First attempt at pastries: Chocolate twi[s]ts.
I keep seeing chocolate twists in coffee shops and wishing they were vegan, so I cheated and bought some pre-made puff pastry and had a crack at what I thought they'd taste like. They were ok, but I have plenty of ideas as to how I can improve them. Eventually, I want to make my own puff pastry, as I know that (back in the States, at least) finding pre-made puff pastry that's both vegan and free of trans fats is nigh on impossible; in fact, it doesn't seem to exist. I feel like before I spend hours making puff pastry and then potentially ruin it by experimenting, I should play around with pre-made stuff, so that's my excuse for being lazy. My ultimate goal to recreate chocolate croissants. This reminds me that I heard that Aldi sell frozen, accidentally vegan croissants. The closest Aldi is fairly far out, in an out of town retail park, but as soon as I'm feeling up to the ride, I plan to make my way over there to hunt them down. I love pastries; living in France as a food-obsessed vegan was fairly torturous, walking past the gorgeous boulangeries every day! In a world where I wasn't vegan (or one where everyone else was... an option I much prefer!), I would head to France for a year or two to train as a chef de patisserie, but until then, I will continue nerding out and reading lots.
Only one week left in the UK, then I'm heading back to the States!