Photo by Clare Winfield
I am always up for a spot of vegan baking! And if that sounds odd, given my omnivore status, I have to tell you that I find the challenge of it quite the creative spur. And besides, it’s more often the case than not that someone around my table is indeed vegan, and I want to make a cake or dessert that everyone can enjoy equally. I have said before that it’s not good enough for me that something could be declared “good for vegan”: I want it to taste gorgeous in and of itself. And if you feel likewise, I must point you in the direction of Freya Cox’s Simply Vegan Baking. The subtitle promises that the book takes “the faff out of vegan cakes, cookies, breads and desserts” and that is exactly what it does.
It’s also rather charmingly old-fashioned, with its recipes for Victoria Sponge, Black Forest Gateau, Chocolate Orange Battenberg, Brandy Snaps, Yorkshire Rascals and Fondant Fancies. There are some showstoppers as well, and such is the beauty of her Gluten-Free Lemon and Passion Fruit Cake with Rum Drizzle, which you can see here, I was very tempted to share it with you today. But in the end I plumped for the Triple Chocolate Cookies, which were a huge success when I made them (although I must confess that mine weren’t actually triple chocolate: I couldn’t find the vegan white chocolate, so doubled up on the dark) and I knew I had to bring them to the party!
Photo by Clare Winfield
Simply Vegan Baking: Taking the faff out of vegan cakes, cookies, breads and desserts by Freya Cox (Murdoch Books, £18.99). Photography by Clare Winfield.
