Applying plant-based magic to French and American desserts

First Thoughts

• The first chapter is all about dessert for breakfast. Donuts, cinnamon rolls, banana tarte tatin French toast —yes, please!
• The author has a lot of courage and creativity to make plant-based buttercream, crème brûlée and clafoutis without butter, cream, milk or egg.
• Some of the recipe ingredients like xanthan gum, aquafaba, and agar agar make baking feel like you have a magical secret ingredient. Still, most recipes use common whole ingredients like soy milk and tofu without relying on specific commercialized vegan substitutes for non-vegan products.

The Review

‘Voila Vegan’ is inspired by Amanda Bankert’s Paris bakery, called Boneshaker. The cookbook refers to it as an American pâtisserie, but I think that is a stretch when they primarily serve American-style donuts and coffee. The marketing team should just embrace that she brought an American bakery to France, delivering donuts by bike with a baby in tow to eventually bootstrapping a brick-and-mortar bakery with a full commercial kitchen.

The cookbook has fresh photography and quirky watercolor drawings, like the one below, with pops of bright red throughout.

The photos are professional and even the most rustic recipes look like perfection from a bakery case. The first section features Bankert’s favorite cafes, bakeries and restaurants with vegan options in Paris. Although the list might not stand the test of time, it clearly acknowledges that vegan food is present in a place that historically worshipped cream and butter. The focus throughout the book, like the theme of the author’s bakery, is to make vegan food so good that nobody even questions if it is plant-based.

The recipes are a mix of American and French classics, but I love the ones that draw inspiration from both cultures like Strawberry Shortcake Millefeuille, Maple Syrup Madeleines, and Petits Gâteaux aux Carottes (Mini Carrot Cakes). One thing that really stands out is how much the author’s voice and perspective are tangible throughout the entire cookbook. The author has a bubbly view on life and many personal funny stories to accompany it, especially about her time in France. The recipe description and overall positive tone made me excited to try the recipes.

Recipe Test Results

The Beach Haven (Classic Cinnamon Sugar Donuts) were pretty solid. Which makes sense because these donuts are what inspired the author’s Paris bakery. They were closer to a classic light and fluffy donut than a dense cake donut. The nutmeg in the batter was a nice touch, adding a layer of complexity without being too obvious. I also made the glaze donut variation, but preferred the cinnamon sugar topping.

The Pistachio Pound Cake was a request from Amanda’s friend in exchange for a lift across town on his Vespa—is there a more Parisian origin story than that? This must have taken some recipe development to get the perfect rich and moist texture using vegan butter and silken tofu. Even though the texture was spot-on, the cake did not rise properly, and the edges broke off when slicing. The pound cake also didn’t have the pretty pistachio green color shown in the cookbook photo.

Raspberry-Chocolate Macarons were a baking project. Seventeen steps involving making vegan marzipan, meringue, and ganache! Not to mention, a pricey potato protein powder as a substitute for eggs. The macarons looked deceivingly good in the oven, rising and developing the signature frilly “feet” on the bottom of the shells. After taking them out of the oven, they unfortunately cracked into a gooey mess. The silver lining—or maybe I should say the chocolate lining—was the chocolate ganache filling (recipe below). It was the perfect spreadable consistency and easy to eat by the spoonful.

Overall Score: 3/5

Overall, this is a unique cookbook that will entertain you with the author’s stories while trying new, unconventional baking ingredients. Although the final results were decadent, they weren’t always perfect. Still, I appreciated Bankert’s courage and perspective that there are no limits to vegan baking. It’s much more than granola and tough cookies.