Vegan purple sweet potato pancakes make eating the rainbow fun for all! Drizzle with cream cheeze glaze and top with an assortment of fresh fruit for a special spring breakfast.

Me: I feel like the plate needs more colour…

Chew: Add sprinkles!

Me: It still needs more frut (not a typo, I legit said f-ruht)

Chew: *picks up a random half a banana my dad left on the counter and hands it to me without saying a word*

Blogging as a duo leads to some pretty hilarious conversations. Ones that sound perfectly normal to us but to other people (like our friends) are quite entertaining to witness.

Even though I generally manage the food styling and photography, the photos usually turn out better with the help of Chew’s pointers and creativity. Without her, these pancakes would not have sprinkles. Nor banana coins. Or her colour-complementing outfit in the background. And without those elements, this plate of pancakes would not be as appealing. Two heads (or two Rachels) are certainly better than one.

March has been one very very chaotic month. We both rode emotional roller coasters, felt uninspired, and lacked the enthusiasm to share new content on our platforms. That combined with the boatload of assignments due in the last month of the semester left us drained. To the point where we couldn’t even prepare something for our 4th blogiversary on time. But just because we didn’t post a recipe last weekend, doesn’t mean we forgot about all the wonderful people and experiences that brought this blog to where it is today.

Like with many online influencers, our lives and our friendship may look picture-perfect. We get to eat pretty food, have our best friend next to us 24/7, and go on endless scenic adventures together. That’s just partially true. We actually eat the leftovers before the food in the photos, don’t actually see each other everyday, and mostly adventure in the summer (or the photos you see are pulled from our archives). The two of us are the same in many ways, inseparable and almost considered the same person (the first question I get asked when I’m alone is “Where’s Chew?”) But we’re also vastly different in ways we do things, both very headstrong and will encounter disagreements just like everyone else. Like what we eat, it all comes down to balance and trust.

Chew made a good analogy with flowers. Time to time, one of us will feel sad like a wilted flower. We water each other and watch each other slowly perk up and blossom. Even when life gets rough, we commit to live through it together. It’s not always about knowing what the right thing to say is, or doing anything. Sometimes it’s just being present and providing moral support, even if their life journey follows a slightly different trajectory than your own.

Now that we’ve sprung forward and spring is in the air, we’re feeling more like ourselves and ready to get back in the groove of making recipes and content to inspire your plant-based journeys. Call us crazy but we both love daylight savings because it’s bright until 7pm! Can’t wait until it’s still bright at 10pm and we can hang at the park on our picnic mats all evening.

We’ve made purple pancakes many moons ago on the blog but since then have found that sometimes the pancakes end up a mucky green instead of this beautiful shade of purple. After a bit of research and reflecting on the material I learned in a food science course last year, I realized that the purple pigments (anthocyanins) deteriorate in heat and need to be stabilized with some acid. So I made some modifications to my Fluffiest Vegan Pancake recipe and viola, I retained the purple colour and veganized the recipe. Wowowowow I’m so excited to be able to finally share this recipe with ya’ll!

These pancakes are perfectly fluffy and so so pretty! Kids of all ages will be delighted to see these pancakes on Easter Sunday, or any spring breakfast for that matter. The key is to measure the ingredients precisely; don’t be tempted to add more potato than called for! Once I got lazy and eyeballed the recipe and the pancakes were not as fluffy as they should’ve been. Also the type of purple sweet potato I used was the one with the purple skin and purple flesh from China. Different varieties of sweet potato have different water content and textures so just be aware that if you use something like Hawaiian or Okinawan sweet potato that it may turn out differently.

Happy spring!