Celebrate World Vegan Day with Chocolate Melting Moments!
Happy World Vegan Day! Really, though, any day would be made happy with these delicious treats: Chocolate Melting Moments by Leigh Drew. And with an entertaining video showing how to make them, you’re totally set for a vegan celebration – happy happy joy joy!
This is the first ‘proper’ ‘official’ ‘high quality’ Veganthused video I’m releasing. You can see from my attempt last year with the one for Queer Animal Liberation NSW Mardi Gras float that I’m not exactly a whiz with the camera (…yet! No limiting beliefs here thank you!). But fortunately this video was made with the assistance of the remarkably talented Nicole Boyd, Henri Navarro and Ella Gibbins, and the difference in quality really shows! I’m sure you’ll agree they’ve created a simply gorgeous piece.
Of course, the star of the video (besides those delectable chocolate melting moments!) is Leigh Drew, whose credentials as a vegan cook and recipe creator are well known, both in the Sydney vegan community and – thanks to her blog, cookbooks, and appearances at interstate Vegan/Green/Eco festivals/expos/etc – beyond the Emerald City as well.
The video takes you through step-by-step, but here is the ingredients list for easier reference:
Shortbread
¾ cup vegan margarine (room temperature)
½ cup icing sugar, sifted
1 ½ cups plain flour
½ cup cornflour
1/3 cup cocoa
Filling
1/3 cup vegan margarine
¾ cup icing sugar, sifted
¼ cup cocoa
A short aside about vegan margarine and other options:
You can also use coconut oil, especially if you are wishing to avoid palm oil. Although, there are potential concerns about the production of coconut oil too… not to mention the harvesting of a myriad of other plant crops… relating to environment, deforestation, habitat destruction, human rights, child labour, food miles, etc etc… All human behaviour has consequences, and ‘ethical’ eating is not black and white. However, the Veganthused platform is not going to be delving into all these issues here, particularly as I am really only just cutting my blogging teeth, so to speak! (My comments policy is available here). Also, there are already plenty of comment threads on the palm oil issue – two examples with differing views and extensive debates in the comments are: http://gonepie.com/blog/?p=2063 and http://eatingconsciously.tumblr.com/post/30330216488/palm-oil-is-vegan. Also, although I haven’t tried it myself yet, here is a recipe for palm-oil-free home made “vegan butter”: http://www.veganbaking.net/fats/vegan-butters/735-vegan-butter.
On another note – if you’re looking for some online entertainment/procrastination options, you might like checking out this (unrelated) channel that Nicole Boyd has also been involved in: In Transit web series.
And I’m happy to announce that there are another two upcoming Veganthused recipe editions featuring Leigh that were shot and edited with the help of the same talented trio: Nicole, Henri and Ella. So sign up to the newsletter if you want to know when those will be released!
Finally – a huge thank you to Leigh, Nicole, Henri and Ella for their contribution to this project. And, if you watch the video and make the biscuits, I promise your taste buds will be thanking you too… whether it’s on World Vegan Day, or any day of the year!
