I got my favourite pistachio butter today and prepared something I had wished for a long time – my version of Dubai Chocolate.

For 390g-400g of chocolate or 6 bars of 65g, respectively 2 bars of 200g, I used:

100g 40% milk chocolate

100g 65% dark chocolate

1 teaspoon of coconut oil

6 spoonfuls of kataifi

6 teaspoonfuls of pistachio butter

Wash and dry your silicone mould (it is easy to buy, you will see).

Melt the milk and dark chocolate on a steam bath; finally, add the coconut oil and mix.

I was lucky to find ready-made (and roasted!) kataifi in Albania. Sprinkle the kataifi over the first layer of chocolate added to the mould.

Add the pistachio butter over the kataifi, spreading it carefully.

Pour the remaining chocolate over each bar-to-be, levelling everything.

You don't need to wait for too long. Marcel kept checking the chocolate in the fridge. It took about one hour to harden.

The result thrilled us!

Here we are again undergoing our detox. This porridge helps with hunger, while it is also perfect for breakfast.

For 2 portions:

120g amaranth

360ml water

a pinch of sea salt

1 tbsp of coconut oil

2 fistfuls of blueberries

+honey or agave syrup

How to make it?

Boil the amaranth until it soaks up all the water.

At the end, add the sea salt and the coconut oil, then the blueberries (even frozen) and stir.

Let it cool, then pour honey or agave syrup over it.

You’ll find it so filling!

These 25 days of detox were some of the roughest I've ever lived! There was good in them, too! I discovered lucuma! So, here's a simple recipe

for about 18 lucuma chocolates--

40g coconut oil

10g cocoa powder

40g lucuma powder

4 tbsp of date sugar

Mix all the ingredients in the order listed above.

Pour the mix into the chocolate moulds.

Keep in the freezer for about 1 hour.

Munch.

I had some almond flour left (bought for this cake). I had forgotten how sticky the almond flour batter is!

The ingredients?

2 eggs

65g almond flour

30g tapioca powder

3g baking powder

salt

a banana

+1 teaspoon of coconut oil

+some honey, some ground walnuts

for 4 pancakes (Φ 14 cm)

Mix the eggs, the almond flour, the tapioca powder, the baking powder, and the salt. Add the banana that you mashed.

Fry them in a teaspoon of coconut oil. They are ready when you see bubbles form in the batter.

To end in glory, serve them with honey and ground walnuts.

Honestly, they were even tastier than I expected them to be! That’s why they’re on this blog! J

If I were to link bananas and berries for a cake, I’d choose raspberries. Here’s why, for a vegan banana pound cake, we’ll need—

2 bananas

3 tbsp plant-based butter (e.g. peanut butter)

60ml coconut milk

35g coconut oil

120g flour

4g baking powder

60g dates

15g walnuts

90g raspberries

How to bake it?

Mash the bananas using a fork. Add the plant-based butter, the coconut milk, and the coconut oil.

Slowly mix in the flour and the baking powder. Clean the dates and walnuts and cut (break) them into pieces.

Add the raspberries last because they're so fragile – either fresh or defrosted. Moreover, they tend to fall to the bottom of the bakes. The pound cake will also deflate when you remove it from the oven.

First of all, though, you should bake it: 35 minutes in the preheated oven, at 180⁰C, in a pound cake baking pan.

It’s delicious and perfect for breakfast!

Mould: 34 x 24 cm | 12 bars

What to do when your diet has been gluten-free for a while and you’ve got too many rice cakes?

Make a dessert.

You will need—

340g vegan chocolate

2 large tbsp of coconut oil

100g hazelnut+date butter

5 rice cakes 

40g coconut chips

Melt the chocolate in a steam bath, mixing in the coconut oil. 

After removing the pan from heat, add the vegetable butter and the rice cakes broken into pieces. In the end, also add the coconut chips.

Spread the mix into the pan lined with baking parchment. Then, leave it in the fridge for one hour.

The chocolate won’t be tempered, but the result will be finger-licking good!

The crust

100g buckwheat flour

50g tapioca flour

a pinch of salt

50g water

1 large tbsp flax seeds

1 tbsp vinegar

50g coconut oil

25g agave syrup

The filling

150g coconut milk

200g vegan chocolate chips

2 tbsp cornstarch

200g berries (blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries)

+coconut oil and tapioca flour -> your baking pan

This recipe’s great after the Holidays. Do you know why? Because you’ve had enough of everything. And because the hard-working people surely have berries left in their freezers (some living in the Southern Hemisphere even have fresh berries!).

You can use this recipe for the tart crust.

Bake it separately, in the preheated oven, at 170°C, for 15 minutes (use baking beans if you have them).

While the tart crust is cooling, make the filling.

Mix the coconut milk, the vegan chocolate chips, and the cornstarch in a pan and place it on medium heat. Let it boil. After it cools, fill the tart crust and place the berries on top.

Savour it!

100g buckwheat flour

50g tapioca flour

a pinch of salt

50g water

1 large tbsp of flax seeds

1 tbsp of vinegar

50g coconut oil

25g agave syrup

+coconut oil and tapioca flour -> your baking pan

Here’s another easy tart crust recipe... and you can bake it right away. It’s a match for chocolate (you’ll see).  

In a bowl, mix the flour types and the salt. Separately, mix the wet ingredients – the coconut oil, the flax seeds left for a few minutes in the water, the vinegar, and the agave syrup. Then, pour the wet ingredients onto the dry ones.

When you reach a nice consistency, start kneading until you get a soft and wet ball of dough. 

Using a silicone mould (which doesn’t need greasing) or one of another type (either round or square) – which must be greased though –, spread the dough onto its bottom and its sides.

Makes 17-18 cookies

1 tbsp flaxseeds

3 tbsp water

1 tbsp agave syrup

1 tbsp coconut oil

a drop of vanilla extract

1 banana

75g peanut butter

100g gluten-free flakes

5g baking powder

I had a banana and some peanut butter left. ‘Some cookies would be nice’ I told myself. To be honest, I was craving cookies.

Mix the flaxseeds with the water, by adding the agave syrup, the coconut oil, and the vanilla extract. Mash the banana and mix in the peanut butter and the gluten-free flakes. Sprinkle the baking powder at the end.

The batter was moist, but I could easily shape it into cookies, placing them into a large baking pan lined with baking parchment. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, at 160⁰C.

They didn’t last for long. :D

 I will start a mini-series of suggestions for dessert making. It is based on my experiences and I hope you enjoy it and find it useful.

1. Leave the eggs get to room temperature before using them. This way, you will be able to beat them stiff for meringues and creams and mix them more easily into éclair or profiterole batter.

2. Coffee brings out the flavour of chocolate. Add a teaspoon of ground coffee to desserts rich in chocolate.

3. For any recipe that requires baking, keep in mind a ±20°C margin. Test your oven well!

4. Use butter instead of sunflower oil [the 1:1 ratio works just fine]. Even in non-vegan recipes, I like using coconut oil. It’s my favourite oil. 

5. To beat the whipping cream stiff, cool the bowl and/or the mixer blades that you are using in the freezer.

6. Semolina makes the filling stiff. For instance, if you decide to bake a cassata al forno (its filling resembles the one used for the cassata in the picture), make sure to add some tablespoons of semolina to the ricotta filling.  

7. For extra-crunchy bakes, oil or butter your baking pan; for extra-fluffy bakes, sprinkle semolina onto the baking pan. 

8. When you’re preparing your puff pastry dough by adding eggs one at a time, use a mixer. It will turn out fluffier.

The crust

100g buckwheat flour

50g tapioca flour

a pinch of salt

3 tbsp of water

1 tbsp of flax seeds

1 tbsp of vinegar

30g coconut oil

30ml almond milk

20g agave syrup

The filling

3 rhubarb stalks (+3 tbsp agave syrup)

5 big strawberries

400ml almond milk

vanilla extract

20g agave syrup

25g cornstarch

+coconut oil and tapioca flour -> your baking pan

When May arrives, it’s all about rhubarb and strawberries to me.

So, I decided to bake this vegan tart using them as ingredients.

You can use this recipe for the tart crust.

Bake it separately, in the preheated oven, at 170°C, for 15 minutes.

While the tart crust is cooling, clean the rhubarb and the strawberries and cut them into pieces, then make the filling.

Pour agave syrup over the rhubarb pieces and let them sit for 10 minutes.

Mix the almond milk, vanilla extract, agave syrup, and cornstarch in a pan and place it on medium heat. Let it boil. After it cools, fill the tart crust and place the rhubarb and strawberry pieces on top.

100g buckwheat flour

50g tapioca flour

a pinch of salt

3 tbsp of water

1 tbsp of flax seeds

1 tbsp of vinegar

30g coconut oil

30ml almond milk

+coconut oil and tapioca flour -> your baking pan

It’s warm outside, so I started baking tarts. This year, they are vegan.

This is an easy tart crust recipe. Plus, you can bake it right away.

In a bowl, mix the flour and salt. Separately, mix the wet ingredients – the coconut oil, the almond milk, the flax seeds left for a few minutes in water, the vinegar, and the agave syrup. Pour the wet ingredients onto the dry ones.

When a nice consistency is reached, start to knead until you get a soft and wet ball of dough. 

Using a silicone mould (which doesn’t need greasing) or one of another type (either round or square) – which must be greased though –, spread the dough onto its bottom and sides.

There are so many desserts in store for you!