Cupcake from matches, zucchini muffins: vegan desserts from pastry chef Katerina Schastlivaya

Desserts can be great too! And Katerina Schastlivaya, a confectioner, co-author of the book “Bake Useful” and the owner of the confectionery studio “Schastlivaya”, knows this for sure. Katerina completed an internship at the Michelin-starred restaurant Le Meurice in Paris and studied with the best pastry chefs in the world. Especially for the readers of BeautyHack.ru, she compiled five interesting and easy-to-prepare recipes. Take your pick!

Cupcake from matches

Ingredients:

• 75 ml vegetable oil (coconut)
• 100 g coconut sugar
• Vanilla, salt
• 2 tsp cashew paste
• 1.5 tbsp. l baking powder
• 125 ml plant milk
• 125 g flour
• 20 g starch (tapioca or corn)
• 1 tbsp. l matches

Preparation

Everything is very easy! Mix all the ingredients (no match), adding each one evenly. Divide the resulting dough into two parts, in one of which add the match. Next – bake the cake in any form for 40 minutes at 180 degrees.

You can experiment and add cocoa or beetroot powder instead of matches.

Healthy sweets

Ingredients:

• 100 g raw cashews
• 50 ml almond milk (coconut or any other vegetable – to your taste)
• 50 g coconut flakes
• Stevia to taste (agave can be used)
• 20 dried almond nuts
• 20 g coconut flakes for sprinkling

Preparation

Soak raw cashews in drinking water for 3-4 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse the nuts. Grind the cashews in a blender, combining the nuts with milk to create a mass that resembles a delicate cream. Transfer the cream to a bowl, add the coconut flakes, stir well with a spoon. Roll 20 balls from the resulting mass, place an almond nut in each ball. Place the balls on parchment paper. Put in the refrigerator for a couple of hours (or in the freezer for 10-20 minutes). Done!

Vegan kurabie

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. l chia seeds
• 40 g water
• 200 g of boiled chickpeas
• ½ banana
• 40 g applesauce
• 35 g oat flour (almond flour can be used)
• 12 g dates (3-4 pcs)
• 4 tbsp. l Jerusalem artichoke syrup
• 70-100 g frozen berries (any, to taste)
• Nuts (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 190 degrees. Soak chia seeds in water until they form a jelly-like mass. Mix the remaining ingredients in a blender to knead the dough. At the very end, add chia seeds and berries, and stir the dough with a spatula. Having formed the cookies of the desired shape, put them on the parchment and place in the already preheated oven for 15 minutes (top-bottom mode). Then leave the cookies for another 15-20 minutes (on convection) to dry. After the specified time, remove the sheet from the oven and cool the cookies.

Zucchini muffins

Ingredients (for four muffins):

For cupcake

• 20 g vegetable oil
• 30 g coconut sugar
• 35 g coconut cream
• 1 tbsp. l ground flax
• 3 tbsp. l of water
• 100 g gluten-free mixture “Garnets”
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 50 g grated zucchini

For jam

• 80 g zucchini
• 20 g lemon juice
• 60 g orange juice (can be with slices)
• 15 g coconut sugar
• 10 g starch

Preparation

Grate and squeeze the zucchini. Optionally add cinnamon and nutmeg, vanilla and lemon zest to it. Combine the ground flaxseed and water, then add all the other ingredients (including the grated zucchini) and knead the dough. Bake muffins in tins at 160 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Let’s start making jam. Cut the zucchini into cubes, after removing the crust. Add lemon and orange juice to it. Put the resulting mixture on fire, and as soon as it boils, add sugar and starch. While stirring constantly, hold the mixture over low heat until it thickens.

Pour citrus fondant over the finished cupcake – a healthy dessert is ready!

Vegan cheesecake

Ingredients:

For the base

• 100 g lean cookies
• 5-7 pcs. dates
• Coconut oil

For filling (“cheese top”)

• ½ cup cashews
• 400 g heavy coconut cream
• 800 g tofu
• 1 tbsp. coconut sugar
• 2 tbsp. l. corn starch
• ¼ glasses of flour
• 1 tbsp. l. vanilla extract
• Lemon juice – to taste

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees. To make the base of the dessert, combine cookies and dates with a little coconut oil for the glue. From the resulting mass, make a base using a pastry ring or any shape you have at the moment. Place the base in the refrigerator.

Then move on to making the cheesecake. Pre-soaked cashews in water, grind in a blender together with coconut cream. Add tofu and lemon juice to the mixture, stir well with a blender again. Then add sugar and starch, beat thoroughly. Add flour and vanilla extract last. You should have a nice, even texture.

Remove the base of the cheesecake from the refrigerator. Transfer the whipped mass to it and use a spatula (flexible spatula) to flatten the top.

Place the dessert in a preheated oven. For cheesecake, it is important to create a steam bath effect, so place a baking sheet of water in the base (bottom) of the oven, and place a sheet of cheesecake over it. This will bake the dessert evenly. Baking time 1 hour, in the “top-bottom” mode.

You can use any jam, maple syrup, or fresh berries for decoration. Bon Appetit!