VeganSweetTooth

TASTE TEST: Candle 79 fruit crumble

2009-07-12T12:48:00.006-04:00

Candle 79 Summer Fruit Crumble

RATING:

Candle 79 has a seasonal menu, so this fruit crumble was the perfect summer treat. It consisted of fresh strawberries & blueberries in a shortcake crumble over a strawberry sauce topped with one scoop of lemon chamomile ice cream. The shortbread was ridiculous, it tasted so buttery! I need to find out if they make those cookies in house or not. I would like a pack of them. So so good. The strawberry sauce was sweet and brought out the flavors of the fruit. Every bite was even more delicious than the last. I honestly wouldn't have known that the ice cream was lemon chamomile flavored besides that I read it on the menu. I tasted some lemon but it was very faint. Overall, it was a really delicious dish, though pretty expensive ($12) but definitely worth it considering all the ingredients are organic, homemade and fresh.

TASTE TEST: Uncle Eddie's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-07-12T12:29:00.010-04:00

Uncle Eddie's Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie

RATING:

I tried out the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies by Uncle Eddie's Vegan Cookies and I do have to say the flavor was spot on. The chocolate chips were really sweet and creamy and the peanut butter flavor was strong and present. However, I wasn't a fan of the consistency. I feel like I've tried better cookies, such as those by Alternative Baking company. These cookies were really dry. At times I felt like I was eating chewing on flavored sand. I think that at this point, vegan cookies can do better than that. So was a little disappointed since these cookies had so much potential in terms of flavor and taste. I paid $5.89 for a 12 oz. bag, ordered off of Vegan Essentials.

TASTE TEST: Boneshakers Rocky Road Cookie

2009-07-12T12:28:00.007-04:00

Boneshakers vegan rocky road cookie

RATING:

Wow Boneshakers is a really cute sandwich shop/cafe/bakery.It's decorated with the theme of a biker bar but for bicyclists rather than motorcyclists. The only issue was that I didn't ride my bike there, and this shop is housed in a questionable part of bushwick/greenpoint, Brooklyn. I made it there & back alive though with great praises of the vegan rocky road cookie!

The baked goods at Boneshakers are done in-house and fresh daily. When I went I saw muffins, cookies & cupcakes. I chose the rocky road cookie because it looked delicious and was something I've never seen before.

I was very pleased by this cookie. It was huge, soft, chewy and very chocolately. The abundance of "marshmallows" made the cookie even more chewy and pulled away from the cookie with each bite in perfect gooey fashion. There was just the right amount of nuts to add in a kick to the consistency and taste. I really enjoyed devouring this cookie. When I was done, I wish I had purchased more than just one. If I get up the nerve, or am accompanied by strong badass people, I will surely venture back there for more treats!!

Missionary Chocolates

2009-07-02T09:25:00.015-04:00

The fine people at Missionary Chocolates were nice enough to send me a box full of their truffles, all hand-crafted in Portland, Oregon. As soon as I opened the box, my eyes widened and mouth watered. Each one is as huge and delicious looking as the one I sampled a few months back!

The box had quite a range of truffle flavors: coconut silk, sweet raspberry heart, dark chocolate delight, smooth espresso square, peanut butter passion, meyer lemon explosion, glorious ginger and spicy cinnamon chipotle. I tried each one over the course of a week, having friends & family sample and seeking their opinion. Overall, the response was great.

The chocolate and truffle filling is of high quality and one can tell right away. Each bite is creamy, smooth and decadent, no matter what flavor one tries. I was surprised, however, that none of these chocolates have a cream or jelly filling. Each truffle has a strong, distinct flavor which I love. Of course, my favorites were the coconut, dark chocolate, espresso and peanut butter. All of these had intense, accurate flavors. You can tell that the chocolates were made from natural, fresh ingredients. The ginger was also very good, but after a few bites I had to put it down because the ginger was too overwhelming for my senses. In addition, my palate is also not cut out to enjoy the spicy cinnamon chipotle. I know many of my friends love this flavor combination, but I do not. Since the flavor is so strong, I couldn't take more than one small bite. The biggest and most pleasant surprise for me was the lemon. I didn't expect to like this one, as most lemon flavored candies often remind me of cleaning solutions. However, it was really refreshing and packed a strong yet delightful taste.

These truffles are definitely a treat and can serve as a great gift for a friend or reward to self. They can be ordered online, but I first discovered these truffles at Stogo in the East Village. A little bit on the pricey side ($3.75 each), but you're paying for the organic/local (to portland, or) ingredients, rich, high-quality chocolate and bold flavor.

Tofutti Cutie Ice Cream Sandwiches

2009-06-29T16:12:00.014-04:00

Tofutti Cuties Vanilla Snack Size Sandwiches (tofutti.com)

Tofutti Cuties are classic. Little two bite ice cream sandwiches wrapped up in individual wrappers, served in a box containing eight. It's the perfect summer snack, though you can't have just one. The ice cream consistency isn't the best I've ever had, though it's pretty good, and the flavors aren't anything out of the ordinary, but there's just something delicious in the bite-sized portion creaminess of it all. It almost always melts while being consumed and the sandwich wafers almost always stick to the wrapper and break off a little. I don't know why I obsess over these little guys -- maybe it's because they are cuties!

Flavors available are: Vanilla, Cookies n Cream, Totally Vanilla, Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Mint Chocolate chip, Coffee Break, Wild Berry and Key Lime.

Chocolate, Mint Chocolate chip and Coffee Break are my faves.

A pack of 8 will set you back between $5 - $6 dollars.

TASTE TEST: Soy "I Can't Believe it's Tofu" Pudding

2009-06-29T00:02:00.011-04:00

Soy "I can't believe it's tofu" chocolate pudding

RATING:

There's this restaurant in the Lower East Side called SOY. It's kind of cute and really cheap, however not 100% vegan, though there are some tofu-heavy vegan options. Their vegan dessert options consisted of 4 flavors of "I can't believe it's not tofu" soy pudding - red bean, green tea, vanilla and chocolate. I went with the chocolate, of course. It was $4, which I found to be kind of pricey for the amount of pudding I was served. I also wasn't too happy with this pudding. It tasted like chalk. The chocolate flavor was too bitter and lacked the sweet. The consistency was kind of strange too, reminded me of that Kozy Shack pudding I tested previously. It had a weird layer of film on top. I mean it was ok, I ate most of it, but I'd rather eat zensoy chocolate pudding.

TASTE TEST: Rice Dream Vanilla Ice Cream Bar with Chocolate Coating

2009-06-29T00:00:00.007-04:00

Rice Dream Vanilla Ice Cream Bar (credit: tastethedream.com)

RATING:

NOOOOO. My reaction as half of this ice cream bar fell to the floor. Pretty consistent with my experience with rice dream in general: it melts too fast! What a mess. I was way too much of a spaz for this ice cream bar and didn't get to enjoy it. The part that I did get to eat lacked the creamy consistency I have been spoiled with lately at the great vegan ice cream shops around NYC. If you're craving a bar like this, I would go with something from Klein's instead.

TASTE TEST: Ciao for Now Double Chocolate Espresso Cookie

2009-06-28T23:59:00.007-04:00

Ciao for Now Double Chocolate Espresso Cookie

RATING:

Oh manna. When I used to live in the East Village, I actually lived next door to this cafe called Ciao for Now. They only have a few vegan offerings but their Double Chocolate Espresso Cookie is by far my favorite. This was my daily breakfast throughout my junior year of college (and the other vegan who lived in the building next to me, we often spotted each other with said cookie on the L train). This cookie is ridiculously good. But since it is baked fresh daily, it's best in the morning. I would not advise getting it at night because it gets hard/stale. In the morning though, its super soft and chewy and quite an overload of chocolate. It's not super sweet because of the espresso. It has more of a dark chocolate/bitter flavor which I love. And for $2.00 it's a fairly large cookie!

TASTE TEST: Cookies... for me? Brownies

2009-06-28T23:55:00.012-04:00

Cookies... for me vegan brownie (credit: Cookiesforme.com)

RATING:

I love brownies. I often find vegan brownies a little disappointing though. This one from Cookies... for me was really great! I bought them at my local health food store in the refrigerated section. I didn't really get why it needed to be refrigerated, so, I shoved it in my bag for a few hours. When it was time to eat it was a little on the melting side. I liked it like that though because I usually microwave brownies. The brownie was really fudge-y but not overly sweet or rich. This was the kind of brownie you want to wash down with a glass of soymilk or ricemilk. It was so moist and chewy and no weird taste/after-taste. I will definitely pick this up again, even though it was a little pricey ($2.99). Never tried or seen anything from this brand before, definitely fun to try something new!

TASTE TEST: Sweet & Sara Rocky Road Bark.

2009-06-18T15:57:00.007-04:00

Sweet & Sara Rocky Road Bark

RATING:

This Rocky Road Bark from Sweet & Sara was seriously good. I'm a chocolate person, so I notice when I am biting into quality chocolate and let me tell you, this was that sweet dark chocolate that I look forward to devouring. The package indicates that it was belgian dark chocolate. Smart choice. Makes all the difference. The chocolate "bark" was filled with just the right amount of crunchy almonds and chewy sweet & sara marshmallows. I really enjoyed this snack.

You can order it off of Cosmos for $3.50. I bought mine at Lula's Sweet Apothecary for the same price.

Have you tried the Sweet & Sara Rocky Road Bark? Have you had any other vegan rocky road flavored products? Post in the comments!

TASTE TEST: Nasyoa Silken Creations

2009-06-15T23:16:00.009-04:00

Chocolate Banana "tofu"-milkshake using Dark Chocolate Nasoya Silken Creations

RATING:

Nasoya typically makes all walks of tofu, noodles, wonton wrappers etc. They are my favorite tofu brand because of the variations available - firm, light, pre-cubed, silken etc. When I was looking at their display at the supermarket I noticed an entirely NEW product from this company - "Nasoya Silken Creations". They are available in three flavors: Dark Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry. All three are vegan. I decided to try out the dark chocolate (of course!).

So I went home and was like, um, what do I do with this silken creation? I'm no rocket-scientist in the kitchen and I needed an easy recipe to follow. Luckily I found that Nasoya lists a ton of recipes on their website. So I followed this one for a Chocolate Banana Smoothie:

Put the package of the Dark Chocolate Silken Creations, 2 ripe bananas and 2/3 cup water in a blender (I also added 6 ice cubes)
Blend
my twist was that after this step I put the cup in the freezer for 45 minutes
Serve!

What resulted was an awesomely sweet frozen chocolate banana shake. Damn that was easy & cheap. The drink wasn't too thick, which I was worried about since it was tofu and not soymilk or soy ice cream in the mixture. It was very creamy and frothy. I loved the taste, the bananas were really strong in the drink.

I loved how easy this was to make. There are also some other super easy recipes on their site that I would like to test out. For example - the chocolate mint sorbet recipe says that all you need to do is add some peppermint extract and the silken creation, combine in a bowl then freeze. That sounds way too easy.

Have you tried Nasoya Silken Creations? Lover or a hater? What other products do you use to make soy milkshakes? Post in the comments!

YUMMIEST: Place to Get Vegan Ice Cream in New York City: Final Installment

2009-06-11T14:33:00.015-04:00

Klein's Butter Pecan Soy Milk Ice Cream

KLEIN'S RATING:

KYOTOFU RATING:

I have came, seen and conquered Vegan Ice Cream in New York City. I finally made it to the mysterious and much talked about Klein’s. I went to Kyotofu on a day other than on Monday, when they are closed. I have experienced great happiness upon tasting and great sadness when the cone/serving cup is empty. AND now, I present to you the final installment of the YUMMIEST place to get Vegan Ice Cream in New York City.

Klein’s is a kosher ice cream shop located in Borough Park, Brooklyn which has a heavy population of Orthodox and Hasidic Jews. Those who are kosher do not mix meat and dairy and do not eat dairy up to 6 hours after meat has been consumed. Therefore, Kosher companies often make products that are dairy-free. These products are not always vegan, but those companies that are smart make it a point to have it certified vegan so that their available consumer market can increase. This is why one will see that many vegan products & restaurants are kosher as well.

Anyway this shop rules. The place is small and doesn’t have seating but this is because the walls are lined with freezers that are packed to the brim with ice cream products, many of which are vegan. You can browse through the non-dairy section of their site to get a taste of what’s available. Two things that really stuck out was vegan bon-bons and a vegan version of chocolate éclairs ice cream bars (much like the ones from the good humor truck!).

The case in the front was full of ice cream, one section of dairy and one of non-dairy. They had some interesting vegan flavors such as cherry vanilla, coffee royale and butter pecan. The friendly server let us try as much as we wanted to. They also had vegan soft-serve – chocolate vanilla twist and soft-serve sorbet. I ended up going for the butter pecan because I have not seen that flavor anywhere. What really made my mouth drop was that a single scoop cone was, get this, $2.75. I riddle you not. The cone was packed with ice cream. This was quite a hefty single scoop. This ice cream was great. It tasted so good. I was really pleasantly surprised with how creamy the consistency was and the flavor was spot on. The pecans inside were fresh and crunchy.

Then I took those chocolate éclair bars home. This provided joy for the rest of the week. According to my memory, they tasted almost exactly what the good humor bars tasted like. The crunchy cookies over a hard chocolate shell outside, the creamy vanilla layered on top of a chocolate center inside. Soooo good.

Kyotofu Soft-Serve

I really liked the ambience of Kyotofu. This place was really cute inside and the server was very accommodating and friendly. This place mostly serves fancy drinks, Japanese dinner plates and non-vegan bakery goods all with a focus on their namesake, tofu. However, they have finally pleased vegans by offering 2 vegan soymilk soft-serve ice cream flavors that rotate weekly. Some examples of flavors are white sesame, matcha green tea, hazelnut and Kyoto miso. When I went the flavors available was Kinako (Soybean flour) and Chocolate. There were no cones (boo!) but we did get one free topping (yay!). I ended up getting the a twist of the Kinako and the Chocolate with a berry compote topping in a large serving bowl (which was very large) for $6.34. My non-vegan friend said that she wouldn’t have known that this soft-serve was vegan. She thinks its as close as you can get to the real thing. I thought it was very smooth and creamy. Really thick unlike most soymilk ice cream that is kind of icey or watery. The kinako tasted like a sour peanut butter and the chocolate was sweeter than I expected. The mix of the two with the berry compote was very good. I really enjoyed.

So where is the yummiest place to get Vegan Ice Cream in New York City?! It’s a tie! Klein’s definitely has the biggest bang for your buck including plenty of frozen treats to take home. However, Lula’s takes the gold for most inventive offerings, flavors and cutest shop ever. It is a must that you go to both of these places this summer, several times.

Please leave your vegan ice cream experiences & comments!

CHECK OUT: veganbaking.net

2009-06-11T12:41:00.003-04:00

This is like the facebook of vegans who likes to eat sweets. I spent a good chunk of my day so far on this site. The site has posts on how to make vegan desserts easy AND awesome (Perfect for lazy vegans like me!). This site is so well done and well organized. You can browse recipes by type (ie: breads, cakes, candies, cookies), read the blog, post in the forums etc.

What I love about this site is that it thrives on user submitted content. It creates a great community of other vegans who love to bake and eat treats. It’s always great to have somewhere to go when you want to perfect that chocolate chip banana bread recipe!

In addition they are working on a world wide vegan bakery directory. Seems as if they are currently stocked up in on the coasts so it is your job to fill in the bakeries you know and love!

Definitely sign up and find me on there – VeganSweetTooth

DIY: PPK Peanut Butter Pillows

2009-06-08T21:57:00.009-04:00

Peanut Butter Pillows

RATING:

I like easy, quick recipes. This is why I often bake cupcakes. Baking cookies never seems to work for me and I hate when the recipe calls for egg replacer. That stuff never turns out the way I want it to. I’m a spaz and probably not meant to be in the kitchen but I love baking. Anyway. Isa Chandra Moskowitz of Vegan Omnicon, Vegan with Avengance, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and the newly released Vegan Brunch posted a recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Pillows (cookies) on her blog the Post-Punk Kitchen. They looked soo easy so I decided to go for it, and make it a fun girls hang out. The ingredient list was fairly simple, no egg replacer. The one thing we couldn’t get at the super market was soy creamer, so we just got almond milk and winged it. The recipe didn’t require any food processor which was rad. All we needed to do for both the filling and dough was combine ingredients and mix. It took 10 minutes to prepare. The only issue was that the peanut butter filling was really watery. I think it may had to do with the lack of soy creamer? Not sure. So we added a ton of confectioner’s sugar to make up for it and it still wasn't rolling the way it said it would in the recipe. The filling did not work at all. It tasted awesome, but we kind of knew we weren't going to get those pillows. We did our best and put it in the oven.

The end result – a really mushy soft chocolate cookie with a super sweet peanut butter filling. It wasn’t a pillow but, works for me! I love cookies. We ate the majority of these in like 10 minutes. So the whole process of baking & eating was 30 minutes total. These cookies were super rich and chocolate-y so I definitely needed water to wash them down and I think we all would have been more satisfied if they were fluffier but the flavors were still there.

We went out drinking later that night and I put the leftover cookies in my bag. It was a pretty awesome 2am snack as well. My friends had some great suggestions on how we can work out this recipe to our liking (ie: baking for longer – they were definitely undercooked, fixing the Peanut Butter filling’s consistency) so I have a feeling we will be making these more. It’s just so easy and tasty that it’s hard not to!

TASTE TEST: Alternative Baking Company Cookies

2009-06-02T15:36:00.005-04:00

Alternative Baking Company Luscious Lemon Poppy Seed Cookie

RATING: YYYY(4 out of 5 hearts!)

Alternative Baking Company cookies are amazing. The flavors are deep, rich and not overly sugary. The consistency is perfect – soft and chewy. It is near impossible to find packaged vegan cookies of this nature. In addition, many that I have tried have a weird taste or leave a strange aftertaste but these do not. I have tried the luscious lemon poppy seed – had little seeds in it! Full lemon flavor, the explosive espresso chip – heaven and the phenomenal pumpkin spice – great pumpkin taste with little cinnamon spice sprinkled in. Though most of the cookies are not wheat free they do offer two of this nature that are made with barley flour – Snickerdoole and Mac the Chip.

I see these cookies at gourmet stores in the city as well as health food stores. They can also be ordered directly off their site.

What are you favorite packaged vegan cookies? Have you tried Alternative Baking Company cookies? What do you think? Post in the comments!

YUMMIEST: Vegan Ice Cream Shop in NYC: Installment 2

2009-05-25T21:03:00.009-04:00

Stogo Chocolate Hazelnut Chipwich made with Babycakes Cookies

STOGO RATING: YYYY(4 out of 5 hearts!)

BONOBO'S RATING: YY(2 out of 5 hearts!)

I went to two very different places for ice cream the recently, with two very different ideas of what vegan ice cream is/should be. It was kind of fun to experience two opposite sides of the vegan ice cream spectrum!

Stogo is a newly opened venture in the east village, founded by Kyra Sedgwick’s brother Rob Sedgwick. All of the ice cream is made in house and are not exclusively one formula. Some of the flavors are coconut based, some are soy based and some are hemp based, which is a great option for those with nut/soy allergies.. All of the flavors were very enticing and the server allowed us to try as many as we wanted. I loved how they were displayed; it reminded me of a gelateria in Rome! They also offer soft-serve but I think the only flavors available are vanilla & chocolate which is kinda boring considering all the great flavors that were not soft-serve. Some of my faves were the Toasted Almond Joy (with coconut shavings on top!), Mexican Spiced Chocolate (spicy!), Pomegranate Chocolate Chip and Coffee. I decided upon the Chocolate Hazelnut (with pieces of hazelnut on top!) because Chocolate & Hazelnut are possibly my two favorite flavors ever and combining them sounded like bliss.

I was so stoked when I realized that not only would I be able to enjoy this ice cream in a cup or a cone, but there also was an option of putting it between two cookies from babycakes and enjoying a chipwich! Aw man. Of course that’s what I went for. It was super messy but so good! The ice cream was terrific, kind of melty but very smooth & creamy. The flavor was amazing and spot-on. My non-vegan friends were very impressed, they didn’t think they would be able to tell it was vegan if they didn’t know beforehand.

The place itself was kind of small and had little seating so we opted to eat outside. Its definitely more of a place to get ice cream and go, which kind of sucks because the ice cream does melt fast and get messy. However, its so good you’ll probably finish it pretty quick!

Stogo also offers babycakes cupcakes & a variety of vegan chocolate & chocolate truffles which is a great alternative for those who aren’t in the mood for ice cream.

So on to Bonobos. While I might be able to compare Stogo’s ice cream to gelato, Bonobo’s ice cream is more like sorbet. I’m not quite sure why they call it “ice cream” anyway when it lacks that creaminess, but fine, went for it anyway. This place touts itself for it’s healthy food, which consists mostly of salads and raw veggie patties. It’s probably a great place for lunch because they have quite a selection. As for the ice cream, they seem to have 4 flavors every day which vary. All of the flavors are really fun and different and the server let’s you try as many as you’d like as well! When I visited the flavors available that I tried were Durian (GROSS but so cool that they have this!!), Banana Pudding (really on point and had a subtle cinnamon flavor) and Mango Banana Pineapple (very sweet and yummy). All their “ice creams” contain no table salt nor added sugar, no soy or dairy. In other words, its pretty much like a really healthy sorbet or frozen pudding. I decided to have the Mango Banana Pineapple which was definitely icey but also pretty tasty and cold. You’re not going to find indulgent flavors like chocolate hazelnut here but it’s great as a refreshing treat on a hot summer day. The only bummer is that there is only one size cup option and no cones. I like having options!

Anyway, next installation coming soon, any suggestions of where I should go? Have you been to Stogo/Bonobos? What’s your take? Post in the comments!

TASTE TEST: LifeThyme Bakery Funny Bones

2009-05-25T20:22:00.011-04:00

LifeThyme Bakery Funny Bone cake

RATING:YYYY(4 out of 5 hearts!)

LifeThyme is a supermarket/health food store located in the west village in New York City. They have a buffet with many vegan & raw options as well as a bakery with many tasty vegan selections such as peanut butter banana cookies and vegan funny bones!

Funny Bones is a snack cake put out by drake's which consists of a peanut butter cream filled devil's food cake with a hard chocolate outer shell.

I've never seen this done vegan so I was really excited to try. Oh manna, this thing was huge! I couldn't finish it in one sitting. The outer shell was amazing. It reminded me of the chocolate shell on Hagen Daaz ice cream bars from my pre-vegan days. It was very sugary and I loved the peanut halves incorporated into this crust. The peanut butter cream blew my mind. It was also very sweet and oh so smooth and creamy. The only thing that kind of put me off was that the devil's food cake was a little dry. I found myself eating all the peanut butter cream and the outer shell then I was left with a bunch of dry devil's food cake. Oops, my bad.

Overall, this is definitely something I would get a BFF if she called me up crying. It's quite an indulgent treat, but a tasty one at that.

TASTE TEST: Terra Nostra Rice Milk Chocolate Bar with Almonds

2009-05-25T20:18:00.008-04:00

Terra Nostra Rice Milk Chocolate Bar with Almonds

RATING:YYYY(4 out of 5 hearts!)

Most vegan chocolate bars are dark chocolate. Which is awesome, but tends to be bitter, heavy and just a completely different experience from what milk chocolate is like. Terra Nostra has a line of Rice Milk chocolate bars that attempt to create that.

And how, I really enjoyed this bar. SO much better than hershey's! haha. It was very creamy, light and sweet. I loved the crunch of the almonds. I like how it is divided up so that you can break off little pieces to munch on. A really great find.

I picked this up at Family Health Foods on Staten Island. You can also order it off of vegan essentials.

TASTE TEST: Enjoy Life Soft-Baked Snickerdoodle

2009-05-18T21:41:00.007-04:00

Enjoy Life Snickerdoole Cookies/Credit: Enjoy Life

RATING:YYYY(4 out of 5 hearts!)

I was kind of weary to buy this. Most vegan cookies are gross. They tend to have a grainy consistency and a weird taste/aftertaste. On top of that, these are gluten-free which is an added challenge to tasting good. But, imagine if these were good.. soft-baked Snickerdoodles. I just had to take that risk.

And what a rewarding risk! This Snickerdoodle cookie by Enjoy Life was really great. They were smaller than I expected, pretty much the size of the cookies pictured on the box. These cookies were very soft and chewy. Not grainy in any way shape or form! They were a little dense, but it wasn't overly filling. The taste was spot-on, perfect amount of cinnamon and no weird taste or aftertaste! I only wanted to try one, but it was just so easy to snack on these. So yummy!

I picked these cookies up at Stop & Shop, though I've seen them at Whole Foods as well.

Have you had any products by Enjoy Life? Any vegan cookies you love? Post in the comments!

TASTE TEST: Nutrilicious Carob Iced Donut

2009-05-17T23:02:00.007-04:00

Nutrilicious Carob Iced Donut

RATING:YYY(3 out of 5 hearts!)

This carob iced donut from Nutrilicious was very cakey and crumbly. The carob frosting was very good, sweet and chocolately. The frosting flaked off a little which I liked for some weird reason. They were a little dense, but overall pretty tasty. I wouldn't purchase these with a fresh-baked donut in mind because they scream store-bought. Definitely brought back memories of Entemann's frosted donuts.

TASTE TEST: Go Max Go Vegan Candy Bars

2009-05-17T22:24:00.008-04:00

Go Max Go Vegan Candy Bars/Credit: Go Max Go

RATING:YYYYY(5 out of 5 hearts!)

Mmmmm. Candy Bars. I excitedly pre-ordered these Go Max Go vegan candy bars from cosmos vegan shoppe since I don't think I have seen any vegan candy bars around. Sure I've seen dark chocolate bars. But rice milk chocolate shell with peanuts, coconut shavings, caramel, nougat fillings? Nope.

I grew up on Milky Ways and Snickers so I opted to try Twilight and Jokerz. As you would expect, Twlight is a rice milk chocolate shell filled with chocolate nougat and caramel. First bite was amazing. The outer chocolate is great and soft. The nougat is fluffy and sweet. The caramel was a little on the thick side and didn't have the consistency that I remember but it was still really delightful. Now if I were to honestly match this to a milky way, I would say that it would need a little more nougat. However, if I were to just eat this without thinking about a milky way I would be very pleased with the taste.

Jokerz also has a rice milk chocolate shell and is filled with roasted peanuts, chocolate nougat and caramel. Also, amazing! The peanuts added that perfect crunch. Once again, if I were to compare to snickers I would say it could use more peanuts but honestly this bar is perfect as is. I am absolutely happy with my purchase and kind of sad that I can't just stop in any corner store and pick it up. Then again, maybe it's a good thing because I would eat them way too much!

Have you got to try any of the new candy bars by go max go? Had other vegan candy bars? Post in the comments!

Worst day to get vegan sweets in NYC: Monday

2009-05-12T12:42:00.007-04:00

Mondays suck. Back to the work week for those who have M – F/9am – 5pm jobs, end of the weekend for all and the next weekend is 5 long, wretched days away. One thing that can really brighten up a case of the Mondays are some sweets! At least, that was the consensus that my friend Mary and I came to this past Monday. So we decided upon tasting the vegan soft-serve ice cream at Kyotofu. We trek our way up there, and bam… it’s closed. Decide to make our way over to Lula’s for a brownie sundae, and bam.. it’s closed on Mondays as well! Since we were already in the East Village, we decided to go to Atlas Café, which is a vegan staple in this neighborhood. They carry one of the largest, if not the largest selection of Vegan Treats in the New York City area. Though it is open on Mondays, the Vegan Treats shipment (the bakery is in Bethelem, PA) for all NYC establishments is on Tuesday! Foiled again. Cake Shop, Atlas, Little Atlas, Teany, Pennylicks, Red Bamboo, Curly’s Vegetarian Lunch and many other vegan friendly restaurants in NYC have Vegan Treats cakes as their only dessert option. Therefore, my recommendation is: let Monday suck, go home and eat the vegan sweets in your cupboard and save your dessert out-ing for Tuesday.

TASTE TEST: Vegan Treats Turtle Brownie & Vegan Treats Tiramisu

2009-05-11T22:58:00.014-04:00

Vegan Treats Turtle Brownie and Tiramisu

TURTLE BROWNIE RATING:YYYY(4 out of 5 hearts!)
TIRAMISU RATING:YYY(3 out of 5 hearts!)

This vegan brownie was awesome. My friend (who wanted a brownie) asked which of the vegan treats selection she should get (this was at atlas café) and she recommended the “turtle”. I prefer a dense fudgey brownie and this was just that. It was super chocolately and the pecans and caramel on top were amazing. After my friend finished, she wished there were more, as did I. I haven’t had as good of a vegan brownie from any other bakery.

I don’t see vegan tiramisu around too often, so I was really stoked to try this one from Vegan Treats. The espresso flavor was strong and the “mascarpone” was super creamy and awesome. However, the cake itself lacked a little. I always thought tiramisu had lady fingers on the bottom but it seemed like I was just eating sponge cake. It was definitely enjoyable and since I’ve only had vegan tiramisu once or twice, I’m glad it’s around. I can imagine that tiramisu is kind of tough to make – it’s not just a “replace this here and replace that there” type of thing. However, I think it would have been more impressed if I tasted lady fingers in the consistency.

Have you had vegan tiramisu? Made it yourself? How about vegan treats brownies? Where's your favorite place to get a brownie? Post in the comments!

TASTE TEST: Dolce Vegan Twinkies

2009-05-11T22:31:00.010-04:00

Dolce Vegan Twinkies

RATING:YYYY(4 out of 5 hearts!)

Dolce Vegan Bakery is a bakery in Atlanta, GA that makes organic baked goods such as brownie bites, cinnamon buns and TWINKIES! Though they don't have a shop (plans for one to open this summer), their goods are available at a handful of stores in Atlanta and can be ordered online from Cosmos Vegan Shoppe. I ordered mine and it arrived within two days of shipping, though there was a warning about how it should be enjoyed quickly while its still fresh.

So, naturally, I opened them right away. I was really suprised at how much they resembled twinkies! To be honest, I don't really remember what twinkies taste like so I don't know if I can do an honest comparison here. However, it was seriously tasty. The texture was moist and fluffy. The cream filling was great, though I would have liked there to be a little more of it. The cake itself had a great vanilla flavor. I really loved this. The package came with two twinkies and though I only expected to taste one, I immediately ate the second! It was that good.

Have you had twinkies from Dolce Vegan? Or any other products for that matter? Have you had vegan twinkies from another bakery? Post in the comments!

TASTE TEST: Missionary Smooth Espresso Square Chocolate Truffle

2009-05-06T23:27:00.011-04:00

Smooth Espresso Square Truffle from Missionary Chocolates (Credit: Missionary Chocolates)

RATING:YYYYY(5 out of 5 hearts!)

Missionary Chocolates makes vegan truffles out of Portland, Oregon. I picked up their Smooth Espresso Square Truffle at Stogo in NYC. Oh manna. This truffle is ridiculous. I love espresso/coffee so of course if I were to try one truffle by this brand it would be the espresso one. The filling is so creamy and smooth. I hate when I buy a truffle and the inside is hard and sticks to my teeth. This was perfect. The outside was a perfect thin shell of dark chocolate. And the top had ground cacao nips which added a little crunch. So delicious. Oh and hello, how many times must I say this - turns out the center is so creamy because it is made with coconut milk, seriously coconut milk is where it's at!

I really have to say I am very impressed with their ability to skip over the whole "this is good for a vegan chocolate" level to the "this is a really good truffle" level. Simply amazing.

Some other truffles they have are spicy cinnamon chipotle, glorious ginger, peanut butter passion and peppermint perfection. Yum, must try them all.

TASTE TEST: Foodswings 'Funfetti cake" and Bella Vegan Shake

2009-05-05T16:57:00.010-04:00

"Funfetti Cake" at Food Swings

"FUNFETTI" CAKE RATING:YY (2 out of 5 hearts!)

BELLA VEGAN SHAKE RATING:YYY (3 out of 5 hearts!)

Foodswings is a cute “fast-food” style vegan joint in Williamsburg BK. It used to be owned by fellow Staten-Islanders Freedom & Lee Poerio-Tripodi but a few months back he sold it to the owners of the metal/grind-core bar Lucky 13 (which has vegan White Russians!). I haven’t been in since but I figured I should check it out to see if the dessert options have changed. With the previous owners they had an amazing selection of shakes, a nice vegan candy/ice cream selection and whoopee pies/brownies/cakes supplied by Vegan Treats . I would mainly go for their shakes which were always out of this world. The Bella Vegan was my favorite – vanilla ice cream, cookies and peanut butter.

When I walked in I noticed it from a mile away.... a vegan funfetti cake? WHAT YES! Totally my favorite cake ever and I've never seen it vegan. Man when I was 15 I would bake one funfetti cake a week. Haven't had that in forever!! It looked amazing in the case.

But alas, it wasn't good. Very dry and boring. No flavor what-so-ever. The frosting was pretty rad, sweet and well-whipped. Disappointing altogether though.

Anyway, despite the management change the laundry list of awesome shakes is still available so I had the bella vegan and it was terrific. Lots of peanut butter, super thick and yummy. I would not be opposed to going there only for shakes all the time.

So overall, shake good, cake not so much but I'm hoping that it's because it was stale and old. Which still, shouldn't be sold to customers in that fashion but whatever. I'll try it on a different day of the week and report back.

What do you think of the new FoodSwings? Have you been? What's your favorite shake?

YUMMIEST: Vegan Ice Cream Shop in NYC: Installment 1

2009-05-01T14:16:00.011-04:00

Lula's Sweet Apothecary Cake Batter Soft-Serve

LULA'S SWEET APOTHECARY RATING:YYYYY(5 out of 5 hearts!)

PENNYLICKS RATING:Y(1 out of 5 hearts!)

My favorite warm weather treat is most certainly ice cream. And with the warm weather slowly creeping in to New York city, I decided I must locate my favorite spots to get ice cream and divulge to you all. This past weekend I was able to stop by two different places… Lula’s Sweet Apothecary (I know, I know, I already wrote about them) and PennyLicks in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Though both of these places have an “old-school-soda-shop” feel, they are very distinctly different. Lula’s makes their own mostly-nut based ice cream and offers a variety of vegan brownies, sweets and candies that are not widely distributed throughout the city. Pennylick’s serves temptation ice cream from Chicago soy dairy and cakes/cookies/cupcakes etc from Vegan Treats bakery, which is available all throughout nyc. Lula’s is also 100% vegan while Pennylicks has a selection of non-vegan ice creams and baked goods. They also might serve to you in a non-vegan cone if you don’t ask.

So let me get into my two experiences, first I went to Lulas to try their Cake Batter Soft-serve. This was my first time having vegan soft-serve ice cream ever or any soft-serve ice cream In 4 years. I mean, ok, I have had atlas soft-serve but that crap is gross! (I still ate it weekly last summer anyway but let’s not get into that). This actually held it’s ground! My two non-vegan friends couldn’t believe it was vegan… it didn’t melt like crazy. It actually hung out on my cone and looked gorgeous. AND the taste! You know I love cake batter. It was amazing, smooth and creamy. I think getting their soft serve will have to be a weekly ritual. They rotate their flavors but when I was there they had cake batter and chocolate soft-serve. My friends and I sat at the counter and enjoyed our meal while good music played and the other customers ranted and raved about how much they loved their ice cream too (I think they were all non-vegan). Before we ordered we sampled everything, it's almost mandatory to try all the new flavors and the owner welcomes it. As soon as someone walks in, she pulls out the taster spoons! So cute.

The next day, I went to Penny Licks. I love temptation ice cream so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some. I really wanted the coffee flavor, which I had at the shop when I went last summer. The list of vegan flavors are displayed on the ice cream case which is where you order. There was a couple ordering and blocking the case so I couldn’t see the flavors. I was kind of set on coffee anyway. When I finally got to see and was asked to order, coffee was not listed… I thought maybe it just wasn’t noted so I asked the server just to make sure. She was very rude to me and when I chose a flavor she didn’t even ask me cone or cup or type of cone. She just grabbed a cone and started scooping! I was slightly appalled. When I went to go pay there was a huge sign about how it is rude to be on your cell phone while paying for your ice cream. Meanwhile, I look over and my bitchy server is now chatting on her cell phone while serving a dad and his two little kids! Aw man, it ruined the whole ice cream experience. The ice cream was awesome! I have to say strawberry temptation is pretty amazing and creamy! However, I’m pretty sure I won’t go back there again. I’ll just have to buy temptation and make my own ice cream cones.

Have you been to Lula's or Penny Licks? What were your experiences? Where else should I go to find the yummiest vegan ice cream shop in NYC? Post in the comments!!

SPOTLIGHT ON: Whole Foods Bakery

2009-04-24T14:51:00.007-04:00

Whole Foods in Union Square, NYC

RATING:YYY(3 out of 5 hearts!)

Whole Foods Bakery oftentimes stocks a variety of vegan baked goods. It's a great option for picking up something quick to serve to bring to a party or serve to a group of friends. It's also an easy place to go to get a freshly baked cookie or cake rather than something packaged and shipped from afar. However, I do Here's what I would and wouldn't recommend.

WOULD
Cookies - Their cookies are always amazing. They are soft and chewy, large and a little bit on the greasy side but I love love love them. Plain 'ol chocolate chip cookies are my fave.
Cupcakes - The packaged cupcakes from the bakery are spongy, moist and last a long time post-purchase. The frosting is kind of boring but it's a good cupcake overall.

WOULD NOT
Chocolate Cake - you'd have to order this behind the counter and I think it takes some time to make. The cake is pretty dry and the frosting is not exciting. I mean, it serves as your basic sheet cake. I was never a fan of sheet cake, so vegan sheet cake doesn't do it for me either. It's good if you need to pick up a birthday cake and have no where else to go... but I wouldn't recommend purchsing it for fun.
Chocolate Chip Vegan Scone - It's kind of boring. Just not worth it.

That's all I've tried here.. I believe they have muffins too, but have I left anything else off? What do you think of Whole Foods bakery? Post in the comments!

TASTE TEST: Sweet & Sara Peanut Butter 'Smores

2009-04-23T14:13:00.007-04:00

Sweet & Sara Peanut Butter 'Smores (Credit: Sweet & Sara)

RATING:YYY(3 out of 5 hearts!)

I was walking to the train yesterday from work and I stopped in the supermarket Jubilee. This is where I picked up the Sweet & Sara marshmallows for the vegan “peeps” I made a few weeks back so I wanted to see what other goodies they had. I saw a few vegan cookies and other goodies but I was once again drawn to Sweet & Sara. I picked up the Peanut Butter ‘Smores, which looked to me like a huge mallomar. Since it was so big I decided to check the calorie count & serving size (Yes I do do this every once in a while) and DAMN, not listed?! That seemed kind of strange to me and off-putting. I can’t find nutritional info on their site either. Isn’t that illegal?

Anyway, the Smore rocked. I may be 10 pounds heavier, but very tasty. It’s topped with a dark chocolate covered shell, the peanut butter marshmallow is in the middle and there’s a graham cracker crusted bottom. The consistency is just perfect, each bite has the soft sponginess of the marshmallow along with the crunch of the chocolate shell and the cracker. The chocolate/cinnamon/peanut butter flavor was awesome. Very rich. I loved this, I tried to only eat half but I ended up eating the whole thing. I will probably find myself getting these from time to time. I know there’s a non-peanut butter ‘Smore as well for those who aren’t as big of a peanut butter fan as I am.

SPOTLIGHT: Etsy Vegan BakeShops

2009-04-23T10:50:00.005-04:00

Cream Bakery Cupcake Cookies (Credit: Cream Bakery)

I discovered Etsy around the holidays last year when I was looking to purchase gifts for friends. Most of the items are handmade and one-of-a-kind so I thought it would be really rad to purchase gifts solely from these shops. My friends loved the gifts and the originality of it. Some vegan companies got the idea to sell their wares on Etsy too. I noticed that several shops specialize in vegan cupcakes, cakes, TWINKIES, cookies and all sorts of goodies. I am just starting to realize how amazing the possibilities are, it’s the world’s vegan bakery right at your finger-tips. Here are some of the shops I’m loving…

Some of these mail out and some will even deliver to your home as long as you are within their radius (up to 25 miles!) My only issue here is that I don’t really have a reason to order a dozen twinkies besides the fact that I want to eat them all… I’m going to space out my ordering and try all these shops for you guys!

Do you have an Etsy Bakeshop and I left you out? Did you order from any of these shops in the past? Post in the comments!!

Babycakes cookbook: It's coming!

2009-04-20T16:20:00.004-04:00

WATCH!

BabyCakes, the Book of Recipes: It's Here (Almost)! from BabyCakes NYC on Vimeo.

How cute is this? This video makes me want to work at Babycakes and dance with them. I can't wait for this cookbook to come out so I can make my own banana bread MMM

Babycakes: Frosted Chocolate Chip Banana Bread and Lemon Blueberry Cupcake

2009-04-20T16:09:00.010-04:00

Babycakes cupcake party!

RATING:YYYY(4 out of 5 hearts!)
As the spring begins to bloom in New York City, I am more apt to take lunch breaks. Recently on a bright, sunny day, my co-worker and I took a walk over to Babycakes for lunch. I picked up the frosted chocolate chip banana bread and the lemon blueberry cupcake. I’ve never seen either of these products there before so I was glad to go. I love that Babycakes always has some mainstays but otherwise will often have new things popping up on the menu.

The frosted chocolate chip banana bread was quite delicious – very moist, with chunks of banana and sweet chocolate chips dispersed. The creamy vanilla frosting on top was the same frosting that is typically used on the cupcakes (that people buy shots of for $1.50 – yes it is that good). I probably could have eaten a whole loaf of this. The lemon blueberry cupcake was interesting, I don’t know how I feel about it. The lemon frosting on top of the cupcake was amazing! But the blueberries on top of the frosting were kind of weird. I love blueberries but I just don’t know if I enjoyed the consistency of these raw on top. I’m sure that it’s somebody’s cup-of-tea because it was executed well, just not mine so much.

I hope I spend more spring & summer lunch breaks at Babycakes, it's the best pick-me-up that could be!

DC VISIT: Hello Cupcake!

2009-04-20T15:59:00.006-04:00

Chocolate Cupcake with Strawberry Frosting

RATING:YYYY(4 out of 5 hearts!)

Hello Cupcake! Is a cute cupcake shop located near Dupont Circle in DC. What’s cool about this place is that it serves a diverse crowd, from young to old, hip to frat, it’s kind of fun to see an older man indulging in a cupcake. Though this shop is not 100% vegan, they always have gluten-free and vegan offerings. Unfortunately the vegan selection is pretty limited, when I stopped in I could only choose from a chocolate cake with either chocolate, vanilla or strawberry frosting. However, it was kind of refreshing to have a simple cupcake rather than something over-done.

I chose the strawberry and it was perfect. It wasn’t overly sweet & sugary – the strawberry flavor was just right. The cupcake itself was moist and soft. I really enjoyed this little bite! If I lived in DC I would frequent this place .

DC VISIT: Sticky Fingers Bakery

2009-04-20T15:17:00.009-04:00

Sticky Fingers Sticky Cinnamon Bun (Credit: Sticky Fingers Bakery)
RATING:YYYYY(5 out of 5 hearts!)

Sticky Fingers is a 100% vegan bakery that also serves soups, sandwiches, lunch items (mac & cheese with teese) and snacks (primal meat sticks). They are known for their famous Sticky Buns, which is a product I haven’t seen vegan in New York yet. As soon as I saw them in the display window I couldn’t wait to devour. These Sticky Buns are huge! Covered in cinnamon frosting and topped with chopped walnuts. I honestly thought I wouldn’t be able to finish a whole one but it was gone in two minutes.. It’s exactly how a sticky bun should taste, chewy, sweet and cinnamon-y. I bet if I heated it up at home it would’ve been out of this world.

I also picked up a “Little Devil” to take home. These look like lil’ Debbie snack cakes. As soon as I saw this I HAD to have. One of the main things I wish I could find vegan versions of are yodels and ho-hos. Damn, this was pretty close. The top is a hard chocolate shell with two layers of chocolate sponge cake sandwich-ing vanilla cream. So amazing. The cake was so soft and there was the perfect amount of cream. It wasn’t overly sweet either, just the right level.

Redesign!

2009-04-19T21:43:00.004-04:00

VeganSweetTooth just got an awesome redesign. Major thank you's go to the very talented Joe Frontirre who drew mr. cookie and ms. cupcake and to my mom who showed me how to use photoshop to color them in! Definitely check out Joe's blog, Deviant Art, and comic R. Beast's Out of Love; you'll be blown away by how ridiculously good his art is.

I know I've been slacking but I have some good updates this week!

TASTE TEST: Kozy Shack Soy Pudding

2009-04-14T09:49:00.008-04:00

Kozy Shack Soy Pudding Credit:kozyshack.com

RATING:YY(2 out of 5 hearts!)

I was very excited when I found out Kozy Shack made a soy pudding. My mom has always been a fan of their rice pudding so I was expecting something really great. The pudding comes in a 4 pack of either vanilla or chocolate. I chose the chocolate. The first thing I noticed were that the individual pudding cups were kind of small. Then it took me about 10 minutes and some help from a roommate to open the cup. When I finally did open, my spoon was met with a weird plastic-y film of pudding. The whole top was covered with this, kind of like how soy yogurt is. It kind of grossed me out and wouldn’t even mix in to the rest of the pudding. Anyway, once I got rid of that the pudding was pretty yummy. It had a nice soft consistency just like how pudding should be. The chocolate flavor was creamy and light. But to be honest though, next time I go food shopping I’ll probably pick up ZenSoy pudding over this one.

D.I.Y.: Sweet Crepes, "Peeps" and Ice Cream Sandwiches

2009-04-10T15:07:00.013-04:00

I'm not a chef. In any way shape or form. But, I love watching the food network AND I love eating, therefore, sometimes I gotta make my own sweets in order to fill certain cravings of things that are not readily available vegan. I'm sure all you other vegans or trying-to-become vegans out there know the drill. I'm sure that even some of you have 40 vegan cookbooks and then look at the ingredient list and cry. I know I do most of the time. So my purpose here is not to give you recipes you can't use, but rather to show you ways a lazy vegan can make some awesome, tasty treats!

Sweet Crepes:
I borrowed this recipe from vegan yum-yum. I threw all the ingredients into my hand blender. blended. watched the instructional video (it's very useful!!) in the vegan yum yum post and made. Making crepes is hard. My hawt & single (nudge-nudge) friend Xin, who helped me with all this suggested we add food dye to make these crepes look pink. They came out kind of flesh colored instead. Gross.

Before I became vegan (was ovo/lacto vegetarian), I lived in Rome for a month and I would eat banana /nutella crepes every day. This is what I intended to re-create. I actually had purchased vegan hazelnut spread while in Rome, but my boyfriend and I ate it all within 5 minutes after I returned to the states and haven't been able to find it since. I found out that the Noir dark chocolate spread at Le Pain Quotidien is vegan, so I got some of that as a replacement. If you can't find that, this is vegan and so is this. I spread this on the crepe, chopped up bananas into slices and topped on the crepe, folded the crepe into a wrap, topped with powdered sugar and wa-la!

These crepes tasted amazing. Even if you suck at making crepes it will taste awesome, just not as awesome if you get it really thin and perfect.

Vegan "Peeps":
This is ridiculously easy and you are going to scoff at me when you read this, but they seriously tasted like peeps! All you need to do is buy some vegan marshmallows... I picked up Sweet & Sara because I found them in the grocery store near my job. Then you keep 'em at room temperature for an hour or longer, let them get kind of mushy. Get some colored sugar crystals - I found it hard to get these so I used the leftover ones I had from Christmas themed cupcakes I made in December. If you have granulated sugar or sugar in the raw you can just use that and it will probably be fine. Take one marshmallow at a time and put it quickly under running water, then dip each side in the sugar crystals. There you go! It looks like a peep. Now time to shape & decorate. Xin decorated her "peep" guy like a bunny. It's very cute. Mine look like the block guys from gumby. Before you eat... I would freeze them to let everything dry and stick together. Put them in the freezer for an hour. Remove, let them sit and return to room temperature (20 min)... then enjoy! These caused a crazy sugar rush and brought back some fond childhood memories.

Ice Cream Sandwiches:
I saw Giada making some awesome gelato ice cream sandwiches with lady fingers and mint and nutella and strawberries and I decided I could do that. So this is the lazy vegan version. I got some water crackers (carrs), they are basically plain crackers that have no flavor what-so-ever. It's good because then you can do whatever you want with them. What we did was we took a dropper and dropped one drop of peppermint extract on every cracker. This isn't necessarily but it adds a nice, fresh flavor to the dessert. Then I smeared on some of the dark chocolate spread that I mentioned earlier. Lastly, I went in the freezer, got out my Rice Dream Strawberry Ice Cream and used a tablespoon to put a big dollop of ice cream on one of every 2 crackers. Then i took the un-ice creamed cracker and put it on top of the ice creamed cracker in order to make a sandwich. Since everything melts so quickly, these are best served frozen. I put these bad boys in the fridge for an hour then ate them, all. This was definitely my favorite DIY of the day.

Thanks XIN for your help! and thanks roommates for helping to devour! <3>

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-04-08T23:05:00.004-04:00

Babycakes Cupcakes in my Bag!

Here's what I got myself for my Birthday this past Thursday... Babycakes Cupcakes! I'll do a whole profile on this place another day but this is one of my favorite cupcake places... definitely my favorite in New York City. Cute store, amazing sign out front, adorable staff and awesome selection of cupcakes, brownies, breads, scones, ICE CREAM CHIPWICHES, etc. Tend to allergies, use agave nectar instead of sugar. It's a pretty magical place.

I got myself the chocolate mint brownie cupcake and a plain vanilla spelt cupcake. love.

TASTE TEST: Happy Buddha Cakes

2009-04-08T22:50:00.008-04:00

Happy Buddha Tofu-Cheesecake & Decadent Chocolate Cake

RATING:Y(1 out of 5 hearts!)
Um. I never go to Queens. I was there this past Saturday and got to check out Happy Buddha Vegetarian, which is a vegetarian chinese restaurant chock full of mock meats and dim sum dishes.

I noticed the vegan desserts menu consistent of a "decadent chocolate cake" and a "cheesecake" so I decided to try both.

Both were pretty disappointing. They must have been kept in a freezer because they were both hard as rocks and cold when they arrived on our table. The cheesecake was more edible than the chocolate cake because it actually did have a nice cheesecake flavor. I think if it wasn't frozen, it might have tasted pretty good. Most tofu cheesecakes taste just like plain tofu to me, which is gross, but this definitely had that cheesecake edge going on.

Unfortunately, there's not much positive to say about the decadent chocolate cake. It was spongy with absolutely no flavor. There was no frosting/ganache/sauce... nothing, just spongy boring frozen hard cake. At some point while trying to cut a piece my fork went flying... sigh.

I wanted so hard to like these but they really missed the mark.

Have any of you had the desserts at Happy Buddha? Any other great spots in Queens? Post in the comments!

TASTE TEST: le pain quotidien apple canele

2009-04-06T22:26:00.011-04:00

Le Pain Quotidien Apple Canele

RATING:YY(2 out of 5 hearts!)

I can't pronounce the name of this place for the life of me, so I am often intimidated to enter, but, I heard they had vegan foods. I stopped in and was greeted by a friendly server who politely corrected my pronunciation of canele and even explained to me what it was. She described it as a bread pudding.

It tasted to me kind of like a super spongy fruit cake. It was very sweet and tasty and the top was covered in a sticky apple glaze. It's kind of heavy for a morning breakfast but it's good when one wakes up starving. I would definitely get it again.

What I liked about this place was that they noted on the card/menu what was vegan. It made it easy for me to make my choice rather than having to bug the server about what options I had.

Have you tried the vegan breakfast options at le pain quotidien? Post in the comments!

Sweet Avenue Bakeshop Cupcakes

2009-04-06T21:27:00.014-04:00

Sweet Avenue Raspberry Swirl and Mocha Madness Cupcakes

RATING:YYYYY(5 out of 5 hearts!)

This place shares the name with my favorite Jets to Brazil song, so I knew that I would love it before I arrived. Located among victorian houses in the quaint town of Rutherford, New Jersey, Sweet Avenue bakeshop is one of the cutest places I have ever stepped in. Much of the store is pink and a case full of beautiful, colorful cupcakes are the first thing one sees when one walks in. Since it is close to Easter there is a domokun dressed in a bunny costume on top of the register... it's adorable.

What's interesting is that they don't sell themselves as a vegan place. There isn't a huge sign on the outside saying "HEY VEGAN HERE". It's more like, "AWESOME CUPCAKES HERE"... and oh, they happen to be vegan.

So this place has a rotating menu with different cupcakes each day and new ones on the spur of the moment. For example, they had Spumoni cupcakes last Friday that was available for the day. In addition they have a cupcake of the month, for April it is Cotton Candy. It's really fun to be surprised like that and for there to be such variety in the menu.

Here's what I tried:

Raspberry Swirl, which is a chocolate cake with raspberry frosting filled with Raspberry Preserves. This would be perfect so someone who likes very sweet cupcakes because it is super sugary.

Mocha Madness, which is a chocolate cake with mocha frosting topped with a chocolate covered espresso bean. OMG it was heaven. I love coffee flavored things so it might be biased but it was a strong, rich taste.

Cinnamon Sticky Bun, which is a cinnamon cake with a creamy glaze. This was my favorite. It tasted like a cinnamon sticky bun - need I say more!

Lavender Lemon, is a lemon cake filled with lemon curd and topped with lavender frosting (and flowers too!). It tasted like lavendar flowers! It was kind of weird at first but still really good. I liked the lemon curd in the middle.

Lemon Raspberry, is a lemon cake filled with raspberry preserves topped with lemon frosting and a raspberry. This one was also sweet but not overpowering. I loved the lemon flavor.

Snowball, is a chocolate cake topped with coconut frosting and shredded coconut. I love me some shredded coconut so this "classic" cupcake on the menu was very enjoyable.

The most amazing thing about these cupcakes is that the frosting does not melt!! This is the best vegan frosting I have ever had. I am in awe of it's consistency. It's what frosting should be - whipped, creamy yet hardened on the outside, and super sugary. I didn't have to refrigerate these! I put them on my kitchen counter and the frosting stayed exactly the same! This makes me so happy.

The second most amazing thing is the cake itself - it's moist and light and fluffy! sigh... I want more.

These cupcakes were so good. It makes me sad that I can't try a different one every day. If I lived in Jersey I would be there all the time. I guess I'll have to make it a trip I reward myself with. Sweet Avenue - distribute in New York City!!

Map of Locations that carry Vegan Treats

2009-04-06T15:07:00.006-04:00

Supervegan twittered a google maps database of all the restaurants and shops that carry Vegan Treats, makers of the peanut butter bomb and other fine delicious sweets. Here it is!

Taste Test: Coconut Bliss Cappuccino Ice Cream

2009-03-31T21:51:00.011-04:00

Coconut Bliss Cappuccino Ice Cream

RATING:YYY(3 out of 5 hearts!)

I found this in the local health food store the other day and decided to check it out. I thought that So Delicious Coconut Milk was the only Coconut Milk based vegan ice cream out there but apparently not! Since I'm a huge fan of the coconut milk craze, I decided it was worth a try.

Anyway, this was pretty expensive but it is made with USDA certified organic & fair-trade ingredients, sweetened with agave syrup and it seems to be a really cool company from what I read on their site.

I got the cappuccino flavor because coffee ice cream is one of my favorite flavors and I don't come across it often. It was very smooth and creamy. It lacked that ice-y consistency that ruins many vegan brands. In addition, it doesn't melt quickly like I've seen other vegan ice creams do. Seriously, vegan ice cream makers - coconut milk is the way to go!

The coffee flavor was a little too subtle for me, I personally love and crave that dark espresso flavor, but I nonetheless enjoyed it very much.

They have some other interesting flavors I'd really like to try such as Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge (drool), Cherry Amaretto and Strawberry Lemon Love. Ha, cute.

Have you tried this ice cream? Are there other coconut milk ice creams out there? Post in the comments!

Oreo Fun Stix

2009-03-30T21:12:00.007-04:00

Oreo Fun Stix

RATING:YY(2 out of 5 hearts!)

I was food shopping this weekend and stumbled upon Oreo Fun Stix...a new spin-off of oreos but in a 90 calorie pack form. Each pack consists of two pirouette-like cookie sticks lined, not filled, with oreo cream. This was a pretty exciting find since I love wafer sticks, they remind me of family get togethers when they would get dipped in coffee and eaten. Plus, I'm a big fan of oreos (also vegan) but try to stray away from buying them due to the calorie count. (As contrary as it seems, I do try to maintain my girlish figure somewhat!)

These were really tasty! They are light and crunchy, they really remind me of other wafer sticks I've had but with that chocolately oreo taste. It would probably taste much better if the whole stick was filled with oreo creme but I bet it wouldn't be 90 calories per 2 stick pack if that were the case.

Have you tried these? Are there other vegan wafer sticks you know of? Post in the comments!

YUMMIEST: Place to get pancakes in NYC: Installment 4 (FINAL)

2009-03-30T16:22:00.006-04:00

Multi-grain pancakes at Counter

PLACE:Counter

MEAL: Multi-grain Pancakes

PRICE: $10.00

RATING:YY (2 out of 5 hearts!)

Note: I have to admit that I have been pretty diligent about this brunch thing, almost to a fault. I decided to try out the pancakes at counter as my last installment (please let me know if there are any I left out that are worth trying!!) of the yummiest of the month. However, I had an awful lot to drink on Friday night. So I forced myself up after 5 hours of sleep and traveled into the city with friends. I puked on one of said friends and spent most of brunch in the bathroom, hurling. I didn’t really get to enjoy the pancakes until later that day (took them home)… so my review is slightly skewed.

These pancakes sounded pretty appealing on the menu – Multi-grain pancakes blueberry compote and fresh citrus fruit. Though I wasn’t sure how multi-grain would taste, blueberry compote sounded pretty rad.

When the pancakes came out I was interested to see how they would taste. They were very thick and I personally prefer thinner pancakes. The blueberry compote looked great but I didn’t see any citrus, there were bananas & strawberries instead, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I know this place is organic & fresh-focused so maybe this is why there was a change.

Anyway, my friend pointed out that the pancakes tasted more like donuts. This is kind of true, they were very fluffy and thick. I was actually pleasantly surprised, even though they were multi-grain pancakes these did not taste grainy like the ones at Curly’s. The blueberry compote was a really nice touch, very tasty and good consistency. All the fruit was fresh and really delicious. Especially the banana slices, they were sliced really thin vertically. However, I encountered the same issue as I have in nearly every pancake I’ve tried in this city: it was dry! If I didn’t smother this baby in tons of maple syrup (which had a strange taste), it would be totally boring.

So who won?!

My personal faves were V-spot and Organic Grill because they were moist & had a great consistency. I would choose the V-Spot over Organic Grill because the service & other brunch options were much better as well.

One other thing to note – if you are looking for a really inventive pancake I would go with Quantum Leap because they always have a great pancake or waffle special such as vanilla pear or banana pecan.

Food Porn: I forgot I had a flickr account

2009-03-27T17:21:00.006-04:00

Babycakes Bakery, a few years ago

YAY I have food porn of my own. I used to take more pictures when I had a nicer digital camera. But forgot I uploaded them to flickr - here are some fun Food Porn pics I have.

I will update with my photos from the blog. Expect many more soon! :)

Food Porn: Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar!

2009-03-27T16:52:00.005-04:00

Peanut Butter Pillows//Credit: Isa Chandra Moskowitz

My favorite vegan cookbook is Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World... and I know this sounds crazy but I suck at cooking but rule at baking, so, therefore, it is my fave. The recipes in here are simple, don't require egg replacer or apple sauce (which NEVER works for me), and make it seem like cupcakes never meant to have dairy in the first place! They ALWAYS come out amazing.

So I totally peed my pants today when I found out that the co-authors of said book, Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero are coming out with a new cookbook - Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I don't know when it is coming out, but there are tons of pictures & some recipes posted on flickr. The Peanut Butter Pillows are my personal fave but they all look ridiculously yummy.

In addition some recipes are posted through-out Isa's blog on the Post Punk Kitchen's (which was an awesome Brooklyn Public Access show!) website.

I am so excited. I think I might have to follow one of these recipes this weekend.

So which picture is your fave? Post in the comments!

YUMMIEST: Place to get pancakes in NYC: Installment 3

2009-03-23T15:59:00.009-04:00

Spelt Berry Pancakes at Caravan of Dreams

PLACE: Caravan of Dreams

MEAL: Spelt Berry Pancakes

PRICE: $10.00

RATING:YYY (3 out of 5 hearts!)

I have been really into Caravan of Dreams lately. Now that they offer smaller plates that are more affordable, I want to go every day. Plus their desserts are usually on point. Anyway. Out of the various menus I have scoured, Caravan of Dreams listed the most seemingly appetizing vegan pancake:

“Two spelt-berry pancakes sandwiched around a grilled banana and garnished with chopped nuts and fresh fruit”. Salivating?

I was really in awe of the presentation of this meal. The pancakes were huge, the fruit had variety and was fresh and I loved the brown of the pancakes complimented by the light circle around the edges. This is how a pancake should look! I also liked that the pancakes were large, round and thin. I’ve noticed that some of the vegan pancakes I’ve tried are thicker which causes them to lose their fluffiness and really messes with the texture. The texture here was great and the blueberries inside of the pancake was a tasty addition. All of the food was fresh & organic even down to the maple syrup, which had a great taste.

The grilled banana in the middle was a really nice touch, though it wasn’t very sweet (it may have been a plantain), it was yummy and added a certain touch to the dish that I haven’t experienced before.

My only complaint, which I’ve repeated a few times already in my pancake quest, was that they were pretty dry. Without the fruit, nuts & syrup on top, the pancakes would taste quite bland and dry.

Overall, I was very pleased with this dish. Considering the price for such a huge, filling plate, I would definitely go back for more!

The only other places I have on my list are Candle 79 and Counter. Are they any other places in the NYC area that you suggest I check out for vegan pancakes? Post in the comments!

TASTE TEST: GonePie Gluten-Free Walnut Brownie

2009-03-23T15:26:00.011-04:00

Gone Pie Gluten-Free Walnut Brownie

RATING:YYY(3 out of 5 hearts!)

These brownies caught my eye immediately. In the display, they reminded me of home baked brownies with their thickness and placement of walnuts. They looked simple and delicious. I decided to purchase the gluten-free brownies with walnuts because I haven’t had a plain brownie with walnuts since I’ve gone vegan.

The best thing about GonePie brownies are the texture. I’ve had other vegan brownies that taste pretty grainy or dry but these were moist, soft and chewy. I loved the added crunch of the walnut. It was a little heavy, but I suppose that is the point. I thought I would not finish the whole thing and be able to save some for later, but in moments I realized the whole thing was gone.

My only complaint was that there was some weird component of the taste that I can’t seem to put my finger on. It was like when you eat something that is sugar-free and it has a weird sucralose aftertaste. After a few bites, I got used to the taste and even enjoyed it very much… but it was slightly off-putting at first.

Overall it was very enjoyable and I was pretty impressed that they pulled off such a tasty vegan , gluten-free brownie and I’m interested in trying out some of their other products (blondies, macaroons, fruit bars).

How Sweet it is: Lula's Sweet Apothecary

2009-03-20T15:26:00.009-04:00

Birthday Cake & Peanut Butter Fudge Ice Cream from Lula's Sweet Apothecary

Ok. I wish this place relocated inside of my house. This is probably one of the happiest vegan places to exist. Seriously, this is the place your mom should take you on a day that you come home from school with a face wet with tears and snot dripping onto your shirt sleeves. Ok, sorry - that was a gross visual, but, you know what I mean.

I went there last night with my boyfriend despite the fact that he was on the verge of falling into a deep sleep (he had parent-teacher conferences all day), but I knew he would instantly wake up as soon as we walked in the door. It is instantly welcoming, set up like an old ice cream parlor - jars filled with candies such a licorice, marshmallows lining the walls and metal spoons in a 50's style straw dispenser.

May I remind you this place is ENTIRELY vegan!! OMG it is heaven. The first thing my boyfriend noticed was that they now offer a New York Style Egg Cream. DAMN. They have a menu that is full of those nostalgic soda fountain goodies that we only see in movies like Grease. Last time I was there I ordered a banana split that rocked my world. The whipped cream was kind of liquid-y though so I would not recommend using that as a topping.

I learned yesterday that all the ice creams are made in-house. Two of the 10 flavors were soy-based and the rest were nut-based. Which was great for my boyfriend since he is allergic to soy and often gets the itchy throat when we get ice cream. (I know, what luck, I’m allergic to oats & he’s allergic to soy). This week the nut-based ice creams were made with cashews! COOL. I love how nuts make things creamy. Anyway, this store is so cute. I can’t emphasize it enough. Our server was very sweet and answered all our questions and let us sample everything with adorable little spoons!! They had a whole new set of flavors from last time I was there which made me realize, I can NEVER get tired of this place. Haha! So I tried the avocado ice cream (fancy!) which was kind of weird but probably a great summer treat. The peanut butter fudge was ridiculous, very thick, not ice-y at all. Heavy peanut-butter taste. The espresso was very true to the taste too! Not watered down at all. My eyes opened a little wider after I tried that one.

OK. This made me squeal with joy. They had a flavor with sprinkles already on it… I eyed it suspiciously. I thought, could it be? No… Could it? YES! It was birthday cake flavor! I miss funfetti cake and birthday cake cream ices, haven’t been able to find anything vegan like it. This ice cream ruled my world. It was the greatest taste in my mouth. I want more. Right now.

They also have some other great things. Gone-pie gluten-free brownies (I bought one so will update with a taste-test soon), Red Mango baked goods (Brooklyn made muffins, cookies and cupcakes), and Chicago Soy Dairy Soft Serve.

So, this is how I imagine my summer going. Waking up. Hopping on my bike. Over the Manhattan bridge we go and to Lula’s Sweet Apothecary. Something to look forward to on this first day of spring….

Here are my only complaints, though hardly complaints, this is seriously the greatest place. It’s cash only (I never carry cash because I tend to spend impulsively) and it’s kind of out of the way (on E 6th street between A & B), but totally worth the trek!

Have you been to Lula’s? Don’t live in NYC but have a similar place in your town? Post in the comments!

Most Random Place to Find Vegan Sweets: Sunrise Mart

2009-03-18T21:42:00.010-04:00

Sunrise Mart on Broome St. in SoHo

Nearly a year ago, I started working in SoHo. One of the first thing I noticed was that my lunchtime options were limited. I stumbled upon Sunrise Mart one day while strolling down Broome St. I decided to stop in with hopes that there would be an avocado roll or something along those lines. Boy, was I surprised to find this place sold Earth Balance, Tempeh, Vegan Mayo, Vegan Curry and best of all, plenty of Vegan Sweets.

A huge part of their ice cream freezer is vegan, with Rice Dream and Tofutti selections. In addition, the refrigerated section has zen soy pudding, silk chocolate soy milk to-go, and so delicious coconut yogurt. The best part is that the goods here are priced very reasonably. And you can pick up some interesting Japanese fruit while you're at it!

Every once in a while they will have other random vegan sweets, such as chocolate covered almonds, that are clearly labeled.

I'm not quite sure why they are so vegan friendly because there is nothing of this sort in the nieghborhood but I am very happy for it. There is also a Sunrise Mart in the East Village above St. Marks bookstore but I have never been. If you have been, fill me in on if it carries vegan sweets & other staples as well!!

YUMMIEST: Place to get pancakes in NYC: Installment 2

2009-03-16T10:22:00.009-04:00

Vegan Pancakes at Curly's Vegetarian Lunch

PLACE: Curly’s Vegetarian Lunch
MEAL: Vegan Pancakes
PRICE: $7.95
RATING:Y (1 out of 5 hearts)

I go to Curly’s every so often because it’s in a convenient location (Union Square/East Village) and it has great comfort foods on the menu. However, every time I go the food seems to disappoint. Once again, it under-delivered, this time with their pancakes. Though they had potential – 3 stacked flax and kamut pancakes topped with fresh fruit sounded delicious.

When the food arrived, it did look delicious… however, there was only about 1 strawberry cut up and 2 small pineapple pieces on top of the pancakes. I was expecting more quantity and selection of fruit. In addition, I was not served any soy butter… this had to be requested.

The pancakes themselves were hard to get onto my fork, they kept falling apart into little pieces. They were very dry and grainy. I kind of felt like I was eating mushy bread or something. They were not fluffy at all. They were definitely edible, but given the large selection of vegan pancakes in New York city, and given the price, I would not recommend going here for a fill.

PLACE: The Organic Grill
MEAL: Vegan Wheat-free Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes
PRICE: $8.00
RATING:YYYY (4 out of 5 hearts!)

The Organic Grill is not completely vegetarian, therefore, this is not a place I would expect to go for a vegan brunch unless I was going with non-vegan friends. However, I was pleasantly surprised with their blueberry pancakes and would love to go back for more!

The pancakes came out looking very appetizing. You could see the blueberries inside of the pancakes and they looked very moist.

These were devoured rather fast. They were soooo yummy! The blueberries were fresh and perfectly melted into the pancakes. The consistency was perfect – moist & fluffy. They weren’t heavy or grainy at all. I think these were buckwheat pancakes which might be the best bet when going for a wheat-free vegan pancake. I also liked that more than just pancakes were served with the plate, they also came with a delicious side of tempeh bacon. Considering this was only 5 cents more than Curly’s, I feel like I got my money’s worth with this dish for sure.

Overall, I was very pleased and if I wanted to go out specifically for pancakes, this is the first place that would come to mind. My only complaint is non-pancake related. My friend’s order was all screwed up, her food was cold and not enjoyable. Plus, the service was kind of poor… boo!

TASTE TEST: Sacred Chow's Brownie Sundae

2009-03-14T15:21:00.010-04:00

Brownie Sundae at Sacred Chow

RATING:YY(2 out of 5 hearts!)

My friend and I were meeting up for a post-work dessert and she requested that we find something warm and gooey. The Brownie Sundae at Sacred Chow in the west village looked like it could fit the bill. It consisted of a triple chocolate velvet brownie, topped with hot fudge, vanilla soy ice cream and rainbow sprinkles. Since we wanted something super gooey, we requested that the brownie be warm when served, which the waitress was more than happy to do.

The plate came out and looked adorable. I felt a little like it was my tenth birthday... but who cakes. I was a little surprised it was on a flat plate rather than in a serving dish, but I never feel like I can get the last bit of melted ice cream & fudge at the bottom of those dishes anyway.

The brownie was most certainly chocolately. If eaten alone it definitely would have been too much, but combined with some vanilla ice cream, eat bite was great. The only problem with the brownie was that it was wheat/gluten free and this made it kind of grainy. My friend even said it was more like a chocolate cornbread rather than a brownie. Though grainy, it wasn't heavy like other vegan brownies/cakes.

It was a little pricey ($9), but it most certainly hit the spot. YUM.

Stop and Shop Fudge Mint Cookies

2009-03-11T23:07:00.006-04:00

I love these accidentally vegan cookies!

When I first went vegan, the two things that were hardest for me to say goodbye to were Cadbury Mini Eggs and Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies. Though both of these treats are seasonal, I would look forward to them all year and then, in that month or so that they are around, eat more than enough to make up for the other 11 months that they are not around.

Anyway I was very sad when Girl Scout Cookie time started rolling around and happened to be shopping with my mom at Stop & Shop. I was going through all the snacks/cookies to see what "happened" to be vegan and stumbled upon Stop & Shop brand fudge mint cookie squares. But wait! I noticed that the Peanut Butter Fudge and Fudge Stripe cookies were also vegan! Of course I got all 3 but to this day the Fudge Mint is a regular staple in my cupboard.

What I love about this cookie is that I don't feel that anything is missing compared to the non-vegan alternative. It's very rich and chocolately. No weird aftertaste. Its not grainy, just smooth fudgey on the outside with a minty crunch on the inside. Aren't you salivating!

I love Stop & Shop. The one near me has a whole veg-friendly aisle with a freezer full of vegan ice creams. Though of course, I'd rather order from Cosmos or Vegan Essentials, this is a great place to run in quick and get some treats if you live close by.

Have you tried these cookies? Know of any other store-brand vegan treats? Post in the comments!!

YUMMIEST: Place to get Pancakes in NYC – installment 1

2009-03-09T13:21:00.009-04:00

Pecan Banana Pancakes at Quantum Leap

Thanks to all the comments re: The Yummiest of the Month. I will be on the search to find the Yummiest vegan pancakes in NYC! Here is the first installment. If there is any place that you think I should include while searching this month, please post in the comments, thanks!

PLACE: Quantum Leap

MEAL: Banana Pecan Pancakes with tofu scramble & vegan sham

PRICE: $10.50

RATING:YYY (3 out of 5 hearts!)

The plate came out and my mouth began to water. I was served three hefty sized pancakes topped with bananas & pecans. I’ve had banana pancakes before, and it changes the consistency a bit due to the mushiness of the bananas. However, adding pecans to the mix changes the whole thing around. The nice thing about the pancakes were that they were thin so eat bite was awesomely crunch & mushy at the same time.

My only complaint was that they were a tad dry on the outside. I had to soak it in maple syrup to get the sweetness & moistness I was looking for. I know these were buckwheat pancakes specifically so I wonder if using buckwheat vs. whole wheat or mixed grains changes the moistness levels.

What I like about Quantum Leap though, is their level of originality. The pancakes I had this past Saturday was on their specials list. Their brunch specials are different every week and never disappoint. I had pear waffles there once and they were out of this world. They always have a pancake or waffle special, so if you go there and see it, definitely try it! Of course, unless you despise one of the main ingredients.

And though the focus is on the pancakes, it is such a great deal in terms of price because not only is it a specialty pancake, it comes with tofu scramble & sham on the site. Such a huge portion, I had to give up on finishing this meal because it was too much.

PLACE: The V-Spot

MEAL: Whole Wheat Strawberry Pancakes

PRICE: $10.00

RATING: YYYY (4 out of 5 hearts!)

Now these were whole wheat pancakes and they seemed to be much more moist to me and it wasn’t necessary to drown in maple syrup.

The plate came with 3 strawberry pancakes and a side of tempeh bacon. The pancakes were thin, soft and buttery. The strawberries were fresh which made each bite oh so sweet and wonderful. In addition, vegan pancakes tend to be really heavy and filling, but these did not have that effect. They were definitely the fluffiest ones I have had thus far.

Though simple, these pancakes were spot-on. My only problem was that they weren’t topped with strawberries or anything. I really like having fresh fruit on my pancakes. They were only inside the pancakes. I think if we had some of those fresh strawberries on top, I would have given this 5 hearts.

YUMMIEST: Place to get sweets post-drinking binge in NYC

2009-03-08T21:44:00.006-04:00

credit: Cake Shop

I was out drinking with a gal friend on Friday night in the L.E.S. in New York City and the partying began to wind down. We were ready to sit and stuff some food down our throats so I insisted we go to Cake Shop. I have been there pretty much every night that I have spent in Manhattan in the past 3 months. It's terrible. Not only do they serve Vegan Treats cakes such as peanut butter bomb, strawberry short-cake and death by chocolate but they have a nice selection vegan cupcakes that I really like. My favorite is the chocolate chai.

So why is this place better than other late night options? Not only do they have a fully stacked bar there are also records for sale in the cafe and there's a music venue downstairs.

Any other places that you all go for late night snacks? Cake Shop: love it? hate it? Post in the comments!!

Dandies Ain't It?!

2009-03-06T15:57:00.007-05:00

Today (or last night?) at the Natural Foods Expo West in Anaheim, Chicago Soy Dairy released a new product - Dandies. These vegan marshmallows supposedly melt in the microwave, don't need to be refrigerated AND are full of tasty goodness. I absolutely believe it since their other products - teese and temptation ice cream are two of my favorite vegan goods.

Need to get my hands on them ASAP. RT @chicagosoydairy they'll be available online very soon.

Expect a taste test in the new few weeks! I want to test out both the marshmallows alone and in recipes! yum!

OK so I'll leave you with some food porn.

3/8 - UPDATE: Dandies won the best new vegetarian product at the natural foods expo! Congrats!!

TASTE TEST: Amy's Organic Cakes (Chocolate)

2009-03-05T21:30:00.008-05:00

RATING:YY(2 out of 5 hearts!)

Amy's Organic has released a new line of frozen cakes. There are only two flavors, chocolate & orange. Since I'm a sweet freak, I got the chocolate.

Ok so I took it out of my freezer and read the directions - it said to defrost for 2.5 hours! I was like.. what I want cake now!!!!!!!!!!! Then I put it in the fridge. Then I forgot about it. Now its two days later and I take it out of the fridge. So it says on the box that if desired it can be heated up in the microwave but it does not indicate for how long. I gave 30 seconds a shot and it came out smoking.

It looks super thick and rich so I was nervous it would be dry & heavy. When I took my first bite I was pleasantly surprised. It was very moist and light. It had a great chocolate taste that wasn't too overwhelming. Did I go back for seconds? Yes, come on look at that tiny slice I cut myself! It was not as moist & yummy un-heated but I still wolfed it down.

What I really liked was how its loaf style. It's a great serving size, I don't feel weird buying it like I would if I bought an entire peanut butter bomb cake or something. It's like a cute little loaf of chocolate cake.

Have any of you tried this or the Orange cake? Posts thoughts in comments!!

TASTE TEST: Souen Organic Ramen

2009-03-04T23:43:00.016-05:00

Chocolate Parfait with Vanilla Tofu Cream topped with Granola (Granola not pictured)

RATING:YYY(3 out of 5 hearts!)

I went to Souen Organic Ramen tonight, which had a soft opening yesterday, March 3rd at its location in the East Village. It was a cute little place that kind of reminded me of the cabin of a swank jet from the 60's. The ramen was great, but was looking forward to their fully vegan dessert menu. It only consisted of two items. One was a vegan jello made of seaweed gelatin with fruit suspended inside and the other a chocolate parfait with vanilla tofu cream & granola.

The former reminded me a little too much of the jello they would serve in the HS cafeteria so decided to go with the latter. And what a good decision to make!

It came out in these cute serving cups (please see above) and the vanilla tofu cream and chocolate parfait were swirled perfectly. I did not get granola on mine (allergic to oats), however my friend got his with granola and it was a nice addition.

It tasted pretty heavenly. What I liked about it was that it was light & airy rather than dense and rich. After I ate it, I didn't feel overly full or like I had committed a glutinous sin. To be honest I've never had a parfait before, but I've heard they tend to be thicker. I expected it to be more like a pudding, but instead it was very creamy. It was a little off-putting at first but I liked this consistency better. I bet it would have been nice to have the added crunch of the granola.

Would I have it again? Hell yes, I don't know if I would go back for the ramen, but they should package this thing so I can eat it every night while watching Bravo.

Have you had vegan parfait before? Made it yourself? Followed a recipe? Post in the comments!

Poison soymilk in the work fridge

2009-03-03T22:52:00.008-05:00

One of my many new years resolutions was to give up using starbucks as my morning mantra. Not only are they a terrible company to support, the strain on one's wallet is quite significant, especially given the current economic climate.

So why is it so hard for a vegan to get a sweet & cheap cup of coffee in the morning?

If ya bring Soymilk/Ricemilk into work, it mysteriously disappears

Coffee Carts/Dunkin' Donuts typically do not carry Soymilk/Ricemilk

Homemade coffee tastes like garbage and is hard to make

So what to do! How the hell can we save some dough and have awesome caffeinated goodness in the AM?

Here are my solutions!

Pour your soymilk/ricemilk into an unmarked container, put a sticker on it and write your name on it & "Do Not Throw Away". Make sure that the container is not transparent/translucent in any way. None of your co-workers are going to venture to see what mystery liquid you are keeping in there.

and ask them to carry soymilk. Include the location closest your work. Though this may not work, some have begun to include soymilk. In addition, talk to your coffee cart guy! The one outside my work now carries soymilk so you would be surprised.

Make awesome, quick coffee at home! It's easy. Get a coffee tumbler. Here's what I do: two tablespoons of Hazelnut Syrup in the tumbler, make a cup of espresso using Illy fine ground espresso, and shake up my soymilk and pour on top of the espresso in the tumbler and stir with a spoon/stirrer. It's sooo yummy!
NOTE: If you don't have a fancy espresso maker like me, go to Ikea, get a french press (its $12.99) and this is how you use it: Add about 5 tablespoons of medium ground espresso and boil 6 cups of water on the stove top and add (you can adjust these measurements to taste). Wait a few minutes (about 4) for the coffee to brew. Then press down the filter/plunger and pour! SUCCESS!!

Any other suggestions to avoid Stealbucks? Please post in the comments!!

Monthly "Yummiest" - Help me choose!!

2009-03-03T10:41:00.004-05:00

Every month I'd like to go out and find the "yummiest" vegan version of a certain category. Help me choose what it should be!

Here are some ideas for the month of March:

Place to get Vegan Pancakes in NYC

Vegan Peanut Butter Cups

Vegan Coffee Ice Cream

Please leave your ideas/suggestions in the comments field and I will update with what I have chose by end of week.

I will put my tastebuds to the test, so you don't have to!

So Delicious Coconut Ice Cream rules my world!

2009-03-02T21:27:00.016-05:00

"The verdict is in, vegans are definitely not missing out on the ice cream front." This is what my non-vegan friend tells me after he wolfed down half a pint of So Delicious Coconut Milk Cookie Dough Ice Cream.

I was always a fan of Temptation ice cream, which is put out by Chicago Soydairy (makers of Teese) and thought their ice cream could not be beat out. However, after trying So Delicious Coconut Milk I will have to retract that statement. Not only is this ice cream creamy and extra sweet, it is missing that icey/watery consistency that is found in most non-dairy ice creams. On top of that, they have the best ideas for what to do with their freaking creation!

Coconut Almond Bars (Chocolate covered ice cream bars with almond crunch... drool)

Banana Split Sandwiches (its like a klondike bar but banana split! SO ridiculous!)

OK OK I know it's cold and the last thing you want right now is ice cream, but may I mention that I had some of the vanilla bean flavor on top of a warm vegan apple pie and it was the most amazing thing ever?

And check this shiz out! It's LESS fat! Usually things that taste more awesome are worse for ya, but nope, this is just the epitome of goodness. It is sweetened with agave (yes this is what makes Tequila), which makes it better from those with diabetes due to its low-glycemic content.

So Delicious ice creams is made by Turtle Mountain, who also makes Soy Delicious ice creams, Purely Decadent ice creams and Sweet Nothings frozen desserts.

They also make a line of yogurt made with coconut milk. Most of the vegan yogurts I have tried are ickytown with the exception being Whole Soy & Co. so I am curious to see how it tastes. Has anyone tried? I will pick one up tomorrow and lunch and report back!

UHM woah, they are going crazy and also just came out with Coconut Milk Beverage. I'm guessing it will be a creamier, sweeter version of Soy Milk. Will have to try as well! This might turn out to be quite a treat when used in vegan baking recipes.