The Veg Heads: Vegan Desserts

Ice cream, pies and cakes. While it may seem like these delicious desserts are unavailable to those who do not eat animal products, vegan desserts are not that hard to come by.

This week, columnists Shreya Aiyar and Regina Napolitano explore the world of vegan desserts available in Los Angeles and in your own kitchen.

 

BY REGINA NAPOLITANO (Going Out)
A&E; contributor
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Some people will go to great lengths in pursuit of vegan desserts. After all, just because you don’t eat animal products doesn’t mean you don’t have a sweet tooth.

While Westwood has a few good vegan desserts, such as the cupcakes at Native Foods or the soy milk ice cream at Saffron and Rose, most restaurants lack a variety of vegan sweets. So, after a long search on Yelp.com for a vegan dessert shop within biking distance of UCLA, I decided to go to one of L.A.’s vegan dessert meccas, L.A. Vegan Crepe in Beverly Hills.

After navigating the frustrating streets of Beverly Hills for what seemed like an eternity, when I finally saw the restaurant’s sign, it felt like a miracle. I hoped the food would be similarly miraculous.

As soon as I walked into the restaurant and its cozy atmosphere, the waitress welcomed me. Upon opening the menu, I was almost overwhelmed by the sheer amount of vegan offerings. L.A. Vegan Crepe serves completely vegan breakfasts, lunches, dinners, pastries, desserts and, as their name implies, crepes. There were six different types of sweet crepes, a vegan banana split, vegan cupcakes, vegan strawberry shortcake and even vegan croissants.

I decided on the Banana Chocolate crepe. It arrived in front of me minutes after I ordered it. The crepe was almost as big as the plate, and every bite was packed with rich chocolate spread and slices of fresh banana. I could not detect any difference between it and a conventional crepe made with dairy products.

Was it worth the aggravation of getting lost? Mostly. L.A. Vegan Crepe has a wider selection of vegan desserts than most restaurants I know, including Native Foods. Their products are a bit expensive for a student’s budget, but for vegans who need a sugar fix, their food is worth the few extra dollars.

If you’re wiling to venture beyond Westwood, places such as L.A. Vegan Crepe show that there is a wide range of non-dairy desserts available in the Los Angeles area.

 

BY SHREYA AIYAR (Staying at Home)
A&E; contributor
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Vegan desserts – the phrase itself sounds almost like an oxymoron.

Most of the time, baked goods require eggs or milk to add moisture and density. But, if the eggs and milk are taken out, will the moisture and density disappear too?

 

Not necessarily. Making a delectable vegan cake or bread at home isn’t as hard as it sounds. With the popularization of egg-free substitutes and soy-, rice- and almond-derived dairy substitutes, whipping up sweet treats can be a piece of cake.

 

An easy, yet unconventional substitute for eggs is silken tofu. Because it’s not seasoned with anything, the raw tofu won’t leave an aftertaste and blends into a smooth cream that’s easily stirred into any batter and mix. About a quarter cup of silken tofu is the equivalent of one egg, and it adds a fluffy texture to cakes and breads.

 

However, using tofu as an egg substitute doesn’t work out all the time. Unfortunately for me, I learned this the hard way when once trying to bake cookies in high school: the cookies turned out too dense to even pass as cookies.

 

In case you’re craving cookies, try this the next time you bake. For an occasion that calls for oatmeal cookies, flax seeds can sometimes save the day. When my mom experiments at home, she usually turns out good results by using one tablespoon of flax seeds and three tablespoons of water in place of one egg.

 

To give the flax seeds the texture of an egg white, finely grind the seeds into a powder. Then, slowly mix the water into the seeds until it forms a thick, syrupy mixture similar to an egg white, but a different color. The mixture lends a delicious nutty flavor when baked into whole-grain items, such as the cookies mentioned earlier.

 

Going milk-free in your baking ventures luckily requires little to no thought. Simply use rice, almond or soy milk instead of regular milk and the results will be just as good, if not better.

 

Substituting butter sounds difficult, but any light oil, such as canola or sunflower oil, works just as well and cuts down on unhealthy saturated fats.

 

Baking doesn’t have to be difficult. With a willingness to experiment and take a few risks, a struggle to satisfy a stubborn sweet tooth can turn into a culinary adventure filled with delicious surprises.

 

Recipe: Vegan Banana Ice Cream With a Vegan Chocolate Shell

This delicious ice cream is quick, easy and takes only a few ingredients to make!

Ingredients:

5 bananas (for the ice cream)

1 cup coconut oil

1 cup cocoa powder

3 tablespoons maple or agave syrup

1 pinch salt

1) Peel the bananas and cut them in half. Place in a tupperware container and freeze.

2) Once adequately frozen, place in the food processor (or blender). Blend. If the bananas are not completely blending, use a spatula to mix them, and then blend until uniform.

To make the vegan chocolate shell:

1) Place all ingredients in the food processor (or blender) and blend.

 

2) Pour on to ice cream. Watch the magic happen. Enjoy.