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Legendary vegan bakery in London robbed

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The legendary vegan bakery Ms Cupcake of Brixton, London was broken into last night.

Sharing the news on their social media, staff showed the broken window where entrance to the shop was gained using a brick.

The update also stated that cash was stolen from the business.

The Ms Cupcake bakery is one of the true pioneer vegan businesses in the UK and was largely responsible for launching the booming interest in veganism we see today.

I recently interviewed Ms Cupcake founder Mellissa Morgan for Tenderly online magazine. We talked about the trials and tribulations of running an independent vegan business and how the biggest hurdles are often completely unexpected.

In the interview (which you can read online here), Mellissa talked of how the business recently recovered from a flood. This break in was never going to have good timing, but right now feels particularly difficult for the team.

Please consider what you might do to help support the Ms Cupcake team as they move past this trouble.

My suggestions are:

  • Visit the store as soon as you can and spend up big (they sell a huge range of pantry items, packaged sweets, ice cream, and of course legendary cakes and slices)
  • Follow Ms Cupcake on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
  • If you are at VegFestUK London this week at Olympia, stop by the Ms Cupcake stall (stand number CAT0 – next to One Planet Pizza) and buy lots of cake

In addition, you can catch Mellissa presenting a talk at VegFestUK London on Saturday October 26, 2019 between 1:15pm and 1:45pm.

Mellissa will be talking about all things sweet on the Foodies Stage.

Learn how you can use alternatives to refined sugars in your baking but still get immensely indulgent and decadent results. Over the years Ms. Cupcake has changed and developed her recipes to reflect changing customer tastes and now you can learn her secrets. Find out how this Brixton bakery has removed a third of the sugar from their cupcakes and cakes and introduced both a menu of refined sugar free items and a menu suitable for diabetics.

Get all the info about VegFestUK London (including tickets) online here.

Vegan supper club for Halloween in London

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The fabulous Cafe Van Gogh in Brixton is hosting an exclusive vegan supper club for Halloween.

London, get your best scary fancy dress at the ready and turn up hungry on the night!

The image above lists the tasty-sounding menu:

  • Welcome spiced cider on arrival
  • Beetroot and roasted garlic soup with candied sunflower seeds
  • Mustard and fennel seitan sausage-stuffed pumpkin with mushrooms and buttery leeks
  • Sticky toffee apple pudding with caramel custard

The cost person is £30 and you need to email info@cafevangogh.co.uk to make a reservation.

The dinner will run from 7:00pm until 9:30pm on Thursday December 31, 2019.

In extra news, you are welcome to attend this dinner in Halloween fancy dress and the best costume will be awarded a Saturday brunch with the cafe!

Be sure to follow Cafe Van Gogh on Instagram.

Gluten free baking masterclass in London

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In this hands-on masterclass I’ll share my tips and tricks for making sensational gluten-free baked goods that taste even better than the gluten versions. I’ll show you how to achieve spongy textures, deep flavours and blend your own flour mixes.

– Antonio Alderuccio, Head Chef at The Plant Hub (a plant based gluten free bakery, restaurant, community and culinary academy)

Get involved in this exclusive vegan and gluten free baking masterclass taking place at Made In Hackney community kitchen on Sunday November 10, 2019.

This is a rare opportunity to learn techniques from one of the leading experts in the field of plant-based, gluten free baking.

This masterclass will include:

  • How to make the Plant Hub’s famous deliciously soft and golden gluten free focaccia and stunning rainbow burger buns
  • Learn tips and techniques for making sensational gluten free seasonal brioche and chocolate buns
  • A-Z of gluten free ingredients including flours, binders, seasonings and raising agents
  • A delicious organic plant based lunch, recipe pack and bread to take home
  • Antonio Alderuccio, aka The Rainbow Chef, is an experienced professional Italian gluten free baker and is Head Chef at the Plant Hub in Hackney, a plant based gluten free bakery, restaurant, community and culinary academy.

Fee: £98 (£78 Concession for students, pensioners, unemployed and low waged) inclusive of VAT, includes a delicious organic plant based lunch.

This fee is used to fund the Made in Hackney programme of free courses for vulnerable and low-income community groups. By attending a Made In Hackney masterclass you get a great day of learning AND you’re providing the charity with essential funds for them to continue their work with vulnerable community groups.

Click here to book your spot now and follow Made in Hackney on Instagram.

Vegan candle raises money for HIV charity

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Do you love candles AND improving outcomes for people living with HIV?

Buy this vegan candle and do something nice for yourself and an important charity.

The One Love candle is now available on the Avanti Candles website.

This vegan candle is handmade with natural soy wax, resulting in a soot-free burn. The company cleverly craft the candles with a wooden wick which crackles when it burns, adding to the enjoyment of the high grade fragrant oils.

The One Love candle has notes of cedar and sandalwood, blended with Moroccan rose, jasmine, lily, and patchouli.

It retails at £25 (reduced price of £20 at VegFestUK London if you are heading there) and with each sale, Avanti donates a percentage to Terrence Higgins Trust.

But what is the Terrence Higgins Trust?

Terrence Higgins Trust describes itself as the HIV and sexual health charity for life.

Their vision is a world where people with HIV live healthy lives free from prejudice and discrimination, and good sexual health is a right and reality for all.

Terrence Higgins Trust is the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity, providing a wide range of services to over 50,000 people a year. The charity also campaigns and lobbies for greater political and public understanding of the personal, social and medical impact of HIV and sexual ill health.

You can read more about Terrence Higgins Trust online here.

Now, back to the candle business.

Buy the gorgeous One Love candle from Avanti online and they will donate 10% of all sales to Terrence Higgins Trust.

Click here to buy online and make sure you take a look around the rest of their range of candles and diffusers.

You can follow Avanti Candles on Instagram.

FGV at VegFestUK London 2019

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Have you ever felt like the only LGBTQIA+ person in the vegan village?

Join Fat Gay Vegan (that’s me!) at VegfestUK London for an hour-long social event designed especially for LGBTQIA+ plus vegans and their allies.

Eat cupcakes with your community, share and listen to stories, and of course make new friends!

There will be two one-hour sessions (Saturday and Sunday October 26 and 27, 2019 1pm – 2pm) located on Level 2 of Olympia Central (located within the Natural Therapy Zone). You can see the floor plan here.

The sessions will be informal socials. Nobody will be lecturing you about anything. It is simply designed to be a social space for queer vegans.

Let’s hang out!

VegFestUK London is a huge, two-day event showcasing vegan living. Enjoy talks, cooking demos, new products, good eating in the food hall, drinks, music, and so much more.

Get all the information about VegFestUK London on their website. Follow them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Click here to buy advance tickets.

London vegan café celebrates two years

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This blog post is a bit personal and soppy.

I hope you are all OK with me bigging up two of my friends and their fabulous business.

Essential Vegan Café is an all-vegan eatery in Shoreditch, London and today it is celebrating two years of trading.

Essential Vegan is an independent café run by chef Vanessa Almeida and her husband Neni.

I got to know Vanessa and Neni several years ago through the vegan scene in London. They would both come along to events I hosted and it wasn’t long until we counted on each other as friends, not just vegan comrades.

Vanessa and Neni work as hard as anyone I’ve ever met in the vegan community, if not harder.

I have seen them pull all-nighters, often multiple nights in a row, in order to prepare for large scale vegan festivals such as VegFestUK. At the first ever Hackney Downs Vegan Market Vanessa was swamped by customers and sold out of everything instantly, resulting in her actually RUNNING home to bake more cakes for attendees while Neni stayed at the stall and chatted with customers.

Their shed/hatch window takeaway stall in the now-defunct PUMP foodcourt in East London was crucial in pushing vegan food forward in the capital. Vanessa and Neni worked tirelessly to make delicious seitan burgers and succulent cheesecakes to keep the hungry crowds satisfied.

Essential Vegan also became famous around this time for their gourmet plant-based cheeses.

Vanessa has invested thousands of hours in order to perfect her handcrafted artisan cheeses. If you consider yourself a vegan cheese fan, you owe it to yourself to get along to Essential Vegan to buy a few of Vanessa’s creations.

As Essential Vegan Café turns two years old, it is also important to recognise how Vanessa has helped put Brazilian food on the London map. As a chef, she is a pioneer in the UK.

Vanessa and Neni relocated from Brazil to London many years ago and it was a dream of theirs to feed traditional dishes from back home to the population of their new home. They have realised this dream with Essential Vegan Café.

Feijoada is one of their specialties and I promise you will struggle to find a weekend brunch as delicious as this anywhere else in London.

I haven’t even touched on the rest of the sensational menu which includes cake, cassava chips, Brazilian cheese balls, seitan wings, salad, quiche, and casserole.

Congratulations to Vanessa and Neni for two years of Essential Vegan Café. I’m truly inspired by your determination, work ethic, and commitment to improving outcomes for animals.

See the exact location of Essential Vegan Café thanks to Google Maps (just a few skips from Shoreditch High Street Station).

See the Essential Vegan Café menu online.

Follow Essential Vegan on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Aquafaba masterclass for London

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London. What are you doing this Saturday October 5, 2019?

This aquafaba masterclass being hosted at Made in Hackney is exactly where you need to be. Aquafaba is versatile and a true must-use ingredient in every serious foodie’s kitchen.

When is the masterclass? Saturday 5th October 2019 between 10:00am and 2:30pm.

I’ll show you all the tips and tricks for using aquafaba as an amazingly versatile vegan egg replacer to make delicious meringues, chocolate mousse, mayonnaise, butter and more

Bruna Oliveira, Raw Chef & Nutritional Therapist

If you have made it this far and don’t know what the flip I’m talking about, let me briefly explain.

Aquafaba is the name given to the liquid leftover when you open a tin of chickpeas. Clever people discovered that this liquid has similar properties to egg white meaning it can be whipped into meringue, used for buttercream frosting, and even helps make vegan chocolate mousse a reality.

This masterclass will include:

  • Learning all the tips and tricks for using aquafaba as an amazingly versatile vegan egg replacer
  • Making vegan versions of show desserts such as pavlova, perfect meringues and chocolate mousse
  • How to use in baking to create light, fluffy pancakes and waffles
  • Techniques for using in delicious vegan omelettes, mayonnaise and butter
  • A delicious organic lunch and recipe pack
  • 10% discount in neighbouring wholefood shop, Food for All

Bruna Oliveira graduated in physiotherapy in Brazil before moving to London in 2008, where she studied Naturopathy and Naturopathic Nutrition at CNM London, in order to pursue her passion for healthy and natural living. Bruna loves creating delicious recipes with the aim of inspiring people to transform their lives through making positive changes in their diet.

Fee: £84 (£66 Concession) inclusive of VAT, includes a delicious organic plant based lunch.

This fee is used to fund the Made in Hackney programme of free courses for vulnerable and low-income community groups. By attending a Made In Hackney masterclass you get a great day of learning AND you’re providing the charity with essential funds to continue their work with vulnerable community groups.

Click here to buy your aquafaba masterclass ticket now.

View all upcoming classes at Made in Hackney online here.

Follow Made in Hackney on Instagram.

UK Vegans of Colour event London

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Esme of London Afro Vegan and Deserted Cactus fame is putting on an amazing community event focussed on vegans of colour in the UK and she needs our help to make sure it runs smoothly.

Any event in London is sure to face financial obstacles and the UK Vegans of Colour event taking place in Peckham on October 5 and 6, 2019 is no exception.

Esme has created this historical, first time event to bring together the most talented and diverse showcase of designers, activists, crafters, artists, and culinary creatives.

The two-day event will feature workshops, discussions, demos, and talks.

Sessions include:

  • Parenting whilst vegan discussion
  • Black History talk
  • Intersectionality panel
  • Womens health
  • Multiple cooking demos

There will be vegan food traders serving up mouthwatering cuisine, as well as vendors selling crafts, candles, and clothing. Make sure you check out the designated area for children if you have young people in your life!

The UK Vegans of Colour event is welcoming to all vegans and vegan-curious people, however it is firstly a safe space created to celebrate and elevate the voices, experiences, and knowledge of vegans of colour.

This crucial event is looking for your support. Your donation will help Esme put on the best community collaboration possible while ensuring she is not out of pocket herself.

Every single pound raised will go directly to the logistical and organisational needs of UK Vegans of Colour. Costs include venue expenses, promotions, travel, and infrastructure.

By supporting UK Vegans of Colour financially, you are helping Esme and her guests resist oppressive forces that silence and minimise their voices within the vegan scene and broader society.

Donate now and share this campaign. We are aiming for £1,000 so we just need 1,000 kind people to send £1 our way. Or one rich person to send us £1,000. Or 100 middle class vegans to give £10 each. Geez, you get the idea. Give what you can!

You can also support the event by attending the event. Book tickets to UK Vegans of Colour online here

Read more about the UK Vegans of Colour lineup online here

Follow UK Vegans of Colour on Instagram

Amazing Indian and African cooking masterclass

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“In this class I will teach you some delicious and healthy East African dishes with a North Indian twist, taking the best from both culinary worlds.”

That is what my buddy Nishma Shah from Shambhu’s, award-winning vegan catering and education, has to say about her upcoming cooking masterclass at Made In Hackney on Sunday September 29, 2019.

The class will include:

  • How to create tasty plant based Indian and East African curries and accompaniments such as ‘Pumpkin Roti’
  • Learn to make healthier versions of starters such as ‘Crispy Bhajia’ and ‘Spinach & Banana Fritters’, plus a stunning selection of chutneys
  • Learn to use protein-rich millet create delicious dishes such as traditional ‘Githeri’
  • How to use spices effectively and create spice blends
  • Create a sumptuous Indo-African fusion dessert such as ‘Baked Chocolate Molten Mandazi’, served with an authentic hot spiced drink
  • A delicious plant based organic lunch and recipe pack
  • 10% discount in neighbouring wholefood shop Food for All

Fee: £84 (£66 Concession for students, pensioners, unemployed, and low waged)) inclusive of VAT, includes a delicious organic plant based lunch.

This fee is used to fund the Made in Hackney programme of free courses to vulnerable and low-income community groups. By attending a Made In Hackney masterclass you get a great day of learning AND you’re providing the charity with essential funds to continue their work with vulnerable community groups.

Click here to book now and follow Shambhu’s on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You can also follow Made in Hackney on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Vegan pop up for Tottenham

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Tottenham Social Pop Ups is an ongoing series of seriously tasty food events at Craving Coffee on Markfield Road, Tottenham.

The next best reason why you should get along is taking place from Thursday September 12 until Saturday 14, 2019.

Superstar vegan food traders Marli’s Kitchen are running their soul menu takeover and the menu sounds exquisite. Check this out.

These Tottenham Social nights have been running since June 2015. Craving Coffee have been inviting street food traders to take over their kitchen with diverse cuisines from around the globe while their Tottenham Social bartenders serve a range of bespoke cocktails craft beers, choice wines, and boutique soft drinks.

The Marli’s Kitchen return is set to be hugely popular. They are a vegan food trader on mission to get carnivores eating vegan food, and to satisfy vegan cravings for junk food with a conscience.

Details you need:

  • Thursday September 12 until Saturday September 14, 2019
  • Fully licensed bar 5pm – 11pm
  • Happy Hours 5pm – 7pm
  • Food 6pm – 10pm
  • Book via tottenhamsocial@gmail.com
  • Walk-ins welcome!

Book to avoid disappointment.

Be sure to follow Marli’s Kitchen on Instagram.