Vegan eating is sweet

I'm only the tiniest bit into collecting recipes, and I've already discovered the dark secret of vegan cooking: it's WAY easier to make dessert than dinner. This is something I didn't expect. I mean, how could you possibly expect to make a reasonable sweet without eggs, milk, or butter? As it turns out, quite easily.

My first foray was innocent enough, and I even filed it away in the actively-good-for-me file in my brain. Virtually Vegan Mama's date truffles are delicious, nutritious, and introduced me to some sweeteners that aren't just cane sugar. Sadly, I didn't think to take a photo, but I promise they were very pretty during the brief period between when I made them and when I ate them.

I did remember to take photos of my equally innocent second dessert: strawberry pudding based on Chocolate Covered Vegan's basic pudding. (The name of her blog should've been the first clue as to the dangerous road I was heading down.)

I was a little terrified of combining such a monstrous looking concoction...

...with such an innocent and beautiful bowl of strawberries...

...but the result was light, delicious, and even sweetener free!

It's here that the saga takes a dangerous turn. Neither of the previous recipes strays much from naturally-occurring substances. A little rice syrup, a little almond milk, sure. But I was still (somehow) safely under the impression that vegan chocolate, pastries, or creams cannot be.

How wrong I was.

The beginning of the end was No Meat Athlete's lemon bars. I was intrigued by this crazy agar stuff that was used in the pudding and curious about what else it could do. And I love lemons. How could I resist?

At this point, it's important to understand that I am not a cook. I don't cook. My standard diet contains a lot of bean burritos and boxed mac & cheese. Baking is a complete mystery to me. So when I (me!) managed to produce a pan of glorious lemon bars (every time I got one out to take a photo of, I just ate it instead), it was like a floodgate opening. What else is possible when I (me!) can make lemon bars?

Homemade "cadbury" eggs, that's what. 

These things are roughly comprised of sugar, sugar, sugar, oil, and sugar. It turns out that after you've been inducted into the mysteries of making vegan sweets, it's really damn easy and all you want to do. At least, if you're me. I've got a folder of bookmarked recipes that's about 50/50 dinners and desserts. I should try something nutritious next. I think I'll go for girl scout cookies instead.

Eating vegan will make me lose weight... right?