A Dessert Table Inspired by Love

I love it when inspiration begets inspiration. Martha Stewart and her work completely inspire this blog and, by extension, this blog creates more Martha moments outside of the webisphere; it's a glorious chain reaction. One of my long-distance friends, and a longtime reader of Martha Moments, Rowaida Flayhan, wrote to me recently to inform me that my Instagram post about Martha's heart-shaped linzer cookies last week inspired a dessert buffet she created for her daughter Nour's birthday. Rowaida and her family live in Kuwait most of the year but also call Lebanon and London home. My own Lebanese and British heritage may be what solidified our friendship but our shared love of all things Martha certainly helped bridge the geographical gap as well.

I've featured Rowaida's work here before. You can click here to see the other posts I've written about her baking. Rowaida was kind enough to share photographs of her dessert buffet table with us. The photographs were taken by her son, Ramzi, a talented photographer, and edited by her other son, Samo, who is studying architecture. Below you will find a list of what Rowaida served. If you have questions about the recipes, all of which are Rowaida's own, please leave a comment with your email. Enjoy the photos! I'm sure you'll agree Rowaida is a tremendous baker with an eye for detail and elegance. The beautiful results of Rowaida's efforts were inspired by her love for her daughter - and I believe that really shines through.

All of the desserts you will see here are vegan, dairy-free, gluten free and made without the use of refined sugars or processed flours. This vanilla almond cake is made with gluten-free flour and coconut whipped cream frosting. Rowaida surprised Nour with the dessert buffet on her birthday.

These vegan red-velvet cakes are beautifully heart-shaped. Steamed beets were used for the colour and sweetness was added with medgool dates. The little roses on top are completely edible!

The chocolate cake was baked with raw cacao and sweetened with chocolate frosting made with raw coconut sugar. It was decorated with fresh berries. Rowaida also made dairy-free raspberry ice cream, seen far right.

These truffles made with raw chocolate, coconut milk and chestnuts look absolutely delicious!

The heart-shaped cookies were made with oat flour and topped with homemade raspberry chia jam. This photo is by Nour Flayhan.

This image from a past issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine, which I posted on the Martha Moments Instagram page last week, was the inspiration for Rowaida's dessert buffet. I love how the seed of an idea can come from practically anywhere.

INSTA-FAMOUS FAMILY:

The Flayhans are a talented group!
Follow Rowaida on Instagram for so much cooking and baking inspiration!
To see more of her son Ramzi's work, follow him on Instagram here.
Samo, who is studying architecture, can be found on Instagram here.
Her daughter, Nour, is a very talented artist and designer. Follow her on Instagram here.