NYC round 3: Atlas café, 'snice, Dosa man, coffee, bagels and Lula's Sweet Apothecary.

Nov 13, 2009 06:44

I'm back home in the UK now. Although in fact, I keep referring to Braddock as "home" too, so that's kind of confusing. Either way, I had a mini break in NYC from Monday until my flight from JFK on Wednesday, which began with a sleepless night spent on a Chinatown bus from Pittsburgh. It was totally worth it, though, because I managed to cram in ( Read more... )

'snice, frosting, cookies, manhattan, rocky road, chocolate, vegan treats, lula's sweet apothecary, vanilla, cupcakes, blueberry, nyc, brownies, peanut butter, ice cream, cream cheese, whipped cream, cherry, coffee, bagels, new york, pancakes, banana, marshmallow, Atlas café, vegan

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rice_dream_girl November 13 2009, 17:35:34 UTC
Isn't it amazing?! Even more amazing is that Vegan Treats actually tastes even better than it looks, but you can tell just how horrific it is for your health as it's so incredibly sweet and indulgent. I (clearly) think that vegans deserve the option of indulgence though, back in the UK in particular, vegan is generally synonymous with "health food", making it seem way less attractive and accessible to "normal" people. I like how Vegan Treats successfully ignores preconceptions of vegan food as being good for you, and ignores other health concerns (not that I like other people's needs being ignored, but I like that it doesn't link vegan with healthy - having the option of junk food that tastes "normal" but is ethically ok is wonderful!).

And as for Lula's... that stuff is just something else. There are organic options as well, and I get the feeling that they walk the line between healthy and junk food, which again, is something I want to do. I figure that when I bake, if I ban stuff like high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils in particular, that's a good enough start to make my treats not necessarily "healthy", but at least not poisonous!

I love that when I go to new places I love that I can eat all this delicious food and consider it "research" - I can live and breathe food and it's all going towards an end goal, hurrah! If you do make it to NYC you should let me know and we could "research" places together. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Babycakes, but I think you would appreciate it more than me as you take more care with your diet than I do. Although I find the cakes to be a little grainy, I'm glad that the option of having a treat as "normal" as a cupcake is possible, while still being vegan and free from wheat, gluten and/or sugar, and that they don't rely on unimaginative "health food" flavours like nuts/seed/date combinations. Not that there's anything wrong with health food, but... yeah. I'm rambling. Cake is tasty. "Healthier" options are good for those who want/need them. As I'm vegan mostly for ethical reasons, I prefer ridiculous indulgence (but still don't like nastiness like hydrogenated oils).

...I'm still jet lagged, sorry for this ridiculous essay :P

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v3g4n November 14 2009, 06:42:26 UTC
I appreciate the essay. After following links and looking at all the amazing desserts, I had a VERY HARD TIME not trading in my going to the gym for buying cookies and watching TV. I managed though, but just barely!

I hear you on the gluten-free cupcakes seeming more grainy, but I don't find that with all of them. I've stuck to the same recipe for GF cupcakes... it's worked well for me:
http://mudspice.wordpress.com/2007/08/11/cupcake-recipe-gluten-free-egg-free-dairy-free-sugar-free/

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rice_dream_girl November 16 2009, 20:36:50 UTC
I admire your willpower! :) And thanks for the recipe, I'll give that a go some time soon. How do they compare to say, the vanilla cupcakes from VCTOTW?

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v3g4n November 18 2009, 18:36:18 UTC
I can't compare them, as I haven't made the Isa ones. I haven't made hers because the ingredients are more (complicated), and because they have white rice flour in them, which I avoid.

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rice_dream_girl November 19 2009, 00:35:06 UTC
Aha, fair enough! I will update you when I give them a go :)

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