The Ben & Jerry's Non Dairy Scooper Club | Vegan

This week I was lucky enough to be invited along to the Ben & Jerry's Non Dairy 'Scooper Club' at Carousel in London. It really was such a great event and I couldn't wait to share with you all some of the highlights from the night, including all of the food which was just incredible! 

The event was hosted by the lovely Gaz Oakley of Avant Garde Vegan and Pixie Turner of Plant Based Pixie. They were both challenged to come up with savoury dishes for the night which were inspired by Ben & Jerry's Non Dairy ice cream flavours. If you're not already aware Ben & Jerry's have three Non Dairy ice cream flavours available in the UK which are Peanut Butter & Cookies, Chocolate Fudge Brownie and Chunky Monkey. I filmed a little taste test video last year when the ice cream first came out which you can watch here!

Prior to the event I really wasn't sure what to expect food wise but when I saw the menu I was so excited because it all sounded amazing. I was especially happy to see katsu curry on the menu as this is probably in my top five favourite meals to eat of all time!   

Everything looked beautiful at the venue and the table decorations were really on point with some potted plants, fairy lights and personalised name places. It was a Bloggers and Instagramers paradise! 

We kicked off the evening with some drinks and I absolutely loved this 'Everything But The Gin' mocktail, so much so that I had about four! It was a gorgeous concoction of lime, blueberry and blackberry and I just couldn't get enough of it. 

It was also so good to see some other bloggers too like the lovely Nat from Tea, Cake & Make who I have met a few times before now and the gorgeous Jess from Simply Living Vegan, who also happens to be a fellow Essex vegan. And of course Luisa Christie who is so much fun! All beautiful, friendly and genuinely nice women. It's always so nice to meet and chat to other bloggers who you have so much in common with.  

The first course was Plant Based Pixie's creation which was a 'Peanut Butternut Squish Squash' tartlet. This was so good and I'm big fan of pesto anyway so it really hit the spot. It was the perfect sized starter but I could have eaten quite a few of these I liked it so much!

Next up was the main course and the one I was really looking forward to, Gaz Oakley's 'Krazy Katsu Kurry' which included panko coated tofu, plantain (oh yes!), squash and courgette. It also came with a side of sushi rice and a crispy banana with coconut salad. I do love katsu curries so my hopes were high for this and fortunately it exceeded my expectations! I would have never thought to include plantain in a katsu curry but it worked gloriously well. The sauce was a bit different to other katsu's I've tried before, and it had a little kick to it, but it made a great change. 

I was also fortunate enough to be sat next to Gaz for the night and it was great chatting to him about his new book Vegan 100 and everything he has been working on recently. Such a nice bloke and I felt kinda honoured to be sat next to the man who created this amazing dish! 

The grand finale of the meal did of course include some Ben & Jerry's Non Dairy ice cream and I was so happy because I was handed one that included the Chunky Monkey flavour, which is the only one I hadn't tried before. The ice cream was layered between some chocolate brownie cake and presented in an ice cream tub which had been cut in half. It was totally as delish as it looks! And it was the perfect ending to the most perfect meal. 

When I go to events like this it just makes me so happy that I decided to become a blogger! It definitely has its ups and downs, and I admit I sometimes wonder if it's all worth it, and then you get invited along to something like this and it almost feels like a reward for all the hard work. It's always so nice to meet other bloggers face to face too instead of purely through social media. 

Well done to Ben & Jerry's for putting on such a great event and I'm so excited to see what the Non Dairy team come up with next! And of course if I hear anything I'll let you all know first! 

What's your favourite Non Dairy flavour out of the current three available?

Any existing flavours you'd like to see made vegan friendly?

Or maybe you have an idea for a whole new flavour!??

My old personal favourite used to be Cherry Garcia so I would love to see this made dairy free.

Here's hoping!