This week vegan mofo is focusing on what happens behind the scenes in our kitchen. Our first prompt is about gadgets. This presents me with a problem: I have never met a gadget that I didn’t want to buy. I have the instant pot and the vitamix and I love them both. But better people than me have written about them, written books even. So I’m going back to basics. I’m going to tell you about the one appliance that no self respecting English woman would be without. Meet my electric kettle.

Like any kettle our kettle boils water but it also has a few special features. You see we are serious about our tea. Not serious like we’ll only drink one brand of tea bags. Serious like we’ll only drink loose leaf. And it needs to be brewed right. That means the water has to be the correct temperature. This is very important. If you put boiling water on your tea you’ll just get a cup of tannin which is useful for dyeing but awful for drinking. You can set our kettle to heat water to different temperatures depending on what type of tea you are drinking. I love it.

The other thing we use our kettle for is making hot chocolate. Hot chocolate is best, of course, when you heat your milk on the hob before adding you chocolatey stuff. Sometimes, though, you are on holiday. Or guide camp. Or you’re up in the middle of the night coughing your guts up. Then you need instant. As I’ve never seen a vegan instant hot chocolate I’ve started to make a mix up myself. It has coconut milk powder, which isn’t the most neutral taste but it does go well with chocolate.

Instant Hot Chocolate Mix

1 part caster sugar
2 parts hot chocolate powder
3 parts coconut milk powder

Mix all the ingredients together and store in an airtight jar.

When ready to make you hot chocolate put the kettle on to boil, while it’s warming up place 2 tablespoons of in a mug and cover with an equal amount of water. Whisk together to make a slack. Carry on whisking as you pour the boiled water into the cup.

Enjoy (once it’s cool enough)