There's no need to resort to fruit, fruit and more fruit for vegan desserts. There is much else, and you can simply convert all the recipes you already use with a little imagination and basic knowledge.

Also remember in the UK, France, Spain and many other countries, vanilla soya dessert abounds which doubles as dairy-free custard; and dairy-free cream and yoghurt are also in plentiful supply.

The Now and Zen Almond Shortcrust Pastry

Make the pastry dough in advance and chill it for several hours before you roll it.

If you don't have almonds, try another nut like pecans or cashews, and maybe some sesame seeds, finely ground.

Yield: 1 crust (8 servings)

• ingredients: 85g (3/4 cup) wholemeal flour, 150g (3/4 cup) blanched almond meal or powder (this should be very fine), pinch of salt, 6 tablespoons vegan margarine (chilled and cut into little cubes). 1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup or other sweetener, 1 tablespoon vanilla essence, 2 tablespoons water
• Combine the flour, almond meal, and salt in a bowl.
• With a pastry cutter or mixer on low speed, cut in the margarine until it resembles coarse meal.
• Mix in the sweetener and the brandy to hold it all together.
• Chill several hours or overnight before rolling out, or you will have a sticky mess.
• Preheat the oven to 175C / 350F.
• After rolling out the pastry, place in a lightly oiled tin.
• Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, and allow to cool before filling with pastry cream, custard, fresh fruit, or other filling of your choice (see strawberry almond tart recipe).

Photo: way opening of flickr The Now and Zen Fresh Strawberry Almond Tart

We discovered this fabulous recipe through the photo of it at flickr.com by way opening. Thanks! It makes me want to get hold of a copy of "The Now and Zen Epicure Cookbook," by Miyoko Nishimoto Schinner too, as this recipe originates from there.

If you don't have strawberries, try kiwi or another pretty fruit.

Original recipe to come, hopefully, but we've guessed here what you do with the ingredients for the time being!

Yield : 8 small tarts or one large one

• ingredients for filling: 1 cup blanched almonds or almond meal, 1/2 to 3/4 cup water (use more water with whole, blanched almonds than almond meal), 3 to 5 tablespoons fruit juice concentrate, syrup or sugar, 1 tablespoon vanilla essence, 2 tablespoons water and several drops lemon juice 3 tablespoons arrowroot or cornstarch, several tablespoons soymilk
• ingredients for topping: 4 1/2 cups fresh strawberries or other fruit, 3 to 4 more tablespoons sweetener
• pastry case: 1 recipe almond pastry (see above), prebaked, or whole wheat pie crust
• Heat up the filling liquids & arrowroot/cornstarch, mixing continuously until thickening, then add the ground almonds.
• Spread evenly in the flan case.
• Arrange the fruit on top and cover with surup sweetener (or you could use a veggie jelly).
• Chill.

home made soya cream

You can get soya cream in all the big supermarkets in France, the UK and many other countries. You can also try making your own, which is delicious and versatile:

• ingredients: 1 cup warm (not boiled) sweetened soya milk, 1 cup sunflower oil, juice of 1/2 lemon, sugar or apple juice, a drop or two of vanilla essence
• Blend first three ingredients together thoroughly with a hand blender (not a liquidiser). This is Tony's creamy sauce 1 (from the sides and sauces page) which you may have already made a stock quantity of.
• Add sugar/juice and vanilla and blend to taste.
• Keep in fridge until needed. Goes with almost any dessert and acts as a base for many more.

chocolate mousse

This is another Tony Bishop-Weston recipe, derived from the same stem as the above recipe for soya cream. It is completely delicious and so easy to make.

• ingredients: 1 cup/mug warm (not boiled) sweetened soya milk, 1 cup sunflower oil, juice of 1/2 lemon, 1-2 large bars of dairy-free bitter dark chocolate (such as Lindt Excellence or Green & Black's)
• Blend first three ingredients together thoroughly with a hand blender (not a liquidiser).
• Melt the chocolate either in the microwave or by steaming it in a bowl over some boiling water in a pan. Stir occassionally to melt evenly, and remove from heat as soon as the last bit of chocolate melts.
• Blend the creamy mixture & chocolate thoroughly.
• Pour into ramekins or wine goblets and chill for a few hours
• The more chocolate you put in the richer and more solid will be the mousse.

coconut cream pie

Beautifully simple. Makes enough for about 6 people. Comes from Leah Leneman's excellent book "Easy Vegan Cooking", which if you can get hold of it is a must have.

• ingredients: 1 carton vanilla soya dessert (custard), 85g/3oz/1 cup dessicated (shredded) coconut, 1 pre-baked flan base
• heat vanilla dessert gently to boiling point. Simmer for a few mins, the remove from heat and stir in the coconut.
• Leave mix to cool for a few mins, the pour into flan case and refridgerate until ready to serve.
• Serve with soya cream.

Make the pastry yourself to make it extra tasty and to save hunting for elusive ready-made vegan pastry. Mix flour (and ground nuts if dessired) with about half that volume of vegan marg. Rub into fine crumb texture. Slowly add cold water mixing in thouroughly with hands, until dough-like, but not too sticky. Keep in fridge until needed. Roll out on floured surface, fit to flan case, prick and part-bake at about 180C intil crispy but not browned (15-20mins).

dairy-free creme brulee

• ingredients: 1 pack silken plain tofu, 1 carton soya cream, sweetened soya milk, optional handful of dessicated coconut, juice of 1/2 lemon, sprinkling of sugar, fresh, defrosted or tinned fruit
• blend all except fruit and sugar to a pourable creamy consistency
• cover base of an oven-proof dish with fruit (e.g. black currents, peaches, or raspberries)
• pour creamy mixture over the top and sprinkle with sugar
• bake in oven at 180*C until lightly browned on top

James' vegan bagette pudding

This was invented by James at Ski Beat's chalet Marmotton in Feb 2006. His partner, Sammy, said she much preferred it to the non-vegan version and loved it.

• ingredients: dried fruit (eg dates & sultanas), dry baguette, vanilla soya dessert (eg Bjorg), soya milk, vanilla essence, brown sugar.
• fill bottom of ramekins with dried fruit
• place slice of dry baguette over fruit mix
• whip soya desserts with soya milk and vanilla essence, then heat but do not boil. Pour over the baguette just before baking
• sprinkle with brown sugar
• bake in oven in bain marie until very lightly browned on top

James' banana tart

Another invention of James at Ski Beat's chalet Marmotton in Feb 2006. Wonderful pastry, which he used again when making vegan pear and almond tart.

• ingredients: pastry: flour, ground almonds, marg, water. Filling: sliced bananas and brown sugar.
• rub marg into flour & almond mix, then slowly add cold water until you have a mass of pastry which is not sticky (add more flour if goes too sticky).
• roll our and line a flan case, and pre-bake in oven, 180C until crisp.
• fill with sliced banana and spinkle with brown sugar
• bake in oven at 180C until bananas soft and brown
• serve with soya cream or vanilla custard/dessert

hot banana & chocolate wraps

• ingredients: per person: 1 plain tortilla wrap, 1 peeled banana, chunks of vegan chocolate (e.g. Lindt Excellence - ask your guests to locate a locally available brand if you are unsure), optional drops of liqueur
• place whole or sliced banana in wrap with chocolate chunks, roll/fold up and place on baking tray
• bake in a medium oven until chocolate melts, banana softens and before wrap browns heavily.
• serve warm with soya cream or ice cream

Ronny's yummy ridiculously simple cheesecake

This comes from the Cake Scoffer, another great set of recipes to have and excellent value.

• ingredients: 200g plain silken tofu, 750ml vegan ice cream (e.g. Swedish Glace), 250g dairy-free digestive biscuits (get your vegans to buy some at the supermarket if you have doubts), big knob of vegan margarine
• crush/crumble/grind biscuits
• melt marg in a pan and mix biscuit crumbs in until coated evenly, adding more marg if necessary
• press mixture into an oven-proof flan type dish. Allow to cool & set. When set preheat oven to gas 5 (190C)
• blend ice cream and tofu. Pour onto biscuit base, then bake for about 30 mins until top starts to brown
• experimental tip: vanilla vegan yoghurt or soya cream and vanilla essence might work if you can't get vegan ice cream

the mmm... lemon cheesecake

This comes from the Vegan Cake Book, another great set of recipes to have.

• base ingredients: 340g dairy-free digestive biscuits (get your vegans to buy some at the supermarket if you have doubts), 75g vegan margarine
• top ingredients: 3 lemons - zest & juice, 430g firm silken tofu, 95ml soya milk, 95 ml sunflower oil, 95g soft brown sugar, 2 Tbsp vanilla essence

1. Preheat oven to gas 3 / 160C / 325F and grease & line a loose bottomed 20cm / 8" cake tin with grease proof paper and vegan marg.
2. Crush/crumble/grind biscuits
3. Melt marg gently in a pan and mix biscuit crumbs in well
4. Press mixture into cake tin.
5. finely grate the lemon rinds and put into a blender along with the squeezed lemon juice.
6. Add all the other ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy.
7. Pour onto biscuit base, smooth the top and place in the oven for 1 hour until a rich golden brown on top.
8. Allow to cool, then chill thoroughly before attempting to remove from the tin.

fruit crumble

• ingredients: flour (and optionally oat flakes, sesame seeds, etc), marg, tablespoon of sugar; lightly stewed fruit (such as apples, soft fruit, peaches, apricots, etc)
• mix all crumble ingredients together with fingers until from a crumbly mixture.
• Spread on top of fruit in deep baking dish and bake in moderate oven for 20-30 minutes, until bubbling and lightly browned
• serve with soya cream or vanilla soya dessert

peach and almond dessert

Wonderful with fresh peaches, but could potentially work with tinned ones in juice. Make sure the almonds are good quality and new.

• Ingredients (do multiples of this - serves about 4): 5 peaches/nectarines (or 1 large tin) chopped small, handful of almonds, handful of raisins, handful of coconut (dessicated), pineapple juice (or apple/mango), soya milk
• cook up peaches in a bit of juice until soft (or use tinned ones, drained).
• Meanwhile, blend almonds, raisins, coconut in a bender/food processor with enough soya milk to cover them. Add cooked peaches and blend.
• Serve immediately (warm) in small glasses/dishes with soya cream.

strudel

• ingredients: filo pastry, olive oil, filling
• make filling such as:
• spiced stewed apple and raisin
• banana and Lindt Excellence chocolate
• peach and blanched almonds
• blended silken tofu, vanilla essence & lemon juice, mixed with dried fruit
• layer filo pastry painting each layer with olive oil
• when you have enough layers (at least 4), lay the filling along one edge and roll up, optionally folding in the ends
• paint with olive oil and bake in a moderate oven

pancakes

Use for sweet or savoury dishes.

• ingredients: 115g flour (pref wholemeal), 55g soya/chickpea/gram flour (if you don't have this use a little more wholemeal flour and 1 more tsp oil), 250ml soya milk, 2 tsp vegetable oil
• Sieve the flours into a bowl. Gradually whisk in the soya milk to make a smooth sauce. Add the oil.
• Place in fridge for 30 minutes
• Drop 1-3 tbs of the mixture into a frying pan containing hot oil. When one side is cooked, flip over and cook the other side.
• Remove from pan and serve with sugar and lemon juice.
• Other fillings include: fruit salad, maple syrup, chocolate sauce, soya cream, soya ice cream, stir fry vegetables drizzled with a peanut sauce, cream cheeze and herbs, tofu and leeks.

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Recipe Listings

Recipes are listed under breakfast ideas, starters, mains, sides and sauces, desserts and cakes. However, ideas can be mixed around between courses. More recipes will be added to each section as time goes on.

• Vegetarian Breakfast Ideas
• Recipes: Cakes and Biscuits
• Recipes: Starters and Snacks
• Recipes: Main Dishes
• Recipes: Sides and Sauces
• Recipes: Desserts