Holidays mean coming together with friends and family to celebrate very heartfelt social and spiritual rituals. The word “holiday” literally means “whole,” or nurturing the total body and spirit. And that’s just what holiday meals should do: nurture. Homemade holiday desserts made with vegan ingredients can be easy, decadent and healthy all at the same time. Vegan desserts are free of animal products; they support animal rights, the environment and our health. The following organic holiday sweets are even free of refined sugar!

So, you can have your cake and eat it too…when you make vegan desserts. Your whole family, vegan or not, can enjoy these recipes, created by some of the most talented and famous international vegan chefs, cookbook authors and TV personalities, including Sandy Pukel, Mark Hanna, Christina Pirello, Eric LeChasseur and Sanae Suzuki. Enjoy their natural and healthy versions of wonderful holiday favorites this season!

REALLY RICH CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE SAUCE
Sandy Pukel and Mark Hanna
Made without dairy, eggs or refined sugar, this vegan chocolate cake is dark, rich and delicious. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup soft silken tofu
1 cup maple syrup
1 tbs vanilla
1 1/2 cups soymilk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil and flour a 9-inch springform pan and set aside. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large mixing bowl. Place the oil, tofu, maple syrup, vanilla, soymilk and vinegar in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add to the flour mixture and stir until well mixed. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes before removing the sides of the pan. Cool completely before adding the sauce (see recipe on next page).

EASY CHOCOLATE SAUCE
This sauce makes Really Rich Chocolate Cake even richer. You can use it to top most cake varieties, too, and even as the “icing” on most frozen desserts. Yield: 1 1/4 cups.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup grain-sweetened chocolate chips
1/2 cup soymilk or rice milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS:
Add water to the bottom half of a double boiler and place the chocolate chips and soymilk in the top section. Bring the water to a boil and heat the chips, stirring often until melted. Add the vanilla extract and stir with a whisk until smooth. Cool slightly before using.

Recipes reprinted with permission from Grains and Greens on the Deep Blue Sea by Sandy Pukel and Mark Hanna, Square One Publishers, Garden City Park, NY, c. 2007.

COCONUT MACAROONS
Eric Lechasseur and Sanae Suzuki
This tasty little dessert is a perfect party food. Simple to make and oh, so good! Yield: about 36 cookies.

INGREDIENTS:
12 ozs shredded, dry coconut
1 tbs organic soymilk
2/3 cup rice syrup (10 tbs)

INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the soymilk and coconut. Add the rice syrup, and mix with a wooden spoon. Form triangles of 1/3 ounce each, or use a small ice cream scoop. Bake on a waxed paper lined baking sheet for 12 to 15 minutes. Allow the macaroons to cool before removing from sheet.

Recipe reprinted with permission from Love, Eric: Delicious Vegan Macrobiotic Desserts by Eric Lechasseur and Sanae Suzuki, www.LoveEricInc.com.

SHELIA’S LACY WAFERS
Christina Pirello
These wafers are a vegan twist on the yummy classic cookie sandwich. Yield: 30-40 filled cookies.

WAFER INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup avocado or light olive oil
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup uncooked quick rolled oats
1/4 cup very finely chopped almonds or walnut pieces
1/4 tsp pure vanilla or almond extract

CHOCOLATE FILLING INGREDIENTS:
1 cup non-dairy, grain-sweetened chocolate chips
2 tsp brown rice syrup
1/4 cup soymilk or almond milk

INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment. Place oil and rice syrup in a small saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring until loose. Remove from heat and transfer to a mixing bowl. Stir in flour until smooth. Fold in oats, nuts and extract, mixing well. Drop batter by ¼-teaspoonfuls onto lined sheet, allowing 2 inches in between to allow for spreading. Bake until golden brown, 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on sheet for 1 minute. Carefully peel cookies from parchment and set aside to cool.

Prepare the filling by placing chocolate chips in a heat-resistant bowl. Bring rice syrup and ‘milk’ to a rolling boil over high heat. Pour over chocolate and whisk until shiny and smooth.

Pair similar sized cookies to make wafers. Spread the flat side of one cookie with chocolate and press its partner flat side to chocolate, making a sandwich. Place on parchment to allow chocolate to set. Repeat with remaining cookies and chocolate.

Recipe reprinted with permission from Christina Cooks: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Whole Foods but Were Afraid to Ask by Christina Pirello, HP Books, New York, NY, c. 2004, www.christinacooks.com.

Jane Quincannon Stanchich is an author, macrobiotic counselor and cooking instructor who teaches internationally with her husband, Lino Stanchich, a noted natural health educator and macrobiotic teacher. The couple lives in Asheville, North Carolina, where they conduct seminars, write, counsel and organize community activities for health; visit www.createthehealthyouwant.com.

You can catch the chefs featured above, along with 30 other top teachers including Jane and Lino Stanchich, cooking first-hand at the Vegetarian Times sponsored Holistic Holiday at Sea, a seven-day natural-education cruise vacation on an eco-minded ship happening in March 2008.You can also take their on-board classes in natural and vegan foods cooking, or classes on topics like integrative medicine and yoga; visit www.atasteofhealth.org for more information, or call 1-800-496-0989.

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