Emma Hollingsworth - Vegan Treats

For Azaria Primrose, my sweetest bake yet

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Ive got a seriously sweet tooth, a mouth full of them in fact. My birthdays as a child were filled with cakes of dreams the hedgehog cake with chocolate buttons for spikes, the treasure chest cake filled with chocolate coins and the classic Victoria sponge. But that doesnt mean Ive always been into baking far from it. When I left university in 2008, unable to rustle up so much as a basic stir-fry, the thought of baking a cake was way beyond my comfort zone. My standard day comprised of a small inadequate breakfast, a bag of the chocolate sweets from the pick n mix section of the university shop for an aldesko lunch in the library followed by a liquid dinner.

After university, I moved back to London and started a graduate scheme at a top accountancy firm, where Emma Friedman, a Jewish girl from North West London, met Richard Hollingsworth, a fun-loving, beer-drinking, rugby-playing wide boy from Essex. Two years on when Mr H had moved into my little flat in Chalk Farm, I was living a healthier (ish) life. Id go to the gym before work and have yogurt and granola for breakfast, then a salad for lunch, and I actually knew where the kitchen was in my flat. But for all my healthy lifestyle changes, I still wasnt feeling amazing. My energy levels were low, my hair, skin and nails werent as glowing as I wanted them to be, my moods were all over the place and by 8pm every evening I look liked I was very much with child.

I suspected my diet might still be to blame, so I went to see a specialist for some tests as well as my GP. I had always suspected that I had IBS, and I was right. I also found out that I was lactose intolerant. Whats more, my test results showed that I had polycystic ovary syndrome, which explained years of irregular cycles, so it was suggested that I steer clear of refined sugar, as this can lead to hormonal imbalances, which can worsen the symptoms. I had some serious apologising to do to my body, so decided to give it a go, and to give up caffeine while I was at it.

To my surprise, I began to enjoy my foray into the world of natural foods and healthy cuisine. Every day I would plan my dinner using recipes online. Savoury recipes werent so much of a challenge; I had always liked veggies, so I would heap our plates full of a rainbow of goodness, with lots of grains and healthy fats. I discovered a whole world of spices, learnt how to pronounce quinoa and discovered that the weird storage cupboard thing under my hob was actually an oven.

But sweet stuff just wasnt so easy. Long before Mr H and I shared a surname, we shared a very serious, deep and all-encompassing love. Of chocolate. So neither of us was happy about the lack of chocolate bars, biscuits and the like in our flat. I decided to try my hand at devising and making my own desserts, and bought myself a cheap food processor. The list of fails is too long to detail, but there was the carrot cake that tasted just of carrot, the gloopy chia puddings, the rock-hard cookieswhen I finally mastered banana bread, I realised that with all the expensive nuts and other ingredients, I had spent almost 20.

I felt sure that there had to be a simpler, more cost-effective way, so I made it my mission to find one. My family were dubious when I first offered them things to test, but after a little persistence they started to enjoy trialling my creations, and the feedback was fast improving. My friends at work were enjoying it, too. And Mr H? He was loving it! I started writing up my simple, budget-friendly recipes, and when my wonderful friend Effie suggested we start a blog one day, I jumped at the chance. She shared her insights on mindfulness and wellness, while I provided the food content.

Having left my horribly stressful job in 2015 to concentrate on trying to start a family, I eventually fell pregnant and decided to make myself busy with my recipes. I started selling some desserts for next to nothing to some local cafs, and felt very proud that I was earning all of 20 a week because I was doing something I loved. After a magical pregnancy, I gave birth to Azaria Primrose Hollingsworth, aka Baby H, under a strawberry moon, in a birth pool, on one paracetamol. Soon after, one of the cafs I supplied asked me for their weekly order. I hate letting people down, so I went into the kitchen and back to work.

During this time, I was also studying at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in order to become a certified health coach. I learnt not only about foods themselves and different diets, but most importantly about how peoples relationships with food are determined by so many other things in their lives. The principles I learnt helped me repair my own relationship with food, and I also realised that I was applying them when creating my recipes.

Once Baby H was a few months old, I knew that it was time to develop Mrs Hollingsworths into a fully-fledged business, so I applied to a nearby little farmers market. Every Saturday morning I was there with all my delicious wares, and my dad would potter up the hill from his house to help me. I cant tell you how cold it was after five hours standing still, but it was also so much fun, and I met some interesting and amazing people; Emma Thompson even popped by one week to buy lots of treats for a family gathering! The best thing about it was my littlest customers. There seem to be many children with food intolerances these days and quite often they cant have the yummy things their friends enjoy, so to see their faces light up when I told them that everything on my stall was free from eggs, dairy, gluten and sugar was very heart-warming.

Once I had honed my product range, I approached Ethos Foods near Oxford Circus to see if they might like to sell any of my treats. They were keen to set up a meeting, and when they tried the samples I brought them, it was an immediate yes! I was soon supplying them, and other local cafs, with over 500 desserts a week from my little kitchen. The demand for my celebration cakes was also increasing, and I decided to start running monthly baking classes around my kitchen table, where I teach people my recipes and show them just how easy it is to make healthier free-from treats.

With lots of people enquiring online when I would be sharing my recipes in a book, I decided that it was time to embark on this project. I hope that as you read it you will realise that healthier eating doesnt need to mean bland, tasteless desserts, nor does it require expensive ingredients that cant be found in your local supermarket, nor indeed does it need to be complicated in the slightest.

One more thing. Anyone who reads my blog will know how much I love telling the stories behind my recipes, what or who inspired them and how they came about. You might also know that I love a pun. So apologies in advance if you dont, because this book is lit(t)erally littered with them. I just cant help myself!