★ Easy to make and even easier to eat. This chocolate ice-cream is a good substitute for those who miss it, or just want something that they can make at home to avoid the commercial products (which require a science degree to understand the ingredients list).
This recipe does not require an ice-cream machine. All measurements are rough-guides, adjust for taste.
This chocolate ice-cream stays smooth when frozen, does not form ice-crystals, and if left in a serving bowl too long melts into a tasty chocolate milk drink
Equipment:
Medium sized saucepan
Tablespoon – for measuring
Spoon – for stirring
Freezer-safe container with a lid
Grater (optional)
Measuring jug (optional)
Ingredients:
4 heaped tablespoons of cocoa powder
3 heaped tablespoons of brown sugar (or char free sugar of choice)
2 heaped tablespoons of corn flour
pinch of salt
pinch of spice, eg. cinnamon, nutmeg
100 grams of grated chocolate (chocolate bar style chocolate)
conversion: 100 grams = 3.5274 ounces
3/4 of a litre / quart Milk of your choice (eg, almond, soy, rice)
conversion: 1 litre = 1.05669 US quart
Method:
Add some of the milk to the saucepan, heat over a very low heat
In the same bowl that ice-cream will be made in, mix the cocoa powder, brown sugar, corn flour, salt, spice
Add cocoa mixture to the slowly heating milk, mix well to remove any lumps
Chocolate milk mixture will start to thicken, stir well so it does not burn on the bottom
Add rest of the milk
Add the chocolate, grated or choc-chip sized to the milk, keep stirring. Do Not let the chocolate burn
When chocolate is melted, transfer to a freezable container.
Freeze, this will take a few hours
Variations:
add cherries to give it a hint at Black Forest flavour
add alcohol-soaked raisins for a more adult variety
add chopped banana and flaked almonds
grated chocolate for choc-chip chocolate ice-cream
Chocolate is the first luxury. It has so many things wrapped up in it: deliciousness in the moment, childhood memories, and that grin-inducing feeling of getting a reward for being good. Mariska Hargitay
1/4 cup light oil (oil of your choice, eg sunflower, macadamia)
1 cup of water
1. Preheat oven to 160°C / 320°F.
Line with baking paper and grease a cake baking tray
2. Sift together flour and cocoa, add sugar mix well.
3. Add vanilla extract and oil.
4. Add most of the water (better to reserve some water, than add all in one go; it is easier to add more water if the mixture is too dry than add more flour if the mixture is too wet).
5. Blend by hand, 4-5 minutes (or with electric mixer), until the mixture is a velvety smooth batter.
6. Pour into prepared baking tray, tap the sides with a wooden spoon to make an air bubbles come to the top.
Bake 40-50 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean. (I like to spin my cakes around half way through baking, to ensure that it cooks evenly from all sides).
7. Cool in tray for 5 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before adding ganache and / or chocolate butter cream.
Ganache
100 – 150 grams of vegan chocolate (such as a block or choc-dots)
1 tablespoon vegan margarine
1. Melt the chocolate in a microwave (in 10 second bursts) or in bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (double-boiler) ensure no water gets in the melted chocolate, stir until melted.
Icing / frosting optional, they are sweet enough as it is.
These are moist, and don’t rise too much. Can be stored in the fridge – they will go cold, but unlike egg/dairy cakes which go stale, they maintain their freshness in the fridge.
Because I believe “there are no stupid questions, it’s those who don’t ask that remain stupid”.
So, what is it that people ask me – not of vegans in general, I’m sure other vegans get asked different questions.
Which animal rights advocates to follow on twitter?
Depends what kind of animal rights you are into – if you are abolitionist, they generally have “abolitionist” in their bio. If you are Liberationist maybe look for specific people. Search for the hashtag #vegan or #AnimalRights and you will find people you want to follow.
People who have forums, blogs, nings or facebuck sometimes include their twitter @name, if you find a blog you like, look for that.
But, isn’t animal testing necessary for beauty products?
Beauty products that test on animals are not beautiful.
It is NOT necessary. Why they test is because they are using combinations of chemicals that might cause death, disfigurement, and long lasting health side-effects. These chemicals enter the blood stream and nobody knows what effect they will have on the body. Do we even know that BSE (mad cow disease) can’t be spread via cosmetics?
Now, isn’t it better to use healthy ingredients in the first place than take the risk with these dangerous products that “only” kill 50% of the lab rats they test on.
As this piece here Animal Testing: Pass or Fail explores, reasons for testing aren’t always about consumer health.
Abolitionists talk about Non-violence being the only way to end animal cruelty, but doesn’t Noam Chomsky say that non-violence cannot work?
I’m generally reluctant to mention Nazis but Noam Chomksy said it first:
Non-violent resistance activities cannot succeed against an enemy that is able freely to use violence. That’s pretty obvious. You can’t have non-violent resistance against the Nazis in a concentration camp, to take an extreme case… The Real History of Capitalism
What are some veggie symbols?
I don’t know what “Veggie” means. Seriously, I don’t.
Does it mean Vegan or does it mean Vegetarian? Is it meant to be a combination of both?
Does it mean “vegetable”? I’m in Australia, we spell it “vegie”.
This Ⓥ is a symbol some vegans use on social network sites.
Is Carrot cake Vegan?
It should be, yes.
But people will always find a way to shove animal products into any food. However, it does contain oil instead of eggs, and is not low fat, but is vegan.
This recipe contains fruits and vegetable, and is very easy to make, and non-vegans will love it, I mean, if they like carrot cake:
Wow, there is a lot of interest in these two. And often people are interested in CamilleMarinoAndSteveBest, as if it is one word, almost like they have morphed into one person with one brain. But no, they appear to be two separate people.
Their use of a match as their symbol is problematic for me, since matches are an animal product, but no more problematic than PeTA using naked women and leather-wearing celebrities.
Do you need to follow their every word in order to be a good little MDA (Militant Direct Action) activist?
That’s a personal choice. Some people say NO.
who is the woman in Moby’s “disco lies” video?
Shayna Steele, who also provided the female vocals. This is the video in which the chicken gets revenge on a KFC-inspired Colonel.
Benjamin Zephaniah
Who is Benjamin Zephaniah, and where can I find a copy of his poem “Vegan Delight“?
Zephaniah is a British poet who has written and spoken about veganism. Some of his work is featured in this post on him Vegan Delight, Benjamin Zephaniah (plus vegan onion bhajji recipe).
Vegan Delight (and not Onion Delight) – is a poem that answers the question “What do vegans eat?”. When omnivores say that all vegans eat is tofu and broccoli, this poem would set them straight. With the exception of “omelettes” – I don’t know why that is listed in the poem.
VEGAN DELIGHT
Ackeess, chapatties, Dumplins an nan, Channa an rotis, Onion uttapam,
Masala dosa, Green callaloo, Bhel an samosa, Corn an aloo.
Yam an cassava, Pepperpot stew, Rotlo an guava, Rice an tofu,
Puri, paratha, Sesame casserole, Brown eggless pasta, An brown bread rolls.
Soya milked muesli, Soya bean curd, Soya sweet sweeties, Soya’s de word,
Soya bean margarine, Soya bean sauce, What can mek medicine?
Soya of course.
Soya meks yoghurt, Soya ice-cream, Or soya sorbet, Soya reigns supreme,
Soya sticks liquoriced, Soya salads, Try any soya dish
Soya is bad.
Plantain an tabouli, Cornmeal pudding, Onion bhajee, With plenty cumin,
Breadfruit an coconuts, Molasses tea, Dairy free omelettes, Very chilli.
Ginger bread, nut roast, Sorell, paw paw, Cocoa an rye toast, I tek dem on tour,
Drinking cool maubi, Meks me feel sweet,
Scones are a traditional English favourite, (similar to what is known in the USA as biscuits) often eaten warm with lashings of butter or cold with cream and jam.
This simple recipe is a vegan version, fast to make and fast to cook. The use of brown sugar rather than white, and dates gives a slightly caramel taste. Ingredients
3 cups of self raising flour
80 grams vegan margarine
brown sugar (non bone char)
1/2-3/4 cup soy milk, or other plant milk
1/4 cup dried dates, chopped and soaked in a little hot water for 10 minutes
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F)
In a large mixing bowl add the flour, well sifted.
Add sugar, depending on taste. Stir through.
Add the dates, reserve the liquid. Mix well.
Add milk to the reserved date soaking water, until it reaches half a cup. Add to the flour mix and combine.
The dough should not be sticky to touch. If the mix is too dry add more milk, a tablespoon at a time.
When combined, roll the dough out on a floured board and break out small balls of dough. (Or leave in the mixing bowl and scoop them out)
Place these on a greased baking tray.
Bake for 10 minutes or until brown and a wooden toothpick comes up clean.
Palm oil, derived from the fruit of the palm tree, is itself a vegan product, yet its use is contributing to the deaths of endangered orangutans and continued use may end up resulting in the extinction of the orangutan species.
Orangutans, native to Indonesia and Malaysia, and found in the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo. This endangered species, shares 96.5% of our DNA, that makes them one of our closet relatives.
Yet, we humans are doing as much as we can to kill them by destroying their habitat.
One of the reasons, our use of palm oil. Rainforest the size of over-300 soccer fields is destroyed every hour to create land for palm oil plantations.
[Crude Palm Oil] is used mainly as an ingredient for food production (i.e. margarine, ice cream, biscuits, cooking oil etc). It also has a number of other non-food uses including greasing and softening agent in leather production and as an ingredient in the production of plasticisers, paint and surface coatings. PKO, however, is generally used for other non-food purposes such as soap making, detergents, cosmetics, ingredient for insecticides and fungicides, hydraulic brake fluids and other substances used in the electronics industry. Palm Oil Action: FAQs
Palm oil is also known on labels as
Vegetable oil – on food labeling, it may be hidden as “vegetable” oil.
In cosmetics, quite often in shampoo:
Sodium Laureth Sulphate (may also be sourced from coconut)
Sodium Lauryl Sulphates (may also be sourced from ricinus oil)
Sodium dodecyl Sulphate (SDS or NaDS)
Palmate
Palm Oil Kernal
Palmitate
Elaeis Guineensis
Glyceryl Stearate
Stearic Acid
Other products which contain palm oil
Steareth -2
Steareth -20
Sodium Lauryl Sulphate
Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate (both palm and coconut are sources)
Hydrated palm glycerides
Sodium isostearoyl lactylaye (derived from vegetable stearic acid)
Cetyl palmitate and octyl palmitate (and anything with palmitate at the end)
As this Greenpeace ad, which Nestlé attempted to ban shows, every choice we make, every action we take has an impact on the life or death of another.
Disclaimer: photo of Orangutan sourced from Flickr, http://www.flickr.com/photos/lindsaykasin/470736278/available for re-use if unaltered. Use of this photo in no way implies that the owner of this photo in anyway endorses the author of this blog, the owner of this blog, or the issues of this post. It’s use here is for illustrative purposes, and not an endorsement of the topic.
What do vegans eat? That is a question that vegans hear frequently, as non-vegans puzzle over what vegans actually do eat. The answer is – vegans eat everything… except animal products.
Mango Smoothie
1 ripe mango, frozen
1 ripe banana, frozen
1 cup rice- or soy-milk (or other plant milk)
Place all ingredients in a blender, blend until thick and creamy.
If the blender cannot break up the frozen fruit, use partially frozen fruit.
Below are some ideas for alternatives.
Suggested options:
*add fresh pineapple
*add 1 cup fresh or frozen berries
*replace some / all of the milk with coconut water
*add a tablespoon flax oil (store flax oil in refrigerator)
*add juice and seeds of one passionfruit, after blending
*add lime juice
*add a tablespoon of hemp or flax seeds before blending
The Myth of Humane Meat
A video I created, not just uploaded to YT.
Former vegans and vegetarians use the concept of humane meat and welfare standards to continue to consume animals. The word animal by-product to describe milk and eggs is shown to also contribute to cruelty and exploitation. Features extreme graphic images of how animals become food. People who eat meat are entitled to know who their food used to be.
Taking one food as an example – the classic burger, this clip shows that for animals, it is not humane.
It should be, yes.
