Book Review

My Sweet Vegan: passionate about dessert
By Hannah Kaminsky
Review by Cathe Olson
If you have a sweet tooth, you're going to love this new cookbook by Hannah Kaminsky. With lavish photographs and mouth-watering recipes, this book is a treat for your eyes as well as your palate.

Nothing is plain and simple in Kaminsky's book. Tiramisu is dressed up with green tea syrup, chocolate cupcakes are spiced with wasabi paste, and shortbread is infused with coffee to give it an energizing zing. Even brownies, as if they weren't decadent enough, are topped with a cocoa crumb topping.

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If those desserts sound too fancy there are offerings to please the less adventurous eater. Whoopie pies are big chocolate cookies filled with a creamy white frosting, Nut Case Cookies are made with pistachios, almonds, and cashews, and the gooey Black Bottom Blondies are half brownie and half blondie bars.

When you want to really impress your guests, turn to the cake section. You'll find masterpieces like Bananas Foster Cake, Chai "Cheese" Cake, Decadent Almond Cake, and Marshmallow Mud Cake. There are lots of cupcakes too. How do Poppy Seed Cupcakes with Lemon Curd Filling or Pomegranate Ginger Cupcakes sound? And what child could resist the Self-Frosting Peanut Butter Cupcakes.

I particularly like the pie section. I don't know which one to make first, they all sound so good. There's the Autumn Harvest Pie stuffed with apples, cranberries, and walnuts; the ooey gooey Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie, Coconut Custard Pie, and a deep dark Mexican Chocolate Tart. Kaminsky even solves the pumpkin pie versus pecan pie dilemma by melding them together into a Pumpkin Pecan Pie topped with Pumpkin Crème.

Looking for a breakfast treat? How about Chocolate-Glazed Peanut Butter Scones, Golden Glazed Donuts, or Power Hungry Granola. And don't forget to spoil your valentine with Strawberry Love Muffins or Cherry Chocolate Truffles ? or both!

Although the book is vegan, the focus is not on "health food" or low fat. Many recipes contain confectionary sugar, corn syrup, white flour (though there are recipes that call for partial whole wheat), margarine and shortening. This is the book for when you want to indulge in the real thing.

I could go on and on to list all of the wonderful cookies, bars, rolls, puddings, and trifles but you'll just have to check out the book yourself. You'll be happy you did.

Buy My Sweet Vegan: passionate about dessert now!

Cathe is a freelance writer and the author of Simply Natural Baby Food: Easy Recipes for Delicious Meals Your Infant and Toddler Will LoveSimply Natural Baby Food and The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook: Whole Foods To Nourish Pregnant And Breastfeeding Women - And Their Families. She has studied vegetarian, macrobiotic, and whole foods nutrition and cookery. Cathe cooked at natural foods restaurants and delis in the San Francisco Bay and Central Coast areas of California before settling down with her husband Gary to raise a family. She works at home while caring for her daughters Aimie and Emily. Read Cathe's blog

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