Friday, October 26, 2012

Vegan Fudge





If you crave the creamy goodness of fudge but want to pass up on the dairy, try vegan fudge. Making your own vegan fudge is not only simple, but it tastes amazing. It also makes great gifts. Simply pick up some small holiday containers to fill with your vegan fudge. Its hard to beat giving vegan fudge as a gift!

Heres what you need to make vegan fudge:

12 Ounces of Semisweet Chocolate
6 Tablespoons of vegan butter (e.g., Earth Balance)
3.5 cups of confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
½ cup of cocoa powder
¼ cup of nondairy milk (e.g., almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk)
Optional: 1 cup of chopped nuts, or 1 cup of vegan marshmallows

Heres what you need to do:

First, prepare the pan that the fudge will go into once its cooked. Choose an 8-inch square baking pan and lightly grease it with vegan butter. Next, you will need to use a double boiler to melt everything. If you do not have a double boiler you can create your own. Simply take a larger pan, fill it about a quarter of the way with water, and then put a smaller pan inside of it. The fudge will be made in the smaller pan.
Once you have your double boiler set up, add the vegan chocolate bars, confectioners sugar, vanilla, butter, milk, and cocoa powder. Gently keep stirring the mixture around in the pan until it all melts together, keeping the heat on low to medium. Once the mixture is smooth you are ready to add the nuts or marshmallows if you will be using them. Then, pour it evenly into your prepared pan and put it in the refrigerator for three hours. Once it is set you can cut it into small squares. You can keep it in a sealed container for about week, or you can freeze it and pull it out as needed, allowing it to thaw.
            Now that you have the recipe to make vegan fudge you can get creative with it. Try adding in things like dried cranberries, mint, or other things to make different variations.
           

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Vegan Chocolate Covered Strawberries




Making vegan chocolate covered strawberries is simple, yet it looks absolutely great and will make people think you spent a lot of time in the kitchen preparing them. Vegan chocolate covered strawberries makes for a great dish to set out if you are having company over, or if you just want to surprise your family with something special.

Here is what you need to make vegan chocolate covered strawberries:

1 large container of strawberries (more if you’d like to make a bigger batch)
1 package vegan  Milkless Chocolate Bars
Start out by preparing your strawberries. You will want to make sure they are washed good and gently patted dry. Next, prepare the platter or plate that they will go on. It will work best if you can put wax paper on the platter or plate, so that they come up easier when people go to eat them.
            Now you are ready to melt your chocolate. Put your vegan chocolate bars into a microwave safe bowl, or use a double boiler on the stove. If you are using the microwave, put the bowl of vegan chocolate bars in the microwave and turn it on and off for 5-10 second intervals stirring between each on/off as as needed. Do not let it get to warm-just trying to melt it. Then, take the strawberries one by one and dip them into the vegan chocolate (holding the stem) so that they are completely covered. After dipping each one, lay it down on the wax paper lined plate.
            When you are finished dipping the strawberries into the vegan chocolate, put the tray into the refrigerator for 15 minutes. You can make these up ahead of time, but you should take them out of the refridgerator at least 15 minutes before people will be eating them, so that they will not be too cold on their teeth. As long as you are not taking them out in the heat of summer you should not have to worry about them melting.
            Vegan chocolate covered strawberries are divine! You can also try dipping other fruits into chocolate, such as orange slices, cherries, bananas, and pineapple. Get creative!
            We offer a wide variety of vegan chocolates to choose from. Our vegan chocolate is perfect for your recipes, eaten as treats, or given as gifts. Check out our vegan chocolates today!