London vegan news, reviews & events
Josh has been in the USA for the past week and a half in Tampa and Philadelphia. I missed him greatly and it was wonderful to welcome him home today… especially when I saw the jumbo bag of vegan snacks and treats he brought with him!
Check out the drool-worthy photos of my bumper haul below.
Are any of your favourites here? Anything you are curious to try?
I used to think I knew what my favourite pastime was… and then I got an email from vegan sweet food producer Scoff asking if I would like to sample their creations. Now my favourite pastime is eating Scoff treats.
Based in Brixton, this new vegan sweet treats provider is changing the game for cruelty-free eating in the UK forever. Their truffles and fudge are decadent, delicious and irresistible. I haven’t often experienced melt in your mouth moments, but the Scoff vanilla fudge took me to that place instantly.
The company does sell at local markets (check the website for locations), but the real thrill is their mailing service. Why leave the comfort of your house when you can have dark chocolate and Amaretto truffles delivered straight to your door? No need to get wet and cold by exposing yourself to the elements. Scoff will post bags of creamy ginger fudge directly to you.
Almost as nice as the food is the care and attention given to making the food look lovely. The fudge bags feature the super cute Scoff logo while the smart truffle boxes are held closed by ribbons. Obviously perfect for gift giving.
Did you hear I like getting gifts? 😉
Scoff is the future. Order online now!
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Cookies & Scream in Camden isn’t just one of the best bakeries in the UK. I’d put my money on it being one of the finest on the planet.
This point of view was only strengthened today by my discovery of their new tiramisu creation. I was gobsmacked. The pie filling was decadent, gooey and delicious, while the cream topping was second to none.
Buy this pie.
You can follow me on Instagram for more photos on the go.
24 hours on, I am still a bit worn out from hosting my vegan New Year’s Eve dinner for 70 people at Saf Restaurant & Bar. It was a lot of hard work, but well worth it. Every single guest looked to be having a fantastic night out.
My pal Luke has kindly offered to stop by and give you his take on the evening. You can follow Luke on Twitter and check out his blog.
Tell us what you thought, Luke.
My Vegan Ice Cream Wars feature is only sporadically updated due to the lack of diversity in the UK vegan ice cream market. We need more variety.
It is this lack of choice that is forcing me to include gelato in this category. However, the gelato flavours at Oddono’s Italian ice cream parlours are not going to make it appear as if I have stretched the category too wide.
Oddono’s is a company with half a dozen locations scattered around central London and almost-central London. They make all their vegan and non-vegan desserts on site and you can even peek into the preparation areas at some of the locations to see the magic in action.
When I handed out my Day of the Dead vegan supper club goodie bags, one of the items that got a lot of attention and murmurs of appreciation was the Chocolate Orange Pud cups from vegan dessert experts Pudology.
As you might know from an old post of mine, the Pudology cups are filled with smooth, sweet and irresistible gluten free pudding. They can be purchased online from grocery retailers in either chocolate, strawberry, lemon or banoffee flavours and are starting to become more widely available in high street supermarkets, too.
You know all this. Why am I droning on about puddings that you have seen and tasted?
I am simply giving you a refresher course so when I give you my opinion on the new Pudology flavour, you can skip quickly to the part where you run to buy your own pack.
The Chocolate Orange Pud is delicious. It is dense, creamy and decadent. The orange is perfectly balanced with the choc. The pudding pots come in packs of two and I don’t know if I will ever be able to show enough restraint to eat just one and save one for later. They are too lovely.
The Chocolate Orange Pud cups are currently exclusive to Sainsbury’s but I have been assured by Pudology that we will start seeing them popping up in independent health food stores in the new year.
Tasty!
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I make no secret for the respect I have for Ms Cupcake and the hard work Mellissa Morgan has put in to make her brand one of the most respected independent businesses in London. Notice I didn’t say ‘vegan’ before businesses? That’s right. Ms Cupcake is in the majors.
One of the secrets to their success has surely got to be the relentless attitude to keep creating new products and new ways to get them to people.
Take for instance their new mail order service.
Hands up if you have been waiting your entire vegan career for mail order fudge and coconut ice. You can’t tell but I paused between typing sentences to throw my chubby, queer hands into the air in exultation.
Coconut Rose Bakery recently got in touch with me to ask if I wanted to review some of their mail order vegan sweets. Me? Why on Earth did they think of little ol’ me?
Based in Preston, Coconut Rose Bakery is a small, home-operated vegan baked goods company that will ship what you want right to your door. They specialise in fudge, coconut ice, cupcakes and treats for special occasions.
The photo below shows my delivery of Orange Fudge and Violet Coconut Ice. Both were delicious and left me wanting to explore the other flavours, especially the fudge. Knowing these people can deliver vegan fudge to my front door is dangerous information.
Thanks to Coconut Rose Bakery for my delights. I thoroughly enjoyed them and I hope lots of fans of handcrafted, vegan sweets get in touch to place an order.
FGV approved.
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I feel sorry for people who celebrate Christmas. All that money spent on gifts for other people when they could be buying vegan treats for themselves in Hotel Chocolat.
A few days ago I ventured into the Waterloo Station location of chocolate emporium Hotel Chocolat and was blown away by the tastiness on offer. This was my first experience inside one of their stores, but I’m confident they will get to know me on a first name basis before too long.
Of course not everything is vegan inside the shop, but they certainly give greedy plant eaters like me something to get excited about. On asking about the vegan options, I was inundated with choices as the super-friendly staff member practically fell over trying to show me every product suitable for my compassionate sensibilities. I loved that these items were also clearly marked as being vegan on the packaging.
Check out the photos below to see which items won the distinguished accolade of being devoured by me. There were plenty more options that were almost-rans, but I’ll be getting to know them more intimately in the near future.
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