Tropicana Magazine Mar-Apr 2018 #117: Edge Of Excitement

THE COOKBOOK
Sweet
Easter
treats
Can a dairy-free chocolate treat cut the mustard at Easter?
Vegan chocolatier Pana Barbounis certainly thinks so. Here are
three recipes from his book, Pana Chocolate The Recipes, so you
can test the theory at home
WORDS BY KEELEY BOLGER / PRESS ASSOCIATION / THE INTERVIEW PEOPLE
Have a cursory glance at the Easter treats available online and in the
supermarkets and you might be surprised by what's on offer.
Where once creme-filled eggs, sugar-shelled treats and hollow
chocolate bunnies were the norm, nowadays you're just as likely to
have your head turned by chocolate 'Scotch' eggs, cheese flavoured
hot cross buns and savoury 'cheester' eggs.
Adding to this alternative trend is chocolatier-with-a-difference Pana
Barbounis.
The Melbourne-based entrepreneur founded Pana Chocolate three years ago,
creating dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free luxury chocolate bars containing no
refined sugar. Including enticing flavours like ginger and pineapple, fig and orange
and coconut and goji, the bars are now sold worldwide and stocked in more than 20
countries.
And with his first book out, Pana Chocolate The Recipes, Barbounis is keen to
show that despite the untraditional ingredients, his raw vegan offerings certainly
aren't taste and fun-free.
Truthfully, they do require a bit more welly to make - as well as some more
involved searches for ingredients and, in some cases, equipment - but if you're after
a different kind of Easter showstopper, this could be a good place to get cracking.
Tempted to tackle the challenge? Here are three recipes from Pana Chocolate to
give a whirl....
89 MARCH/APRIL 2018 | TM