hsapiens | Vegan Dessert Ideas?

I have a vegan on my giftlist this year and it has been a long time since I was vegan. From back in my days, I recall that it was a downer to have lots of festive food occasions around the holidays and not participate. I also recall that baking for vegans involved complex recipes, exotic ingredients, and never turned out very well. Has vegan baking gotten easier? I'd love to bake something special for her.

Anyone got any favored recipes? (I know I have at least one vegan on my f-list.) Suggestions for sites to visit for good recipes? I don't have a lot of time to experiment so I'm hoping to hit paydirt quickly. Any tips on making vegan baked goods? Extra points for chocolate desserts since she's a chocoholic.

I've thought of things like sugared nuts but I really wanted to go with something that seemed more...planned. Planned isn't exactly what I mean; it's hard to describe but if you've ever had a meal of piles of vegetables rather than a planned meal, you know that it's unsatisfying and gets old. I'm trying to make this something special.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I consider gelatin to be "not vegetarian" unless it specifically says, "non-animal gelatin" or "agar." :) That's a PITA when eating at family gatherings and something as innocuous as sour cream contains gelatin.

I figured you were savvy enough to get that, but wasn't positive. :)

I don't know that savvy enter into it. I'd been a vegetarian for maybe a couple of months when I was the beneficiary of my mother's cleaning out her cookbooks. One of the ones I got included detailed, lovingly illustrated instructions on how to make gelatin. That made a huge impression on me -- but it was luck that I found out. The discovery that most cheeses are not vegetarian due to rennet was an unpleasant surprise, too.

I don't make any exceptions on gelatin in my diet but I'll admit to not being strict on the cheeses when I eat out. The whole reason I gave up veganism was because it was impossible to eat with friends if they didn't want to go to A Moveable Feast. The social connection was just too important for me to let it go.

I'm right there with you on the cheese thing. I try so hard to buy as much rennet-free, organic cheese as I can. But it's hard to do that very strictly.

My theory on all of this has always been that any step I take toward having a lower impact on the Earth and causing less harm to animals is a good thing. And if I'm not perfect, I can live with that.

It's very hard to do so strictly. I've found that if I can't meet my personal dietary preferences, then falling back on my liberal sensitivites helps me cope. Kraft told the American Family Association to go stick it when they threatened to boycott them for supporting the Gay Olympics. I might not be a fan of ginormous corporations, I might not be a fan of rennet-laden cheese, but I can at least take comfort from supporting a gay-friendly business.

So, yeah, I'm learning to make peace with "not perfect."

Vegan Dessert Ideas?

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