Vegan Truffled Chocolate Covered Cherries and Mousse

Hey guess what? Valentine's Day is coming up on Friday. Oh you didn’t know? Well then you’ll need something special to make.

Whether you are looking for something special for you and your significant other, for a girls' night in, or a dinner party, they will all be impressed. But it's another thing if you have allergies, are gluten-free, or vegan. No matter your diet, you deserve some decadence too.

So when Enjoy Life Foods sent me a bag of their Dark Chocolate morsels for baking, I knew it was time to make a treat everyone could enjoy. Pun.

The morsels not only contribute to my chocolate coconut cream mousse but also to my chocolate covered cherries. They can be made separately or be put together. Either way you have enough decadence to last you the whole season.

You know I love Enjoy Life's products and since their 69% cocoa chips are gluten-free, vegan, and free of the eight most common allergens, you don’t have to be afraid to have your mousse and eat it too. Oh, and they melt perfectly. 

Likewise, cordial chocolate covered cherries were one of my favorites growing up. But if you don't buy carefully, they can taste quite artificial. So instead, I used fresh Bing cherries that are only in season for a couple weeks in Chile. I know, but forgive me it’s Valentine’s Day. Here, Enjoy Life’s dark chocolate morsels were essential.

I wanted to combine fresh, sweet cherries with decadent dark chocolate so you have a nice crunch with the soft flesh of the cherries. And hey, this is America so might as well stuff the cherry with vegan chocolate coconut cream mousse. This step while totally worth it can be skipped for time’s sake. I do hope you make the chocolate mousse. It is so rich and creamy you won’t believe it is actually vegan…but I promise it is!

Coconut cream is an extra thick version of coconut milk, basically without the water and really cannot be substituted. You can find it at Trader Joe’s (of course,) Whole Food’s, and probably any Asian markets or well stocked grocery will carry it. Just make sure you refrigerate the can overnight so it remains thick and won’t melt as much while you are working with it.

FYI: this mousse is very decadent, so small amounts go a long way. This recipe should be enough for 4 small portions. If you aren’t used to coconut cream, you don’t want to over eat or you might get a tummy ache!

This is perfect for a the modern Valentine’s Day dinner party as you won’t get any complaints from your vegan or gluten-free guests. Get ready to impress some people with this! And you will have a lot of cherries left over….but not for long.

Vegan Chocolate Covered Cherries with Vegan Chocolate Mousse

Makes 4 small cups of mouse and 40 cherries

Ingredients:

For the Mousse

1 cup coconut cream or about ½ of a can, (refrigerate can overnight before use so it hardens)

3 tbsp. vegan sugar

3 tbsp. Cocoa powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 cup Enjoy Life dark chocolate morsels

Coconut or other vegan milk in case you need to adjust the consistency

For the Truffled Chocolate Covered Cherries

40 fresh bing cherries, carefully pitted

1 cup Enjoy Life dark chocolate morsels

Coconut chips or flaked coconut for garnish

About 1/2 cup chocolate mousse

1 plastic bag

40 toothpicks

Directions:

Use a double broiler or sauce pan and glass bowl for melting.

Fill a saucepan with about 2 inches of water and bring to a boil. Place glass bowl over top trapping the steam and take off heat immediately.

Add 1/4 cup chocolate morsels into the bowl and continue stirring until all morsel chips are melted and chocolate is smooth. If it isn't melting, cover with lid for a minute and the chips should start to melt around the edges.

Meanwhile add all ingredients including the melted chocolate, for the mousse into a stand mixer or bowl with beaters until completely mixed and air enters mixture making light and creamy. Spoon into individual glasses for serving, reserving about 1/2 cup mousse. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours up to one day.

Separately arrange pitted cherries on a plate and carefully spoon reserved mousse into the plastic bag. Cut the edge of the bag to make a very small slit.

Using the opening of each cherry made by pitting, pipe a very small amount of mousse into each cherry and a little on the opposite side. (This may be a bit messy, so keep a paper towel handy.)

Refrigerate stuffed cherries for about 30 minutes to 1 hour before dipping in chocolate. Before dipping them into the chocolate, carefully place 1 toothpick into the side of each cherry without squeezing mousse out of the cherry.

Meanwhile bring your saucepan with water back to a boil and remove from heat once boiled. Melt the remaining cup of chocolate morsels over your double broiler or bowl and saucepan. Continue stirring until all morsel chips are melted and chocolate is smooth. If it isn't melting, cover with lid for a minute and the chips should start to melt around the edges.

(If you are a slower worker like me, it might be easier only to work with a 1/2 cup of morsels at a time as the chocolate will re-harden very quickly.)

Working very quickly dip each skewered cherry into the melted cherry to cover completely and scrape any drip off the side with a spoon. Place each dipped cherry onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper.

Refrigerate the dipped cherries for at least 30 minutes and don’t remove until ready to serve.

Before serving, carefully remove the toothpicks from each cherry. Once ready to serve, place several cherries on top of the mousse and top with coconut flakes. Serve immediately.

Variation: Use a little bit of the melted chocolate to attach coconut flakes to cover the hole made by the toothpick in the chocolate shell.

Enjoy!

Enjoy Life Baked Chewy Bars Review

I'm a snacker. It's a condition I've lived with it for a long time. Most notably in high school, I would get so hungry between my 6:45 breakfast and 12:20pm lunch period that I would have to keep granola bars stashed in my bag and sneak them between classes. Of course, we were not "supposed" to have food outside lunch, but then again, I often broke those rules.

So regardless to say when Enjoy Life sent me their new and improved baked chewy bars, I was very excited. I'm a big fan of Enjoy Life and I have been happy to see their products pop up in stores more and more since I first tried them. They sent me these bars last month, but I waited to post my review as I wanted to give these bars photos worth their goodness. 

It is important to note what makes Enjoy Life’s products so special. Not only are all of their products gluten-free and vegan, they are also free of the 8 most common allergens such as nuts, soy, dairy, fish, and even casein (an allergen found in dairy products and most “vegan” dairy alternatives that also cause issues.) They are also all natural, nothing artificial, GMO-free, Pareve, etc. everything good. Basically these babies are good for anyone on your list from your gluten-free sister to your kid’s school birthday parties.

I've tried several of Enjoy Life's many products before including their Plentils Lentil Chips, chocolate chips, and granola. So far, these backed chewy bars are my favorite.

They sent me four flavors:

Caramel Apple

Cocoa Loco

Mixed Berry

SunButter Crunch

Sporting the line, "now featuring ancient grains," it was hard to pick a favorite. Surprisingly I think I'd have to go with Mixed Berry. I actually thought this would be my least favorite due to past experiences with the flavor and overly sweet strawberry bars. I mean, the other ones were up there. But the Mixed Berry bar itself was my favorite. It tasted like fresh sugar cookies, and the bites of chewy red fruit was just icing on the proverbial cake.

The taste of the Caramel Apple bars reminded me so much of the classic Nutri-Grain variety, but I like that the apple flavor went throughout the “cake” of the bar instead of just jelly shoved inside. It was also the moistest of the varieties and you could really taste those "ancient grains," meaning quinoa, amaranth, and millet which are all in there. The only thing I would say is I didn't get the "caramel" they were boasting, but rather a flavor reminiscent of apple cinnamon than caramel apple.

Cocoa Loco with a bite taken out of it...

The SunButter Crunch was really good. Made from sunflower seeds it is supposed to be a nod to the classic peanut butter that so many allergy suffers cannot enjoy. While the flavor is definitely not as nutty as peanut butter, it was such a satisfying, and lightly sweet bar.

Surprisingly, the Cocoa Loco bar was my least favorite. And not due to lack of flavor. The chocolate flavor is as decadent as a store bought brownie, especially with their “melty” vegan chocolate chunks tucked inside. What turned me off from this bar was the texture. With a lot of gluten-free products, the after taste can lend towards the grainy side, like after drinking a smoothie with whey powder in it. With that said, I didn't dislike the bar. It was quite tasty. But compared to the other bars, the texture was so different. It did include the "ancient grains" tag-line of the other bars, but I am always impressed with richness of Enjoy Life's chocolate products without the dairy.

I loved the "oaty" texture of the other bars, the visible quinoa flakes, and the subtle crunch. It made me feel healthy while still enjoying a treat.

Another thing is, these bars are small. Weighing in at about an ounce they are much small than the more commercial brands. But, again this isn't necessarily a bad quality. The bars ranger from 110-120 calories each with the Cocoa Loco and Sunbutter Crunch on the high end. This is more for portion control than skimpiness. So these are definitely a filling snack or addition to your packed lunch. You definitely won't feel jipped once you finish a bar. You just have to get used to the weight and not try hard not to eat it all in one bite…

I’ve seen Enjoy Life’s baked chewy bars at a few stores now and as always, you can purchase them online.

Overall, I would definitely buy these bars for myself, gluten-free or not. And that’s what I like most about their products—they are for everyone, not just the allergy sufferers. They fit easily in even a small bag, and are perfect for snaking between meals or a chocolate indulgence at night. And hey, I’m serious about those birthday parties, but I don’t think these are quite the thing to pass as homemade at the next bake-sale.

Disclaimer: Enjoy Life did not pay nor endorse me for a positive review. I did receive samples of their product for purpose of review.

Happy New Year to all!

Enjoy!

Campbell's Go! Soup

In the life of a college-aged foodie, it seems inevitable that more often than not the places we may go we will probably run into a few hipsters.

Say in the case of Trader Joe’s. I go there looking for a deal on fresh produce and so do the hipsters for either the same reason or perhaps the organic lemons in Whole Foods just didn’t look as fresh. (Doubt it though.) We all know I have a mild obsession/stalking from a distance relationship with Whole Foods.

In other situations such as the cool new LA Style taco restaurant I’ve been wanting to try in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood, I am almost imitated to go pass the hipster crowd who makes me feel I don’t deserve to eat $2.50 tacos CASH ONLY with the likes of these much cooler people.

But let’s get passed my own insecurities shall we?

Feeling under the weather today I asked Aaron to get me some Campbell’s tomato soup. This led me to a Google search which informed me the canned soup giant is coming out with a brand new “hipster-inspired” line of packaged soups. After a little more research I found these new hip soups are inspired by none other than hipsters themselves  and 18-32 age group that is new increasingly more interested in more interesting flavors than plain tomato soup.



Courtesy of NJ.com



Campbell’s have made a big deal about this new product, Go! Soup In delightfully colorful pouch packages. They’ve sent executives to “hipster-hubs” like Portland, Oregon and London. Which explains why it looks like a package soup I’d buy at Marks & Spencer’s or Waitrose. If they are sending this across the pond they might have a hit on their hands.

They even looked around NYC food trucks for inspiration and followed young people on shopping trips! (with their permission of course.) Wonder if they sent any reps to a Philly Night Market?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The flavors of the Go! Soup packages sound great. Moroccan style chicken soup with chick peas, Golden lentils, Chicken quinoa, or coconut curry…sounds like something you would get in that fancy deli for $4-5 a bowl right?

 

Or a lot like my dinner last night.

But as my above rant suggests, would a soup that you can find in the average grocery store that attracts the likes of me, the budgeted college foodie also attract Samara, the part-time yoga instructor/software engineer? That's the question.

 

I think this is the question Campbell’s wants to ask. There are taking a big risk on the new soups which sound delicious but at the same time will they go over? The expensive homemade bowl of soup at the deli I like doesn’t have to market their soup for 100 million of their closest customers like Campbell’s. Will this soup be too adventurous for the average small town mom or dad? Will it not be adventurous enough for I-only-eat-organic 18-32 prized age group Campbell’s is so desperately trying to attract? I’m sure they’ve asked themselves these questions and weighed the pros and cons. Of course, they know their condensed soup audience probably will stay as such but maybe their new “skillet sauces” in similar Go! Soup exotic flavors will attract a new audience as well who might not pick up the new soup. This is the first time Campbell's has offered a new product by any means. I know I’ll probably give it at least a try.

When these soups will hit nation wide is hard to tell but these reports. It looks like Walmart is already carrying the items though so maybe you'll see them sooner than you think.

Courtesy of Design Boom

 

If this wasn’t enough Andy Warhol inspired cans of regular tomato soup are now on sale at Target. My question is will be want to eat the soup or buy ten to make a retro display in their kitchen instead of a back splash? I have no idea. I just want some tomato soup and grilled cheese.

What do you think? Would you buy this soup?

 
Love,
 

The College Cuisiner

 

Images courtesy of Package World, Ad Age, and Create ID

GoPicnic Ready-to-Eat Meals Review/Giveaway

Welcome back to school everyone!

If you are not “Back to School” yourself you probably know someone who is whether it is your child at their first week of the First Grade or the soon-to-be underfed college student in your life. Maybe you just are a busy professional who had a hard time finding and packing a lunch that is still healthy and cost effective.

Well do I have just the thing for you.

The lovely people from GoPicnic ready-to-eat meals sent me two of their great boxed-no refrigeration needed meals to try.

I was so excited to try these meals as I’ve heard a lot about them from different friends.

 To my surprise when I returned to my college campus this week I saw them neatly stacked awaiting me to purchase them in my school’s convenience store! It must be fate!

One of the best things about GoPicnic meals is not just that they are convenient, healthy, but they come in multiple varieties including Kosher, All-Natural, vegan, vegetarian, and most important, gluten-free! Finally there is an easy nutritious option for those suffering from Celiac disease and other gluten intolerances. As I have several close friends who are Gluten-Free I was very excited to work with GoPicnic.

Note: GoPicnic provides a variety of meals, which are not all gluten free. It is important for consumers (you) to review the product packaging and labels because there are several meals, which are not gluten free.

The first meal I tried was the “Turkey Stick and Crunch” which included the following gluten-free goodies:

1 Old Wisconsin Turkey Snack Stick
1 bag of Popchips Barbeque Potato chips
1 bag of Niagara Natural Simply Fruit Tropical Bites
1 bag of Sweet Perry Orchards Baja Blend Fruit & Nut Mix
1 Enjoy Life Double Chocolate Crunchy Cookie

I enjoyed/devoured this meal in a school setting if you couldn’t tell. GoPicnic ready-to-eat meals are perfect for kids school lunches as they are easy to pack and don’t need refrigerated. I love how conscious GoPicnic is about balanced meals. The calories, fiber, and protein are printed right on front so you know what you are eating.

I loved the turkey stick which reminded me off the less-healthy beef-jerky snacks I had as a kid so it was the best of both worlds! The turkey stick was smoky, salty, tangy and a treat for those who don’t eat beef! As I haven’t eaten beef or pork for 11+ years now, GoPicnic was nice enough to only send varieties I could actually eat. And boy did I like this one!

My favorite product was the Sweet Perry Orchards Baja Blend Fruit & Nut Mix. Their mix was sweet, salty, and slightly spicy and added the perfect “crunch” to the meal. As they are needed to be small to fit, I felt myself wanting more than 5 or so bites of the Fruit & Nut mix. I’m greedy like that!

The Niagara Natural Simply Fruit Tropical Bites were such a treat. Chewy and satisfying, they had just enough sweet and a big fruity flavor to match along with a full serving of real fruit! The Barbeque Popchips were a familiar product to me but I’ve never tried them before. The popped potato chips gave a great barbeque flavor and a satisfying crunch that made me feel guilty being in the library!

I love the idea of the Enjoy Life Double Chocolate Crunchy Cookie. It is the only product in the box which is specifically made for gluten free eaters but its crunchiness and very chocolately flavor is great for anyone! It left a bit of graininess in your mouth behind but that is to be expected from a Gluten-free cookie.

 

The next box I tried was the all-natural Peanut Butter + Crackers meal. This meal included:

1 bag of Partners Get Movin’ Honey Wheat Crackers
1 package of Peanut butter & Co. Smooth Operator Peanut butter
1 Sweet Perry Orchards Unsweetened applesauce
1 bag of Annie’s Homegrown Cheddar Bunnies
1 bag of Professor Zim Zam’s Extraordinary Sweets

This super-kid friendly box includes some of the best peanut butter I’ve ever had on Honey sweet crackers. This box was definitely much sweeter than the turkey stick box and has a few more calories. If you or your loved ones have a peanut allergy, GoPicnic has a Sunbutter (Sunflower) variety as well! I enjoyed the Peanut Butter + Crackers meal outside like a real picnic.

So scenic don't you agree?

I really liked the Peanut Butter meal but after awhile I found myself craving savory other than the Cheddar Bunnies Crackers. If you have kids, I recommend this box as it has healthy all-natural foods along with the things they love like cheddar crackers, gummies, applesauce, and of course peanut butter and crackers! If you are a kid-at heart you’ll love this box!

Review: Overall I love GoPicnic ready-to-eat meals. I couldn’t get over that the box not only locked to store the goodies you haven’t eaten yet, but there is a Sudoku puzzle printed inside the box!

Talk about the full package! Along with the fun facts printed within GoPicnic is very proud that the products they include have no trans fat, no high fructose corn syrup and no added msg. As a busy college student with classes all day I know how difficult it can be to pack a lunch I still feel good about. Leftovers are great but they more often than not need refrigeration. GoPicnic is pretty affordable (around $5 each) and are easy to store, carry around, and eat!

Personally, after eating a full box I felt a bit hungry soon after but that’s because I have a crazy metabolism. For the average person and more importantly, a student, GoPicnic boxes provide a great variety of food to eat all in one sitting or throughout the day. Their ready-to-eat meals provide a full meal for anyone just add a water bottle and maybe an extra piece of fruit (though there are plenty of fruit servings included in each box.) If you are looking for something easy for you or your kids, GoPicnic boxes are the way to go. They are so many varieties to choose from based on diet or just flavor! I can’t wait to try the hummus, salmon spread, and turkey pepperoni varieties!

Whether it is in your local store or online, give GoPicnic a try and you won’t be sorry!


More info about GoPicnic:

As there are many different products in each box, GoPicnic works are the perfect place to bring these items together. Found one item you like and want it separately? GoPicnic Grocery allows you to buy bulk of the items you love the most from GoPicnic in small and large packs! Meals and Care Packages with many at great sale prices!

Want some of your own?

GoPicnic is giving away TWO (2) boxes of their ready-to-eat meals to one (1) lucky reader of the College Cuisiner for Back-to-School with GoPicnic!!

What do you have to do?

 

Here are the rules:

• First, sign up for the GoPicnic newsletter on GoPicnic.com and comment here on this post letting me know you did and what two ready-to-eat meals you would like to try.
• Leave a way for me to contact you: Google account, email, etc.
• Open to U.S. Residents Only

 

Extra Opportunities to Enter:

(please post a separate comment for each additional entry)

•  Like GoPicnic on Facebook
• Follow GoPicnic on Twitter
• Visit GoPicnic's Facebook page and tell GoPicnic what is your favorite product (or the one you would like to try) and WHY
• Like the College Cuisiner on Facebook
• Like the College Cuisiner on Twitter
• Post this giveaway to your twitter, facebook, or blog!

 

The giveaway starts Tuesday, August 28th and ends Monday, September 3rd at 5:00pm! I’ll announce the winner on Wednesday, September 4th!

 

If you have any dietary restrictions such as gluten-free or one of GoPicnic’s special dietary varieties let me know and we will make sure you only receive meals you can eat!

In addition, GoPicnic wants to give everyone the chance to try their products! All College
Cuisiner readers can get 10% off their online order at Gopicnic.com!!

Just enter the following discount code when you order online and you’ll receive 10% off your order!

Discount Code: CS10

 

ENTER NOW AND DON’T FORGET TO TELL YOUR FRIENDS!!

 

Love,

The College Cuisiner