If you are a vegan or you know a vegan, then you have an idea of how tough food choices can be. Luckily major grocers and restaurants are realizing this and vegan products and labeling have begun to hit store shelves. Certainly not to the point they should be, but it is a start.
Vegan desserts are almost a taboo subject though. The absence of milk, cream, eggs and cheese seem to be a hard pill to swallow. You have choices though! There are some great vegan dessert recipes available. Using the tips below you can even create your own.
If you are trying to create the next great vegan dessert then hopefully the following tips will help you:
1. Fruits and Berries - Everyone loves fruits and berries. These are obviously vegan and are a great addition to just about any dessert. The key is to pick the freshest fruit and berries available. If you stick with local produce you can be assured of this.
Another great way to bring the flavor out of fruits and berries is to macerate them. You can easily do this by simply chopping up the fruit (berries can stay whole if they are small) and tossing them with sugar (more on sugar later). After that is done, cover and let them stand at room temp for half an hour. This will pull all the natural sweetness and liquid out of the berries. You will have almost a fruit compote you can top things with, or use as the main piece to a delicious vegan dessert recipe.
For a more mature note, you can add a splash of rum or fruit liquor before you toss the fruit with sugar.
2. Nutri-Whip - First...yes, it is vegan. Yummy! I think there has been some debate on this before but a quick call to their comments line and it was confirmed vegan. I think the confusion is due to it seeming like a cream product, when in reality it is vegetable oil based. The comment line told us that while they don't certify their product Vegan, there is in fact no animal products used to make it. What a great topping for your macerated fruit!
3. Sugar/Honey - The great debate! I wanted to add this as a tip because it is important. Let's start with sugar...is it vegan? Yes and no, but it is up to you to find out which. You have to contact the company who provides your sugar and ask if they use bone char in the process. If they do, then it is indeed not vegan. Luckily, most major producers of white sugar no longer use bone char. Redpath which is Canada's leading provider of sugar does not use bone char and it is readily available everywhere. So feel free to use sugar in your desserts. They can take your cream and eggs, but you can keep the sugar!
Honey is a different area altogether. Honey is after all made by bees, and bees are animals. It seems like a cut and dry issue, but many vegans will still use honey. There is great debate about it within the community. If you are cooking for vegans and don't know their stance, then you should avoid all uses of honey. Most times, good ol' sugar can be used instead. bone char free sugar that is!
These three pieces of information might not seem that significant, but just knowing these basic points makes life easier. If you are struggling with your vegan dessert recipes, then knowing the above points will help you make you vegan dessert recipes come to life.
