Vegan Desserts from Around the World
A world of desserts that are naturally vegan: 59 authentic dishes, each from a real region with its cultural story and dietary swaps built in. Toggle vegan on any other recipe and it rewrites itself to match.
59 recipes · showing 1 to 48
Nkate CakeGreater Accra, Ghana · easy · 25 minA crunchy peanut brittle bound in dark caramel, a popular Ghanaian street sweet sold in cut slabs.
Nkate Cake KashataZanzibar, Tanzania · easy · 30 minChewy-crisp coconut candy scented with cardamom, a sweet of the Swahili coast.
Kashata Kalb el LouzAlgiers, Algeria · medium · 1 h 5 minA syrup-soaked semolina cake with an almond heart, fragrant with orange blossom, a jewel of the Algerian Ramadan table.
Kalb el Louz KabalagalaKampala, Uganda · easy · 30 minSweet little pancakes of ripe banana and cassava flour fried until golden, a favorite Ugandan snack.
Kabalagala Koba AkondroAnalamanga (Antananarivo), Madagascar · medium · 2 h 20 minA dense steamed cake of banana, ground peanuts, and rice flour wrapped in banana leaf, a Malagasy street sweet.
Koba Akondro Benne CakesFreetown, Sierra Leone · easy · 25 minToasted sesame seeds set in crisp caramel, a simple, ancient West African sweet from Sierra Leone.
Benne Cakes Ndizi wa Nazi (Plantains in Coconut Milk)Kinshasa, DR Congo · easy · 30 minRipe plantains simmered gently in spiced coconut milk until soft and creamy, a sweet from the DR Congo table.
Ndizi wa Nazi (Plantains in Coconut Milk) Mabuyu (Sweet-Coated Baobab Seeds)Lusaka, Zambia · easy · 25 minTangy baobab seeds tumbled in a bright sugar coating, the nostalgic street candy of Zambia.
Mabuyu (Sweet-Coated Baobab Seeds) Himbasha (Celebration Bread)Asmara, Eritrea · medium · 2 hA mildly sweet cardamom bread scored in a sunburst pattern and studded with raisins, Eritrea's festive loaf.
Himbasha (Celebration Bread) Yovo Doko (Sweet Fritters)Cotonou, Benin · easy · 1 h 35 minLight, puffy sweet fried dough balls dusted with sugar, often called the national dessert of Benin.
Yovo Doko (Sweet Fritters) Djiboutian Banana FrittersDjibouti City, Djibouti · easy · 25 minLight little fritters of mashed ripe banana and flour scented with nutmeg, fried and dusted with sugar, a Djibouti favourite.
Djiboutian Banana Fritters Makemba (Sweet Fried Plantain)Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo · easy · 20 minVery ripe plantains fried until caramelised and dusted with cinnamon sugar, a simple Congolese sweet.
Makemba (Sweet Fried Plantain) Doce de Papaia (Papaya Sweet)Bissau, Guinea-Bissau · easy · 1 hPapaya slowly cooked with sugar, lime and cinnamon until glossy and translucent, a Bissau-Guinean preserve-sweet.
Doce de Papaia (Papaya Sweet) Kanyah (Peanut and Rice Sweet)Monrovia, Liberia · easy · 30 minGround roasted peanuts and toasted rice flour pressed with sugar into a dense, crumbly sweet, a Liberian classic.
Kanyah (Peanut and Rice Sweet) Nouga Koko ek Bannann (Coconut and Banana Nougat)Victoria, Seychelles · easy · 35 minFreshly grated coconut cooked with sugar and banana into a soft, chewy candy scented with vanilla and nutmeg.
Nouga Koko ek Bannann (Coconut and Banana Nougat) Mango Sticky RiceBangkok (Central), Thailand · easy · 4 h 55 minWarm coconut-sweetened glutinous rice with ripe mango and a salty-sweet coconut sauce, Thailand's favorite dessert.
Mango Sticky Rice ChurchkhelaRacha, Georgia · medium · 2 daysStrings of walnuts dipped repeatedly in thickened grape juice until candle-shaped, Georgia's ancient traveling sweet.
Churchkhela Chè Ba MàuHo Chi Minh City, Vietnam · medium · 1 h 15 minA layered sweet of red beans, mung beans, and green pandan jelly over ice with coconut cream, Vietnam's three-color dessert.
Chè Ba Màu TangyuanShanghai, China · medium · 45 minChewy glutinous rice balls with a sweet black sesame center in warm ginger syrup, a Chinese symbol of family reunion.
Tangyuan HotteokSeoul (Gyeonggi), South Korea · medium · 1 h 45 minChewy fried griddle pancakes oozing a molten brown-sugar, cinnamon, and nut filling, a Korean winter street treat.
Hotteok KleponYogyakarta (Java), Indonesia · medium · 45 minPandan-green rice balls with a molten palm-sugar center, rolled in fresh coconut, a favorite Indonesian sweet snack.
Klepon Sholeh ZardTehran, Iran · easy · 1 h 15 minA fragrant saffron and rose rice pudding decorated with cinnamon, an Iranian dessert of celebration and charity.
Sholeh Zard Khao TomLuang Prabang, Laos · easy · 1 h 15 minSweet coconut sticky rice wrapped around banana and steamed in banana leaf, a fragrant Lao treat.
Khao Tom Pulut HitamSingapore, Singapore · easy · 1 h 10 minA warm porridge of black glutinous rice sweetened with palm sugar and finished with salty coconut cream, a Nyonya classic.
Pulut Hitam QatayefWest Bank, Palestine · medium · 1 h 5 minLittle stuffed pancakes filled with sweet walnuts, fried or baked and soaked in syrup, the classic sweet of Ramadan.
Qatayef KleichaBaghdad, Iraq · medium · 1 h 10 minSpiced pastry spirals filled with date paste and cardamom, Iraq's national cookie, made for every celebration.
Kleicha LuqaimatDubai, United Arab Emirates · medium · 1 h 50 minCrisp golden dumplings drenched in date syrup and scattered with sesame, the classic fried sweet of the Emirati Ramadan table.
Luqaimat PenyaramBandar Seri Begawan, Brunei · medium · 2 h 40 minA chewy fried cake of rice flour and palm sugar with lacy, crisp edges, a traditional Bruneian and Bornean sweet.
Penyaram Gangnaengi-tteokPyongyang, North Korea · easy · 50 minChewy steamed corn cakes lightly sweetened and often dotted with beans, a homely North Korean treat.
Gangnaengi-tteok Pishme (Turkmen Fried Dough Diamonds)Ashgabat, Turkmenistan · medium · 1 h 50 minTurkmenistan's celebration sweet: little diamonds of light yeasted dough fried until puffed and golden, then dusted with sugar.
Pishme (Turkmen Fried Dough Diamonds) Babilak Ai-luka (Cassava and Coconut Balls)Dili, Timor-Leste · easy · 35 minTimorese sweet fritters of grated cassava and fresh coconut bound with brown sugar and a little basil, rolled into balls and fried golden.
Babilak Ai-luka (Cassava and Coconut Balls) Nian Gao (New Year Rice Cake)Shanghai, China · medium · 1 h 5 minA dense, chewy steamed cake of glutinous rice flour and dark brown sugar, studded with jujube and walnut, eaten at Lunar New Year because its name puns on rising higher each year.
ImqaretValletta, Malta · medium · 45 minDiamond-shaped fried pastries filled with spiced date paste, a Maltese street sweet scented with aniseed and orange.
Imqaret KulagaMinsk, Belarus · easy · 35 minA thick, warm berry and rye porridge sweetened to a jammy pudding, an old Belarusian forest-berry dessert.
Kulaga Dulce de MamónAsunción, Paraguay · easy · 5 h 30 minGreen papaya slow-cooked in clove-and-cinnamon syrup until translucent and jammy, a Paraguayan pantry sweet.
Dulce de Mamón KurmaPort of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago · easy · 45 minCrunchy fried sticks of ginger-spiced dough tumbled in a hard sugar glaze, a Trinidadian Indo-Caribbean sweet.
Kurma Rellenitos de PlátanoSacatepéquez (Antigua), Guatemala · medium · 50 minSweet fried plantain dumplings stuffed with spiced black bean paste, a Guatemalan treat.
Rellenitos de Plátano TemblequeSan Juan, Puerto Rico · easy · 3 h 25 minA wobbling coconut pudding set with cornstarch and dusted with cinnamon, a light Puerto Rican holiday classic.
Tembleque Coconut Sugar CakeBasseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis · easy · 35 minChewy pink-and-white coconut candy set in ginger sugar syrup, a nostalgic Saint Kitts and Nevis sweet.
Coconut Sugar Cake Dominica Guava CheeseRoseau, Dominica · medium · 1 hA firm, chewy guava paste cooked down and cut into sugared squares, a confection traditional to Dominica.
Dominica Guava Cheese DuckanooKingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · medium · 1 h 10 minSweet spiced cornmeal and coconut tied in banana leaves and boiled, a West African legacy sweet of Saint Vincent.
Duckanoo DucanaSt. John's, Antigua and Barbuda · medium · 1 h 15 minSweet grated sweet potato and coconut spiced and steamed in banana leaves, a traditional Antiguan treat.
Ducana Thayacha (Andean Frozen Oca)La Paz, Bolivia · easy · 8 h 40 minAn ancient Bolivian altiplano treat: sweet oca tubers boiled with cinnamon, then frozen overnight into a natural ice, sold in the winter markets of La Paz and El Alto.
Thayacha (Andean Frozen Oca) Calabaza en TachaOaxaca, Mexico · easy · 1 h 15 minPumpkin simmered in dark piloncillo syrup with cinnamon, cloves and orange until deep amber and tender, a pre-Hispanic sweet that is a fixture of the Dia de los Muertos altar.
Calabaza en Tacha VakaloloViti Levu, Fiji · easy · 1 h 5 minDense baked cassava under a dark coconut caramel, one of Fiji's oldest sweets, cut into sticky squares.
Vakalolo Fa'ausiUpolu, Samoa · easy · 2 hWarm squares of grated-taro cake folded through a dark, salty-sweet coconut caramel, a Samoan Sunday favorite.
Fa'ausi Saksak (Sago and Banana Dumplings)Highlands, Papua New Guinea · easy · 35 minPearls of sago and sweet banana set in coconut cream, the pudding that turns up at feasts across Papua New Guinea.
Saksak (Sago and Banana Dumplings) Faikakai TopaiTongatapu, Tonga · easy · 35 minSoft boiled dumplings drowned in a thick, dark coconut-sugar caramel, a Tongan after-feast sweet.
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