I am such a sucker for recipe books. To me they mean comfort, relaxation and inspiration all in one. Surely as a blogger I enjoy all the fast moving flickering recipe inspirations online but as a human being I find it intensely comforting flicking through a beautifully crafted and well photographed cookbook showing a palette of colorful healthy recipes. Holding a real cookbook in my hands feels something of real value to me. My cookbooks are my treasures and this is how I cherish them. But it might seem obvious but I am not into the everyday normal cookbooks, I love the ones with a story, the ones taking different angles on health food and the ones that have a lot of nourishing desserts in them (you guessed that, right?).
So today if you have a minute I would love to take you by the hand and show you my very favorite recipe books that are heavily inspiring me at the moment. This is no advertising, it is just a glimpse into my recipe bookshelf. It also by far not even a slice of what’s currently on the health food book market with new books being published every day but it’s the best (to me) when it comes to healthy desserts. So how about you make yourself a cup of tea and enjoy my little recipe book roundup?
THE UNBAKERY BY MEGAN MAY – FOR THE RAW DESSERT BEGINNER & PRO
A beautiful cookbook featuring unusual and also basic raw vegan recipe to heal your body from the inside out. Written by kiwi Megan May who reinvented raw food in New Zealand by opening up several cafes serving her crazy creative food. I love this book not only because its packed with more than 150 recipes but because it’s such a personal cookbook describing Angela’s struggle with food and how she healed herself with the magic of eating the right food. there is so much of background knowledge around raw recipes. This book gives a comprehensive overview of raw vegan recipes including hoe to make basic ingredients from scratch like nut milk, cheese, pickled ingredients, coconut yoghurt, raw breads and sauces – it’s amazing. It might be important to mention that a lot of the recipes require a dehydrator but keeping in mind that Megan is a real raw food expert and producing food for her cafes this must be a book with a more detailed perspective on raw food right? My favorites recipes from the book are: blackberry & strawberry coconut ice and mango & pineapple mousse cake.
Why should you have this book? To me this book is a beautifully crafted, photographed and written that I could spend hours to flick through it. You will find a wealth of knowledge in this book how to create raw dishes and deepen your knowledge and skills around preparing raw dishes and desserts. I use it a lot for all things raw and food if I don’t feel well.
MY SWEET KITCHEN BY LINDA LOMELINO – FOR PERFECT DESSERT PHOTOGRAPHY
Linda Lomelino is my queen of food photography. The effort that Linda put’s into her photo is incredible and the cookbook is such an eye candy. Her recipes are all irresistible but not plant based. Still, I can’t take my eyes off her photos and in the past I often veganised recipes of her. She creates the most dreamy unbelievable food scenes which are true source of inspiration for me.
Why should you have this book? IF you are into absolutely stunning food images this is the book for you. I use this book all the time for inspiration on food photography, props and scene building. Linda’s chocolate cake with caramel popcorn for example was my inspiration for the Walnut Bean Brownies with Salted Popcorn. Also, if you need some more assistance on how to style and photograph your food instagramworthy, this book is perfect for you!
VEGAN CUPCAKES TAKE OVER THE WORLD BY ISA MOSKOWITZ – FOR CUPCAKE ADDICTS
Sometimes I look at fairly oldish vegan cookbooks and I am stoked how revolutionary they are and how the recipe are so out of the box and clever. This is definitely one of them! This book was published in 1988 (can you believe it?) way before the commercial vegan wave was taking over social media. This book is all about vegan cupcakes covering the basics, icings and favorite toppings. All recipes are vegan, but they are not necessarily always healthy but If you love cupcakes and need some crowd-pleasing cupcakes this is your to go book. There is so much inspiration for icings and toppings as well. This is where I learned to use vinegar to make cupcakes more fluffy and so many other hacks. So this might be an oldie but very much a goldie. You have to try the cookies n cream cupcakes and Brooklyn Cream pie cakes.
Why should you have this book? If you want to learn how to perfect your vegan cupcakes, take them to the next level or learn the basics of vegan cupcakes I highly recommend this book to you. It’s the perfect start for anyone getting seriously into vegan cupcake baking and frostings!
BEAUTIFULLY REAL FOOD BY SAM MURPHY – MY FAVORITE COOKBOOK
Sam has the most swoonworthy Instangram account. I still remember when I saw her Instagram account for the first time, I thought well, this is different from anything I had seen before and I loved pretty much everything I saw. As you can imagine, I was especially in awe with all things dessert and her legendary caramel slice which you find in the book as well. All her raw cakes are legendary.
The book is not entirely health focused – Sam takes any traditional recipe, makes it vegan and extra awesome. She always managed to add that extra twist or surprise ingredient but be sure it’s always beautifully real. Her story around her way of eating has utterly inspired me and of course some extra love for Sam because she is a kiwi and you know my love for my second home! My favorites so far were the peanut butter and jelly loaf and the salted caramel slice! So good!
Why should you have this book? You should definitely get your hand on this book if you want to learn how to take any recipe and turn it into a vegan version. This book featuring over 100 (!) recipes shows how any recipe can be veganised and made insanely delicious. And I am not only talking sweets here, nachos, pizza, burgers – you name it! Not everything is focused on being extra healthy (sometimes sugar and white flour is being used) but you know what, I give her so much credit for refusing to swim with this whole sugarfree, white-flour-free, everything-free craze (you go Sam!). And in the end this book is about enjoying the vegan lifestyle to the fullest without restrictions.
PANA CHOCOLATE, THE RECIPES – FOR THE SOPHISTICATED CHOCOLATE LOVER
I have been dying to get my hands on this book by the Australian raw chocolate manufacturer pana chocolate. If you were fortunate enough to try one of their divine chocolates you might understand my enthusiasm. The book covers everything from cakes, chocolates and desserts – all raw and vegan. I especially love the chocolates and the innovative fillings like cinnamon roll which I am definitely going to try any time soon. Everything is beautifully photographed and makes me want to quit my job and become a professional chocolatier! A must try are the cacao crunch pralines, the florentines and the raspberry ripe.
Why should you have this book? If you love making your own beautifully crafted chocolate cakes and pralines with nothing but raw wholesome ingredients you will fall in love with this book. It’s a perfect guidebook to create your own cafe style chocolates. I still think it’s a more advanced dessert creating guide book and you might need to invest in some molds to make your chocolates as beautiful as in the book. Still an absolute feast for the eye!
RAW CAKES BY THE HARDIHOOD – FOR THE MINIMALIST CLEAN BAKER
This recipe book is all about raw cakes. It also includes sections about breakfast, freezer treats, cheesecakes, smoothies and pudding pots. It has a very minimalist and chic look and feel with beautiful images. The book shows some innovative recipes and ingredients which I love. My fav recipes are the strawberry & ginger Eton Mess and chocolate orange rocky road cake – these are definitely worth trying!
Why should you have this book? When you want to step up your vegan raw baking, this book is perfect for you. I especially love the section about cake decoration and styling which is great for anyone wanting to give their cake that extra bit of luxury and perfection. It also has a great section about the basics of raw baking which I found really helpful.
So what cookbooks have I missed here? What are your fav’s on the dessert recipe bookshelf? Hit me with inspiration in the comments below!