Currently viewing the tag: "cupcakes"
After sleeping in, I was ready for breakfast at Ria’s Bluebird, a bustling all-day breakfast spot in downtown Atlanta’s Grant Park. I meant to get there sooner but my pitch-black hotel room fooled me into sleeping in past 7 a.m… Gasp! [me = early birdy] The place was packed with hip Atlanta folk basking in the Band of Horses.
I was excited to eat their country-fried tempeh, which interweb sources announced was a vegan option, though it sat on a buttermilk biscuit. It was easy enough to say “hold the biscuit.” Luckily the counter man knew better than interweb sources. The dish was smothered in their non-vegan gravy. This, coupled with the biscuit situation and the plea for “No substitutions!”, was when I began to let go my dreams of eating country-fried tempeh.
So I got their Bionic Breakfast, described as a mountain of skillet potatoes with sauteed mushrooms, spinach, red & poblano peppers, topped with spicy tofu sauce. Delicious, yes, but I was hoping for dirty, fried goodness. After a few bites, my body responded to the freshness and flavor. Spinach! I needed the iron. And I needed the heat. Does Ria’s Bluebird know what’s best for me? Apparently yes.
While I’m kind of on the topic, vegan travel reporting is a huge passion of mine. I try to create posts that I would find helpful if I was looking into a try somewhere and wondered about options. I try to take pretty pictures because that’s what I’d like to see. (Sometimes the pictures are not pretty.) But mostly I try to clear up vegan mysteries. I hope I have helped someone in my gluttonous quest. Just sayin’.
Ok, onward and upward. Well, actually I headed west to Dulce Vegan Bakery, a long-standing bookmark in my elaborate state-divided vegan option file system. Dulce stood alone for a very long time, so a visit was very long in the making. Now, on this beautiful spring day, I needed breakfast dessert before a mini-roadtrip to some area roadside attractions. {Am I the only sweet treater who rationalizes dessert for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?}
I got two cupcakes… because really, I have to. As a vegan reporter I need to taste a chocolate and a vanilla! It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it. I sprung for the coconut topped with chocolate (because I love, love, love that combination and hardly ever see it!) and the chocolate with raspberry frosting. Pretty: check!
Delicious: check! The cakes had a real great texture–spring and moist–and a subtle flavor. The frostings were creamy and not overly sweet. This is a sign of an awesome cupcake. Gratuitous sugar is not masking imperfections. They were fresh and lively. I kind of loved them, actually.
Ok, now: rest assured that many, many hours past before I arrived at the kind-of-whole-reason why I came to Atlanta to begin with: Dough Bakery / Gutenfleischers Vegan Meats. They’re all-vegan. They’re a bakery and they’re a vegan meats sandwich shop. I know, right? And they do brunch on the weekend, which I will sadly miss.
Here’s the deal to avoid being a fumbly overwhelmed fool like I was: The bakery is just that, an all-vegan bakery with some pretty fantastic offerings. More later on that. Gutenfleischers Vegan Meats offers their huge selection of house-made vegan meats deli-sliced into a range of sammy options, from Standard (2 slices of bread, meat and toppings) to the Dagwood–named after (the other) Blondie’s husband, Dagwood Bumstead–which has four bread slices, a ton of vegan meat, tempeh bacon and toppings. I had the Double Decker. I chose Black Forest Ham and Pepper Turkey, two of their meats, and said no to the vegan cheese (Tofutti). Oh yeah, you get to pick your meats from the deli case. (And they have a house-made mayo…)
They had a couple of great bakery items, but I unfortunately missed the moon pies. But check out their little pineapple upside down cakes.
I got the sticky bun for the road… because only having a leftover glazed donut in the hotel fridge is a bit unnerving. Oh, Dough you were certainly worth it!
As I digest a little, I leave you with this picture, a small detail of Dough’s physical space but a telling one.
Three bean and three pepper chili improves a dreary winter day.
Sneaking in salba (and its extraordinary nutritiousness) as an egg replacer, this scallion cornbread’s subtle sweetness balances the heat of the chili.
A winter load of chili. Not much beats a hot bowl of chili when toes are cold. One of my favorite tastes is the coriander. Chili powder, coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper…
Assorted chopped bulbs crunch up the texture.
And for dessert for my lunch: a half batch of golden vanilla cupcakes with dark chocolate frosting. Perfect! Am I kooky for requiring lunch desserts during the week? Didn’t think so.
I’ve discovered another vegan sprinkle! Wilton’s jumbo nonpareils, which aren’t really nonpareils, are little colorful and crunchy candy toppers free of carmine and confectioners glaze, or other aliases of these ingredients.
Here is one all dressed up.
Hello, pretty. Happy Monday!
Sprig & Vine is a delightful cafe nestled cozy and snug on the New Jersey-Pennsylvania border in New Hope, Pennsylvania. On the Delaware river, New Hope offers an idyllic setting for an urban escape… and a proper all-vegan ‘last of 2012′ brunch with Ms. CandyP.
We started with some hearty biscuits and cashew-herb gravy. Savory, substantial and delicious.
Will travel for a Tofu Benny! Ever since I glimpsed their menu months back I have been daydreaming of this dish… carefully however, accepting the possibility that the success of this vegan brunch classic lives and dies by the quality of the Hollandaise. We were happy to see these tall Ben’s were covered in an aerated Hollandaise, air-bubbled and indicative of a light, frothy texture. Oh yum.
You know I had to zoom in on this bad boy.
The choppy Delaware river on a windy winter day.
After brunch, a proper lunch. On Sundays Kaya’s Kitchen does an all-you-can-eat buffet. All I can eat all-vegan? Hold me back! Plenty of tasty options, Caribbean inspired.
This was a flavor-packed buffet. Most notable, soft and delicate potato-filled pierogi. I had to get up for seconds.
Last but certainly not least, all-vegan bakery in Matawan, New Jersey, Papa Ganache.
This bakery is stock with beautiful and delicious vegan treats, including these babies.
All dressed up for the New Year!
They also have plenty of gluten-free goodies… a whole showcase full (above).
Ok, 2013. I’m ready!
I made beautiful pumpkin spiced cupcakes and a pastry bag of vanilla buttercream for my classroom party. Luckily I made enough to have a bunch to take back home. The kids didn’t know what to make of cupcakes that were not chocolate or vanilla.
After a light sprinkling of Madecasse madagascar vanilla cane sugar. See those beautiful umber specs? Real vanilla bean.
Let’s just keep on looking at those luscious pipings of sweet vanilla buttercream. This is a new tip I tried out: Ateco‘s 888.
On another sweet tip, The Electrician was working close to Chelsea Market in Manhattan the past few weeks. He picked me up some delicious sweet treats from One Lucky Duck, making me one lucky duck.
The beloved raw Mallomar and a bag of chocolate macaroons.
X’s to O’s Vegan Bakery is the capitol area’s only all-vegan bakery.
Home to many-a delicious sweet treats, the ladies at X’s to O’s serve up cupcakes, donuts, Twinkie-like cakes, whoopie pies, as well as smoothies and now brunch… which means I will definitely will be back! I order a bagful of goodies while dropping v-bombs with the countergal. {She knew all the hot spots and gave me a great recommendation for a local peanut butter maker, Peanut Principal.} Let’s look closer at their awesome vegan treats…
Yes, variety is the vegan buttercream of life.
I just had to get the tiramisu cupcake. For me, tiramisu is like the tempeh reuben of the cupcake world… I have to order it when I see it. And look how lovely it looks. The cake was spongey and bottom-soaked in coffee. The icing completed it just perfectly. What a cupcake dreamboat!
Some other beauties.
I’ll be back X’s to O’s! You were the perfect dessert course to my quick Albany excursion. xo, V.V.
With summer on the outs, and a stock of Asian noodles to utilize, I wrapped up some end-of-summer rolls. Fresh, vibrant and with a variety crunchy textures, these see-through beauties have all the elements of a delicious summer snack.
Inside: vermicelli, basil and mint from the backyard, cilantro, sliced English cucumber (for their seedlessness), red/yellow/orange peppers, sliced green chili pepper, diced scallion, and crushed peanut. 
They were so good, but I hardly had the appetite after eating so many nibbles during prep. Luckily they store well and are perfect right out of the refrigerator.
With a hankering for wet cake batter (I get this odd hankering once in a while), I whipped up a batch of lovely vanilla cupcakes. I usually make Isa’s basic vanilla recipe from VCTOTW, but wanted to switch it up. I used this recipe from All About Cupcakes and I love it! They had a nice, fluffy and a not so oily-wet texture. So I dressed their outsides to the nines to match.
I wanted to use the beautiful yellow sugar crystals from India Tree so I added a litte lemon juice to the icing… and a leave of mint from the yard. I love having it out there as a garnish option.
With the fig season here, I have been rejoicing. So as to not shove the entire pint in my mouth, I though fig pancakes were in order, inspired by Cinnamon Snail‘s recent menu addition. Here those fantastically-textured fruit sliced and getting cozy in the pancake batter (always this recipe).
As always with most of the times I make pancakes, I enjoy making them so much that I forget what is a rational portion. The combination of fig pancakes didn’t work so great. The seeds became a bit overwhelming and the large wet slices didn’t help the pancake’s texture. Of course, this was with a stack of three. One might have been just fine. 
Do you know how much I love arugula? I can’t open the fridge without sneaking a leaf as if it was this decadent, forbidden food. The bitterness blows my mind. Add roasted yellow beets, crisp red pepper, a heavy hand of sunflower seeds, and a dousing of Bragg’s ginger and sesame vinaigrette and Wow! 
I have just returned from a tremendous bout of traffic along U.S. Coastal Route 1. If I didn’t think that this was one of the most beautiful highways in the entire country, I’d probably be a bit more frustrated now. But a day of eating fried and hearty fare and I am cemented here dazed, trying to channel enough brain activity to complete this post. I’m going to be brief, as a picture is worth 10,000 words.
Today’s food highlights: Flore in Silver Lake for a spectacular brunch.
I got the Chicken & Waffles. Breaded and seared Gardein chicken cutlet and a thin banana waffle served with real maple syrup and Earth Balance with a side of gravy-smothered homefries.
Behold one fantastic dish. So, so salty, the maple syrup was oh so necessary. I was a member of the clean plate club.
I don’t usually like to eat things like Gardein (super-processed frozen patty type things), but every 3 or 4 years, sure.
For dessert, a lemon-berry cupcake. Adorable and so fine. The cake was light and spongey and the frosting was not cloyingly sweet or all shortening-ish.
The view of today, hazy and hot, from the Griffith Observatory.
Mohawk Bend is a huge restaurant, bar, and venue in Echo Park. They also have some amazing vegan dishes.
My choice, the Avo & Chips, beer-battered deep-fried avocado, side of fries, some horseradish slaw, and smoked paprika aioli. Deep fried avocado. What can be better?
Looking a bit closer.
CandyPenny‘s selection: Bangers & Mash. Amazing pub fare at an awesome space.
I think I need to fast when I get back to New York.
I have emptied the mangosteen and jackfruit cans in my Strange Fruit series, next up: a can of lychees! Lychees are delicious, fragrant Asian fruits. These little olive-size wonders are a beautiful pale pink with a soft, fibrous flesh. Their sweetness is distinct, even after canning and significant sit-time in syrup. To make the best use of these babies, I used Vegan Cupcakes Takeover The World‘s recipe for lychee cupcakes, knowing that Isa’s recipes are no-fail and the results would be absolutely delicious. Of course, they’re scrumptious.
Here are the lychees draining. I love that all of the syrup and most of the fruit are utilized in the cupcake and icing recipes. I sliced the rest of the fruit in half to use as a garnish.
With the pureed lychee, the texture of the cake was moist and spongey.
Given today’s high temps, the icing turned into more of a glaze. I also skipped the shredded coconut, which would have bulked up the texture. I love how the cake peeks through the dripping icing, exposing some of the larger bits of blended lychee. Sultry.
How beautiful! I will definitely make these pretty, feminine cakes again.
More on cans II:
Up next in the strange fruit series: Banana blossoms. I’m totally clueless on this one.
It’s going so fast. I am trying to savor each day, but that seems to make them fly by even faster. Here are some images I’d like to hold on to.
I become obsessed with the Electrician‘s butterfly bush as the the summer rolls on. Monarchs start fluttering around dancing in the air like a child is erratically pulling them with a string. There are a few, then there are many. Here is a rare Swallowtail eating some tasty nectar.
Mr. Blue Sky. The view from my hammock.
All my favorite fruits are in-season. A sweet, juicy retreat before the dense, starchy Autumn.
Splitting time between Long Island and my apartment in Brooklyn, I get the best of both. They both reinforce each other’s better qualities.
The maritime motif of the Nautical Mile, a few blocks from The Electrican‘s house.
I have the time to play tourist. The Grand Central ceiling is one of my favorite city-isms.
And I eat. A lot. Some people lose weight in the summer and bulk up in the winter. I do the reverse. Here are some treats I picked up from Champs Family Bakery to fuel Ladies Night.
And at the end of a long day in the sweltering NYC heat, there’s time to cuddle up with my special buddy Frankenstein. 
I ❤ summer!
Clearly I am on a quest to find more vegan options around my great city. A satisfying spot for each of the varied tastebuds of my tongue. Some refined and steeped in foodie sensibility, others nostalgic and in need of comforting. Carb-heavy comfort. B.A.D., an all-night eatery with a slew of vegan options, most certainly appeased is the latter.
I first visited B.A.D. last year at their Williamsburg, Brooklyn location. The menu has since grown substantially. I stopped in bright and early one more to start the day right with one of their breakfast options. But first I was taken by selection of v-bombs strewn about the space on Avenue A in the East Village. I had to capture them while I waited for my breakfast. Thankfully the sweet waitress let me wander and shoot pictures.
The bad girl behind Bad Girl Bakery is a vegan herself so they do their own in-house baked goods which are mostly vegan, some of which are gluten-free. Let’s take a looksy:
Cookies–oatmeal cherry pecan and chocolate chip.
Brownies. Mmmmm.
Cupcakes. There’s the vanilla with rose icing.
My greasy, carb-y wonder of a breakfast: the Monte Cristo. This delicious way to start the day is like a grilled cheese made with French toast stuffed with veggie ham. Sweet, salty, savory, and satisfying. The homefries were both white and sweet potato. And boy do I appreciate that.
Let’s look again. This is hearty greasy spoon fare. Not for the faint of heart.
As my heart can handle quite a bit, I chose a dessert from the menu… the Chocolate Banana Chimichanga. This scrumptious end to breakfast had banana and chocolate wrapped in a tortilla and deep-fried. It would probably feed two but hey, that’s how I roll. So darn good.
Chocolate. Banana. Chimichanga. Yes!
Next time you are crawling home on Avenue A.. or up at the crack of dawn because your cat was demanding treats, eat the majority of of your daily intake of calories for breakfast at B.A.D. You’ll have the whole day to utilize it!
The Vakery is New York City’s latest vegan cupcake supplier! Though founder and pastry chef L.A. Brandon’s operation is via online ordering, I caught wind of her goodies being at Little Atlas Cafe in the West Village. I set out early for my cupcake breakfast, needed fuel for a day of errands in Manhattan. Thankfully, there was a selection available for my sampling.
Heck, why not buy 3 cupcakes? I bought this lovely assortment hoping to see Vakery’s range. I got the Cookies N’ Creme, the Lemon Ginger, and what looked like a s’mores but tasted more like a chocolate cheesecake. The chocolate cakes were delicious: good texture and flavor, similar to Isa’s basic chocolate. My favorite, the Cookies N’ Creme, had a spot-on buttercream. Not too-too sweet and a texture that holds teeth marks. The gluten-free lemon ginger cake was very dense, and the icing, kind of bakesale. I look forward to trying more of her flavors. Also for sale on the website: Loco-Lime Margarita, Chocolate Covered Strawberry, the Jelly Doughnut, Red Velvetty, and a Peanut Butter Cup. 
It’s great that vegan goodies are sprouting up all over the place. Good luck, Vakery!
I finally got around to trying the famous Cinnamon Snail all-vegan food truck! Hailing from New Jersey, The Snail used to only come as close as Hoboken. Now that New York City hot spots are on their weekly schedule, I knew it was fine time to taste their offerings. I got to the “FiDi” early to avoid the crowds and scarfed down my footlong ravenously.
Hubba, hubba. Can we take a look at this sandwich, the Al Pastor Seitan...? Toasted bread. Delicate, melt-in-your-mouth homemade seitan. Beer-battered jalapeños. Grilled pineapple (!!) and greens with a spicy, drip-all-over your fingers chipotle mayonnaise. This is good eating. No packaged crapola, just unadulterated flavor and texture. 
Let’s look again, shall we? This enormous sandwich was $9. It very well should have been two servings but, well “when in Rome”… The grilled pineapple was such a delightful addition. The moisture from the seitan and the pineapple might have demolished a less hearty bread, but no. They thought of that. 
I can’t wait to try something else at Cinnamon Snail. It has me believing a tool like Twitter may, in fact, be necessary after all. Follow them here to find out where they are and when.
I was full but still. I needed to try Cinnamon Snail’s sweet treats too. CP recommended the Creme Brule donut. After eating 2.5 cupcakes this morning, this donut had me wired on sugar for the remainder of the day. Think custard center, crunchy bruleed top and greasy, fried donut. Moderation is a must. Luckily my dinner plans were much more healthful.
So dinner:: There’s a new sushi joint in town that is all vegetables and fruits! That’s right. No stray fish eggs littering your roll. Beyond Sushi is all-veg sushi that need not utilize those super-processed fake fish things (I’m talking to you Soy and Sake!) for a delicious, textured bite with complex and bold flavors. Beyond Sushi does it right. Very right! Here’s the spread…
I bought the combo–2 rolls and 2 a la carte pieces. Here is the individual Baked tofu piece. The firm tofu is wrapped with seaweed atop black rice, served with chili mango sauce. I’ll get to those sauces in a second.
For my first roll I chose the Green Machine, six grain rice, English cucumber, green asparagus and marinated basil. Scrumptious.
The individual Mango piece. 
La Fiesta roll: black rice, avocado, pickled jalapeno, chayote, and cilantro, drizzled with jalapeno wasabi
I mentioned the jalapeno wasabi and the chili mango, yes. They are two of the 7 spectacular drizzle combos you can customize for your order… or take their menu’s suggestions. When you order to-go you get these fun tubes so you can interact with your delicious sushi and push the amazing flavors further. Of course you also get soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger. That is a must!
Here I am playing with different combinations. 
The small space on 14th street has also got rice paper wraps, salads, and fresh-made juices. I stopped in today but they celebrate their Grand Opening tomorrow. They had a steady stream of customers, which was good to see. It’s worth a mention that Beyond Sushi’s owner is ex-Hell’s Kitchen chef Guy Vaknin. This show is one of my guilty pleasures.
Ok, what a day of eating I had! Thank goodness the New York City area is only my half-home during the summer. Otherwise I’d be broke and I’d need a new wardrobe.
Every once and a while, you have to seek out nature, ascend an incline that is not manmade but randomly place by the elements and duck under a canopy of trees, inside their crisp, fresh breath. So CandyPenny and I braved the rough terrain of the trails of Mohonk Preserve in New Paltz, New York to find some solace, an escape from pavement and other urban pests.
Mohonk is the largest nature preserve in New York State, overseeing 7,500 acres of beauty, including the Shawangunk Ridge, part of the Appalachian mountains. Gorgeous views surrounded our climb, a cross-section of sky and land. A pie piece of the visible spectrum surrounded by puffy white.
We toiled up mountain slopes in our flimsy shoes for the reward of the glorious Split Rock swimming hole within the Coxing Kill stream, a tributary of the Rondout Creek, which flows to our own Hudson River. The deliciously crisp mountain water continues its flow to the Rondout Reservior, one of NYC’s water supplier. We were met by fellow bathers joining in a bask of sun and stream.
Adventurous souls pencil-dropped from atop Split Rock, while others, like us, followed a feet-waist-shoulder progression. The water was cold, pure, and magnificent. With its slightly numbing temperature it purged the coiled stress sanwiched inside my muscles giving palpable meaning to the words “invigorating” and “refreshing.”
The creek falls were a glory all their own. At the base of the split rocks was an accessible falls perfect for a quick ablution for one. CP and I took turns to feel the falls’ watery whap against our heads. A well-needed knock of nature on the noggin. 
After our adventure, we needed lunch and fast. We visited Karma Road, the area’s only veg-only restaurant for some hearty sandwiches and much-needed fluids. The counter service sandwich and juice joint was located across from the town’s farmers market and offered great people watching. 
Starving like Marvin, I needed a bite immediately as my sandwich was being built. I went for a chocolate chip and walnut biscotti. A good start and a sweet accompaniment to my chugged Mountain Valley Spring Water. The cookie was more moist than a traditional biscotti and required no dipping.
It was Reuben time! Karma Road’s take on the Reuben hit the spot. Baked Tempeh, a ton of sauerkraut, Russian dressing and soy mayo helped satisfy my hunger after strenuous energy output. I also tried their cold potato salad from the deli case. It was surprisingly flavor-packed and much, much tastier than it looked.
Ok, so we wanted to experience nature, yes. But we also wanted to finally try Lagusta’s Luscious, an all-vegan chocolate shop that has been on my vegan radar for quite some time. The shop is the storefront of vegan chef and goddess Lagusta, who uses only Fair Trade chocolate in the creation of her variety of goodies, uses only 100% post-consumer recycled paper in her packaging, and, clearly, aligns the shop’s every inch to her passionate values: veganism, social justice, and decadent deliciousness.
Lagusta’s shop was filled with amazing chocolate products, packaged pretty with her signature blue. But it was the display case of her unique caramels and truffles that had my attention. I ordered a small box of chocolates, selecting 8 pieces from her scrumptious case for $15… and a vanilla cupcake filled with tart raspberry preserves. 
I ordered 2 of each of her top-sellers: the caramel-infused chocolate croissant and her rosemary sea salt caramels, as well as her “Furious Vulva,” a strawberry creme infused chocolate, and her lemon truffle. Each delicate bite of her gorgeous chocolates was delicious.
Yes, I mentioned the “Furious Vulva.” These chocolate wonders point to Lagusta’s feminist ideals, a wish to counterbalance the domination of chocolate male members in the world. Named by one of the members of the feminist bookstore/cafe Bloodroot in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the Vulvas have the gentle flavor of pink peppercorn and Hawaiian sea salt.
Gorgeous pieces of chocolate. 
Finally, a quick stop at the local orchard (Jenkins-Lueken) would send us back to the Big Apple with local-grown peaches. Is there anything more beautiful than a fruit still bearing a leaf. I’ve only seen peaches as beautiful as these in illustrations. 
And one cannot resist a zucchini with this kind of girth.
And beets. Material enough for several more blog posts. I better get cooking…
Vegan Reporting By Location
