London vegan news, reviews & events
I’m a little bit late to this party but for anyone who hasn’t heard, there are new vegan Magnum ice creams in the UK.
The dairy free version of these famous products are available UK wide and come in two varieties. You can grab the classic or the almond (chocolate coating with almond pieces).
As the photos show, these vegan ice creams are available in packs of three. I have also seen reports online of single packs being sold.
What do you think? Have you tried?
Here is a quick little post to tell you about an amazing vegan food trader.
The Vegan Food Pod is a trailer that pops up around the country, selling the best vegan donuts and pastries you will find anywhere in the UK.
The filled donuts are some of the best I’ve eaten anywhere, including the vanilla custard and chocolate ganache.
We recently welcomed The Vegan Food Pod to Coventry Vegan Beer Fest and the business sold hundreds and hundreds of donuts in a matter of hours.
You can catch the donut masters selling the good stuff at both Glasgow Vegan Beer Fest and Sheffield Vegan Beer Fest in the coming weeks. Buy tickets for those events online here.
Follow The Vegan Food Pod on Instagram to follow their appearances.
Have you been dreaming of a giant 12″ vegan cookie featuring your name?
Well, perhaps you have the ability to predict the future because Ms. Cupcake of Brixton has just launched a brand new giant, personalised cookie service!
Legendary vegan bakery Ms. Cupcake is now selling London’s first personalised giant vegan cookie, which comes delivered in a pizza box!
The USA-style cookie is made to a giant 12” and has launched with two flavours – the classic choc chip and irresisitible red velvet.
Each cookie can be personalised with a hand-written message and you can choose multiple icing colours to be piped around the edge. The bakery is launching them with an introductory sale price of £20.00 until August 12th. The price after that will be £25.00.
There is an additional service of adding an edible picture at extra cost.
Delivery is available across London, or customers can choose to collect from the Brixton shop. Get all the cookie ordering details online here.
I’m so excited to hear about this new giant cookie development.
To order, customers can call the Ms. Cupcake office on 0203 086 8933 (option 3) or email info@mscupcake.co.uk. They require at least five full days notice in order to process your giant cookie order.
You can also follow Ms. Cupcake on Instagram.
If you think eating vegan food in London is a relatively new phenomenon that has found popularity over the past two years, you clearly haven’t done your reading.
There have been food providers working hard to showcase plant-based cuisine for a very long time, with one of these businesses recently celebrating a 7th birthday that completely passed me by.
Ms. Cupcake threw open its doors WAY BACK in April 2011, meaning London’s first ever vegan bakery turned seven years old earlier this year.
That is an incredible achievement for any food business and even more impressive for a vegan business that was paving the way for many others to follow. Mellissa Morgan and her Ms. Cupcake brand have become globally recognised and the store front is still there on Coldharbour Lane, Brixton for you to visit 7-days a week.
I am sharing some recent food photos from the bakery with you below, but let’s also get some important links listed on here.
Click here to see the exact location of the bakery thanks to Google Maps.
Follow Ms. Cupcake on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Find out about ordering bespoke cakes via the bakery’s website.
Order your own copy of the Ms. Cupcake recipe book and get a free Nanaimo bar recipe from the book online here. You can even step back in time to see my blog post from that grand opening day over 7 years ago!
Hold onto your vintage petticoats because this is some hugely fabulous news.
The Essex town of Colchester has just welcomed a 100% vegan, 50s-style diner that has a distinct rockabilly vibe.
It looks marvellous!
You need to follow Shakers Dairy Free on Facebook and Instagram. You can click here to see the exact town centre location thanks to Google Maps.
Not only do I adore the idea of a completely vegan diner selling ice cream, shakes, and sandwiches, but I’m also in love with the fact that Shakers are using 100% compostable packaging.
Yay for vegan Colchester! There is definitely a fabulous compassionate scene building in strength in that part of the world.
RAW Lab‘s resident chocolatiers The Well-Bean Company (who also trade at Hackney Downs Vegan Market) are premiering their painting with chocolate experience and it sounds AWESOME.
It is time to get creative by making masterpieces for the eyes and the mouth!
The class boasts a relaxed vibe where the only rule is to enjoy experimenting with edible art. You will have full reign over your masterpieces and can be as creative as you wish. The prize at the end of the evening is taking home your delicious, all-chocolate canvas.
Whether you have never picked up a paintbrush or you’re the next Monet, Charlie at The Well-Bean Company promises this experience can be enjoyed by all.
Click here to book your ticket now.
Follow The Well-Bean Company on Instagram.
This is an emotional post.
Hackney Downs Vegan Market is more than a place to buy food. For many of our traders, it has become an extended family.
Every single week I receive messages from market visitors who want to tell me that they loved the friendly, community feel of the event.
We work hard to make sure our traders feel happy, comfortable and cherished, which in turn helps create a positive atmosphere that flows onto the punters.
So, it is one big happy family but sadly sometimes people leave home.
Saturday May 5, 2018 is going to mark the final appearance of Clarisse and her superstar vegan patisserie The Sunny Spoon.
Clarisse has decided to follow up with a career opportunity which means she will no longer be able to trade at Hackney Downs Vegan Market.
Of course the food from The Sunny Spoon is spectacular, but it is the human behind the brand which is making us really feel the loss.
Clarisse has been more than just a friendly trader. She has worked tirelessly to make Hackney Downs Vegan Market a destination to which people want to return. The Sunny Spoon was one of the businesses to show up through the brutal winter months and Clarisse never stopped smiling.
Clarisse is not a person to rest on past glories. Her patisserie was already exquisite when I first met her but it is proof of Clarisse’s dedication to her profession that she never stopped working to take it all to the next level.
And as sad as I am to be saying goodbye, I know it is exactly these wonderful qualities that will take Clarisse onto even more rewarding and amazing adventures.
Thank you, Clarisse. You have been an important part of our market and you will be missed dearly.
Visit Hackney Downs Vegan Market this Saturday May 5, 2018 to say thank you and goodbye (for now) to Clarisse. Please follow The Sunny Spoon on Instagram to keep updated with her adventures.
This recipe is an exclusive extract from the brand new Wicked Healthy Cookbook available now for pre-order.
The Healthy Wicked Cookbook looks just like the type of recipe collection you would actually use.
Sure it has more of a lean towards health-focussed food than you are be used to seeing on my blog, but you can’t argue with food that is simply great to look at and amazing to taste.
Some of the recipes that sound more than impressive include:
Chad and Derek Sarno caused an absolute storm recently with their Wicked Kitchen grab-and-go range for Tesco, so it’s understandable that this cookbook is being touted as a must-have for serious food lovers.
I’ve seen Chad and Derek in action over the years and I know that they are two of the most talented proponents of plant-based food around. They know about delicious, vegan food.
The Wicked Healthy Cookbook is published May 31, 2018 but I am thrilled to be able to bring you this sneak preview.
I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments below once you’ve tried the recipe and don’t forget you can pre-order The Wicked Healthy Cookbook via Waterstones and Amazon.
ALMOND MERINGUE COOKIES
In the fall of 2015, we featured these cookies on several catering menus. We usually made them with dried fruit powder like raspberry, then dried the meringue in sheets and broke it up into shards, as in Brûléed Pineapple with Spiced Panko, Berries, and Meringue (page 231). Flavour the cookies however you like (see the Options), but try to stick with freeze-dried fruit powders. Liquid extracts and flavourings tend to make the meringues fall. —Chad
MAKES ABOUT 50 SMALL COOKIES
INGREDIENTS
Plant-Based Meringue (see below)
1 teaspoon almond extract
Seeds scraped from ½ vanilla bean
¼ cup finely ground unsalted roasted almonds, optional
METHOD
OPTIONS
RASPBERRY MERINGUE COOKIES: When making the meringue, add 1/3 cup powdered freeze-dried raspberries (buzzed in a clean spice grinder) along with the sugar. Omit the vanilla and almonds, and substitute raspberry extract for the almond extract.
LEMON MERINGUE COOKIES: When making the meringue, add 2 tablespoons lemon peel powder (buzz the dried lemon peel in a clean spice grinder) along with the sugar. Omit the vanilla and almonds, and substitute lemon extract for the almond extract.
CANDY CANE MERINGUE COOKIES: When making the meringue, reduce the sugar by 2 tablespoons and add 3 to 4 tablespoons crushed candy canes along with the sugar while whipping. Omit the vanilla and almonds, and substitute 1 teaspoon peppermint extract or a few drops of food-grade peppermint essential oil for the almond extract.
PLANT-BASED MERINGUE
This recipe still blows our minds. You mean the leftover liquid from a can of beans (called aquafaba) can be used to make desserts?! Most people pour their bean liquid down the drain. But surprise—it has enough protein to whip up just like egg whites. Voilà—plant based meringue! You can use this meringue as a base for everything from pancakes and pastries to meringue-topped pies and Almond Meringue Cookies (page 236). All without a hint of beany-ness. You can even use aquafaba to make Plant-Based Mayo (page 264).
MAKES 6 to 7 CUPS MERINGUE
INGREDIENTS
1 can (14 ounces) no-salt-added chickpeas
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
½ cup semifine (see Pro Tip) organic cane sugar
METHOD
PRO TIP
To make semifine sugar, grind it in a food processor or Vitamix for 10 to 15 seconds.
Pre-order The Wicked Healthy Cookbook online.
One of the best and most successful vegan brands on the planet now has a huge new factory.
World-leading manufacturers of vegan chocolate, Moo Free Chocolates, has opened its second
factory in Holsworthy, Devon.
This new factory is situated opposite their existing factory and increases their production space by more than 130m2. That’s a lot of vegan chocolate being made!
This new space not only allows the company to speed up production and meet ever-increasing demand, but to also explore the development of new products.
I’m so thrilled to see such an incredible vegan brand enjoying success on this scale. Moo Free is now sold in more than 30 countries and is recognised by many people as the best alternative to milk chocolate on the planet.
Not bad considering they only started in 2010!
You can visit the Moo Free website plus follow the superstar brand on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Here is your chance to feel like Willy Wonka.
So Sweet Couture Chocolate is a manufacturer of gorgeous vegan chocolate and they need help to take the next step in their growth by opening a chocolate factory.
The company already has premises in Pembrokeshire, Wales and now needs the help of the vegan community to get everything ready to roll.
So Sweet Couture Chocolate isn’t just asking for your money, they also have a great line up of chocolate rewards for those willing and able to help fund their factory expansion.
Check out these rewards:
The family owned company needs your support with the following:
Buying some of their delicious treats by way of donation is going to help So Sweet Couture Chocolate realise their dreams while staying away from a pesky bank loan.
Click here to donate now and claim your reward!
You can also follow So Sweet on Instagram.
