Review: Zero Zebra Rice Milk Chocolate Bars

An easter chocolate idea that isn't an egg. Faux-milk chocolate bars from Zero Zebra, a brand of Marthomi Allergy Free Foods from Germany. Each batch of these bars is tested for allergens to ensure they are completely dairy, gluten and nut free. The bars come in regular, rice crisp and strawberry flavour. We're reviewing the regular and strawberry flavours:

Fairtrade Vegan: Divine Mini Easter Eggs

Dark chocolate mini eggs from fairtrade producer Divine. A nice easter gift for dark chocolate lovers. These dairy-free mini eggs are not over-packaged like many easter eggs, so they score extra ethical points on that front too. Each little egg is foil wrapped, which makes them ideal for easter egg hunts.

Budget Vegan: Aldi Chocolate Easter Bunny

A large chocolate bunny for under a quid. The Choceur range at Aldi is always good value but this is exceptional at 99p for a full-sized Easter bunny. Clearly taking inspiration from Lindt bunnies, but at a fraction of the price. The dark and milk chocolate bunnies are distinguished by the colour of their bows and you'll have to dig deep into the display box to find the dairy-free one:

Early Easter: Moo Free Easter Bunny

A vegan Easter Bunny in the shape of a Mini Moos 'Bunny Bar'. The dairy-free chocolate specialists at Moo Free have launched a bunny version of their Mini Moos chocolate bars. This is a faux-milk chocolate bar, shaped like a portly easter bunny. They're sold singly and available in Waitrose and elsewhere.

Vegan Valentine: Divine Dark Chocolate Hearts

A box of little red hearts of fair-trade chocolate that makes a subtle valentine gift. We bought these from Oxfam and you can also buy them online. Divine is the fair-trade chocolate company that is partially owned by Ghanaian cocoa farmers. There is a non-vegan milk-chocolate version of these hearts, but only the vegan dark chocolate ones come in the lovely red foil... perfect for your vegan valentine.

Leftovers: Sainsbury's Chocolate Orange Thins

Sort of orangey After Eights. Part of the stuff-we-didn't-review-before-Christmas. These chocolate thins were in all the supermarkets at Christmas, in flavours including mint, turkish delight and orange. They all seem to be made in the same place, as the packs and the chocs are identical. Even the Divine ones are identical (though made with fairtrade chocolate). We picked up these orange ones from Sainsburys. Were we fond-ant of them?

Vegan Christmas: Montezuma's Chocolate Snowmen

Chunky Dark Chocolate Snowmen from Montezuma. These are clearly Christmas treats but we're not quite sure of their intended use... they're not wrapped or threaded...so they're not for hanging on the tree. They're too big for cake decorations too, so quite where they fit isn't clear. We thought we'd review them anyway to see if they should be on your last minute Christmas shopping list.

Vegan Version: The Selection Box... Go Max Go

British tradition... meet American chocolate... it's the vegan version of the chocolate selection box! The festive favourite has gone dairy-free in time for Christmas. Of course, there's not actually a box in the above photo... you have to imagine that bit... but wrap these Go Max Go beauties up together for Christmas and the recipient will be one very happy vegan! Trust us.

Taste Test: Best Vegan Advent Calendar

Moo Free, Plamil or Celtic? Dairy-free faux-milk chocolate advent calendars from the leading vegan chocolate makers. You've got just two more weekends to buy your calendars before the start of advent. The choice this year is better than ever and you can pick your favourite brand of milky chocolate to enjoy over the advent period. We do like to pick a winner though, so on with the Advent Calendar Taste Test!

Vegan Christmas: Divine Fairtrade Chocolate Coins

Kids love chocolate coins. There's something about the double joy of something you can play with... and then eat. If you're looking for an ethical stocking filler for children, these Divine fair-trade coins are ideal. Although they're 70% dark chocolate they're not too bitter. These dairy-free treats are sure to please as a Christmas gift:

Vegan Christmas: Kingsway Chocolate Liqueurs

Dark chocolate brand-name liqueurs bought from... Wilkinsons. Yes, following our recent trip to Poundland we extended our budget browsing to include Wilkos. To be fair to Wilkinsons they've gone upmarket recently, but this is no good thing for their vegan selection, which is now limited to one or two items like these chocolate liqueurs filled with Cointreau, St Remy and Teachers:

Vegan Christmas: Celtic Chocolates

Free-From specialist Celtic's christmas chocolates are now on sale at Holland & Barrett. Celtic have a great range of faux-milk chocolates but this is strictly a dark chocolate selection. Mint crisps for the after-dinner table and a box of mixed dark chocolates that would make a nice gift:

Vegan Christmas: Divine Fairtrade Chocolate

More vegan chocolate from Oxfam. Divine's Christmas range includes a few vegan options although they do decline to label them as such. Mint Thins and Ginger Thins are joined by Chocolate Christmas Trees as the dairy-free options. The mint and ginger thins clearly have an after-dinner role but we couldn't quite figure out where the chocolate trees fit in:

Vegan Christmas: Fairtrade Pralines at Oxfam

Organic, Vegan, Fairtrade and Handmade - pralines from the Christmas range at Oxfam. These could hardly be more removed from the Poundland confectionery we covered yesterday, but then the price is a little different too. Six quid for six. That's the same cost as our entire haul from Poundland. The vegan market is polarised like that...really cheap stuff (with no butter or other 'luxuries'), or really expensive stuff aimed at the discerning shopper. Are they worth the outlay?

Review: Aldi Choceur Mint Chocolate Thins

Vegan after-dinner mint chocolate thins. Alternatives to Nestlé's After Eights are plentiful and many are dairy-free too, but few are actually thin. We were surprised to find these budget mint thins from Aldi are one of the best options around....being both thin, and great tasting too:

Review: Aldi 'Dairyfine' Chocolate Bars

Dairy-free chocolate from budget supermarket Aldi. It's quite odd to name your entire chocolate range 'Dairyfine' as if somehow chocolate and dairy products are inseparable, but that's Aldi for you. We vegans like our chocolate without the cow juice, so it's just as well that Aldi make a large range of dark chocolate without so much as a drop of milk fat in it. These two bars of plain dark and mint creme chocolate offer great value for money too:

Review: Celtic Choices Chocolate Orange Bar

Fantastic vegan faux-milk choc 'n' orange bar. We've reviewed Celtic chocolate previously and we're big fans of their faux milk chocolate which is really smooth and creamy. Celtic have now extended their Choices free-from range to include chocolate bars and chocolate buttons. This chocolate orange bar is the closest vegan alternative to that classic Terry's Chocolate Orange taste (that sadly isn't vegan even though they make a dark chocolate version). 

Review: The Raw Chocolate Co chocolate berries

Organic vegan dried fruits covered in raw chocolate.

Appearances can be deceptive. Some vegan foods can look quite 'worthy', and that was our first thought on opening up these packs of dried fruits. These various berries are covered in chocolate and then dusted in cocoa, but they do look like a bit like animal droppings. Luckily for us, they actually taste fantastic:

Question: Is Bournville vegan?

Unrelated to today's other post...

The ingredients list on the back of Cadbury's Bournville chocolate has changed back and forth over the years to include or exclude dairy products...usually milk fat. The current ingredients list is animal free, but includes one of those annoying disclaimers:

Review: Hipo Hyfryd Pistachio and Rose Delight

Welsh handmade vegan chocolate from Cardiff. The range of chocolates available from producer Hipo Hyfryd is not your run of the mill stuff, but rather the unusual and unique. Rose and pistachio are normally found together in turkish delight, but here they're paired as a sort of praline filling.