Stephen McCarty, a vegan-raw chef from LA, makes elaborately beautiful cakes using only raw, vegan ingredients. For McCarty, who creates under the name Sukhavati Raw Desserts (Sukhavati means “Happy” in Hindi), his Mandala cakes are just another example of life’s impermanence. You need to enjoy what you can, while you can.
Mandalas are spiritual and ritual symbols in Hinduism and Buddhism, where they represent the universe. Sand Mandalas, popular in Tibetan Buddhist traditions, can take several weeks to build and only moments to sweep away. In a way, McCarty’s mandala cakes also follow this creative-destructive ritual.
