Book Review: My Sweet Vegan

My Sweet Vegan

I became aware of veganism not long ago. Ever since, I try to cook everyday dishes the vegan way, as much as I can. But making a dessert the vegan way is a bit tricky, if they are not fruit based. Pies, trifles, cheesecakes, are anything but vegan. Or so I thought until now. Hannah Kaminsky, has done an excellent job of delighting us with her vegan dessert collection, through her book - My Sweet Vegan.

To be honest, before leafing through the book, I was expecting just a humble set of recipes. But I was pleasantly surprised to see the ‘real deal’. Classic recipes like Crumb Topped Brownies, Autumn Harvest Pie; kids favorites like Peanut Butter Bombs, Oreo cookies and Crème Pound Cake; modern creations like Green Tea Tiramisu, Wasabi Chocolate Cupcakes; you name it, Hannah has it. A modern twist to the original recipes is what I like the most about this book. Each recipe is accompanied by a lovely picture, taken by Hannah herself. So you don’t have to guess whether the dish looks the way its supposed to be. To see whether the recipes are as good as they look like, I attempted to try a few.

Dried Fruit Focaccia

Dried Fruit Focaccia

I was drawn to this recipe as soon as I opened the book. Savory focaccia is all I have known so far. This sweet twist proved to be delicious. We gorged half as it is, while the other half (Hannah, you may want to close your ears) was baked into bread pudding. It was one of best puddings I ever had. The slightly sweet, fruit studded bread was perfect.

Pina Colada Mini Cakes

Pina Colada Mini Cakes

Combining island flavours of the drink Pina Colada, these delicate mini cakes were a hit. The coconut, once baked, was aromatic, making the cake light on texture, but strong on flavor. It tasted just fine even without the sugar glaze that Hannah has suggested. I enjoyed it with evening tea.

Silken Chocolate Mousse Cake

Silken Chocolate Mousse Cake

What a dessert book is, without chocolate. It was difficult to choose just one among many. I chose this recipe to test, as it had my favorite combination – chocolate and almond. The crust is made with ground almonds, while the mousse is made with silken tofu and chocolate. The cake was out of this world. I made extra mousse and served in small bowls, topped with mixed berries. I am so looking forward to making this cake over and over again.

Now, this is not all. There are other mouth-watering array of recipes, categorized into Sweet Starts, Cookies and Bars, Cakes and Cupcakes, Pies and Tarts, and Miscellaneous Morsels and Desserts. The book also has a food-allergy index, so there is no reason not to enjoy this book.

Thank you Hannah and Alisa, for sending me a copy to review. I thoroughly enjoyed the recipes I tried so far. Hannah, I cannot appreciate enough what you have achieved at such a young age. Kudos!

15 comments:

Raaga said...

it looks very beautiful... I've not gone vegan yet, but am always on the lookout for non dairy desserts :-) these look so pretty!

indosungod said...

Gorgeous is all I can say.

bee said...

yes, yes, yes. we need more vegan dessert cookbooks. i would love to get hold of this one.

Namratha said...

Wow, all these are Vegan?! I could never tell....gorgeous!

BitterSweet said...

I can't even tell you how much I appreciate this thoughtful review. You truly made my recipes look gorgeous, too! I hope you enjoy any other recipes you decide to try as well. :)

Helene said...

You made all the ones I wanted to try next...Yum! Now I know what to look forward too. They look fantastic!

Peabody said...

This book was indeed the real deal!

Nina Timm said...

I think it is wonderful that vegans are so imaginative with creating food that not only they feel comfortable eating, but recipes that inspire us all to be more careful of what we eat. Thx

Anonymous said...

Everything looks so tempting and beautiful.

Unknown said...

Absolutely pretty stuff and i appreciate that you actually tried three of their recipes before posting a review!
I love the idea of the dried fruit focassia - would love to get the recipe from you as this book would not be available in India, atleast for some time.

Bharathy said...

Wow!..Brilliant Vegan Bakes!!!

ServesYouRight said...

Very very nice review - Hannah is amazing! Looking forward to getting my hands on the book!

Smita

Meeta K. Wolff said...

I have been thinking of getting my hands on this. I am intrigued by the fact - how can one make desserts without stuff like eggs and milk etc. I think after seeing all your creations I will be ordering it soon. Sug, thanks for this one sweetie!

KonkaniBlogger said...

Wow, this is a wonderful post. The chocolate cake and fruit focassia looks absolutely yummy.

Vaishali said...

Sounds like a great book, Suganya, and everything looks delicious. One of my favorite vegan dessert cookbooks is Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Her cupcakes are to die for.

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