hold the phone! clara’s cakes, one of our favorite bakeries, has started offering vegan mexican wedding cookies (aka russian tea cakes?)! they’re ridiculous: rich, moist, powdered sugary, littered with nuts, and scarily real tasting.

mexican wedding cookies. $12 per dozen.

they’re 12 bucks per dozen which is a steal, considering this is one of the best tasting baked goods i’ve eaten in ages. to order, email clara at info@claracakes.com!

you don’t wanna miss this. hot knives, our favorite local bloggers/chefs/cookbook authors are taking over space 15 twenty in hollywood this weekend and throwing a vegetarian (mostly, if not entirely vegan?) event featuring tons of eastside vendors. they’ve got you covered from street food to baked goods, band appearances to cookbook signings, sodas to condiments, posters to records. not only does it sound amazing on paper, but so many of our QG favorites will be there including clara’s cakes, plant food for people, and elf cafe. not to mention the band YACHT in person, DJing and selling merch.

here is the run down on the booths that will be at the event:
YACHT, the band, selling records and merch like their new Shangria-LA T-Shirt.
Plant Food For People, a Highland Park food collective infamous for jackfruit tacos and vegan tamales.
From the Robins Nest, home-crafted jams, jellies and awesome baguette sandwiches.
SaSo, a handmade, small batch hot sauce that you need in your pantry.
Complicated Dance Steps, a local freak-beat tape label will peddle their wares and mix records.
A fall menu of herbal and spice-infused sodas poured by Eden’s Herbals.
Echo Park Books, publisher of the “Art Time Punks” an archive of the infamous Part Time Punks club posters.
Elf Cafe, making available for the first time ever to-go jars of its signature harissa.
Clara’s Cakes, teen baking blogger phenom selling vegan treats.** for a list, see the bottom of the post.
Marriage Records, the Portland-based record label represent the Northwest with a smattering of recent indie releases.
Golden Wings and Rosie’s Vintage will be showcasing groovy threads for you Lady Knives.
Hot Knives will be DJing with Claire L. Evans of YACHT and demo-ing how to make Thanksgiving Pop-Tarts,
and will be giving out free Thanksgiving Trifecta Pop-Tarts to anyone who brings a book or buys a book for them to sign!

aaaaah this sounds like it could be one of the best vegan events of the year—that vendor list is blowing my mind. the whole thing goes down at:

space 15 twenty
1520 n. cahuenga blvd.
los angeles CA
sunday november 13th from 11am – 4pm
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
i will race you guys to the cookbook line for a vegan thanksgiving pop tart!

**i talked to clara from clara’s cakes to find out what treats she’d be bringing. right now the list is: pumpkin spice gobs, chocolate chip cookie covered oreos (THEY RULE!), neapolitan cupcakes, and pumpkin muffins. can’t wait to try ’em all!

awwww shit. it’s about to get serious. if there’s one thing we vegans hold dear, it’s cupcakes (just consult the vegan sound board—5 rows down, 3 over), and this weekend the folks at urban food crawl are holding a vegan cupcake competition to find out who makes the very best in LA.

WHO WILL WIN? you can be the judge…

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we’re so happy to announce that as of today (at around 11am) cupcakes by clara’s cakes will be for sale at locali! the current flavors are chocolate peanut butter and vanilla raspberry, and they’ll probably rotate from week to week. clara’s cakes is one of our favorite local bakeries, it’s all vegan, and it’s run by a ridiculously cool 14 year old girl. we’re so stoked that these treats will be available on a regular basis.

in other clara’s cakes news, they’re also offering ZOMBIE CUPCAKES as a halloween special…

these scary little suckers are made of chocolate cake, filled up with raspberry filling (blood!), and decorated with awesome zombie artwork. they’re available for a special price of $40 per dozen. order some for your halloween party, or just because! people won’t be able to tell they’re vegan, i swear. to order, contact info@claracakes.com.

for more info on all things clara’s cakes, like them on facebook and follow them on twitter.

i know you’re already crazy busy on sunday, with vegan @ verdugo III and all…but be sure to save room for dessert and help out homeless kitties by picking up some cruelty-free treats. stray cat alliance will be holding a vegan bake sale at locali (home of the best reuben on earth) on 10/2 from 10am – 4pm, so go grab a cookie or 10 for a good cause.

here are 3 reasons you should hit up the event:

vegan baked goods

stray cats (photo via http://dailykev.tumblr.com/)

locali's badass breakfast sandwich: vegan sausage patty, daiya cheddar, organic maple syrup and special sauce on an english muffin. $4.50

vegan chocolate chip cookie covered oreos from clara’s cakes. (like them on facebook!)

these are brilliant. giant homemade chocolate chip cookies with oreos stuffed inside. you can order them now in los angeles, so get on it. here’s how:

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portland is a vegan paradise, and i think i need to move there someday. the city has not one, not two, but THREE vegan bakeries. back to eden is one of them, and when we visited the storefront on our recent trip, i instantly fell in love.

back to eden is awesome because in addition to baked goods, they have build-your-own ice cream sundaes with temptation soft serve from chicago soydairy. we had a hell of a time deciding what to order, because everything looked so good. from the chocolate gluten-free cupcakes…

to the massive creamy pie…

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hey LA, there’s a new vegan cookie on the block! emily’s desserts is a west hollywood based online bakery, and they’re shipping homemade chocolate chip goodness all over the country.

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hey everyone! time for an OC field report from reader nicky tracy. in the following post, she explores a mostly vegan and gluten-free bakery called sensitive sweets in fountain valley. i can’t wait to check this place out!

Vegan dining options in Orange County aren’t exactly few and far between, but when you’re gluten-free and have an insatiable sweet tooth, that can be a whole ‘nother story entirely. Naturally when I got wind that an all gluten-free and vegan-friendly bakery had opened up in northern Orange County, I couldn’t wait to investigate. Sensitive Sweets, located off of Brookhurst and Slater Ave in Fountain Valley in a little strip mall next to Le V Cuisine and Golden Scorpion Tattoo, offers some of the best vegan gluten-free breads, cupcakes, cookies and muffins I’ve had yet, without charging an arm and a leg and without the nasty aftertaste typically left behind by garbanzo/fava bean-based baked goods.

Although not everything in the bakery is vegan (the lemon bars and fudge brownies both contain egg and the marshmallows they use contain gelatin), most of their sweets are vegan-friendly and those that aren’t are clearly marked otherwise.

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if you read this blog regularly, you probably know that we are huge fans of the madeleine bistro meal delivery service, the bistro box. the menu changes from week to week, it’s available for pick up or delivery on mondays, and it always features an insanely delicious and wide variety of gourmet items. i’m talking several servings of restaurant quality cuisine, to be enjoyed in the comfort of your own home. well next week’s box will probably be the best one yet, because in addition to a stellar line up of classic madeleine bistro dishes, it will feature a dessert from one of our favorite vegan bakeries, clara’s cakes! (BTW, if you wanna catch a ride on the bistro box train next week, try to book by noon on friday/TOMORROW. that will guarantee you a seat, but they’ll be selling tickets until noon on sunday, or until they sell out.)

vegan gobs! vegan whoopie pies!

if you aren’t familiar with clara’s cakes, it’s an incredible los angeles-based bakery headed up by a 14 year old girl named clara. she may be young, but she bakes like a freakin’ pro, and her treats are something to behold. next week’s box will include a sweet from madeleine bistro as well as a bonus boston creme gob (or whoopie pie, whatever you wanna call them!) by clara. i have had these things and i promise you they are beyond yum—huge soft spongy cookies cushioning a generous blob of frosting…it’s what vegan dreams are made of.

the bistro box itself is bringing its a-game next week as well. highlights include QG favorites like chicken fried seitan, lemon rosemary seitan, mac n cheese, a scramble sandwich, the legendary red beet tartare and MUCH more.

chicken fried seitan, mashed potatoes, pan gravy. all in next week's box.

FULL MENU/prices/delivery radius/ordering instructions after the jump…

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hey everyone! time for another field report from rachel of power cut jewelry (check out her etsy site for awesome vegan and beatles-related items!). today she blogs about LA’s newest all vegan bakery, no udder desserts in woodland hills. check it out.

“The San Fernando Valley…it’s not the hippest place in the world, but it’ll do. It’s so unhip that it’s probably hip.” -Tom Petty

I suffered through the LVUSD school system and I’ve been engulfed by a bubble called “the valley” my whole life. Besides Tom Petty songs that make me happy to be a valley citizen, I have a strong dislike of the place. It’s too hot, the people are conceited, rude and terrible drivers lurk everywhere. One of my favorite restaurants, Madeleine Bistro, is hardly open and most recently the only somewhat decent vegan Thai place began serving meat. Although I complain, the most important thing about the valley is that my dog loves it here.

About two months ago, I randomly read about No Udder Desserts opening a storefront in Woodland Hills. Started by Trisha Lobefaro a few years ago, No Udder Desserts has been sold at various places in the L.A. area and can now be found at a quaint little bakery smack dab in the valley.

The umbrella is hiding the word "vegan", but it IS there!

The shop is nestled in a little outdoor mall near a Target and Payless Shoes, it might be hard to find if you’re unfamiliar with the area, but luckily a sign reading “Vegan Bakery” adorns the main window. Inside is very small, with two tables and one outside the doors; although I didn’t eat inside, I can imagine sitting there with friends over some coffee and sweets would be quite nice.

I first went here about a month ago and was pleased to see that many of the cake offerings were petit fours. They’re the perfect size for when you want to indulge, yet not overdo it. I left No Udder Desserts with a pecan bar which was delicious. I immediately told Quarrygirl that I wanted to do a field report on this place!

I finally made it back to No Udder Desserts earlier this week, and got myself more than just one thing to try. Various bite-sized cakes that caught my eye were carrot, coconut, and chocolate. I also tried a lemon bar, pumpkin “cheezecake”, whoopie pie, chocolate chip cookie and I couldn’t leave without another pecan bar.

Carrot cake, chocolate cake, lemon bar, coconut cake, and a pecan bar in the middle

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i have eaten A LOT of vegan cupcakes in my day, and the most recent ones (and frankly some of the best!) were from courtesan cupcakes.

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happy national donut day, everybody! we hope you’re celebrating with some delicious vegan donuts. here are some pictures of vegan donuts we’ve eaten from all over the country to get you in the mood.

old school vegan donuts from ronald’s in las vegas…

vegan donuts from ronald's

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clara’s cakes, the best teenage-owned-and-operated vegan bakery in the world has just expanded their menu of treats, and we’re here to verify that the new stuff is DELICIOUS!

vegan gobs! vegan whoopie pies!

over the weekend we had a chance to try out clara’s new whoopie pies, and they blew my little mind. i’d never even heard of a whoopie pie before going vegan, but these beauties are something to get excited about.

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vegans, rejoice. we live in a time when nothing (NOTHING!) is off limits, especially thanks to talented peeps like kim from c’est la v. she runs a stellar blog and bakeshop in LA and makes insane treats that you need to eat. exhibit a: strawberry rhubarb bars.

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