Friday, November 26, 2010

Vegan MoFo Day 26: Mimicreme Healthy Top Review


Whippable vegan cream has long been an elusive find. There's the mysterious "Rich's Whip," who actually sent me a coupon for a free container to try, but none of the stores here ever actually have anything but Rich's Coffee Stuff, whatever it's called. Then there was Soyatoo, and the whippable soyatoo actually is much better than the canned stuff, but really needs some vanilla and extra sugar added. Then there is the homemade whipped coconut cream, where you take a can of coconut milk with lots of fat, refrigerate it, and whip the thick creamy stuff with sugar and vanilla. It's definitely tasty, but has a coconut flavor to it, and stays very soft. Recently I discovered Mimicreme "Healthy Top" whippable nut cream at the co-op.
I love regular Mimicreme for recipes requiring heavy cream, so I was very excited to see the Healthy Top. Also, Mimicreme is a local product, and yay for supporting local business. I bought a box for our Thanksgiving potluck earlier this month but we were all too stuffed for dessert, so it waited in my fridge until last night when we whipped it up for dessert.


This stuff whips beautifully!! In just a few minutes in the Kitchenaid we had stiff whipped peaks of creamy goodness! It was impressive how well it held its shape. The flavor right off the bat was better than Soyatoo. For one thing, being soy-free, it didn't have the beany aftertaste that Soyatoo has. Second, without adding any extra sugar or flavoring, the whip was sweet and had a nice vanilla flavor. It did have some downsides. It has a slightly odd after-texture, leaving a sort of strange feeling on your tongue. This is more evident if you're eating it by the spoonful -- uhh not that we were doing this or anything. Also, for being named "Healthy Whip" it has 50 calories per tablespoon, 6% of your daily value of fat, and 12% of your daily value of saturated fat per tbsp. Granted, there's no cholesterol, and the fat is from nuts and coconut, but I really wouldn't call it "healthy" otherwise.

In the end, I would absolutely buy it again to top a pie or other dessert. I would also love to try to fold some chocolate into it for a mousse. It is VERY rich and a little goes a long way, but I think it's really easy to overdo it on whipped cream, and you do have to keep in mind that box or no, it's not all that healthy! For a treat every now and again, however, go for it!

5 comments:

Stef said...

No, not that you would eat whipped cream by the spoonful... Or peanut butter... Or caramel sauce... ;)

Anonymous said...

I have a question for you. I just received 6 containers of Healthy Top which I ordered online. I was expecting it to be a liquid (as are both the other Mimicreme products) but it is solid. Is that normal or have I been given an old product? I tried to call the Customer Service number for Mimicreme but I suppose they are closed for the holidays. I was really interested in trying this for a holiday dessert for my daughter but now I'm not sure what to do. Thanks for your help.

Anonymous said...

I have a question. I just received 6 cartons of Healthy Top from an internet store and instead of the liquid I was expecting, all the cartons were filled with a solid. Was your Healthy Top solid when you bought it? If so, how do you whip it? I tried to call the customer service number for MimiCreme to ask them but evidently they are closed for the holidays. Would really like to know if this stuff is good or not before I try using it in my holiday baking. Thank you.

megatarian said...

I didn't open it at room temperature, but when it came out of the freezer (where I put it for an hour as per package directions) it was a rather thick and creamy consistency, sort of almost like cake frosting. It whipped up well though!

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous - I have used this product, and mine arrived solid also. It was perfectly fine. It actually becomes fairly solid in a cold fridge or freezer. I even had one box that had separated a bit (some liquid in it). It also whipped up just fine. As long as the date is good, I wouldn't worry.