veganism seems to be the new black. When you look around, everything and everybody is vegan. Your friend is a vegan, your cousin is a vegan, the coffeeshop you love sells vegan bagels and muffins... But you are asking yourself, is it all worth the hype? Or is it just another way to express how cool and hipster everybody is and in a few months its all gone? Regardless, if people are going vegan because of health benefits or to safe the planet, I was asking myself if it is possible to bake not only delicious but also easy cakes and pastries without the need of buying overly pricey ingredients that I have never ever heard of before.
There are pictures of vegan cheesecakes, vegan ice-cream sandwiches, vegan cookies and vegan chocolate truffles floating around all over instagram and pinterest. It always looks amazing and pretty appetizing and I've been dying to try and make something vegan myself.
My first thought was, baking without butter - ok - but baking without eggs? That could be difficult. But let me tell you, it is actually super easy! I browsed through the internet, reading several blogs and cookbooks at home trying to find ideas on how to develop an easy and delicious recipe. I wanted to make brownies because I think brownies are the essential of every baker. Every kid starts baking with making brownies, they're very easy to make and everybody loves them.
Then, a few days ago I finally got to make my first ever vegan brownies. My husband was really skeptical and so was I. But when I cut the cake in pieces, I already knew that it would be delicious and my first bite confirmed it. These brownies were actually super delicious, the consistency was super dense, almost creamy, moist and very rich in texture.
Regarding that these brownies are completely guilt-free, filled with energy and vitamins, there's only one word - marvellous!
I honestly didn't expect them to be this good, neither did I think that it would be so easy to make vegan baking a success but the cake was gone in one day. If you top it off with fresh berries and walnuts, maybe a scoop of vegan ice-cream...it'll blow your mind. And let me tell you, eat the cake when it is still a little bit warm, that's when it tastes best!
Ingredients:
150g spelt whole wheat flour
1 large sweet potato
1 ripe banana (very ripe)
4 tbs dark cocoa powder (unsweetened)
80 ml agave nectar (about 8 tbs, depending on how sweet you like it)
1 tbs brown almond butter
1 tbs virgin coconut oil
a pinch of salt and cinnamon
To garnish:
a handful of crushed walnuts and fresh berries
Preparation:
Start by cutting the sweet potato in chunks and steam them on the stove until they are really soft.
Put the sweet potato chunks in a mixing bowl, add the coconut oil and the agave nectar and mix it with a hand mixer until smooth. Then, add the banana and mix again until it is incorporated.
Now, continue by all the other ingredients and stir them in with a wooden spoon.
After that, you are now ready to pour the batter into a greased baking dish and bake in the preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes. Let it then cool for about 10-15 minutes before you can take it out of the baking dish and slice it.
"Violence begins with the fork." - Mahatma Gandhi -
