Vegan Product of the Week: Lazy Day Foods - Free From Ginger Tiffin

A soft Belgian dark chocolate tiffin with warming stem ginger and ginger biscuit pieces (£2 in Waitrose), ideal for the winter season. It is free from gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, hydrogenated fats and is labelled vegan. You can tell that a lot of care and consideration has gone into making and packaging this product. Allergens are highlighted in bold on the ingredients list and the palm oil used is RSPO certified (ethically sourced). 

'Lazy Day Foods' were founded by food scientists Dr. Sally Beattie and Emer Bustard, both have an interest in food intolerances. Sally herself has several food intolerances and her young son is allergic to dairy. They state on the box that they bake their goods in a dedicated gluten free bakery and they have no gluten, wheat, dairy or eggs on site and they don't use nuts on the premises either.

I love the melty gooeyness of this product but it's something that I would only buy as an occasional treat. I find myself eating these very slowly as they are quite rich but enjoyable none the less. I couldn't gorge myself on these as I would probably feel very sick afterwards. I would like to try out some of the other products in this range especially the cookies if I can find them.

Vegan Product of the Week: Lotus Biscoff Spread

Lotus Biscoff spread is a caramelised biscuit spread that tastes like the little biscuits you sometimes get free with a cup of tea in a cafe (like the biscuit displayed on the label). When I was told about this I had to try it. It's different to other spreads I have tried which makes it more appealing but the high sugar content means that it's not something that I would eat everyday so I decided this would be ideal for a weekend breakfast treat. I spread it on toast and was pleasantly surprised as I wasn't sure that something so sweet would work but it did. This spread also comes in a crunchy version but I don't think I could imagine spreading it on my toast.

After examining the ingredients I noticed that it contained palm oil. Concerned about this I decided to have a look on their website which explains that they use RSPO (roundtable on sustainable palm oil) certified palm oil which means that is is sourced using environmental and economic good practice.

As I'm a sucker for sweet things I was impressed with this product. To get the full effect spread it on a little thicker as a thin layer can have just a subtle taste and will be more bready than spready. Alternatively you can indulge yourself with a spoonful straight from the jar on occasions (but of course I wouldn't encourage this).  I bought my jar of biscuit spread from Tesco for £2.29 so see if you can find yours else where for less. It definitely has to be tried.

Vx, Vegan Boutique

This impressive little vegan boutique literally has everything packed into it and I was interested to see how they utilised their space. Located on Caledonian road, it's a short walk from Kings Cross station. Directly to the right of me on entering the shop were a range of alternative vegan clothing items and shoes.

In front of me on the other side of the shop was a refrigerator full of drinks, next to that were shelves packed with vegan snacks and produce such as egg free mayo and dairy free cream. they also had a small selection of books.

In other refrigerators they had a good range of faux meat and cheese products which I plan to try next time I return with a cool bag. A selection of sweet and savoury take-away food (hot and cold) as well as sandwiches and cakes can be found at the other end of the shop.

The guys in the shop are very friendly and chatty. We must have talked for about 15 minutes at the counter about Vegfest (which I plan on attending this year) and other Vegan events before I finally payed for my goods. Unfortunately they won't have a stall at Vegfest London this year but you can check out their website HERE as they take orders on-line.

A Visit to Ms. Cupcake

I have nothing but good things to say about my visit to Ms. Cupcake, London's first entirely vegan bakery. This gem of a place is located on Coldharbour lane in Brixton, just a five minute walk from Brixton underground station. I took my 15 year old niece along with me to sample some of their top quality wares. On entering the shop we were greeted by a friendly staff team which immediately made us feel at ease. The first thing I noticed were a range of vegan sweet products in front of the food preparation area which I quickly got excited about, especially when I saw the packets of marshmallows. I haven't been able to eat marshmallows since becoming veggie so I knew I had to snap some of these up along with a couple of other items that caught my eye.

When we moved towards the cupcake display counter I knew that deciding on just one cupcake would be an impossible task but I managed it. There were so many amazing looking cupcake's with different coloured icing. It was like looking at a work of art.

I chose the 'apple custard crumble' while my niece opted for the 'red velvet' cupcake and we couldn't have been more pleased with our choices. We also couldn't resist ordering two milkshakes; one chocolate and one Oreo which were bought out to our table when they were ready. My milkshake was very chocolaty, just the way I like it. Unfortunately there was no seating inside the shop due to it's small capacity but luckily it was warm enough to pull up a chair outside.

We must have been there for about an hour having a good old chin wag and watching the world go by before reluctantly leaving. Being my first vegan cupcake experience I was pleasantly surprised at how similar tasting these cupcakes were compared to ones that contain dairy products. I would say that there was no difference in taste what soever, therefore I would happily recommend Ms. Cupcake to those who aren't vegetarian or vegan. I will definitely be back at some point to try out their savoury treats and cookies. Check out the website to find out what else they have to offer.