4. 45 min into pastry chilling time, preheat the oven to 175° C / 350° F. Line the pastry cases with a
small piece of baking paper and fill with baking beads.
5. Blind bake the pastry for 15 mins, then remove the beads and bake for another 5 mins. Cool
pastry cases down completely before pouring any of the filling in.

CARAMEL

1. Spread an even layer of sugar at the bottom of a dry pan or pot. Heat up sugar on a medium heat (I
used setting 3 out of 6). Refrain from stirring it, although if your pan has hot spots, you may need
to gently manoeuvre unmelted sugar into a hot spot. Meanwhile, warm up ½ cup of coconut milk
in a separate pot.
2. Once all the sugar has melted, take the pan off the heat and slowly stir in warmed up coconut
milk and then add salt. Be very careful as even though warming milk up minimises this, caramel
may be splattering at this point and it will be very hot.

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3. There is a chance that once you add coconut milk, some of the caramel will harden into big
lumps. What you need to do is to return the pan to the stove and set on a very low setting (I
used 2 out of 6) to allow these lumps to melt away. Make sure you keep on stirring the mixture.
Now, because the longer you cook your caramel sauce the more sticky and less sauce-like it will
become, if you do need to bring it back to the stove to melt any stubborn lumps, add another ¼
cup / 60 ml of coconut milk to the pan to ensure that once your lumps have dissolved the caramel
will retain sauce consistency. Do not panic if it appears to be too runny at first, caramel thickens
as it cools down. If it does end up being too runny, you can always reduce it gently again.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

1. Melt the chocolate very slowly (I used setting 1 out of 6) over a water bath. Once melted, remove
from heat, but keep the bowl with chocolate over the hot water. Start adding coconut milk
whisking gently the whole time. At this point the chocolate may seem to have seized a little,
don’t worry, keep on whisking gently and any lumps will eventually melt away. Once you have
added all coconut milk, add water stirring the whole time.
2. Once you have a smooth ganache, add 2 tsp of maple syrup – this is not strictly necessary as I find
that bitter chocolate provides a nice contrast against very sweet caramel, but that’s up to you.
3. Let it cool off completely before pouring it into cool pastry cases.

ASSEMBLY

1. Pour about a level tbsp of cool caramel sauce into cool (that’s important) pastry cases.
2. Pour cool chocolate ganache on top of the caramel. Let the tarts set for a few hours at room
temperature. You can also put them into the fridge if you want be able to eat them sooner.
3. If you want to store these overnight, I found that the best way to do it is to keep them in a box
covered with a piece of cling film at room temperature (as opposed to the fridge).

Notes
I used mini tart moulds that have a diameter of 8 cm and height of 2 cm.

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