Plant-based Egg Replacement

 Not really my thing to use plant-based egg replacement. For scrambled egg the best option I have found is some tofu fried with onion and various spices and turmeric. Anyway... I have tried one of the egg replacements.

Crackd: The No Egg Egg - (I haven't rated this at the moment - see below)

£4.00 / 490g bottle

I tried this out of curiosity. The first thing I did was add it to a bowl and use it as the egg part for some vegan chicken pieces that I was coating with crushed BBQ Pringles (while they were still vegan). For this it worked perfectly! Then I tried making scrambled egg / omelette with it in a frying pan. During the cooking process there was an awful smell which I just couldn't get over and in the end transferred the contents of the pan to the bin. So I don't really know what the finished product would have tasted like. I don't really know how to rate this because it may have tasted alright. I won't be buying it again to find out.

Plant-based Butter and Spreads

I've never really been a massive fan of dairy (especially butter) and even as a child I would have my toast with just plain marmite. However I can see the appeal of having a spread or butter on it, so I've been trying some plant-based versions lately.

So far I have liked all of them and the one I buy tends to be whichever one is cheapest (standard price or special offer) when I happen to need some more. I don't tend to use them for cooking but when I have added some to a frying pan all of the blocks have worked pretty well. I haven't tried any of these for baking.

One of the blocks below is more buttery than the others, but I can't remember which one. I'll add this in once I figure which one it is.

Plant Pioneers (Sainsburys): Slightly Salted Block - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

£1.45 / 250g / Block

Nice. Does the job perfectly. I most-often end up buying this one as it is usually the cheapest option.

Flora: Plant Butter - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

£1.80 / 250g / Block

Nice. No problems.

Violife: Vioblock - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

£2.00 / 250g / Block

Nice.

Pure: Dairy Free Vegan Slightly Salted - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

£1.30(ish) / 250g / Block

Just as nice as the rest for what I use it for.

Plant Pioneers (Sainsburys): Slightly Salted Spread - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

£2.00 / 500g / Spread in a tub

This is also nice. Softer than the blocks which makes it easier to spread. It also works out much better value for money than the blocks. However I don't eat that much and these larger tubs go mouldy before I can finish them. With that in mind I don't buy this one anymore.

Plant-based Cheese

When it comes to cheese, I've only really ever liked the hard cheeses such as cheddar. So you will not find any information on here about any of the soft cheeses.

The main problem I find with the vegan cheeses is that when they are melted (cheese on toast / pizza / grated onto pasta) they feel like a melted plastic. The really annoying thing is the way the substance then sticks to the roof of the mouth - it's really unpleasant. This is the part I think the producers really need to work on. This problem has largely lead to me not trying new options as they were released, however I've tried a few and the latest is definitely the best I've tried.

Cathedral City: Plant-based Cheddar - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Block / Slices / Grated

This plant-based cheese was launched in the second half of 2022 and there are three different options to buy; a block, a pack of slices, or a bag of grated. At launch this is only available in Tesco. So far I have tried the block. It may be a game-changer!

The block is very cheese-like and slices fairly well. If you try to keep the slices very thin you may find they break up, but other than that it behaves in the same way as dairy cheese. I have also grated it and again it worked pretty well, if anything it may have been a little on the crumbly side but it was fine.

The smell and flavour is on-par with a mature or extra mature of cheddar which I found quite good as it meant there is lots of flavour. I've had it in a sandwich with pickle and also with Marmite and it was very good.

One of the big tests is how it copes with being melted. The first time I did this was with my vintage 1980s Breville sandwich maker and it melted very well. Much better than other vegan cheeses that I had tried in the past. The key thing here is that the 'melted-plastic' substance that lots of vegan cheeses turn into didn't seem to happen to the same extent with this cheese. It wasn't exactly the same as dairy cheese, but definitely the best I've tried.

I would really like to try the cheese-on-toast test, but at the moment I do not have a grill so this will have to wait for now. For cheese on toast I really like to cook it until it starts to crisp-up on top and take on a golden colour, and I really hope I can achieve this with this vegan option. I will report back once I've had a chance to try it.

Verdict: This is very likely to be the best vegan cheddar out there. I will certainly buy it again.

Asda: Vegan Cheddar - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Block

I tried this quite a few years ago and I'm not totally sure if it is still available. However it was the best one I had tried. I haven't had it for years, but I'm going to say the Cathedral City has now pushed this into second place.

Marks and Spencer: Plant-based Slices - ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Slices

I've bought this a few times, mostly because I have an M&S very close to home and it is easy to pick up at short notice. The slices are ok, but I haven't really tested them in all situations.

Plant-based Desserts

 

Plant Pioneers (Sainsburys): Chocolate and Caramel Pots - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

2 x 100g / Chilled / approx £2

Chocolate and salted caramel mousse with a caramel ganache and a salted caramel sauce. It has some dark chocolate drops on the top. Delicious!

Plant Pioneers (Sainsburys): Tiramisu Dessert - ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

2 x 85g / Chilled / approx £2

Vegan tiramisu. Something I had been looking out for for a long time. These are nice enough and I would buy them again, but I think every element feels slightly underwhelming compared to the non-vegan version. The pots seemed quite small and I certainly could have eaten a bigger serving.

Aldi: Speculoos Cheezecake - ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

450g (serves 6) / Frozen /

The dairy parts have been replaced with coconut milk, creamed coconut and coconut oil. We bought this for Christmas 2021 and it's possible that it will be a seasonal product. The creamy cheesecake part had a slightly different feel in the mouth to the dairy version, but overall it was great.