How about buying gorgeous chocolate hampers AND supporting an independent vegan buisness.
You will do both these things by shopping with Copperhouse Chocolate, a 100% vegan chocolate shop and cafe based in London.
There are three fabulous hampers from which to choose, meaning there is something for that special someone in your life… and there are no rules saying that special person can’t be you!
Choose from the following hampers:
Copperhouse Chocolate gift box £36
Assorted peanut butter cups & caramels
Fudge
Drinking chocolate variety pack, including 3 different flavours to try
2 single origin chocolate bars from our favourite bean-to-bar makers
Milc chocolate gift box £32
Chocolate box: cashew milk chocolates, filled with cashew butter or tahini filling
Madagascar cashew milc chocolate
Solkiki Hazelnut white chocolate
Ombar coconut chocolate buttons
Colombia 55% drinking chocolate
Fudge
Peanut lovers gift box £32
Peanut butter cups
Peanutty bar (our own take on a well known chocolate bar!)
You Me At Six have announced an exclusive ‘SUCKAPUNCH’ vegan hot sauce in collaboration with Lou’s Brews. The sauce is limited to 200 bottles and available exclusively through pre-orders of the band’s forthcoming new album ‘SUCKAPUNCH’, due January 15th via Underdog Records / AWAL. You can pre-order here.
The ‘SUCKAPUNCH’ sauce is the hottest Lou’s Brews have ever made, and was spearheaded by bassist Matt Barnes who said: “We have always loved our hot sauce, especially when we are on tour. It is an absolute must to spice up the super noodles and microwave meals when travelling on the tour bus. The SUCKAPUNCH sauce is a Habanero based chilli sauce with distilled vinegar, garlic, sugar and salt. It starts with a big punch of spice, before the vinegar and sweetness come through and goes great with anything that needs a little punch of fire!”
Lou’s Brews founder, Lou, said: “I jumped at the chance to collaborate with the guys when I found out they’re all a bunch of spice heads. It’s been awesome working alongside the fellas, playing around with recipe ideas, and I’m stoked for the world to try our delicious little baby.”
The hot sauce follows new single and title track from the band’s forthcoming album ‘SUCKAPUNCH’, described as “transformational” by the Metro, “epic” by the NME and “absolutely huge” by Rock Sound. Their eagerly anticipated seventh studio album will also include ‘MAKEMEFEELALIVE’ and ‘Beautiful Way’, the perfect introduction to their shape-shifting new record, already tipped as “their most radical record to date” by The Sun with DIY confirming, “this is a version of You Me At Six we’ve never seen before”.
You Me At Six are one of the biggest and most prolific British rock bands of recent times. Their 15 year career has seen four UK Gold Records and five Top Ten Albums in the UK, including Number One record ‘Cavalier Youth’. An unparalleled 17 consecutive A-List singles on BBC Radio One, multiple sold-out US headline tours, and a Number One rock song in the UK & Australia, and Top Five Rock Radio track in North America, in ‘Room To Breathe’.
Undoubted heavyweights in the live arena, the summer of 2019 saw You Me At Six play their biggest outdoor headline show to date infront of 15,000 fans at a sold-out Gunnersbury Park. Their most recent UK tour saw 40,000 ticket sales, including three nights at Brixton Academy, selling-out four months in advance in just twenty minutes. May 2021 will see the band celebrate the release of ‘SUCKAPUNCH’ with a string of underplay shows across the UK, including London’s O2 Kentish Town Forum, with support from Saint Phnx. A series of intimate album launch shows across the UK will begin on July 6th at Pryzm in Kingston Upon Thames, preceded by a special socially distanced album release show at Pryzm on January 14th. All tickets are on general sale HERE.
Do you need some baking inspiration for the festive season?
Join Made in Hackney Community Kitchen on Sunday December 13, 2020 between 10am and 1pm for a sensational vegan baking class online (will take place via Zoom with class details sent the day before).
The cost of joining the baking class is £25 (£12 concession) and all funds raised go towards the Made in Hackney community meal service, providing free nutritious, tasty meals to households who need them during these challenging times.
So you’ve got the basic facts and now you want the finer details, right?
Join Bee Berrie (a twice published recipe book author, small business founder (@beesbakery) and expert plant-based baker) to learn how to create incredible plant-based Christmas bakes that look and taste stunning, to enjoy whenever you like during the festive season.
Learn how to make a gorgeous spiced vanilla chai cake
Techniques for making a dreamy vegan white (or dark) chocolate ganache to frost your cake
Make mouth-watering traditional mince pies
Learn how to make your own healthier homemade mince meat with apple and beetroot
You can freeze and enjoy your chai cake whenever during the festive season
Your mince pies will last up to a week in an airtight tin
Opportunity to ask Bee questions
Recipe handout
For ingredients and equipment needed see below
About Bee Berrie
Bee is a twice-published author (Bee’s Brilliant Biscuits and Bee’s Adventures in Cake Decorating), an ex-microbiologist, and the brains behind the best biscuits in London. Bee has supplied bakes to Selfridges and Harrods, become an expert plant-based baker, and transitioned her business to plant-based. She’s also a mother to a bouncy 3-year-old called Joey.
Click here to book a space and check out the ingredients/equipment you will need below.
INGREDIENTS LIST
Homemade mince pies
For the homemade fruit mincemeat:
200 g apples, chopped into small chunks 1 small raw beetroot, finely grated 50g sultanas, currants or raisins 50g dried cranberries 50g dried blueberries 30g chopped almonds the zest and juice of 1 small orange 2 tbsp coconut oil 2 tsp cinnamon 1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped 1 tsp vanilla extract 3 tbsp seeds / nuts of your choice (e.g. chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, millet) For the pastry:
72 g unbleached all purpose flour 1/2 tsp sea salt 160 g coconut oil (scoopable // not liquid)* 45-90 ml ice cold water For the glaze:
50g vegan butter / other vegetable fat 1/2 tsp ground turmeric ½ tsp ground ginger ½ tsp cinnamon Spiced vanilla chai cake with chocolate ganache
The recipe works well as a layer cake (makes 2 x 8 inch rounds, OR 4 x 6 inch rounds (per image), as cupcakes (makes around 14 – 16) or muffins (10 or so), whatever takes your fancy.
HALVE FOR A SMALLER BATCH!
Ingredients:
300 ml soya or oat milk 3 tsp vinegar 200 g plain (not flavoured) soya yoghurt 380 g caster sugar 250 ml plant, nut or vegetable oil 480 g self raising flour (if GF, use 1/4 ground almonds and 2 tsp xanthan gum) 2 tsp vanilla extract The contents of 2 high quality tea bags, decaf if you prefer 2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground cardamom 1/2 tsp ground cloves / allspice 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg 3 tsp baking powder Two ingredient chocolate ganache / icing (make ahead of class)
Makes enough to fill the middle and ice the top of 1 x 6 inch layer cake or 16+ cupcakes
Ingredients:
135 ml soya milk 200g dark chocolate OR 200g white, dairy free chocolate (available from health food shops or online) Method:
Melt the ingredients together over a low / medium heat, stirring gently until you have a smooth glossy mixture, do not allow to boil. Chill until needed, for a few hours or overnight for a firmer, spreadable texture. EQUIPMENT LIST
For the cake:
Weighing scales Large bowl Wooden spoon / spatula Whisk Measuring jug Smaller bowl (to mix milk / yoghurt / vinegar) Tablespoon Teaspoon 2 x 6 inch cake tins OR cupcake tray with cases Parchment / oil / pastry brush (for oiling tins) Small pan (for melting ganache) Cooling rack (optional) Cake board (6 in) or serving plate Palette knife For the mince pies:
Weighing scales Large bowl Medium sized pan wooden spoon chopping board Knife Tablespoons and teaspoons Grater / zester Cupcake tin (mini or small is fine) Pastry brush (for oiling tins)
For a merry meat-free Christmas opt for a cruelty-free festive spread thanks to Rudy’s. The vegan hotspot behind the cult Camden diner and the UK’s first Vegan Butcher is spreading Christmas cheer across the UK with deliciously different Christmas Vegan Feast Boxes.
Paving the way for plant-based innovation, Chef Matthew Foster has done all the hard work for you as each box is packed with all the classic Christmas dishes and a few extras thrown in because, well, it’s Rudy’s!
Customers are spoilt for choice with Rudy’s famous pastrami, seasonally spiced Christmas ham, marvellous meat-free meatballs, and not forgetting their American roots, the festive meatloaf en croute. This meatloaf, wrapped in crisp, flaky pastry, is a special nod to the USA with a virtuous vegan twist.
A spectacular plant-based centrepiece for festive tables across the UK, dine on the Christmas Turk’y roll with cranberries and hazelnuts – an impossibly succulent seitan Turk’y packed with soysage stuffing accompanied by a generous serving of Turk’y gravy with fresh rosemary, thyme and garlic. And of course, each feast comes with all the traditional trimmings for the ultimate Christmas dinner including King Edward potatoes, parsnips, carrots, Brussel sprouts with baycon bits, all perfectly seasoned and ready to roast.
Not forgetting seasonal snacking, each box is also packed with popped water lily seeds in three delicious flavours; dark chocolate and raspberry, paprika and Provençal herbs, or the Cheezy vegan – nutritional yeast and black pepper.
For £55, the festive feast will feed four people (or two hungry vegans). Limited stock available for delivery Wednesday – Friday across the UK, so catch ‘em while you can! Order yours online now.
I love getting free gifts and I love it even more when those gifts are in the form of boxes filled with vegan treats!
Vegan Junk Box is a new monthly subscription box out of the UK focussed on plant-based sweets and treats that are sometimes difficult to locate in stores.
The company gifted me with a box in the hope that I would like it enough to share the news with you all… and guess what?
I’m sharing the news with you!
And you can even get a discount on your first box as an FGV reader.
The monthly box costs £13.99 but you can get £5 off your first box by using code ‘FATGAYVEGAN’ at checkout.
Visit the Vegan Junk Box website now to investigate now and decide if this monthly box is for you.
I think you would be hard-pressed to find an industry struggling as much as independent brewing right now.
What an absolute sack of shit year it has been.
The bars and pubs that breweries rely on for moving most of their stock have been closed or are themselves on the verge of closing forever. Taprooms at breweries, normally a direct line of selling, have been closed on and off all year.
I decided to treat myself to a delivery from my favourite vegan beer producer as an act of solidarity during this unprecedented time… and I’d like to think of few people reading this will do the same thing!
Brass Castle is an independent brewery in Yorkshire.
If you ever attended any of my Vegan Beer Fest events around the UK, you’ll remember Brass Castle as a regular trader. They even ran the jumbo bar at the London outing of the event a few years running.
Every single beer produced and sold by Brass Castle is vegan, including all the gorgeous cans in their 12 Days of Christmas beer advent calendar!
This box is a 12-can selection pack of various Brass Castle faves, hidden behind advent calendar-style doors. All the beers are vegan-friendly and certified gluten-free.
The pack comprises:
Pilsen Thrills 3.9% Pilsner (440ml can)
Hoptical Illusion 4.3% Citra/Comet Pale Ale (330ml can)
Well Wisher 4.5% Citra/Columbus Golden Ale (440ml can)
Dune Bug 4.7% Lemon & Samphire Gose (440ml can)
Fruit Lupe 4.8% Mosaic/Blueberry Pale Ale (440ml can)
I have extremely fond memories of running Hackney Downs Vegan Market, especially when I think of all the wonderful independent traders we helped nurture and grow.
The market was a real hotbed of innovation and vegan advancement.
One brand that I particularly recall as both original and stunningly popular is Kinda Co.
Kinda Co took vegan cheese to another level and it has been exciting to watch their growth ever since. The company combines the familiarity of your favourite cheeses with plant-based innovation/vegan trickery to make products that are simply exceptional.
Think I’m overselling Kinda Co? Then find out for yourself by ordering one of their exclusive cheeseboards for Christmas.
The cheeseboards from Kinda Co are available in three sizes. Choose from The Mini, The Middle, and The Magnificent. Prices range from £27.50 to £68.50.
I was really taken by the look of The Magnificent (pictured above).
The Magnificent includes:
Farmhouse 120g
Cranberry 120g
Summer Truffle 120g
Garlic + Herb 120g
Smoked Farmhouse 120g
Paprika Chilli 120g
Red + Black Pepper 100g
Sour Creme + Chive Spread 130g
Nacho Dip 240g
Faux Lox + Dill Creamy Spread 130g
Rosebud Preserves Spiced Plum Chutney 198g
The Fine Cheese Co. Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Sea Salt Crackers 125g
It’s a vegan cheese dream come to life!
All Christmas cheeseboards from Kinda Co will be delivered on December 22 and 23, 2020. Someone will have to be at the delivery address to take the parcel. They ship UK wide.
All Christmas cheeseboards are also available to collect in person from the Kinda Co kitchen in Hackney Wick between December 17 and 22 if you are in the area.
Extra note: all block cheeses can be frozen and all cheeses should be kept in the fridge until served.
Click here to order now. They will sell out quickly so don’t think about it for to long!
Wanna put your money where your plant-eating mouth is and support independent business before this disastrous year comes to a close?
Mooshies London has launched a hamper filled with gorgeous vegan items and you can buy it for yourself, a friend, or an enemy. Hey, I don’t know how you get your kicks!
Each company involved in building the hamper is paid retail price for their item, so your money is directly helping these independent companies after what can be best described as an extremely tough year.
Launched from the Mooshies shop on Brick Lane, the hamper can be delivered nationwide. The hamper can currently be ordered via the Mooshies website with delivery scheduled for December 16 and 17, 2020.
Each company is a small independent business and local to Mooshies.
Instead of buying the products at cost price, Mooshies is purchasing them at retail to give each company a sale via their hamper. Mooshies takes no profit and does all the labor and dispatching themselves. It’s a way to keep all the small businesses in people’s mind while supporting each of these amazing companies.
Super fancy London restaurant Pied a Terre sent me their vegan feast for two box. It wasn’t exactly the five star experience I was expecting but it was tasty, especially the French onion soup.
