Vegan Vox Reviews...Black's Family Maple Twists

These are amazing! Maple flavoured puff pastry twists made by Black's Family. These are sold in a huge 624g tub from Costco for £5.99 and are certified vegan by the American Vegetarian Association.

They contain no cholesterol, no transfats, no yeast, no dairy, no butter and no eggs. They are crispy pastry twists covered in maple flavoured sugar. They are not healthy at all but make a great treat for parties and barbecues. They are very moreish. You have been warned! :) I like them served with a bowl of vegan ice-cream, Mr Vox likes them with a cup of tea. You could even use them with a dark chocolate fondue or fountain.

What are your surprising bakery treats that you have found out are vegan? Share in the comments below.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Recipe of the Week- Breakfast Ideas

This week is a slightly different version of the VROTW feature. So many people ask me what vegans can eat for breakfast other than porridge or cereal with soy milk, that I thought I'd do a breakfast feature to offer some inspiration.

Monday

Start the week off with a delicious Oat Bagel served with dairy-free butter, jam and a banana.

Tuesday

Bake some delicious fruit muffins with banana, nuts or cranberries and have a muffin and coffee.

Wednesday

Grab some delicious fresh organic fruit and a Nakd bar for breakfast on the run.

Thursday

Keep it simple with fresh granary toast and baked beans with a little brown sauce.

Friday

Make some Jus-Rol Croissants and take them in for your colleagues - Friday treat time!

Saturday

Try a vegan sausage and hash brown roll or VBites Bacon and hash brown roll with a glass of chocolate almond milk.

Sunday

Make it a Sunday Brunch with a full English, vegan sausage and bacon, mushrooms, hash browns, granary toast and baked beans.

Special Days - Anniversaries, Birthdays, Valentine's Day etc.

Treat the loved one in your life to delicious iced cinnamon rolls freshly baked and served in bed with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. Perfect!

What are your favourite breakfast ideas? Share in the comments below. For more recipe ideas click here.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Iced Belgian Buns from Waitrose

Update: It has been reported in May 2015 that these are no longer vegan, see comments below for details.

This week's TOV is a yummy cake from Waitrose Essential's range. This pack of two iced buns costs a pound and they are available from the bakery section in Waitrose supermarkets. They have a delicious sultana and lemon filling and are vegan. Yay!

What are your favourite surprising vegan bakery finds at supermarkets? Share with us in the comments below.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Apple Crumble/Apple Strudel

This week on TOV, is the turn of shop-bought desserts. I have found that most of the supermarkets basic ranges of Apple Crumble and Apple Strudels are vegan-friendly. These are found in the the frozen desserts aisle of the supermarket and cost around £1 each. You just bake them from frozen and serve with vegan ice-cream, cream or custard. Delicious! These are great to keep in the freezer for last minute guests or late night munchies!

If home-cooked food is more your thing, I have my own crumble recipes here and here.

Come back tomorrow for another vegan recipe of the week. If you missed my exciting announcement on Saturday click here to read it!

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Recipe of the Week - Apple and Peach Cinnamon Crumble

                                  

There is nothing like a warm fruity crumble with custard or ice cream to make everything seem better. This one combines the tartness of apples with the sweetness of peaches for the perfect combo!

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

Topping:
225g Plain Flour
90g Caster Sugar
Pinch of Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
115g Vegan Butter (I use hard Stork)
2 Tbsp Demerara Sugar

Filling:
3 Red Apples
2 Peaches or Nectarines
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Vanilla Paste
100g Soft Brown Sugar
100ml Water
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

To Serve:

Vegan custard or ice-cream

Method:

Peel, core and chop the red apples into small chunks.

Peel the peaches and cut off the flesh into small pieces.

Put the rest of the filling ingredients without the fruit into a saucepan on a medium heat and stir until combined and the sugar has dissolved. Then add the fruit and very gently simmer for around 5 minutes until the apples are soft.

Put a lid on the saucepan and remove from the heat. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan. Meanwhile make the topping.

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl, then add the caster sugar, salt and cinnamon. Stir to combine.

Cut the cold vegan butter into chunks and rub them into the dry mixture until you have a breadcrumb consistency.

Spoon your fruit filling into an oven dish and then sprinkle liberally with the crumble topping. Sprinkle the demerara sugar over the top on and bake in the centre of the oven for 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and serve hot with vegan custard or ice cream.

Eat and Enjoy!

What are your favourite pie and crumble fillings? Let me know in the comments below.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Mr Kipling Pies and Tarts

This week on TOV, I am looking at shop-bought bakery. It is so hard to find vegan items in the bakery aisle at supermarkets as this is traditionally where most of the products contain some kind of dairy or eggs. I mainly bake my own but if you are out and about or need something in for unexpected guests, Mr Kipling comes to the rescue as two of the main line of products are vegan-friendly.

The first is the Apple & Blackcurrant Pies. Strangely, the Apple Pies contain dairy, but the Apple & Blackcurrant do not! There are often other seasonal pies, mainly around Christmas, which sometimes are vegan too, last year they had a winter fruit pie selection which was vegan-friendly.

In addition to the pies, the Mr Kipling Jam Tart selection is also vegan-friendly and quite often both packets are on offer for 2 for £2 in the supermarkets. The regular price is around £1.49.

They don't taste as nice as home-made but they are tasty and they are good to have in the cupboard for times when you don't have time to bake.

If you prefer to make your own vegan food, come back tomorrow for the Vegan Recipe of the Week.

What are you vegan-friendly supermarket bakery finds? Let me know in the comments below.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx