London vegan news, reviews & events
I often make a joke at this time of year where I say I do not celebrate Christmas, but I do celebrate cake/chocolate/etc.
Check out these photos and understand why I’m in full celebration mode right now thanks to the Cooperative supermarkets here in the UK.
I recently had the extreme good fortune of tasting the best vegan chocolate I’ve had in years.
Sat hello to Chocolatey Clare.
This handmade milk chocolate brand hails from Dublin, Ireland and features a gorgeous selection of flavours including Lemon Crunch, Mint Creme and Salted Peanut.
They are all gorgeous.
I was very kindly gifted a selection box thanks to Clare herself and I wasn’t expecting to be so blown away by how delicious her products were. Josh and I were actually fighting over the final crumbs.
When I write that I thought these chocolates were amazing, I really mean that I have never tasted vegan chocolate this good in Ireland or the UK. There are only a few chocolate brands on the planet that I think are in this league.
The good news for all the chocolate lovers out there is that you can order directly from Clare online for delivery.
Click here to order your own selection now.
Need more convincing to buy some for yourself or a friend?
Chocolatey Clare sources ethical cacao from a Fairtrade certified co-op in Peru, the packaging is printed by a company specialising in vegetable inks with machines powered by wind, and the bars are plastic free as they are wrapped in recyclable paper-backed foil.
This is the ultimate feel good gift. Order some now. Get double what you think you should because you will be in love.
Follow Chocolatey Clare on Instagram.
Moo Free news!
Launching for Winter 2017, the brand-new snack-sized Choccy Chums Surprises from Moo Free are priced at a low RRP of just 55p!
Each mini slab is embossed with one of four of the Moo Free Friends: Hammy Hamster, Mikey Bunny, Lily-Lu Lemur or Cheeky Chops.
“Thanks to the patronage of our loyal customers, we’ve been able to continue to invest in new machinery and training”, says sales and marketing director Mike Jessop.
“As a result, we are now able to introduce these delicious and fun Choccy Chums Surprises to the vegan market at our lowest recommended retail price yet”.
These new mini slabs are certified organic and vegan (of course)!
Are you excited for these new low-price vegan treats?
It’s that time of year when I say that I don’t celebrate Christmas but I do celebrate chocolate.
Now that I have that out of the way, let’s all celebrate this new selection box by Moo Free Chocolates.
How fabulous does this look?!
The box retails for £4.79 and includes:
Look for this in your local retailers or order from the company direct online if you run a retail outlet.
Extra note: Moo Free Chocolates is included on the Food Empowerment Project list of trustworthy chocolate manufacturers. See the full list here.
The list reflects Food Empowerment Project’s most recent research on companies that make vegan products containing chocolate to find out if they source their chocolate from areas where slavery can still be found.
Moo Free gets the thumbs up!
Here is a super short post about something I saw in Tesco today.
If you celebrate Christmas and shop at places such as Tesco, you can pick up this vegan chocolate selection box for yourself or a friend. I saw them in the special ‘seasonal items’ aisle (and not in the free from section) of the Tesco Extra in Osterley, London.
What do you think?
Will this be one of your stocking stuffers this festive season?
Here is a super quick post to let you know about one of the biggest honours of my life.
The Ice Shack vegan ice cream parlour in Manchester is serving a Fat Gay Vegan flavour!
The mojito flavour is packed with lime and is incredibly creamy.
Of course the FGV mojito is not the only reason to visit this ice cream shop, but it is a damn fine one. So is the salted caramel ice cream, the dozens of flavours of handmade truffles, and the ever rotating selection of ice creams.
Follow Ice Shack on Instagram.
Holy shit.
I was strolling through Spitalfields Market in central London today and I got the thrill of my life when I saw this sign outside Leon.
Yes. Vegan thick shakes at a mainstream chain restaurant.
I rushed inside and quizzed the server (who turned out to be a vegan, too!) to find out the shakes are brand new, they are made with a cashew base, and they are only available in this one location of the chain.
I wanted the salted caramel flavour but it had sold out, so I went in for chocolate and Josh had the strawberry.
Check out this video to see the exciting process of one of our drinks being made.
This is serious, big time game-changing stuff for London. I mean, they have a freaking soft serve machine churning out cashew shakes!
Apparently this machine and the drinks are being trialled in this one location, so let us work hard on buying a whole bunch of them so they roll them out across all stores in the UK.
Here is a super sweet and super short blog post today.
It is a brief post because Josh and I are currently stuck in traffic on the M6 motorway on our way to Glasgow for Glasgow Vegan Beer Fest this weekend. The traffic has been horrendous and it has taken us about six hours to get from Coventry to Lancaster.
I’ve been passing the time in the car by overeating vegan sweets.
Did you know that Swizzels make a bunch of vegan suitable sweets? You can search their website to find out which products are free of animal ingredients.
Here is what I ended up with today.
Please take special note: the original Drumstick on a stick is NOT VEGAN. Make sure you hunt out the soft chew version of the sweet if you want vegan-friendly enjoyment.
Also, who doesn’t love Parma Violets?
Hey everyone.
If you have been to any of my events over the past year or so, you will be familiar with the glorious fried, glazed and filled donuts made by Peanut Butter Bakery.
The food these magicians produce is otherworldly and definitely the finest vegan donuts I’ve tasted in the UK.
If you are coming along to Hackney Downs Vegan Market this weekend, you should prepare yourself for a little change. Peanut Butter Bakery has a new name and now goes by Dough Society.
They have a new menu that includes iced coffees to match the new name.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BX3NQP8j4Ww/
You can follow Dough Society on Instagram.
Pride news from superstar vegan bakery, Ms Cupcake.
In the past we have supported larger LGBT rights organisations and charities for Pride, but this year we wanted to help a smaller project in the hope that our donations could make a bigger difference – as well as giving the project some exposure so people could see the great work that was happening there.
This year the bakery is supporting Mosaic LGBT Youth Centre which is based in London – a registered non-profit organisation.
Who are Mosaic then?
“Mosaic LGBT Youth Centre is a London-based registered non-profit organisation, which is specifically designed for young lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT+) people, as well of those who are questioning their sexuality and/or gender identity, aged thirteen to nineteen. We have three central aims – to support, educate, and inspire our young person.”
To help the charity, Ms Cupcake has created a special, one-off cupcake that they will sell across the whole of Pride festival at their Brixton shop (they are available to buy now). Proceeds from each cupcake will be donated to Mosaic.
The cupcake is a Red Velvet and Vanilla sponge mix, with rainbow coloured icing swirl, rolled in multi-coloured sprinkles, with glitter sprinkled on top.
Follow Ms Cupcake on Instagram.
