World Vegan Day is a great time to encourage a healthy switch to plant-based diets. And while many have have embraced the switch, others tread carefully, taking small baby steps. Swicthing to a plant-based diet can seem daunting for many especially when you think about giving up some of your favourite foods. And the thought of giving up your favourite desserts can be a real challenge for new vegans. And so, to celebrate World Vegan Day with a sweet treat, here are a few delicious and easy vegan dessert recipes that you can make from the comfort of your homes.
Coconut Laddoo – Varq, Taj Mahal, New Delhi
Photo Courtesy: Taj Hotels
Ingredients
2 cups desiccated coconut
2 cup fresh coconut milk
1/4 cup honey or sugar to taste
1tsp cardamom powder
Few chopped cashew nuts
A few strands of saffron
2-3tsp oil for greasing
1 cup dry coconut for rolling
Method
Dissolve saffron strands in 1/4 cup of warm water and set aside. In a heavy bottom pan add freshly grated coconut, and stir it for 2 minutes. Now add coconut milk and sugar and cook on low to medium heat. Keep stirring in between and let the mixture thickens for about 5 minutes. Once the mixture starts thickening add saffron milk and cardamom. Now add very finely chopped cashew nuts into it. Keep cooking for a few minutes more until all the moisture evaporates from the coconut. Remove from heat and let it cool slightly, just enough to handle with hands. Grease your palm with oil, take a small portion of the cooled mixture and start shaping into a ball. Then roll the ladoo into dry coconut and place it on the plate.
Dark Chocolate Cocoa Marquise – Chef Ravi Ranjan, Corporate Chef, Ditas
Photo Courtesy: Ditas
Ingredients
25g Vegan Cream
250g Belgian Dark Chocolate
5g Agar Agar
50g Caster Sugar
12.5ml Strong espresso coffee
150g Vegan Whipped Cream
50ml Vegan Milk
For Hazelnut Mousseline
100g vegan cream
200g Belgian dark chocolate
50g vegan whipped cream
30g hazelnut praline
Garnish
Fresh mint
Chocolate bark
Cocoa powder
Toasted hazelnut
Method
Lightly grease terrine and line with parchment paper, leaving the excess to hang over the sides. Use an electric mixer to whisk vegan whipped cream and caster sugar for 5 minutes or until the peak stage. Place a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Add chocolate and whisk for 5-6 minutes until melted. Add the vegan cream, whisking between each addition until completely mixed with the chocolate. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 20 minutes. Fold with vegan whipped cream. Take a small saucepan over medium heat, and add vegan milk and agar agar powder until dissolved. Put this into the mixer kept for cool. Add strong espresso coffee (room temperature). Fold in the remainder until combined. Pour into the terrine, fold over the plastic wrap to cover, and then refrigerate overnight.
For hazelnut mousseline
Take a saucepan over medium heat, pour vegan cream and remove from heat once start boiling. Add dark chocolate and mix it well. After gets completely cool add whipped cream, and hazelnut praline and fold it. Turn out terrine, cut it into slices, put this on a serving plate and garnish with piped hazelnut mousseline, fresh mint, chocolate bark, cocoa powder and toasted hazelnut.
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie with Basil Ice Cream, KMC*
Photo Courtesy: KMC*
Cookie dough
65g caster sugar
110g brown sugar
100g vegetable oil
12g soy milk
1g vanilla
210g flour
2g baking soda
95g dark chocolate
Salt to taste
Method
Whisk both the sugars and oil together. Sift all the dry ingredients. Combine all the ingredients and add milk, vanilla and chocolate chips. Rest the dough for at least 3 hours. Bake in a skillet at 160c for 10-12 minutes. Rest for a minute before serving.
Basil Ice Cream
480g full-fat coconut milk
64g granulated sugar
22g cornstarch
5g vanilla paste
2g olive oil
A pinch of salt
Method
Divide the milk into 2 parts. Put one half in a pan over low heat till it simmers. Add sugar. Make a slurry with corn flour and remaining milk and add it to the milk over the heat. Let the mixture thicken while stirring continuously. Add the Basil to it once it comes to room temperature to avoid oxidation. Let it steep for an hour and blend it. Churn and freeze. Put a scoop in a bowl while serving and drizzle some olive oil over it.
Vegan Chocolate Mousse, Plural
Photo Courtesy: Plural
Dark Chocolate Vegan Mousse
Vegan egg white
138g Water
12g Pea protein
0.6g Xanthan gum
Method
I Measure the pea protein and xanthan using microscale for precision. Place the water in the jug, followed by the pea protein and xanthan gum. Mix with the spatula first to mix everything together. After that, blend the mixture with the hand blender until homogenous and well combined. The mixture will thicken slightly because of xanthan, it is completely normal. Measure and use immediately or make a bigger batch and store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Mousse
210g water
1.4g salt
220g 70% dark chocolate
100g vegan egg white
70g sugar
Method
Place the water together with salt in the saucepan and bring to the boil. Once boiled, pour over the dark chocolate in the bowl. Let the chocolate melt and then blend the mixture with hand blender to ensure that there are no clumps. Let the mixture cool to 35 degrees Celsius. In the Kitchen Aid bowl, place the vegan egg white and start whipping on medium speed until foamy. Once foamy, gradually start adding the sugar a little bit at a time. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip-like normal egg whites, until stiff peaks, about 5 minutes. Once the chocolate mixture is 35 degrees Celsius and the vegan egg whites are whipped to stiff peaks, start by gently folding 1/3 of the whipped vegan egg whites into the chocolate mixture using a spatula. Add the remaining whipped egg whites and fold gently, like a mousse. Once done, transfer to a clean container and cover with plastic film touching the surface of the mousse to prevent it from forming a crust. Label, date and place the refrigerator overnight (approx. 10 hours) to crystallize and set. Use the following day or store up to 4 days in the fridge.
Buckwheat Coral Tuile
10g buckwheat flour
55g water
60g vegetable oil
60g salt
2g vanilla paste
Method
Place the buckwheat flour, water, vegetable oil, salt and vanilla paste in the jug. Blend all the ingredients with hand blender until smooth and homogenous. Preheat a clean non-stick frying pan to medium heat. Add a spoonful of the mixture in the centre of the pan. With the heat of the pan the mixture will spread naturally. Once the tuile stops bubbling, gently remove it from the pan and place it on the paper towel to remove excess oil. Remove the excess oil form the pan, wipe with paper and repeat the process with the remaining mixture. Store the tuile in the airtight container, wrapped with cling film and away from humid places, somewhere dry.
Caramelized Cocoa Nibs
50g cocoa nibs
50g sugar
50g water
Method
Preheat the oven to 160C. Place water and sugar in the saucepan and bring to the boil. Once boiled, remove from the heat and add the cocoa nibs. Cover and let soak for 15 minutes. Once soaked, strain the cocoa nibs to remove the excess syrup. Place the drained cocoa nibs on the tray lined with silicon mat. Bake at 160C for 16 minutes. Let cool down and store in the airtight container to improve the conservation.
Platting
Pipe a dollop of chocolate mousse in the centre of the bowl. Break the cocoa nibs into small pieces and stick them all over the mousse. Using micro plane, grate the whole almond over the mousse to cover it. Place the cherry half on top of the mousse in the circular way keeping some space in the centre. Break the tuile into shards and insert into the mousse vertically. Last minute, shave the granita with the fork and place a spoonful in the middle of mousse, inside the circle of poached cherries. Serve immediately.
Vegan Cinnamon Rolls by Chef Arnez Driver, Head Chef La Pôz Place
Photo Courtesy: La Pôz Place
Ingredients
240ml almond milk, at room temperature
60g vegan butter, melted
25g sugar
5g active dry yeast
340g flour
3g salt
Filling
90g vegan butter
85g brown sugar
15g cinnamon powder
Take a large bowl, and whisk the almond milk, melted butter, and sugar. The mixture should be at room temperature. To the above mixture add the yeast, stir and set aside for 10 minutes. Add the flour and salt to the milk mixture and mix until just combined. Cover the bowl with a moist towel and allow it to rest in a warm place to rise for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. After 1 hour, the dough should have nearly doubled in size. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead the dough lightly, adding additional flour as necessary, until the dough just about loses its stickiness and does not stick to the surface anymore. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle, about 1 cm thick. Spread the softened vegan butter evenly over the dough. Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon evenly as well. Roll up the dough into a log, and trim the sides. Cut the log horizontal discs of one and a half inches. Grease a baking tray with vegan butter and place aside. Place the cinnamon rolls in the greased baking tray. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes. To prepare the frosting. In a mixing bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, almond milk, and vanilla until smooth. Remove plastic wrap. Bake the cinnamon rolls in a preheated oven at 180˚C for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. While warm, drizzle evenly with frosting.
Vegan Coffee Almond Cake – Chef Nicholas Fernandes, Executive Pastry Chef, JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu
375g cashew nut
350g coconut cream
125g maple syrup
8g instant coffee
60ml coconut oil
Roasted almonds for garnish
Method
For crunchy base
In a pan lightly roast the almonds and let it cool before use, do the same with linseeds. In a blender or food processor, process the almonds until coarsely ground. Add the chopped dates and linseeds, and process until evenly incorporated. Add the coconut oil and process for a further 40 seconds to 1 minute. Transfer the base mixture to an 8inch round cake ring. Press mixture down firmly by using your fingers. Refrigerate while you’re preparing the filling.
For coffee filling
Soak the Cashewnut in water for 4 to 5 hours at room temperature. In a blender or food processor, blend the soaked and drained cashew nuts until it becomes smooth. In the meantime, mix together the coconut cream, maple syrup and instant coffee granules. The moisture from the coconut cream should fully dissolve the coffee – if it doesn’t, warm briefly in the microwave. Add this mixture to the blended cashew nuts, and blend well. Add the coconut oil and blend for a further 1 minute. Using a spoon transfer the coffee cashew cream on top of the crunchy base in round cake tin, fill 2/3 of the mixture. If you are left with mixture reserve the mixture for piping.
Freeze for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Once frozen remove from the mould and pipe the rest of the mixture on top of the cake. Pipe the mixture as per your creativity, or sprinkle roasted almond flakes on top and serve.
Vegan Gujiya – Taj Fort Aguada Resort & Spa, Goa
Photo Courtesy: Taj Hotels
Stuffing
1 ½ cup cashew nut
1 cup desiccated coconut
1/3 cup sugar
1tbsp semolina
1tsp cardamom
½tsp nutmeg
Pastry
2tbsp all-purpose flour
2tbsp oil
Method
Dry roast the cashew in a pan and keep aside. Grind to get course mixture. Heat oil in pan, add the desiccated coconut. Sauté for 5 minutes add sugar, cardamom, nutmeg and semolina. Cool for 5 minutes and let cool. To make dough, knead the flour with oil, sugar and required amount of water. Let dough rest for 15 minutes. Make dough into small balls. Roll out into circles. Add filling in the centre of the circle and seal the gujiya with water to make a half moon shape. Deep fry gujiya until golden brown.
Vegan Peanut Tempayy Ladoo, Hello Tempayy
Photo Courtesy: Hello Tempayy
Ingredients
1 cup roasted peanuts
150g Tempayy Natural tempayy cubes
5 pieces of cardamom, powdered
3/4 cup jaggery
3tbsp cold pressed coconut oil
1 cup desiccated coconut
10g raisins
2 drops vanilla essence
Method
Finely mince or grate the Tempayy cubes. Take a pan and heat the coconut oil. Add minced tempayy and toss well for 6-7 minutes or until it turns golden brown. Add jaggery and cook for another 2 minutes, until the jaggery has melted. Add roasted peanuts, balance coconut oil, desiccated coconut, cardamom powder, raisins, and vanilla essence and allow it to cook for 2 minutes. Switch off the flame and take the pan off the fire and allow it to cool completely. Put the cooled mixture into a food processor and pulse gently to crush. (Take care not to grind it into a fine paste.) Apply some coconut oil to your palms and take small quantities of the mixture and shape small balls. Serve at room temperature.
Vegan Toffee Cake – Chef Shahbaz Shaikh, Loci & Toot
Photo Courtesy: Loci & Toot
Homemade vegan butter
250ml extra virgin olive oil
80ml almond milk
1tsp apple cider vinegar
1tsp yeast
1 pinch turmeric powder
1/2tsp salt
Vegan toffee sauce
1tbsp maple syrup
50g brown sugar
112g vegan butter
100ml coconut cream
40g toffee sauce
80g date cake
50g vanilla ice cream
Method
To make vegan toffee cake, first, we need to make vegan in-house butter, as mentioned in step 1. In a pan toast turmeric, add almond milk butter and apple cider vinegar and keep it aside, it will curdle the strain. Then rest mix all the ingredients and blend thoroughly till you get a smooth texture and freeze it until your vegan in-house butter is ready. For the toffee sauce, in a pan add brown sugar and caramelised it then add maple syrup. Once it is caramelized nicely then add vegan in-house butter and coconut cream.
For the date-based cakes
In a bowl add seedless dates and almond milk or soya milk, my personal preference is almond milk because it goes really well with dates and gives you a more earthy flavour. Soak it for a few hours and blend it till smooth paste it with vanilla essence. Then add all the remaining dry ingredients, and your batter is ready. Bake it in ½ food pan for 20 – 22 mins at 185 degrees Celsius.
Plating
Add vegan toffee sauce, then add date-based cake before microwaving it so that you can warm it with vegan vanilla ice cream.
Whole Fruit Chocolate, Raspberry and Peanut Entremet – Chef Danish Khan, Executive Pastry Chef, JW Marriott Sahar
Heat the raspberry puree and balsamic together. Add the sugar and pectin and keep stirring. Cook until it becomes thick and pour it into a mould, keep it in a deep freezer until it gets set.
For Whole fruit chocolate mousse
Melt the chocolate in the microwave. Bring boil the soya cooking cream and sea salt together and pour over the chocolate, make a ganache and fold it with soya whipped cream. Fill the mousse in a mould and insert the jelly, freeze it. Demould it and spray it with cocoa butter. For Peanut Butter brittle. Add all together and make the dough in a machine bowl. Sheet it on 3mm, cut it into a disc and place it on a slipmat-lined tray. Cover it with an air mat and bake at 200 degrees for 10 minutes.
Peanut butter mousse
Fold peanut butter and soya cream together. Assemble the product as per the image and is ready to serve.
