Vegan Sweets: Cooking with or without?

I went to bed last night determined to cook up a storm today. I regularly have Wednesdays off from work now so I like to use these free days to test whatever recipes have been floating around in my head for the past few days. I had some guava puree that was just screaming to have something done with it, Stephanie Alexander featured some sweet rhubarb recipes in this week's Epicure and I've had a few limes lingering around the depths of my fruit bowl, so I went ahead and tried to base today's cooking around those items. Alas, it has been raining all day, so I've been confined to using items I had on hand: limes and guava puree. I already knew I'd be satisfying my sweet tooth today so I also whipped up Espinacas con Garbanzos (spiced spinach and chickpeas), a typical dish from southern Spain, to counteract the massive amounts of sugar about to enter my body. I somehow ended up baking two vegan pastries: Citrus Tea Cake and Guava-Cinnamon Scrolls. Both taste nearly as good as heaven would taste if it were built from sugar, I reckon.

the fermentation batter

Rolling out the dough

Spreading the guava

Making the "sausage"

Resting scrolls

The finished product

Guava and Cinnamon Scrolls -- makes 8 scrolls

fermentation batter --
6 g active dry yeast
125 ml water at 38º C (it should feel slightly warmer than your body)
50 g plain white flour or bakers flour
10 g sugar
**Dissolve the yeast in the water, then add the sugar until dissolved. Sieve the flour over the mixture, cover and allow to ferment for 25-30 minutes until frothy and collapsed.

the scroll dough--
100 g plain white flour or bakers flour
100 g plain wholemeal flour (substitute white flour if preferred)
2 g salt
30 g Nuttelex or other vegan margarine
20 g sugar
the filling--
40 g raw sugar
30 g Nuttelex or other vegan margarine, melted
ground cinnamon
160 g guava puree (optional)
**Combine all dry ingredients and sieve into a bowl. Rub the butter into the mixture until it resembles grains of sand. Make a well in the centre and pour the fermentation batter in it. Using a spatula, carefully fold the dry ingredients into the fermentation batter until thoroughly mixed. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Allow to rise in a warm, draught free place covered with plastic wrap or a moist tea towel for 40 minutes. Knock the dough back to its original size after 40 minutes, then allow to rise for an additional 20. Preheat oven to 210º C.
** Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out into a rectangle until dough is 1cm in thickness. Brush melted butter on surface, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Using a circular motion, use the back of a spoon to spread the guava paste over the entire surface. Roll the rectangle into a sausage from the shortest side and press the edge closed. Cut the roll into 5 cm slices with a serrated knife or a sharp knife and place onto a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper leaving 1-2 cm between each slice. Set aside to rest for 15 minutes then back for 10-15 minutes until the surface in light golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before dusting with pure icing sugar.
**In place of pure icing sugar, mix 1/2 cup of pure icing sugar with 1 tbs of soy milk and drizzle over the scrolls. The scrolls are equally as tasty without the guava filling, just sprinkle slightly more sugar over the dough.