From stuff.co.nz By Kirsty Lawrence
Opinion: When I was asked to try as many vegan treats as I could find and rank them, I was hesitant.
I was vegetarian for about 5 years in my late teens and early 20s, and dabbled in trying to make more conscious choices when it came to sweet treats.
However, I found it significantly reduced the amount of treats you could eat back then, so I was interested to see what was available in a standard supermarket when tasked with this mission.
While the range on offer had increased, and nothing was horrendous, some items I would only be eating again if they were free. And the only thing available.
6. Gluten-free, vegan, chocolate Trumpet
I had high hopes for this, being a Trumpet lover.
It came in two flavour options, with the other boysenberry, but I am a chocolate girl, so gravitated towards trying that flavour.
And it was fine. Just fine. If it was being passed around for free, I might take one if I really wanted a treat.
But I don’t think I would purchase this by choice.
The nicest thing about this was the middle syrupy chocolate bit you find in every Trumpet, and I think that’s because it was darker chocolate, so it had a stronger flavour.
The ice-cream wasn’t creamy, and didn’t taste very chocolate heavy, not packing any strong flavour punches.
The gluten-free cone wasn't as tasty as your regular Trumpet, and I found it too dry and not crunchy enough.
So alas, in the list of six supermarket vegan finds, the Trumpet comes in at the bottom.
5. RJ’s raspberry soft eating liquorice
I consulted Vegan Society of New Zealand’s Claire Insley before undertaking this challenge to see what treats I could find, and she informed me RJ liquorice is now vegan friendly, as it is made without palm oil – although palm oil doesn’t include animal products, most vegans avoid it because palm oil production destroys rainforests and threatens some species of animals with extinction.
The packets are clearly labelled, which makes them easy to spot.
However, I didn’t realise one ingredient would make such a difference to the taste.
This liquorice was much chewier than I remember, and not in a good way.
Also, the raspberry flavour was almost absent, and I didn't feel the usual joy I get from smashing back large amounts of RJ’s products.
RIP the red liquorice, as I don’t think you’ll be passing through these lips again, unless I’m selecting the version that includes chocolate.
4. Vegan KitKat
I was very surprised by how nice the vegan KitKat is.
For some reason it doesn’t hold its shape as well as a regular KitKat, meaning snapping it into pieces is a little harder, and it doesn't break clean down the lines.
The chocolate also isn’t as creamy, but it does have a nice dark chocolate taste that comes through
Again, this is one I wouldn’t purchase over a normal KitKat, but I wouldn’t say no if someone gave me one.
3. Whittaker’s 76 per cent cocoa
It seems a bit unfair to include Whittaker’s in this, but technically it is vegan.
Insley told me any Whittaker’s chocolate that was 50 per cent or more cocoa was vegan, except the dark salted caramel flavour.
I thought a lot more of the artisan flavours were also vegan, but the ones I was picking up all had milk powder in them, so this was the first block that fit the vegan bill, and I wasn't sad about it.
2. Magnum dairy free sea salt caramel ice-cream
This. Was. Delicious.
I could happily have one of these any day, and to be honest I might buy another box to keep in my freezer.
The Magnum dairy free ice-creams are actually vegan friendly, even though they aren’t marketed with vegan on the packaging.
These ice-creams came in two flavours, the salted caramel one I tried, and an almond flavour.
The texture of the ice-cream was silky, and it was still creamy without the use of milk products.
My unscientific taste tester trying alongside me said the texture of this ice-cream was actually better than a normal Magnum for him, which is high praise.
1. The Natural Confectionery Co vegan fruity flavoured jellies
Delicious, soft, gummy, fruity.
These were a clear and easy favourite. As I was writing this article, my hand naturally kept drifting towards the treat bag, and somehow these always ended up in my mouth.
I could not tell the difference between these and a normal non-vegan gummy lolly, and I love both equally.
They were so soft, the right gummy consistency and just tasty.
My only question, which applies to all gummy lollies, is why the pink and purple coloured are always the best?
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