World Vegan Day: Chocolate recipes

Philip Hochuli is a rising star in the vegan cooking world, and these recipies are sure to satisfy the cravings of vegan chocoholics. Delicious desserts and quick snacks can be easily made; from chocolate yoghurt to chocolate-orange tarts.

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Makes 1 jar​

200ml coconut milk
150g sugar
1 dash lemon juice
100g vegan dark chocolate (45–55 per cent cocoa solids)

The sauce tastes good on pancakes, cakes, muffins, bread, or just on a spoon. Combine 100 ml of coconut milk with the sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to the boil over a high heat. Slightly reduce the heat while keeping at a vigorous boil, and stir constantly with a whisk until the colour changes from white to light brown (this should take about 5 minutes). Be very careful because this change is very sudden. When hardly any more bubbles come up, this is a sign that it is almost ready.

Then continue to cook until the caramel turns a deep golden colour. If you remove the caramel from the heat too soon, it will be too light and its flavour won’t be very intense, but you don’t want it to cook for too long and become too dark. Now add the rest of the coconut milk, return the saucepan to the heat and stir the sauce constantly for 2 minutes until smooth. Pour the sauce into a jar, leave to cool, and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Finely chop or grate the chocolate, fold into the sauce and return it to the refrigerator. Stir briefly before each use. Making caramel takes a little practice, so don’t despair if it isn’t perfect the first time.

For the tart base

175g pitted dates, as soft as possible (pitted weight) 
150g ground almonds
50g ground hazelnuts
75g refined coconut oil, melted

For the caramel filling

220g pitted soft Medjool dates or other soft dates (pitted weight) 
⅓ tsp sea salt
1 heaped tbsp concentrated pear juice or maple syrup

For the chocolate cream

40g lightly defatted cocoa powder
75g refined coconut oil, melted
1 tbsp concentrated pear juice or maple syrup
30ml agave syrup or 25g sifted icing sugar
2 untreated oranges for grated zest and juice (total 200ml)
25g white almond butter

This tart is a real treat. It needs to be kept in the freezer and should be taken out shortly before serving to allow it to thaw a little. The chocolate literally melts in the mouth, a dream for everybody who – like myself – loves the combination of chocolate and orange. Line the spring-form cake tin with baking parchment. Finely chop the dates for the base. Mix with the ground almonds, hazelnuts, 1½ tablespoons of water and the melted coconut oil. Knead vigorously to obtain a dough. Spread the dough evenly over the bottom of the prepared cake tin and press firmly to leave a 1cm border around the sides. For the caramel filling, combine the dates with 250ml of water, the salt and concentrated pear syrup in a deep container, and blend with a hand-held blender until you have a smooth cream without any lumps. Spread the cream over the tart base. Place in the freezer for at least 1 hour.

In the meantime, make the chocolate cream. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and blend well. After the caramel layer has frozen, take the tart base out of the freezer and spread the chocolate cream over it. Return the tart to the freezer for at least another 2 hours.

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Makes 600g

125g vegan dark chocolate (45–55 per cent cocoa solids)
120ml soya milk
400g soya yoghurt, unsweetened 
1 tsp sugar
⅔ tsp vanilla sugar
1 tsp lightly defatted cocoa powder

My favourite yoghurt has always been the chocolate-flavoured variety. But unfortunately, there are no satisfactory vegan alternatives available to buy. This recipe allows you to make your own chocolate yoghurt, and it leaves all other shop-bought versions in the shade. You can also use sweetened yoghurt as the base for this recipe, as some supermarkets only offer this. In this case, simply leave out the additional sugar in the recipe. For the quick and easy version, combine the chocolate and soya milk in a saucepan and heat while stirring constantly, until the chocolate is completely melted.

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Combine with the other ingredients in a bowl and mix well (preferably with a whisk) and leave to cool completely. Store in the refrigerator. This yoghurt can keep in the refrigerator for 1–2 weeks. For the deluxe version, combine the chocolate and soya milk in a saucepan and heat while stirring constantly, until the chocolate is completely melted.

Put 3 tablespoons of the chocolate mixture in a bowl and add the yoghurt, sugar and vanilla sugar. Mix briskly and thoroughly (preferably with a whisk) until smooth.

Combine 2 tablespoons of the yoghurt mixture and cocoa powder with the remaining 3 tablespoons of melted chocolate in a saucepan and mix to obtain a dark cream. Pour the dark cream into the bottom of two or three glasses, then use a spoon to cover it with the lighter yoghurt cream. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Recipe’s from ‘Vegan Chocoholic: Cakes, Biscuits, Pies, Desserts and Quick Sweet Snacks’ by Philip Hochuli (Grub Street, £15.99)