Vegan party dessert ideas please

[Pepper Pig]

It’s Maddie’s 8th birthday this week and the family do is next Sunday. There will be 4 adult vegans and DD2 has asked me to make or buy a vegan dessert. One of the vegans is also GF. There will be around 20 people in all but I’m looking for something which will serve 8 as there will be other offerings. I don’t much want to buy specifically vegan ingredients which will be consigned to the cupboard until next year. Any thoughts at all other than fruit salad?

[Ameew]

Apple /any other kind of fruit crumble using non dairy spread and providing a vegan cream /ice cream /custard as appropriate .

Further on the apple route , most shop bought mincemeat is vegan now I believe so could apples with and bake .

[Seatallan]

I made this once when hosting a vegan friend and it came out rather well. It includes flour so you'd need to sub a GF version.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/easy-chocolate-tart

[scullion]

baked apples stuffed with your usual stuff.
the only extra you would need is vegan 'butter' (which doesn't taste at all bad) and custard (made with custard powder) made with soya milk rather than 'real' milk tastes ok, too.
there are plenty of good vegan ice creams on sale now which could be had with homemade hot chocolate sauce (very chocolatey custard).
jusrol gluten free pastry made into a treacle tart (filled with gf breadcrumbs or crushed gf cornflakes etc) and vegan ice cream.

[Pepper Pig]

How much dark chocolate is vegan? What would you substitute for flour in a crumble? Both good ideas but I need to be absolutely certain they are completely vegan and GF. I once got told off by one of my vegan pupils for offering him something with honey in.

ETA. I don’t really want to be transporting anything that needs cooking (and I can’t cook there). I love baked apples. Vegan ice cream is good too.

Thanks all.

[Stokey Sue]

It’s the GF I’d struggle with, I didn’t know just-rol made GF pastry, that sounds like a plan (remember you need to handle carefully as you can’t dust with flour). Waitrose seem to have another brand as well

I’d do something like this French apple tart maybe with vegan ice cream along these lines
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/french-apple-tart

The butter isn’t necessary, I’ve always baked a slightly lower temperature and brushed with the apricot glaze before baking.

[scullion]

How much dark chocolate is vegan?

quite a few of the dark chocolate bars are. green and blacks and lindt do one. best bet is to look at the ingredients list on the wrapper or for the vegan logo.

[Pepper Pig]

Thanks everybody. I’ll have a good look at the chocolate and the pastry. Mind you it might still end up being fruit salad . . .

[Earthmaiden]

An Australian friend sent me a recipe for Avocado Chocolate Pudding which was surprisingly delicious (think mousse).
I mislaid her recipe when my email failed years ago but there are many similar recipes online such as this: https://downshiftology.com/recipes/choc ... o-pudding/

The original recipe I had used coconut sugar but maple syrup works. Serve alongside a bowl of berries.

You just need to make sure that any cacao or cocoa powder you use is labelled GF.

Eta - Doves do quite a good GF flour.

[WWordsworth]

We did a pavlova using aquafaba for the meringue and a mixture of dairy free yoghurt and Violife cream "cheese" (only a bit) to support the berries.
It was really nice.

I agree with scully's comment on vegan butter.
I've only tried Flora but it's perfectly acceptable.

[Suffs]

Just as an idea I googled ‘vegan butterscotch dessert’ … there’s loads out there

[Smitch]

Vegan Elmlea is gluten free and you can but vegan meringue nests in M&S or from Ocado. Could add fruit for a sort of pavlova/ Eton mess type thing?

Alpro custard is gluten free too and tastes nice. You could make crumble with vegan butter and gf flour. Naturli and Lurpak plant are the nicest two butters but flora plant isn’t bad either

[Pepper Pig]

Thanks very much Smitch, EM, WW and Suffs.

[scullion]

Vegan Elmlea is gluten free

but it isn't very nice - unless they've changed the recipe in the last decade.
we were served it in a pavlova and none of us liked it.

[Badger's Mate]

I had to do puds at a barbecue in the summer where the hostess consumed neither gluten nor dairy. I did a fruit tart and friands using Flora ‘butter’ & Dove’s Farm GF flour. I was surprised how well they turned out. Obviously the friands wouldn’t work - I could use eggs, but the pastry was fine.

[Smitch]

Vegan Elmlea is gluten free

but it isn't very nice - unless they've changed the recipe in the last decade.
we were served it in a pavlova and none of us liked it.

The plant version hasn’t been out that long, I think it was released during lockdown. I quite like it but it doesn’t stay whipped for long. Could always buy a pot of dairy cream for the non-vegans

Coconut Collaborative do a thick cream too

[KeenCook]

Interesting to see your link to Downshiftology, EM, my NY friend has bought me her book and it will be making its way to me via one of DS1's friends on their next trip to London!

[Earthmaiden]

What a coincidence! I selected it because the recipe resembled the one I wanted rather than having heard of Downshiftology. I shall investigate further now. I hope you enjoy your book.

[KeenCook]

I'll report back, EM, when I actually get it!!