Veganism or the practice of abstaining from animal products in a dietary sense is more than just a lifestyle choice. In a country like Sri Lanka where our ancients are known to have been so, the lifestyle is today however considered quite expensive to maintain. This is mainly due to the fact that foods considered “vegan” are rather expensive or so people perceive.
The choice to be vegan also comes with the constant throw-back that you are missing out on life’s best. However, a brother-sister duo have taken it upon themselves to change people’s minds (and diets!) to vegan, and with desserts at that. Yes, you read write. Some of the best desserts in the world can be vegan!
Desserts by VIC is Sri Lanka’s very first Vegan Dessert Bar. Initially operating as a delivery only service they opened up their café at Colombo 5 early December, just in time for Christmas. Predominantly run by members of the family the café does have a homely feel to it with the familiar smell of baked goodies wafting through the air. You can either choose to enjoy your desserts right there or take them home which is what we did.
Now bear in mind that Desserts by VIC do not have a standard menu. What they have is a standard product range of brownies, cupcakes and cakes but the flavours may vary. For instance the Christmas Menu has everything from death by Chocolate Cake to Christmas Cookies and Gingerbread Brownies. What we sampled was off this menu.
Wanting to try a little bit of everything we got ourselves a Christmas Cookie, Gingerbread Chocolate Brownie, Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcake, Triple Chocolate Cupcake, and two slices of Sticky Toffee Cake and Death by Chocolate.The Christmas Cookie was star-shaped and teal blue and was more of the crumbly than gooey variety, and more biscuit-like in texture. It also wasn’t overly sweet which we liked. The Gingerbread Brownie followed a similar texture and had a very strong taste of the ginger which we felt overpowered the chocolate just a bit too much. It would however be ideal with a cup of tea for us Lankans.
It would be hard to pick a favourite between the two cupcakes. The Peanut Butter frosting was pretty amazing and really gave the chocolate cupcake a lift in terms of flavour. The triple chocolate was so good that we just forgot that we were eating “healthy”! Both versions were again lighter on the sweetness and did also have a tinge of bitterness from the chocolate which was nice.
The cakes though was what really took our breath away. We died and went to heaven with the first bite of the Death by Chocolate (!!!). The cake itself was moist and once frozen, which is how we like it was just amazing. We actually don’t have words to describe the frosting. That’s how good it was. The cake version of a classic English pudding was also such a Christmassy treat. The cake tasted of nutmeg and spices with the sticky toffee bits making it nice and chewy. The frosting on this one was also very light and added such a kick of sweetness to every bite.
Desserts by VIC also do liquor-infused cupcakes like Margarita and Piña Colada which unfortunately us being teetotalers were unable to try but please if you do, tell us what you think.
After consuming all that dessert the fact that you don’t feel guilty is such a win for us that we might even go vegan… (Won’t be able to do this job if we do!!!!!)
So here’s our rating…
Location *** (A little hard to find but follow Google Maps!)
Ambiance *** (Homely!)
Service **** (The siblings love to chat about what it means to be vegan!)
Food ***** (Surprisingly good!)
Overall *** ¾
Ratings
***** We Love It!
**** Got It Right!
*** Getting There!
** Not So Great!
* Needs Serious Re-Thinking!
Information:Opening Times: 9am – 8pm(9pm on Friday and Saturday)Address: No 24/10Sri Sidhartha Road, Colombo 05. Phone Number: 0760 075454Email: dessertsbyvic@gmail.com
Reviewed by Nishu Gunawardana
Photo Credit: Sanura Gunawardana