My favourite reality show of all time is The Great British Bake Off.

A bit of an odd choice for me since, other than bread, I don’t really bake.

I do, however, enjoy watching extremely polite Brits creating works of art with food. And I love the formula of the show…the signature! …the technical!! …the showstopper!!! The signature and showstopper segments are always concerned with rather flashy creations by the contestants, but, if I’m being honest, the ever-challenging technical is always my favourite of the segments.

But my favourite bits of GBBO are those moments when various contestants, who are supposed to be competing against each other, see that another contestant is struggling and rush over to help. I always get a bit of a lump in my throat when that happens.

And they do all of this for the grand prize of….drum roll please!

A GLASS CAKE PLATE!!!

This is why I love England so much.

Yet in all my years of watching GBBO, I have never once attempted any of the recipes–indeed, I’ve never even been tempted. Until “Bread Week” of Season 14, which included a technical segment on the Devonshire Split. I mentioned my fascination with “the split” to my darling Em, who is visiting this week, and she said, “YOU HAVE TO MAKE THAT!” and so I did–a vegan version, of course!

According to one of the judges, Paul Hollywood, they should be, “…soft in the mouth, slightly chewy, and with a beautiful sweetness from the strawberries.

The original recipe calls for butter, milk, and cream, which seemed easy enough to veganize with vegan butter, almond milk, and coconut cream. I also made two other adjustments: 1) I used a bread machine for the mixing and first proof; 2) I did a tangzhong starter so I could be sure the buns would be soft. Oh, and I fudged a bit on the jam: we had no jam sugar, so I just used regular strawberry jam that I blended until smooth.

Vegan Devonshire Splits

Before you begin, you’ll need to refrigerate a can of coconut cream overnight!

First, make the buns!

Start by making a tangzhong starter. Add the following ingredients to a pan over medium heat; constantly whisk until it becomes a paste.

20g all-purpose flour
87 grams almond milk (or other plant-based milk)

Next, add to the bread machine:

the tangzhong starter

…along with the following IN THIS ORDER:

132 grams almond milk
½ tsp salt
25 grams granulated sugar
25 grams room-temperature plant-based butter
305 grams all-purpose flour (if you’re not in Canada, use bread flour)*
9 grams yeast

Set the bread machine to the “dough” setting, which should be an hour and thirty minutes.

*_{You need a higher protein dough for this recipe. In Canada, all-purpose flour contains about 12%-13% protein. If you’re in the US, all-purpose flour contains about 9%-11% protein, so use bread flour, which contains 11%-13% protein.}

Once the dough cycle has finished, remove from the bread machine, flatten dough to remove air bubbles, divide into eight portions, and shape each portion into a round bun shape using this method:

Place the buns (well apart) on two parchment-covered baking trays and cover loosely. Let proof in a warm spot for forty-five minutes.

Make a vegan “egg wash”:

1 tsp maple syrup
2 TBS soymilk

Before baking, brush buns with vegan egg wash.

Bake at 400F for 12 to 15 minutes until buns are golden brown and have achieved an internal temperature of about 203 degrees. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Next, make the…

Vegan Chantilly Cream

Place the bowl of a stand mixer in the freezer for ten minutes. Next, add to the cold bowl of the stand mixer:

1 can coconut cream (refrigerated overnight)
½ tsp vanilla extract
15 grams icing sugar

Whip on high speed until the cream holds a medium firm peak. Scoop into a piping bag and refrigerate until you’re ready to pipe it into buns.

Next, you can decide whether you want strawberry Devonshire splits or chocolate splits–I recommend four of each!!

For the strawberry ones, use strawberry jam that you’ve blended until smooth in the Magic Bullet
For the chocolate ones, use a vegan chocolate syrup.

Once the buns have completely cooled, use a serrated knife cut a deep slit into the top of each bun. Spread the jam on both sides of the split then generously fill each bun with vegan whipped cream. Using a palette knife, smooth the cream flush with the top of the bun.

Next, lay strawberry slices for strawberry splits and either vegan chocolate chips or Smarties in a line along the length of the cream filling, gently pressing them into the cream until flush. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

I have to say, these vegan Devonshire Splits are remarkably easy to make and quite impressive looking (and tasting!). Em prefers the strawberry, but I prefer the chocolate. James enjoyed the strawberry and seemed to not quite approve of the chocolate split–haha.

And the song of the day is a live version of Villagers’ “The Wonder of You”: