Fran Costigan's aim is to make vegan desserts with chocolate in such a way that they don't taste like substitutes, but can simply stand on their own in their delicious glory. That's why she doesn't use substitutes such as vegan cream, soya milk or even tofu in most of her recipes - and I think that's where her success lies. At least as far as I'm concerned. Fran Costigan uses many easily accessible ingredients such as olive oil, fruit vinegar or coconut milk for the individual delicacies. She emphasises the importance of fair-trade organic ingredients. In our well-stocked organic shop, we also get the other ingredients such as the different cocoa powders, agave syrup or vegan chocolate drops or (then again) the unavoidable silken tofu for the vegan cheesecake. After a very good introduction, including to the ingredients and the tools of the trade, the individual recipe chapters begin with chocolates, cakes, cookies and bars, pies and tarts, creams and mousses, frozen desserts, confectionery, drinks and master recipes. At first I couldn't imagine anything under the chapter heading "Showstopper"; these are particularly stunning recipe ideas that practically blow people's minds. Each chapter begins with a short introduction, followed by an extra recipe overview page with page references. This makes the book very clearly structured. Not only the cover, but the entire book is very beautiful, really appealing and designed in an aesthetic and appetising way that is appropriate to the content. However, this is not at the expense of the clarity, comprehensibility and comprehensibility of the recipes. We were therefore able to start trying out the first recipes relatively easily. As we like the flavour of coconut, the first recipe we tried was the chocolate and coconut cream cake (p. 108 - 110, without photo). The time-consuming endeavour was well worth it - no one would have guessed that this gem was purely vegan! Next, we wanted something smaller and quicker: Aztec truffles ( p. 61). They were easy to make and tasted great (with almond drink). Then we baked olive oil shortcrust pastry ( p. 162), which serves as the basis for autumn fruit tarts and tastes very good. And we made a delicious ice cream ( p. 218, chocolate ginger ice cream). The recipes vary, but apart from our first cake we have left out the complicated ideas, and we have not yet used strange ingredients such as chia seeds, which are used as a gelling agent and are explained on p. 18. So far. But we're staying on the ball, because.... As far as vegan desserts are concerned, this book is my absolute favourite, a really great book!

They are great recipes, I have already made 3 cakes and they have gone down well with the family! Will continue to try out n

I've wanted a book like this for a long time and didn't realise it existed! I was lucky to find it with Narayana. I have numerous books about chocolate that I want to get rid of now...only this book will remain because I am vegan and a chocolate fan.

a very good book, with lots of great recipes. chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is a very good food. unfortunately i had to send the book back as i had already received it as a gift some time ago.

It is impressive to see the deep dedication and passion with which the author the author is in her field.