603541 Fri Mar 13 14:36:17 -0700 2009 24 2 Los Angeles Area 0 4502579 Wondering if anyone knows of good places to get vegan but rich, normal tasting desserts. Tried M Cafe, but theirs tastes "off", aka vegan-y. Thanks! Fri Mar 13 14:36:17 -0700 2009 127834 sparkyk 1 4502632 Vegan desserts will always taste like vegan desserts and it's best when they aren't trying to approximate something else. Places like Euphoria Loves Rawvolution in Venice has vegan desserts that I find very tasty. Raw food cuisine isn't for everyone. I'm an omnivore, not a vegan, and I enjoy the food there. Fri Mar 13 14:50:51 -0700 2009 4502579 61346 mmontgomery 2 4503530 real food daily in santa monica has good vegan desserts in general intelligentsia in silver lake has good vegan donuts in the morning i don't agree with the theory that vegan versions of common desserts are necessarily substantially inferior. rather, they're usually substantially inferior, often because the chefs have other idiosyncrasies like kooky preferences for agave nectar and other ruinous ingredients. Fri Mar 13 21:41:26 -0700 2009 4502632 105839 aventinus 3 4504125 I totally agree aventinus. It's not hard to make really good vegan desserts, it's just that some of the vegan chefs tend to have "interesting" ideas. Speaking of which, Native Foods has a very decent pumpkin pie during the holidays, but when you buy a cake slice (or two in my case), they're awful, just terrible. Their chocolate cake is dry and dense (how can you manage this) and their carrot cake comes with this really weird citrus frosting. Veggie Grill's version is a thousand times better. Sat Mar 14 08:06:04 -0700 2009 4503530 10246 choctastic 3 4504762 "agave nectar and other ruinous ingredients." ~~~~~~~~~ what, pray tell, do you find "ruinous" about agave? Sat Mar 14 13:11:40 -0700 2009 4503530 103920 goodhealthgourmet 1 4502681 I've never tried them but Jamaica's Cakes usually has at least a couple of vegan yum-yums displayed in their case on a regular basis. They also have a menu sheet with vegan goods that can be ordered as well. Fri Mar 13 15:08:35 -0700 2009 4502579 64003 bulavinaka 1 4502715 i think the vegan chocolate cake at Urth Caffe has a lot of fans. other thoughts would be Akasha in Culver City or Jax Vegan Cafe in Westwood. though i'm sure you've already tried it or heard about it, skip Mani's Bakery. i did a quick Google search and found this site that might offer a few worthwhile suggestions: http://www.randomgirl.com/veganla.html Fri Mar 13 15:21:02 -0700 2009 4502579 103920 goodhealthgourmet 1 4502722 M Cafe is hit or miss, depending on what you order (but if you're vegan, you know that's the case with many restaurant items....some great...some hate). I love M's chocolate chip cookie, strawberry cupcake, banana/chocolate cream cake, and fruit tarts (their strawberry shortcake is sometimes great, depending on it's freshness that day). The rest, not so much. Real Food Daily has a good almond cookie, chocolate cake w/ whip filling, and tirimasu. The rest of the items haven't impressed. As an aside, my fave store-bought soy icecream was Soy Delicious dulce de leche, or Decadent's peanut butter and chocolate......... Fri Mar 13 15:24:09 -0700 2009 4502579 87852 candee 1 4502738 I heard The Sensitive Baker in Culver City is good. Maybe not "vegan" but diary/gluten free. But they just close so darn early on Friday which is when we tend to order desserts. Fri Mar 13 15:30:26 -0700 2009 4502579 127834 sparkyk 2 4502770 now i'm confused... do you need vegan, or DF/GF? FYI, most of the products from the Sensitive Baker are *not* vegan (they use eggs), but they do have a few - one cookie, one muffin, a cupcake that you need to order in advance (and maybe one or two more items). everything there is, however, gluten- and dairy-free. they have a product list on their website: http://thesensitivebaker.com/blog/bakery/ just click the link to download the menu. Fri Mar 13 15:41:11 -0700 2009 4502738 103920 goodhealthgourmet 3 4502840 Yeah, sorry if that was confusing. I technically just need dairy free but we're just used to going to vegan places in the area for our desserts. Fri Mar 13 16:10:13 -0700 2009 4502770 127834 sparkyk 4 4502993 got it. well, in that case, you should also check out some kosher bakeries...and any gelato places that have soy gelato - Scoops in LA & Al Gelato in SM for starters. Fri Mar 13 17:27:43 -0700 2009 4502840 103920 goodhealthgourmet 1 4503118 Jamaicas Cakes peanut butter cups are amazing. I bring them to Chicago b/c my bil loves them (he's not vegan). But they have gotten smaller lately and at $1.95 each, can be pricey in bulk. There's a line of raw desserts at the Co-op in Santa Monica and the best is called "Who's your daddy?" which is carob but tastes more like light chocolate mousse. Really good. Fri Mar 13 18:20:59 -0700 2009 4502579 75181 citizenx 1 4503532 I would go Asian. I can think of some Vietnamese sweets that are vegan. dau hu, anyone? Fri Mar 13 21:44:26 -0700 2009 4502579 74905 jaykayen 1 4503538 Sweet Debbie's Organic http://www.sweetdebbiesorganiccupcakes.com will do dairy and gluten free Fri Mar 13 21:47:37 -0700 2009 4502579 15572 Emme 1 4503539 Akasha Restaurant has some great vegan desserts. www.akasharestaurant.com Fri Mar 13 21:48:54 -0700 2009 4502579 60993 bruinike 1 4503546 Try Shojin in Little Tokyo. It's a Japanese/Sushi joint, but they make some really delightful desserts, including an azuki bean layer cake and rich chocolate espresso brownie. http://www.theshojin.com/ Fri Mar 13 21:55:12 -0700 2009 4502579 11583 ipsedixit 1 4504111 Ooh a topic near and dear to my heart. But have you tried the chocolate cake slice at M Cafe? I thought it was pretty damn good, rich and not "vegany" except the small part where they felt the need to put some "buttercream" (gross). Some of the other stuff, meh. I hate their cookies. Okay, now that I think about it, I only like the chocolate cake slice here. Veggie Grill's carrot cake is pretty damn good too. With a very realistic cream cheese frosting. Even better, Whole Foods and Mothers Market carries this one line of vegan cakes, and one is a carrot cake which is really good, about $6 for a small loaf cake with a thick "cream cheese" frosting. I LOVE getting vegan gelato at Scoops. I get all four flavors. They had this Thai coffee flavor last time that was outta sight. Also, sometimes they have interesting sorbettos, like the avocado pale ale sorbetto I had a couple of months ago. And of course, if you go to the Vietnamese ch shops, those desserts are always vegan. I actually like the che sold at the Alhambra branch of Banh Mi Che Cali, 3 for $3. or something like that. Sat Mar 14 08:03:32 -0700 2009 4502579 10246 choctastic 1 4505211 Thanks for the great suggestions everyone. Yeah, my group has gotten the brownie and chocolate cupcakes at M and the chocolate cheesecake at Akasha, all of which were yech. I think the problem is that too many vegan places use carob for the chocolate when they could just go with unsweetened real chocolate. Am thinking about suggesting Jamaica's, as seems to be a CH fav bakery. Sweet Debbie's has a couple terrible comments on Yelp, plus it's in Valley. We're in Culver City. Ice cream is a good idea but we're more chocolate baked goods type people. Thanks again! Sat Mar 14 16:10:28 -0700 2009 4502579 127834 sparkyk 2 4505355 Maybe The Sensitive Baker? She's in Culver City; I know she's Kosher/Parve and Gluten-Free, though I'm not certain if she's 100% Vegan or not. Still, can't hurt to call, right? http://thesensitivebaker.com/ Sat Mar 14 17:23:18 -0700 2009 4505211 198245 a213b 1 4507370 Avanti Cafe @ Costa Mesa. Vegan cookies, Vegan chocolate cake, Vegan tarts, etc. I'm no vegan but that place is GOOD, but expensive. http://www.avantinatural.com/ Sun Mar 15 14:57:55 -0700 2009 4502579 187734 Aylwin 1 4507596 I think Mani's on Fairfax has some vegan treats...Also, at Trader Joes, Mintzes Blintzes w/TJ's blueberry preserves warmed up and spooned over is very delicious. Sun Mar 15 16:29:25 -0700 2009 4502579 212582 schrutefarms 1 5038767 Earth cafe's vegan carob mousse pie really is the best thing ever- available at whole foods and nature mart and probably other trendy health food stores. it's rich but completely raw so it feels good to eat too i've heard that trader joe's version of oreos are vegan- and i love those things so much you can't beat scoops' gelato. ever. Locali has pretty good, rich vegan cupcakes Thu Sep 17 22:50:51 -0700 2009 4502579 1110203 genara 2 5040867 i want to chime in that Earth Cafe's vegan raspberry cheesecake was extremely excellent! Fri Sep 18 16:51:12 -0700 2009 5038767 106704 Clyde 2 5137244 Actually Oreos, not just the TJ ones but the real ones, are vegan as well. Wed Oct 28 08:56:01 -0700 2009 5038767 10246 choctastic