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Crust: 1¾ cups all-purpose flour

⅔ cup confectioners’ sugar, plus additional to decorate the finished bars

¼ cup cornstarch

1 cup nonhydrogenated vegan margarine

Filling: 1⅓ cups water

3 tablespoons agar flakes

1¼ cups granulated sugar

⅛ teaspoon turmeric

⅔ cup fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons arrowroot powder

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (from 2 large lemons)

¼ cup soy milk

LIGHTLY GREASE a 9 × 13-inch baking pan.

Prepare the crust:

Pulse the flour, confectioners’ sugar, and cornstarch in a food processor. Add the margarine in spoonfuls and blend 8 to 10 seconds, and then pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle the mixture into the prepared baking pan and press firmly into an even layer with slightly raised sides, so that it can hold in the filling. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the unfilled crust for 25 minutes. remove from the oven, and let cool.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling:

In a saucepot, soak the agar in the water for 15 minutes. Use the time while it soaks to zest your lemons and squeeze your lemon juice. Mix the arrowroot into the lemon juice to dissolve.

When the agar has been soaked for 15 minutes, turn on the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for about 10 minutes, or until the agar is completely dissolved. Add the granulated sugar and turmeric, and boil until they have dissolved, about 3 minutes. Turn down the heat to medium and add the arrow root mixture, then add the lemon zest and soy milk. Whisk constantly until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. It should not be rapidly boiling, but low bubbling is okay.

Pour the mixture into the prepared crust. Let cool for 20 minutes and then refrigerate for at least 3 hours, until the filling is only slightly jiggly and has set. Use a sifter or a fine-mesh strainer for sprinkle the bars with confectioners’ sugar. Slice into squares and serve.

DESSERTS

DESSERTS ARE USUALLY listed at the end of a cookbook but we suspect that you’ve snuck a peek and this is the first thing you are seeing. So, hi! Welcome to our cookbook! We talk a lot about how wonderful broccoli is but, at the end of the day, we know what really wins people over is a chocolate pie smothered in caramel and pecans.

Coming down from a sugar high from our last cookbook, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, we really needed to take a break from cake batter and instead set our sights on luscious desserts featuring nature’s bounty of fruits. Good old-fashioned crisps become interesting again when spiked with aniseed, and juicy pears are poached in tea and, because we couldn’t resist, placed in a pool of chocolate sauce.

Of course, we also couldn’t resist adding a few cupcakes into the mix.

TEA-POACHED PEARS IN CHOCOLATE SAUCE

SERVES 4

TIME : LESS THAN AN HOUR, PLUS CHILL TIME

This dessert may seem like it should be served by your butler, but give him the day off and make it yourself—it’s incredibly easy. Pear halves are poached in strong black tea and then the tea is used to make a soupy pool of chocolate sauce for the pears. A little orange peel gives these a subtle citrus kick. It’s an especially good dessert after an Italian meal.

➣To easily core the pears, slice them in half and use a melon baller or a round measuring spoon to scoop out the seeds in one fell swoop.

3 cups water

4 tea bags black tea

¼ cup sugar

4 firm Bosc pears, peeled, sliced in half lengthwise, and cored

Zest from ½ navel orange

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

8 ounces bitter or semisweet vegan chocolate, hopped (½ cup or so)

Vanilla ice cream (page 260) (optional)

Mint sprigs for prettiness (optional)

BOIL THE water in a medium-size saucepan. Once the water is boiling, turn off the heat, add the tea bags and sugar, and steep for 15 minutes. Remove the tea bags and stir to make sure the sugar is dissolved.

Bring the tea to a boil and add the pears, orange peel, and vanilla. Turn down the heat to simmer and cover. Let simmer; remove the orange peel