Winter Function 2023 Gift Bag
All guests to the Winter Function 2023 were given a gift bag. The entire gift is either recyclable or compostable in nature. It consists of a paper sack with a handle, a hand-made hot cocoa mix, home-made dairy-free coconut macaroons, and a hand-poured candle.
Candle
The candle is made of hybrid paraffin/coconut/vegetable wax, mixed with a low amount of mahogany teakwood fragrance oil (to be frank, I could have used more, it’s more faint than I would like). The wick is made of wood, fastened to the bottom of the vessel with a small metal clip.
Those who have received a candle are entitled to a refill, to maximize reuse of the materials. Inserting a new wood wick and pouring in more wax/fragrance is very easy, just bring it back to me and I’ll do it at my leisure.
Hot Cocoa Mix
The cocoa mix is was designed around the following constraints:
- No dependency on heating milk
- No dairy
- Be tasty
Not depending on heating milk means the mix needs to contain powdered milk. Not including dairy means that milk must be a milk alternative. To match the fatty nature of whole milk, I chose to substitue it with powdered coconut milk. In addition to the obviously necessary cocoa powder and sugar, the mix contains a small amount of salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. The serving size of powder mix per typical mug of boiling water is 60g, or one whole package. Each batch made has the following qualtities.
- 2 cups powdered coconut milk
- ¾ cups cocoa/sugar mix
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ whole ground nutmeg
Mixing these ingredients took quite a while because the oily coconut powder wanted to clump. I did my best though, since every clump I broke was a clump that wouldn’t need to be stirred out upon usage. Still, I recommend stirring thoroughly when using, to really integrate the coconut milk. A milk frother works best.
The bag can be composted.
Coconut Macaroons
The coconut macaroons are a very simple recipe. It’s made of the following ingredients stirred, balled, and baked at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
- 4 egg whites
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ½ tsp almond flavor
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups sweetened shredded coconut
There are two in the bag, and the bag is compostable.
Photos of the process
