Hannah Kaminsky in the kitchen.Hannah Kaminsky has a major sweet tooth, and it shows. Her first cookbook, My Sweet Vegan, highlighted both her culinary and photography talents, as well as her serious passion for dessert. Hannah’s new book, Vegan Desserts; Sumptuous Sweets for all Seasons, hit the stores May 1st. The new book is a seasonal guide to vegan baking with over 100 recipes, trumping its predecessor in length. “The concept behind it is seasonality,” explains Hannah in an exclusive IEG interview. “I want my readers to know what’s fresh, what’s good, and when.” The recipes in Vegan Desserts showcase some pretty unusual combinations such as Pomegranate Pie, Spiced Beet Cake and Ispahan Crisp, a unique blend of raspberry, litchi and rosewater.
In early high-school Hannah became interested in vegetarianism because socially, it was “the thing to do.” However, as she began researching about animal product consumption, Hannah dove straight into veganism. Eight years later, she hasn’t looked back. She has, however, seriously improved her baking. “I have always had a sweet tooth, but I haven’t always been a great baker,” says Hannah, who began experimenting in the kitchen soon after her transition to veganism, due to her lack of access to quality pre-made vegan desserts. “I made plenty of door-stop muffins in the early days. It’s been quite a journey.”
Hannah’s plethora of sweet-treat knowledge is not her only impressive quality; the baker released My Sweet Vegan, which she photographed herself, before her freshman year of college. Her talent was discovered on her well-known vegan food blog, Bittersweet, and the opportunity to create her own cookbook was too hard for her to resist. A visual learner, Hannah has always insisted on having a photograph for every recipe. As she is currently taking online photography classes through the Academy of Art University, Hannah was more than thrilled about the idea of taking all the photos for Vegan Desserts as well. “I now have more experience —and a better camera— than I did with My Sweet Vegan,” Hannah notes, explaining that she is excited to show her readers her new recipes and photos.
When asked if she had any words of wisdom for aspiring vegan entrepreneurs, Hannah responded with “just keep going at it. Don’t give up. If you’re passionate, it will work out. It took nearly four years for this book to be finished, and sometimes I thought it would never happen. But here it is.” Vegan Desserts; Sumptuous Sweets for all Seasons is available for pre-order on Amazon.
Score some great recipes and keep up with Hannah’s constant adventures in vegan baking and other culinary endeavors on her blog, Bittersweet, or follow her on Twitter.
I'm a so psyched about this book- vegan macarons?! It's the only thing I miss and I'm dying to know how she's done it.
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