Product Review: Silk - Seasonal Nog...

Alright, this is it, my last Holiday Nog review! I’ve tried them all now and though my favorite is the So Delicious Coconut Milk Nog - Silk’s Seasonal Nog is the only other Nog that even comes close to beating it. Silk’s Nog is fantastic, and it still holds a special place in my heart because it was the first non-dairy Nog I ever tried and it literally blew me away. I thought for sure nog couldn’t be recreated vegan, and when I took my first stip of Silk I realized how wrong I was.  I think that this nog actually comes the closest to tasting like actual dairy nog. The flavor is spot on, the texture is great, it’s rich, thick, and creamy, and it’s sweet but not overpowering. By comparison So Delicious Coconut Nog is a tad sweeter a tad thicker, and has a subtle sweet of coconut about it. It’s that hint of coconut that would tip someone off to the fact that it isn’t a dairy nog, but Silk’s Nog I think could fool just about anyone in a blind taste-test. It’s really that good.

Nutrition wise it’s pretty comparable to the other brands of nog. 90 calories for half a cup, 2g of fat, 12g of sugar, and 3g of protein. It also has 2% Calcium and Iron.  The ingredients are pretty standard - Soy Milk, cane sugar, carrageenan, sea salt, natural flavors, turmeric - weird - and Annatto. Though this nog isn’t certified organic it is certified Non-GMO by the Non-GMO project, so you can feel confident about drinking it.

This is definitely a nog I can recommend, so if you see it around pick up a carton or two and enjoy some spiced nog while sitting in front of your Christmas tree this year!

Product Review: Rice Dream - Rice Nog...

As much as it pains me to say this, not all Nogs are created equal. It sounds like blasphemy I know, but as much as I love Rice Dream their nog just doesn’t stand up in my opinion. It’s not that it isn’t delicious - because it is - but to me it tastes almost exactly like their Horchata. Now I love me some Horchata, not going to lie about that, but Horchata is not Nog. Am I right?

I think this was actually one of the first non-dairy nogs around, and it shows. This is more of a primer for the greatness that would come, rather then a grand finale. You can taste hints of Cinnamon and Nutmeg and other winter spices but the consistency is pretty thin - like a regular rice milk - and the richness just isn’t there. This nog also has a strange and somewhat off-putting pink hue, I’m not sure why but annatto is listed under the ingredients so I’m assuming that’s the cause. Why there is annatto in Nog, I have no idea - but I’ll be honest - the slight pink tinge disturbed me.

So some practical information for those curious minds. A half cup is roughly about 80 calories so it’s rather calorie dense considering it isn’t all that rich - go figure - and it has about 11g of sugar per serving so not quite as much as a few other brands. It also isn’t organic which may be a concern for you considering canola is an ingredient, and it also contains carrageenan which I know concerns some people.

All and all I’d say that as a drink this tastes just fine, but as a Nog it has some explaining to do. If you really want a great Nog to make your Christmas celebrations extra festive I would highly recommend either the So Delicious Coconut Milk Nog or the Silk Nog - (review to come.) Or Califa Farms Holiday Nog if you can find it!

But whichever brand or flavor you choose drink Nog and be Merry!

Product Review - Califa Farms: Holiday Nog...

A couple of days ago I posted about Califa Farms new Iced Coffee Almond Milks. I also mentioned in that post that they have begun making a Holiday Nog, but I didn’t go into too much detail about that because I thought their new nog deserved it’s own post.

Eggnog - or just Nog as I prefer to call it now - is so connected with the holiday season for most of us. Like many people I used to love nog when I was a kid, I would drink cartons of the stuff. It just wasn’t Christmas without a glass of nog you know? When I entered my twenties I realized my taste for it had changed and even though I still liked it I noticed that drinking a full glass of it made me sick. I began drinking it less frequently, until I gave it up for good when I went vegan. This wasn’t a big loss mind you, but something about the holidays always makes me want a cool glass of nog. It kind of makes you all warm and fuzzy inside you know?

Well, there are several great vegan nog options for offer these days. So Delicious Coconut Milk Nog  is by far my favorite, but when I saw Califa Farms almond milk nog I just knew I’d have to try it. I love the cute holiday design on the bottle - though as I mentioned in my earlier review of Califa I wish the bottles were glass.

I also love that this nog is made with almond milk rather then soy. Not that I have anything against soy mind you but almond milk is my favorite. I really love that this particular nog isn’t overly sweet. In fact compared to virtually all of the other nogs I’ve tried - dairy and non-dairy - this is probably the least sweet tasting. Calorie wise this is about 100 calories per 8oz which keeps it on par with everyone else. Though the bottle says it’s 50 calories per serving they list a serving size as 4oz which translates to a half glass. Unless you have very small glasses!  I also love the taste, it’s got a very nog-like flavor. In fact I think this is possibly the closest to actual dairy nog, that I’ve tried. I know it’s been years since I’ve had actual dairy nog but I think it would be very difficult for a person to tell the difference.

Having said all that however I think the texture is just slightly thin for nog. I also detect just the slightest hint of almond flavor. This is not a bad thing if you like almond milk as much as I do, but some people might not like ir. Lastly I don’t think that this nog is quite as rich as dairy nog, nor do I think it’s as rich as the coconut milk nog. This may not be a big deal for some people, and certainly the flavor is definitely there, but If I’m being honest I did kind of miss that richness, and thick texture.

Overall I would say this is a really good holiday nog though, and I really recommend it to all you vegan nog lovers out there. The coconut milk nog remains my favorite but this is a close runner-up, and I will most likely buy another bottle before the holiday season ends.

Christmas Eggnog Cheesecake in a Cinnamon Graham Cracker Crust...

I think it’s absolutely shameful that I haven’t posted since the 20th, but you know how crazy it gets with the holidays. Between Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, My Husband’s Birthday and now New Years I haven’t had much time - nor quite frankly much energy - to get my shit together and do a big holiday recap post. One is coming I promise, just not tonight, and maybe not even tomorrow night, but it’s on it’s way.

We had a lovely holiday, and I hope you did as well. I cooked like a demon for days, making entirely too much food, and eating way more then I should have. However as I told my husband, my twin brother E and my good friend N that the mark of a successful holiday is that you eat and drink as much as you like, and as long as you fit into your pants the next day you’ve won. Which I definitely did, though honestly next year I think I’m doing Christmas low-key and simple. Some sort of crock pot dish and a salad, that’s it.

But now onto what this post is really about. Before going vegan I used to love egg nog. Some of you might remember my Vegan Nog review from last year? Anyway, I bought a carton at the end of November and thoroughly enjoyed it, and one day while drinking it I decided that I absolutely needed to make a nog cheesecake for Christmas. Somehow I convinced myself that Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without one and so I tried to find a good recipe. Can you believe that out of the nearly 100 cook books I own not a single one of them had a nog cheesecake recipe? What a disappointment, but instead of getting upset about it I hit up Google looking for a recipe. However I struck out again when Google only popped up like 4 Nog Cheesecake recipes that were vegan. Every other recipe that popped up was some re-posted and tweaked version of one of the original four recipes. The reason I didn’t like any of those recipes was because they were either too complicated or either two simple. I know, you’re probably thinking I’m complicated but I really wanted a good nog cheesecake that was sweet, rich, and tasted like nog, and many of the recipes only had you using ½ cup of Nog. Not nearly enough in my opinion. So after some careful consideration I decided to throw caution to the wind and try and come up with my own delicious nog cheesecake recipe.

I think I hit it bag on. This is exactly what I wanted, and tasted so good. Exactly how I had it pictured in my mind. Now fair word of warning, there is absolutely nothing healthy or low fat about this cheesecake but it is fantastic! And for one or two days a year you can certainly indulge a little. The cake is definitely omnivore approved, and even my husband who never used to like cheesecake and never liked nog - doesn’t even particularly care for Vegan nog - thought it was phenomenal. So make it and enjoy!

Now I hope you all have a Happy New Year, and I’ll see you back here in 2013. I hope to be a little more active on the blog next year.

Christmas Eggnog Cheesecake in a Cinnamon Graham Cracker Crust 

16oz Silken Tofu
2 8oz Containers Vegan Cream Cheese
1 C Sugar
1 C So Delicious Coconut Milk Nog (or Favorite non-dairy eggnog)
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
6 Tbsp Dark Rum
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
3/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
6 Tbsp Cornstarch
Pinch of Sea Salt

Crust 

!0-14oz Cinnamon Flavored Graham Crackers
1-2 Tbsp Vanilla Almond Milk
1-2 Tbsp Melted Coconut Oil
Pinch of Sea Salt
Extra cinnamon if desired.

Preheat Oven to 350'F

- Pulse Graham crackers to a fine meal in a food processor. Then add in the wet ingredients  salt and extra cinnamon and pulse a few times until the mixture is moist and cohesive.

- Grease a 9 inch round cake pan and press crust into the bottom.

- Bake at 350'F for 10 minutes and remove from the oven to cool.

- To make the filling combine all ingredients into a food processor and process until completely smooth. Taste for flavor and adjust ingredients to taste as needed.

- Pour mixture into the cooled Graham crust and place into the oven. Bake at 350'F for 55-75 minutes. Checking often after the 50 minute mark to make sure the cake doesn’t burn or brown. You want it to cook, but stay as close to white as possible. When you pull the cake out it will still be wobbly in the middle that’s okay.

- Leave the cake out and let cool at room temperature for 1 hour. Then place in the fridge uncovered and let cool completely 2-3 hours. Then cover and keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

- Enjoy topped with a caramel rum sauce, or vegan whipped cream!

PS: Sorry for the lack of pictures but I had something of a mishap Christmas Eve night. I brought this cheesecake to my Husband’s aunts house, and like usual my arms were full of different dishes. As I tried to balance the dishes in my arms while reaching out to open the door to let myself into the house I dropped the cake! Lucky for me it landed right side up and so the only damage was a big ripple through the surface that occurred when the cake hit the pavement. To make the prettiest picture I could I sliced a piece of relatively unharmed cake out and took a picture of it alone on a plate. Voila! Still tasted great, even if it ended up looking a bit ugly.