Vegan review - Doisy & Dam chocolate drops and crunchy balls.

Allll over Instagram I keep seeing these Doisy and Dam vegan dark chocolate drops (aka vegan smarties!!!! vegan m&ms!!!!!) and crunchy dark chocolate balls (aka vegan maltesers) so I had to give them a try! 

I found these in Holland and Barretts, for 99p for a little bag.  Doisy and Dam seems to be a nice, vegan company with good ethics, is corp B certified and is palm oil free.  The only thing I don't like is the plastic packaging, that has no recycling info on it, it's no different to many other brands packaging, but I wish it was better.

I love the D&Ds, dark chocolate drops.  They're are soooo good!  The chocolate is dark and rich and the coating is crunchy and sweet.  They're a dark chocolate, vegan version of m&ms or smarties.  The drops in my packet were all chipped, which wasn't very aesthetically pleasing, but didn't make much of a difference otherwise.  I want to get more of these and decorate some cakes with them, when I was a kid cakes were always deocrated with simple white icing and smarties and I miss that! 

Unfortuately the Ballers weren't to my taste.  Both myself, and non-vegan-husband put these in our mouths and said 'no!', which is never a good sign.  The chocolate is really bitter and the middle is  very hard and crunchy and tastes weird, not malty and melty like a malteaser, which is what I was expecting.  Ack.  Plus you only get 10 in a packet, which would be quite disappointing, if you actually liked them. 

Have you tried these?  What did you think?

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Review, Greggs vegan sausage roll.

Ahh the famous Greggs vegan sausage roll, much rumoured and anticipated, much discussed on social media, but what's it like?

The pastry is really light and flaky, the sausage inside is a good, moist texture and is made of Quorn.  It tastes, well, sausage roll-like.  It's nice.  I've eaten more than one since they launched last week. My mum says they're too salty, my colleague says they're a bit greasy, my meat-eating husband says they taste pretty much like the original Greggs sausage roll.  

My most favourite vegan sausage roll are the Linda McCartney ones.  Comparing the two, the Greggs vegan sausage roll has lighter, crispier pastry, the Linda has thicker pastry, the Greggs has a more succulent filling and it's more salty and umami, the Linda vegan sausage roll is more herby and a bit more stodgy.   

When I went to buy mine the store had sold out, but if you ask the staff they'll pop some more in the oven for you and they'll be ready in about 10 minutes.  

Have you tried one yet?

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Review - Slab vegan artisan fudge.

Friends, I feel it's my duty to bring to your attention this amazing vegan fudge. 

This is Proper Fudge.  I've been disappointed many times by vegan fudge, it's always soft and fondant-y and a bit kind of doughy, nice enough but I can make that kind of fudge myself.  This Slab artisan fudge is still soft, but it has that crunchy, crispy, almost crystal (but not gritty), melt in the mouth texture of the dairy fudge I loved in my pre-vegan days.  Does that make sense?  I'm not sure I have the right words to describe how good Slab fudge is, suffice it to say it's satisfied my fudge-y needs in a way no other vegan fudge ever has. 

I ordered 4 flavours, classic (it's sweet and slightly vanilla-y), death by chocolate (it tastes like the chocolate fudge icing my mum used to make for my birthday cakes), maple and walnut (this is for Joe, but I've taste tested it for him and it's super sweet and maple-y with nutty bits in) and choc toffee (this is my favourite, the toffee flavour is ah-maz-ing and it's swirled with chocolate fudge).  It's all coconut based, and you can taste that slightly in all the flavours, moreso in the classic and chocolate flavours.  

I asked for my fudge to be packed with as little plastic as possible (because I'd seen this post on Instagram!).  This is how my Slab fudge order arrived.

One piece of fudge had a bit of a whoopsie and was broken, but it's going to get broken when I eat and chew it anyway, so that's not an issue for me. I've kept it wrapped in it's greaseproof paper and popped it into a Pyrex box.  Yey for plastic free fudge!  (although the box did have plastic tape and bits on it, it's so hard to do anything completely plastic free and I really appreciate the effort Slab made to reduce the plastic)

Slab vegan fudge costs £3.50 per 150g piece, and you get free shipping on orders over £10.  They also sell dairy fudge, so make sure you order from the right section!  Fudge is made to order and mine came within 6 days of ordering.  I had cause to contact their customer services with a question, and they got back to me within a couple of hours and were super friendly and knowledgeable.  

This isn't a sponsored post.  I just like fudge.  And I'm going to eat some now! 

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Vegan review - all of the vegan cheese and cream flavour crisps!

One of my local shops started stocking loads of the Eat Real cheese and cream flavour crisps, and they're vegan!  It seemed the right thing to do to buy one of every variety, and then try them out.  For the blog, of course.  I'm so selfless.  I also had a bag of Ten Acre vegan cheese and onion crisps, so I've included them too.

Here we go...

Eat Real Quinoa Puffs - White Cheddar

Firstly, these puffs are huge!  They're the same length as my fingers!  They're really crispy and have a yummy, salty, cheese flavour.

Eat Real Quinoa Puffs - Jalapeño and Cheddar
Same puffs, different flavour.  I actually don't think these taste particularly cheesy, they're more jalapeño flavour, but husband has tried them and he thinks they taste of cheese.  These are my least favourite.

Eat Real Quinoa Chips - Sour Cream and Chive

Vegan sour cream and chive is a dream come true for me!  These quinoa chips have a similar texture to wholegrain or sunbites style crisps and they taste tangy and chive-y.  I don't think you'd know these were vegan if you hadn't seen the bag!

Eat Real Lentil Chips - Creamy Dill

The lentil chips are light and crunchy and the chips themselves really taste creamy and tangy, with a hint of  herby dill.  A packet of these doesn't last very long - these ones are my favourite. 

Ten Acre - The Story of when the Cheese met the Onion
 If you want vegan crisps that taste like good old Walkers cheese and onion then these are your best bet.  Crunchy little potato crisps with a strong onion and tangy cheese flavour that definitely don't taste like they're vegan friendly.  But they are.  Woohoo!

I also really, really, really like my own homemade vegan cheese and onion crisps, just take some nooch, onion powder and plain crisps and mix them all together, you can find the recipe for DIY vegan cheese and onion crisps here.

Are there any more vegan cheesy crisps I should know about?

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Vegan rice krispie treat recipe, with Freedom Mallows vegan marshmallows.

These vegan rice krispie treats are sweet, light and yummy!  I was sent some vegan marshmallows from Freedom Mallows to try, they're delicious to eat on their own, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to whip up some lovely vegan treats!

You will need

1 75g packet vanilla Freedom Mallows

2 desert spoons vegan margarine

2 or 3 cups of rice krispies

Pan, spoon and a tin or tray.

How to make yummy vegan rice krispie treats

Melt the margarine in the pan over a gentle heat.

Add the vegan marshmallows and stir until they've melted.

Add rice krispies slowly into the pan, until they're covered with a light coating of the marshmallow mixture and are sticking together.

Push into a tin, tray or pyrex dish and firm and flatten out with the back of a spoon.

Chill in the fridge, then cut into squares and enjoy!

Freedom Mallows come in vanilla and strawberry flavours, and they're free from egg, dairy, gluten, gelatine, soy, GMOs and nuts, and they're suitable for vegetarians and vegans!  Phew!  They're also yummy, soft and melt in the mouth-y.  

My chief omnivore taste tester, Joe, say's the Freedom Mallows are just as good as non-vegan mallows and that my homemade vegan rice krispie treats are just as good as the Kellogs ones he buys from the shop. 

Have you tried Freedom Mallows yet?

Disclosure - I was sent the Freedom Mallows to try.  I only work with brands I like and all opinions are my own.  

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Vegan review, Vegan Life Magazine.

Vegan Life Magazine is my favourite magazine, I'm always so happy when my next digital copy pings up on my laptop!   I thought I'd show you a little peek at October's issue.

The cover always has something really, really yummy looking on it!

You can check out the vegan diary to see if there are any fun events going on near you.

One of my fave sections is the vegan finds page, I love finding exciting new vegan friendly products!

There's a monthly feature to give you ideas on how to use the contents of your veg box.  I don't get a veg box delivered, but there's still lots of inspiration for how to use up seasonal fruit and veg.

Each issue contains a few interesting and well balanced articles.  I liked this one about teaching animal rights.  

And I'll just leave you with this carrot cake pancake stack, the recipe is in October's issue of Vegan Life! 

Don't forget to check out my other posts about Vegan Life Magazine too!

Disclosure - I get a digital subscription to Vegan Life Magazine in return for giving them a shout out every month.  I only work with brands I like and all opinions and ideas are my own.  Images in this blog post are courtesy of and belong to Vegan Life Magazine.  Vegan Life Mag is ace, you can subscribe here.

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