Buna Portraits: Wellness, Self-Love and Indulgence

We recently had the joy of spending a lovely, breezy summer afternoon with writer, podcast host and home-baker, Mansha Kaur as she welcomed us to her corner of positivity vibes dressed in some of our Buna favourites. As the host of the podcast ‘Heart On My Sleeve’, Mansha has canvassed a variety of topics from self love and kindness to personal growth. Her podcast has hosted the likes of chef Pooja Dhingra, stylist Sanjana Batra and dermatologist Dr. Kiran Sethi, to name a few.

Mansha echoes the Buna ideology of mindful living that shines through in her podcasts that help navigate life in all its forms and in her recipes that lead straight to the heart.

Mansha is a master of many as she explores terrains beyond her podcast with her Vegan dessert recipes that don’t just taste like a dream but look like one too. Here’s two of our favourite recipe’s that we are trying out this week.

The Vegan Raspberry Jelly and White Chocolate Birthday Tart

Indulgence spelled in layers of a crunchy crust, rich white chocolate and sweet raspberry jelly, topped with rose petals and pistachios.

Ingredients:

For the tart
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup almonds
- 5 tbsp melted coconut oil
- 3 tbsp maple syrup

For the white chocolate filling
- 2/3rd cup coconut milk
- 1/3rd cup cashew pulp, make your own by soaking one cup of cashews overnight. Drain and blend with 4 cups of water for 6-7 minutes. Strain the liquid into a jug through a muslin cloth. The liquid becomes your cashew milk and what’s left is the pulp.
- 1 cup cashews
- 3/4th cup cacao butter
- 1/4th cup maple syrup
- 1/4th tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp agar agar
- 5 tbsp vegan white choc

For the raspberry jelly
- 1 cup of water
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 3/4th - 1 tbsp raspberry powder ( you can work with a handful of fresh/ frozen raspberries )
- 1 tsp agar agar powder
- 1/4th tsp rosewater essence

Toppings
- Toasted & finely chopped pistachios
- Dried rose petals

Preparation:

For the tart
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
- Take the oats and almonds and blend until combined.
- Add the coconut oil and maple syrup. Pulse for a few more minutes. The ‘dough’ should be moist.
- Now press the mixture firmly into the bottom and sides of the tin. Bake for 15 minutes until the crust is golden brown in colour. Set aside to cool.

For the white chocolate layer
- In a saucepan, melt the cacao butter and white chocolate over low heat.
- Add the agar agar powder, mix it well until it dissolves, then let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. Take off heat and set aside.
- Blend the cashews, cashew pulp, maple syrup and coconut milk until smooth. Now add the melted cacao butter and white choc. Blend till combined.
- Spoon the mixture into the tart and refrigerate for 4 hours.

For the raspberry jelly (Work on this layer after the tart is set)
- In a saucepan, add the maple syrup, water and agar-agar powder.
- Heat it on low flame till the powder and syrup dissolve. Add the raspberry powder/ fresh or frozen raspberries and rosewater essence.
- Stir/press down on the berries till you get a desirable shade of pink.
- Strain the liquid into a bowl/jug. Gently spoon it over the set white chocolate layer.
- Refrigerate for another hour till set.
- Artfully place the dried rose petals and chopped pistachios and serve immediately.

Buttery Cookies with Fresh Flowers

Melt in the mouth butter cookies that that look like spring and taste like a piece of heaven.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup vegan butter/cacao butter at room temperature
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 3/4th-1 tbsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of sea salt
- Assortment of edible flowers

Prep:
- Pulse the sugar and softened vegan butter until combined.
- Add vanilla extract and flour. Pulse to get a dough.
- Knead the dough and form a flat circle.
- Wrap it with cling film and refrigerate for an hour.
- Wash the flowers, remove the stems, place between two baking sheets and weigh it down with a heavy book.
- Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
- Roll out the dough between two sheets of baking paper.
- Cut out the cookies.
- Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes.
- Artfully place the flowers or petals on the cookies while they are hot and press gently to stick.

Sprinkle with sugar.

Happy Baking in some Buna! 😊