This batch makes about 9 smallish chokladbollar. It’s not very much, and I think we’ll have to double the recipe next time. We used a light vegan margarine, but I guess the commercially produced chokladbollar have coconut oil in them since they hold their shape in room temperature. I love the flavor of coffee in these, but it can be replaced with another liquid if desired – soy milk would be perfect, or maybe even a dash of some nice liqueur for extra decadence.

This is what we used:

• 50 g vegan margarine, in room temperature (about 2 tablespoons)
• 3/4 dl (muscovado) sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
• 2 tablespoons good cocoa powder
• 1 and 1/2 dl rolled oats (ground)
• 1 tablespoon coffee (we used espresso)
• about 1 dl desiccated coconut for rolling

First, we ground the oats in our mini food processor until they resembled a coarse flour. I haven’t seen this done in any other recipe, but I just think it’s much nicer this way – I like smoother texture without chewy oats. We also brewed a little bit of coffee in our smallest stove-top coffee maker and let it cool to room temperature.

We creamed together the sugar, vanilla sugar, cocoa powder, and margarine. Then we added the oats and the coffee, and mixed with our immersion blender until well combined. The dough can be mixed by hand just as well, but again, it wont be quite as smooth.

Now, we chilled the dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes – it’s too sticky to handle otherwise. Then we just rolled the dough into 9 more or less equal-sized balls, rolled the balls in the desiccated coconut, and chilled them for about 1 hour more.

I got this recipe from a friend, who had tried and liked the original non-vegan version. My filling has silken tofu and soy yogurt instead of eggs and cream, and I added some vanilla and rum extracts to compliment the coffee flavor. Our servings were decorated with a few shavings of my precious vegan white chocolate, a name day gift I got from Heikki on Sunday.

First, I set the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

Crust:

• 3 and 1/4 dl wheat flour
• 1 dl dark cocoa powder
• 1/2 dl granulated sugar
• 150 g vegan baking margarine
• 2 tablespoons cold water

I mixed everything together with my fingers, until a stiff dough appeared. I formed the dough in a ball shape, then wrapped it in plastic wrap, and refrigerated for an hour and a half.

Then I placed the dough on a lightly floured sheet of baking parchment, and rolled it in a circular form with a rolling pin, until it was a little larger than my pie dish. Now, I greased and floured my pie dish, and then placed the crust in the dish with the help of the baking parchment, removed the parchment, and leveled the sides along the upper rim of the dish.

I prebaked the crust in the lower part of the oven, preheated to 175 degrees Celsius, for 20 minutes. After baking the crust, I let it cool for about 10 minutes, while I was preparing the filling.

Filling:

• 350 g (1 package) silken tofu (we had Mori-Nu Firm)
• 1 dl plain soy yogurt
• 1 and 1/2 dl granulated sugar
• 1 and 1/2 dl very strong coffee (brewed with a Moka Express)
• 1/2 dl canola oil
• 2 tablespoons barley (or potato or corn) starch
• 1/2 teaspoon rum extract
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

To make the filling, I just mixed everything up with a hand held immersion mixer. It took about 5 minutes until the tofu had become completely smooth, and the sugar had melted. Now, I poured the filling in the prebaked crust, and baked the pie on the middle rack of the oven for about 20 minutes, until the filling had settled somewhat.

Topping:

• 100 g vegan chocolate

I shredded the chocolate and sprinkled it over the pie when it was still hot, so that the chocolate melted a little. Now I refrigerated the mocha pie for a few hours, and when chilled, the chocolate turned into a crunchy layer.

Here’s what I used:

Dry:

• 5 dl wheat flour

• 0,6 dl granulated sugar

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1-2 teaspoons vanilla sugar

• (pinch of turmeric)

Wet:

• 3 tablespoons canola oil

• 1/2 dl plain soy yogurt

• 0,7 dl sweetened apple sauce

• 2 dl oat cream (or soy milk)

• 3 tablespoons Grand Marnier (or other citrus liqueur)

• (1 teaspoon rum extract)

And:

• 2 dl frozen raspberries

Topping:

• 2 tablespoons wheat flour

• 1,5 tablespoons granulated sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom

• 1 tablespoon margarine

• 1,2 dl chopped cashew nuts

To prepare the pan:

• margarine and semolina

While making the batter, I preheated the oven to 175 degrees celsius. Before starting I also greased a round baking pan with margarine and sprinkled it with semolina to prevent sticking.

First, I mixed the topping ingredients in a small bowl with my fingers until a crumbly texture resulted.

Then I prepared the batter, by mixing the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry in another. I added some turmeric for a yellower color. Then I poured the wet in dry, and mixed a little until smooth. This batter was not as liquid as some cake batters are. Finally, I folded in frozen raspberries, mixing just lightly to prevent them from staining the whole batter.

Before baking, I poured the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkled the topping over it. I baked the cake at 175 for 40 minutes, when a toothpick came out clean, and the topping had browned.

I let the cake cool for 10 minutes by the window, while the coffee was brewing. And then we ate almost half of the cake.

This not very sweet muffin recipe was inspired by Mocha Chip Muffins from Post Punk Kitchen. I decreased the amount of oil to one third and replaced a few things, and this is what I ended up using:

Dry things:

• 2,5 dl wheat flour

• 1,2 dl spelt flour

• 1 dl raw cane sugar

• 1/2 dl dark cocoa powder
  

• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  

• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  

• 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar

• 2 teaspoons egg replacer powder, or corn starch

Wet things:

• 2 1/2 dl soy milk

• 1/2 dl cold espresso coffee

• 0,4 dl canola oil

• 2 tablespoons apple sauce

• 3 tablespoons plain soy yogurt

Also needed:

• 2 dl dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
  

• semolina and margarine for coating the muffin pan

First I set the oven to 200 degrees celsius in order to warm it up while I made the batter.

I sifted the dry ingredients in a big bowl and mixed them together. In a seperate bowl, I whisked together all the wet ingredients until smooth. Then I poured wet into dry and combined until the batter was smooth, and folded in crushed chocolate.

I prepared the muffin tins by coating them with margarine and whisking semolina around them, to prevent the muffins from sticking to the pan:

There’s just enough batter to fill muffin tins almost completely. After 20 minutes in the oven my muffins were baked, and a toothpick I inserted into the center came out clean.

After letting the muffins cool in the tin for about 5 minutes, I turned the tin upside down and let them fall out, no sticking whatsoever:

These muffins are moist and chocolaty, and the coffee taste is relatively subtle. Espresso does give a certain bitterness, and for a milder flavor, using instant coffee could be better. For a sweeter treat, I would also add more sugar.

Here, the melty chocolate chunks inside a muffin:

To get the same effect next day, I would warm leftover muffins a little bit before eating, rather than having them straight from the fridge.