Vegan Beauty Review» vegan cupcakes

Loco for Locali

Sunny — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 17:13:18 +0000

All right peeps, if you live in LA, you’ve prolly eaten vegan reubens up the yin yang—they are everywhere (dog bless America)!

Whether they be tempeh, tofu, TVP, Tofurkey, seitan or other incarnations of tasty-ass wheat meatiness, there is no argument that LA does a vegan reuben right… Now as far as the best vegan reuben goes, we vegans are petty much in consensus that Locali takes the [vegan] cake. Speaking of, they have some pretty amazing, floofy icing topped vegan cupcakes (below: orange on the left; smores on the right) that’ll make any sweet-toothed lassie drool.

Check it out, Foolio:

Vegan Reuben w/Daiya Cheese, $9.75

Tell me about your favorite vegan reuben!

Clara’s Cakes for A Cause

Sunny — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:00:01 +0000

There have been quite a few vegan bake sale fundraisers in L.A. lately (which I’m all about), with proceeds going toward helping animals. Yay! I’ve had my fair share of vegan cupcakes but some of the most moist, floofiest, scrumptious-deliumptious cupcakes I’ve ever tried at these events were made by 13-year-old cupcake extraordinaire, Clara. She runs her own cupcake business in L.A. called Clara’s Cakes. I had to learn more about this sweet toothed sweetheart. Here’s what she had to say…

Are these cupcakes your own recipes? Or do you use any special cookbooks?

Most of these cupcakes are my ideas. Sometimes for the recipes, I’ll just take a basic cupcake flavor from a vegan cookbook (I adore Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World) or online and modify it to make it have the perfect texture and taste that I miss from non-vegan cupcakes/desserts.

What inspired you to make vegan cupcakes?

What inspired me to make vegan cupcakes and desserts in general was actually just being vegan! I wanted to just experiment and practice baking vegan until the end result tasted like a dessert that would normally have dairy and eggs in it, but better! I realized becoming vegan, I would have to teach myself how to bake/cook from scratch, rather than just popping this and that in the microwave and oven.

How long have you been vegan/vegetarian?

I have been vegetarian since I was 5 years old, so 8 years. I’ve been vegan for about 1 year! My mom has really influenced me, but she hasn’t forced anything on me which is the best way to help people make the transition. I became vegan for a couple reasons that just kind of collided together. I had previously thought that being vegetarian was cruelty-free, but I realized I was completely wrong. I also thought it was really gross to consume breast milk from cows that was meant for their babies, who get separated within a couple of hours and used for veal. Becoming vegan was probably the best decision of my life!

What’s your advice for young people who are interested in becoming vegan?

Take it slowly. Being vegan is a hard thing to get used to—it shouldn’t be overwhelming, but refreshing. If you accidentally eat something with some dairy derived ingredient, no big deal. You’ll just learn from that mistake not to have that certain food/ingredient. Don’t be hard on yourself. Also, get your parents involved, even just one parent. Research what you’re doing and explain it thoroughly to your parents. If they don’t get it, tell them the horrid facts you’ve learned about dairy and factory farming. Explain to them it’s not going to cost more money, probably about the same, and find more affordable places to shop that provide plenty of vegan options.

What is your all time favorite kind of cupcake?

That’s a really hard question! I love my Neapolitan cupcake, but the basic chocolate and vanilla cupcakes are great since you can make them into whatever flavor you can imagine.

Want to place an order for some of Clara’s yummy cupcakes? Send her an e-mail! Also, make sure to become a fan of Clara’s Cakes’ Facebook Page and check out her blog Clara in Veganland!

Restaurant Review: Mani’s Bakery in Los Angeles

Sunny — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:30:49 +0000

FYI:

Complete Awesomeness: Tofu Scramble Hash ($13) with organic tofu, scrambled with asparagus, mushrooms, spinach, miso, nutritional yeast and veggie tempeh bacon (we added vegan cheddar cheese). Sides we chose: Olive bread toast and breakfast potatoes.

This is the BEST breakfast in town and it’s served all day. This reminds me of NYC’s amazing breakfast spots.

Should be Awesome but Not: Red Velvet Cupcake ($4)

I’m super easy to please in the sugar department. If it’s sweet, I usually love it no matter what. Mani’s is the exception; their desserts need some serious love. This cupcake was sooooooooooo dry and the icing was hard and stale and when it finally broke down in mouth, it tasted like pure, salty-ish cream cheese (but clumpier). I’ve had very bad luck with desserts at Mani’s. They all look beautiful but I’ve yet to try one that’s actually good. I still order a different dessert every time I go, hoping there’s at least one gem in their lovely bakery display case.

For more info: Mani’s Bakery

NYC is a vegan foodie’s paradise!

Adorn yourself with roses and cupcakes!

Sunny — Tue, 19 May 2009 23:21:00 +0000

I’ve been making jewelry since I was a wee lass and I figured I might as well blog about my crafty goodies from time to time and spread the word. My jewelry is vegan and handcrafted (with 110% love – and then some). Also, a portion of the proceeds from my jewelry goes toward a variety of local, LA-based animal rescues.
For those of you who don’t already know, cupcakes are my favorite fruit. I’m beyond obsessed with anything cupcake, but most particularly the edible kind. Seeing my baking skills are sub par, I’ve decided to bake cupcakes in a completely different way. I bake inedible polymer clay cupcakes. They sure are pretty to look at (if I don’t say so myself). I also make rose jewelry and beaded, faery-inspired pieces as well. In fact, the name of my jewelry line is Faery Inspired Jewelry.

…but today I want to focus on my cupcakes and roses.

I make tasty-looking c upcak e earrings and necklaces ($15 each plus s&h), and I can make any flavor your heart desires. Red velvet? Vanilla with chocolate chips? Strawberry with sprinkles? You got it!
These inedible cupcakes make great gifts and when you wear them, you’re bound to get lots of comments. All of my jewelry is packaged in girlie, organza gift baggies, so they are ready to be gifted at any time (even if you’re gifting them to yourself).

Everyone knows accessories make an outfit. And flaunting vegan, handmade accessories is gonna make you a cutie pie with mad style. If you’re a girly girl like myself, then you’re gonna love my rose collection. My feminine, hand crafted roses have been delicately made, petal by petal. You can order any color rose you’d like. I make rose earrings ($15), necklaces ($20), rings ($15), magnets and broaches ($15 each). If you order a rose pendant, it will come with a velvet cord necklace (or you can just order the pendent by itself).

Cupcake earrings giveaway!!!
All you have to do is leave a comment on my jewelry website (myspace) to be entered. I will use random.org to pick a winner. The earrings to be given away will be picked by me. I guarantee they will be cute as hell. Contest ends May 31st. Good luck!

For more info: Faery Inspired Jewelry
If you’d like to purchase some jewelry, please send me an e-mail.