Yzabelle Bostyn
MALAGA is slowly growing their vegan offering and this doughnut shop shows how good eating plant based can be.
When you think of Andalucia, you think of jamon, olive oil and plenty of wine.
But cities across the region are developing strong vegan scenes despite the meat heavy traditional cuisine.
In fact, Malaga has just become home to the region’s very first vegan butchers, providing plant based versions of classic Andalucian dishes.
READ MORE: ‘I visited the new vegan butchers in southern Spain – these were my favourite dishes’
As a vegan of seven years with a strong sweet tooth, I’m always seeking out the best desserts, cakes and puddings wherever I go and Malaga was no exception.
So when I learned there was a fully vegan doughnut and coffee shop in the heart of the old town, I jumped at the chance to try it.
Bun and Coffee is just around the corner from the cathedral on Calle Duque de la Victoria and if you didn’t know it was vegan, you’d think it was a normal doughnut shop.
Through the window, I spied rows and rows of buns in the bustling cafe.
READ MORE: Vegan foie gras takes Spain by storm
When I entered I was overwhelmed by the choices: apple crumble, chocolate cream, key lime pie, passionfruit and berries and kinder bueno, all of them look delicious.
Their ‘classic’ flavours are available all the time and cost a modest €3.
Meanwhile, a ‘special’ is a little more at €3.50.
After much deliberation, I ordered an oat milk cortado and chose two doughnuts, triple pistachio and caramel praline.
You can sit inside but as it was a sunny day, I walked to the cathedral to enjoy my sweet treats surrounded by Malaga’s majestic architecture.
I first tried the triple pistachio doughnut, curious as I had never tried anything pistachio flavoured before.
READ MORE: Being vegan in Spain: How easy is it?
As soon as I bit into it I was glad I took the plunge into the unknown.
The bun was fluffy, delicately sweet and perfectly balanced with the nutty cream of the pistachio icing.
Luckily, it wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet so I was more than happy to sample the caramel praline doughnut next.
The top was coated in a deliciously crunchy caramel with a big dollop of praline cream in the centre.
Surrounded by almond flakes, it was the perfect crunchy, sweet, and moreish way to fuel my climb to the cathedral stairs.
Despite the views from the cathedral roof, I was already longing to run back down the spiral staircase to sample all of Bun and Coffee’s varied flavours.
