Category Archives: Dessert

Brunch at Real Food Daily

Posted by socalvegangal in Breakfast Options, Dessert, Los Angeles, San Gabriel Valley, Veg Restaurant

Real Food Daily is an all vegan eatery serving up healthy, organic food.  They now have three locations: Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and the newest in Pasadena.  My vegan guy and I used to go here often for their Sunday brunch, but when their tofu scramble portions got smaller and smaller, we stopped frequenting them as much.  The Santa Monica location has a full bakery attached to it that specializes in healthier-for-you desserts.  If you want to star gaze (or impress out of town guests) the West Hollywood location often has celebrities dining in.  I’ve often spotted one on a trip to their Sunday brunch.  Once, we sat next to Leonardo Di Caprio and Tobey Maguire (swoon!!)!  Sorry, vegan guy, but I’ve been in a relationship with Leo long before I met you.

And now back to the food.  I got the Breakfast Burrito ($13.75): whole wheat flour tortilla, scrambled tofu, tempeh bacon, spanish rice, black beans, onions, peppers, topped w/ ranchero sauce, cashew cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo with hash browns or fruit.  This thing is huge and (as you can see) loaded with goodness.   I got it with a side of hash browns, which were crispy on the top and softer underneath.  The tempeh bacon is too smokey for me at Real Food Daily, so I gave the side to my vegan guy.

Real Food Daily Breakfast Burrito

Breakfast Burrito

My vegan guy went with his standard RFD brunch item: Ava B ‘n’ Cheez Scramble ($12.95): avocado, crumbled tempeh bacon, sun-dried tomatoes, cashew cheese (only he gets chopped tomatoes instead of the sun dried tomatoes).  It also comes with hash browns or fruit and a side of toast.  While it looks like a lot in the picture, it’s actually a bit small (especially for the price).  When you see that my meal was less than a dollar more, I would expect almost as much food.  It is still tasty food, but beware if you have a larger appetite.

Real Food Daily Tofu Scramble

Tofu Scramble

I was so stuffed from my burrito, that I couldn’t eat anything more.  However, I saw in the bakery display case a glorious looking cheesecake, so I got it to-go.  The Caramel Pecan Cheesecake ($6.95) was nice and creamy.  I liked it, but my vegan guy thought the tofu flavor was too strong.

Real Food Daily Caramel Pecan Cheesecake

Caramel Pecan Cheesecake

Check out their website to see which of their three locations is closest to you.

Breakfast at Freesoulcaffe

Posted by socalvegangal in Dessert, Orange County, Veg Restaurant

I’ve said this many times, but vegan breakfast foods are so hard to find at restaurants.  Oatmeal or a tofu scramble might be here and there, but sometimes you just want a classic waffle.  I could be wrong, but I think one only needs a single finger to count the number of restaurants offering a vegan waffle in Orange County.  That place is the all vegan Freesoulcaffe in downtown Tustin.  If you know of another place, please let me know in the comments.  Freesoulcaffe is awesome… really awesome.  I’ve already mentioned their delicious lunch and dessert options before, and now I’ve come back to tell you about their amazing waffle.

On their menu, they list their waffle flavors as classic, green tea, and pumpkin.  I ordered the pumpkin, but found out that they were no longer doing this option (sad).  So I got the Green Tea Waffle ($6.95).  You can opt to add fruit for an additional $2.   This waffle was so good!  Nice and crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.  When lots of people are ordering waffles, it takes some time, but it is worth the wait.  They stop serving breakfast at 11am – no sleeping in if you want to get your waffle fix.

Freesoulcaffe Green Tea Waffles

Green Tea Waffles

But of course I couldn’t leave without getting something from their bakery case.  Dessert at breakfast is what I call living!

Freesoulcaffe Bakery Case

Glorious Bakery Case

The Key Lime Pie ($5.50) has the most delicious and creamy topping.  It’s the same topping they put on their Mocha Pie I mentioned in my last post.  The pie itself was  equal parts sweet and tart.  I shared it with my fellow diners and they liked it, too.

Freesoulcaffe Key Lime Pie

Key Lime Pie

They have an annoying online menu that doesn’t list prices.  Their paninis run about $11.50, sandwiches are $7.95 for a half and $10.50 for a full, soups are $6.50, brownies/blondies are $3.75, and the cheesecakes/pies are $5.50.

They have a lovely covered courtyard that has heaters going on colder days.  Their hours are: Monday – Saturday: 9am – 9pm (closed on Sundays).

191 East Main Street Suite 1B
Tustin, CA 92780
714.371.0976

ROAD TRIP: Surprise, surprise! Vegan Food in Oklahoma City

Posted by socalvegangal in Dessert, Oklahoma, Omnivorous Restaurant

After a long journey, my mom and I finally made it to Oklahoma City for a wedding in the family.  We were both quite worried that we wouldn’t be able to find vegan eats in the city.  There might have been only a few options, but we managed.

One place with a great selection was Picasso on Paseo.  We even wanted to go back to try some more of their selections, but didn’t have enough time.  The first dish we did try was the Quinoa Tacos ($7): three tacos with lettuce, tomato, and avocado puree.  These were so fresh tasting.  We loved the innovation of using quinoa as the taco “meat.”  I need to try and make something like this at home.

Picasso on Paseo Quinoa Tacos

Quinoa Tacos

The second dish we tried was the Chicken Fried Portobello ($11): with vegan soy gravy and potatoes.  We ordered it with a side of tabouli.  Just like what we had in Amarillo, this tabouli was less parsley based and more grain based.  It was too lemony for me – I didn’t like it – but the portobello was amazing!  The seasoning on the breading was fabulous!  And the gravy was perfect.  I wish we could have gone back to try their vegan pizza and frito chili pie!

Picasso on Paseo Chicken Fried Portobello

Chicken Fried Portobello

Unfortunately, they didn’t have any vegan desserts, so we travelled up the road to a Whole Foods for some cake.  The selection of vegan cake was great!  I know it’s Whole Foods, but it’s still in Oklahoma.  I wasn’t expecting such a wide variety of choices.   We got Apple Spice, Carrot, and Chocolate Raspberry Cake.  They were all really good and moist.  If you happen to be in OKC and need some vegan cake – you know where to find it.

Whole Foods OKC Cakes

Cakes from Whole Foods

Even though we really wanted to go back to Picasso, we wanted to try something new.  Even our waitress at Picasso was raving about our next stop: The Red Cup.  Sadly, their menu doesn’t label what is vegan and upon asking, not much was actually vegan.  Their noodles have egg and their veggie burger contains egg, as well.  Bummer.  What we could get was their Frito Pie ($7.50): Fritos, veggie chili, tomatoes, black olives, scallions, and salsa (no cheese or sour cream – add guacamole).  Another dish my mom enjoyed more than I.  It was tasty, but nothing to come back for.  I love Fritos (GMO corn and all!), but they did get soggy sitting under the chili.

Red Cup Coffee House Frito Pie

Frito Pie

And they did have one vegan dessert!  Yay!  Carrot cake was our option and it was good.  It might be lacking on frosting for some, but was full of spices.  We even met the super nice girl that made it.  Thanks, girl at Red Cup, whomever you may be!

Red Cup Coffee House Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake

The Red Cup
3122 N. Classen Blvd
Oklahoma City, OK. 73118
405-525-3430

Monday – Wednesday: 7 am-5 pm
Thursday – Friday: 6 am-8 pm
Saturday: 9 am-8 pm
Sunday: 9 am-5 pm

Picasso on Paseo
3009 Paseo
Oklahoma City, OK 73103
405-602-2002

Monday – Wednesday 11 am – 10 pm
Thursday – Saturday 11 am – 2 am
Sunday 11 am – 9 pm

Whole Foods Market
6001 N. Western Ave.,
Oklahoma City, OK 73118
405-879-3500

Daily 8am – 10pm

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TOMORROW: RAW VEGAN IN OKLAHOMA CITY??

Vegan Sweets at Muffin Top Bakery

Posted by socalvegangal in Dessert, Dessert Shop, Inland Empire

Once again, the Inland Empire is coming up in the vegan world.  There is now a bakery that has two locations in the I.E.  Muffin Top Bakery‘s original location is in Riverside and they have recently opened their second location in beautiful downtown Redlands.  I had been buying their breads at Clarks Nutritional Center in Loma Linda (where they also sell a few select pastries), but was excited to have their full bakery menu at hand in Redlands.  I haven’t been to the Riverside location, but I would think the offerings at both locations would be very similar.

Muffin Top Bakery

Muffin Top Bakery

Muffin Top Bakery Display Case 1

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Topanga Earth Day 2012

Posted by socalvegangal in Dessert, Dessert Shop, Food Truck, Los Angeles

Last Sunday was Earth Day.  While everyday should be Earth Day, it’s still fun to have festivals every year that bring out eco-minded businesses and food.  This year, I attended the Topanga Earth Day Festival in Topanga Canyon.  I had never heard of this event, but apparently it’s been going on for more than a decade.

Topanga Earth Day

Topanga Earth Day

This event was a lot of fun.  There were many vendors, music, speakers, and even a small film fest.  I’d like to go again next year.

Of course my favorite part of the event was the food.  They had a separate area for food.  Most of the vendors here had vegan options.

Topanga Earth Day Food Vendors

Food Vendors

Some of the food vendors there were La Dolce Vita Gourmet selling gourmet cashew butter sandwiches (vegan options), The Vegan Joint, Green Truck, and JAM Vegan Bakery.

I went with a Mother Trucker® Vegan Burger from the Green Truck and opted to add avocado.  This burger is made with a vegan veggie burger, made from scratch out of local vegetables, topped with Suzie’s sunflower sprouts, heirloom tomato, and beet sauce.  I had had this burger years ago and didn’t like it.  I remember it to be either too chewy or too dry.  Either way, it was not the case this time.  It was moist and delicious.

Green Truck Vegan Burger

Green Truck Vegan Burger

Whenever vegan treats are available, I always save room in my tummy.  JAM Vegan Bakery made an appearance and provided very tasty goodies.  I got a Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcake, Strawberry Cream Cupcake, and an Orange Cake Pop.  Nothing beats peanut butter and chocolate – I thought this cupcake was delicious.  The Strawberry Cream Cupcake had the most wonderfully fresh strawberry frosting.  It had vanilla cake with a real strawberry baked in.  I like the idea, but would have rather had smaller pieces of strawberries baked in, instead of one large one mushing up the center of my cupcake.  The Orange Cake Pop was a super sweet orange cake ball coated in chocolate.  I love being able to take part in this trend (who else makes vegan cake pops?).

JAM Vegan Bakery Goods

JAM Vegan Bakery: Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcake, Strawberry Cream Cupcake, Orange Cake Pop

Come next Earth Day, I highly recommend this event.  And remember, make an effort everyday to do your part to Save the Earth!

Freesoulcaffe in Tustin

Posted by socalvegangal in Dessert, Orange County, Veg Restaurant

I really love Freesoulcaffe.  Their menu includes soups, salads, and sandwiches.  They have a delicious breakfast menu (more on that in another post) and they have a huge bakery display case full of delicious treats.  They’re located in the quaint area of historic downtown Tustin.  You can fill up at Freesoulcaffe and then walk around this really cute area.

I had heard so many good things about the Butternut Squash Soup.  Luckily it was the soup of the day on the day I went.  You get a giant bowl of this delicious soup with a side of bread and vegan margarine.  Everything about this dish I loved.   So creamy and so flavorful!  The bread was also very wonderful – crusty on the outside and soft on the inside.

Freesoulcaffe Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut Squash Soup

For my entree, I got the BLT.  You can get a half sandwich or full sandwich.  I got the full sandwich – which comes with a side salad.  I love how they prepare their “bacon.”  It’s kind of greasy like real bacon gets, but not in the clog your arteries sort of way.

Freesoulcaffe BLT

BLT

I went with a group, so I got a bunch of desserts to share (but really I could have eaten them all myself).  First was their Pumpkin Cheesecake.  Between the two cheesecakes, this was the group’s favorite.  It was very pumpkin-y and creamy.

Freesoulcaffe Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin Cheesecake

The Oreo Cheesecake was still very good – just as creamy as the pumpkin, but was the more plain of the two.

Freesoulcaffe Oreo Cheesecake

Oreo Cheesecake

The Mocha Cream Pie was absolutely delicious!  I thought the crust was on the bitter side, but the mocha cream filling and the whipped topping were so amazing!  The creaminess of both left that fatty feel on your tongue like how dairy cream always did.  Truly decadent.  I need to figure out how they did this.

Freesoulcaffe Mocha Cream Pie

Mocha Cream Pie

I also got a Brownie and Peanut Butter Blondie to-go.  Both were super good.  The brownie had a good amount of chocolate flavor without being bitter and the peanut butter blondie had a nice dense texture and wonderful peanut butter flavor.

Freesoulcaffe Brownie and Peanut Butter Blondie

Brownie and Peanut Butter Blondie

If Freesoulcaffe were closer to me, I’d be here all the time.  It’s at the top of my list of favorite Orange County Veg*n Restaurants.  You can check it out at:

191 East Main Street Suite 1B
Tustin, CA 92780
714.371.0976

Their hours are: Monday – Saturday: 9am-9pm (closed on Sundays) and they serve breakfast until 11am.

Cookie Dough from Eat Pastry

Posted by socalvegangal in Dessert, Packaged Food

When I was growing up, Pillsbury and Toll House refrigerated cookie dough were common items found in our home.  I’m a hardcore from-scratch baker now, so refrigerated cookie dough wasn’t too missed.  Still, I love to try new vegan products.  This one is especially great, because I can recommend it to my non-vegan family members who still want that convenience from an already-made product.

Eat Pastry is a new line of vegan cookie dough.  It comes in multiple flavors and even has one gluten-free variety.  I grabbed one of each flavor offered at my local Whole Foods to try at home.

Eat Pastry

Eat Pastry Selected Flavors

I ended up trying Cinnamon Ginger Spice, Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, and Chocoholic Chunk.  The process of getting the dough to the final baked cookie is super easy:  just scoop out balls of dough and bake.

Eat Pastry Ready for the Oven

Ready for the Oven!

My family and I all really loved these cookies.  They are soft and flavorful.  The only one we weren’t too thrilled about was the Chocoholic Chunk – this chocolate cookie was a little too bitter for us.  I’m so glad my family loved the rest of the flavors.  Now there is a go-to cookie dough for them to scoop and bake that doesn’t involve cruelty.  Thank you, Eat Pastry!!

Eat Pastry Baked Cookies

Baked Cookies

Milky’s Frozen Yogurt

Posted by socalvegangal in Dessert, Dessert Shop, Ice Cream, Los Angeles

Los Angelenos finally have a fro-yo place that has vegan options!  Milky’s Frozen Yogurt sells regular dairy flavors and FOUR vegan flavors!   Look how wonderfully easy it is to find the vegan options.

Milky's

Inside Milky’s

The vegan flavors are made with organic soymilk and are self-serve (so you can mix and match).  Just take a cup, fill it, add any toppings, and pay by weight.

Milky's Poster

Poster Inside Milky’s

On the day that I went with my vegan guy our flavor options were chocolate, original, caramel, and strawberry-kiwi.  I ended up getting the first three (they were out of the strawberry-kiwi).  I thought the consistency was spot on.  Just as creamy as the dairy version.  My vegan guy and I both thought there wasn’t enough caramel flavor, though.  I found that the caramel flavor and original flavor tasted almost the same.  The chocolate was perfectly chocolatey- not too bitter.  I also didn’t taste any “beany” flavor that I’ve tasted in vegan varieties at other shops.  Unfortunately, they were all way to tangy for me and my vegan guy.  Apparently they are supposed to be that tangy?  I never remember having tangy dairy frozen yogurt in my life (and I was a frozen yogurt fiend back in the day!).  I actually don’t remember plain dairy yogurts (Yoplait-type) to be that tangy, either.   I still don’t even think soy yogurts (like WholeSoy) are tangy as well.  Am I completely wrong?  Maybe the fad when I ate dairy frozen yogurt was more sweet and less tang (like how I’ve heard it is now in modern Pinkberry-syle places).  For this reason, I probably won’t be back (sadness), but you should definitely check it out for yourself.  Maybe you’ll disagree with me.

Milky's Frozen Yogurt

Chocolate, Original, and Caramel Frozen Yogurts

The sign out front makes it super easy to recognize.  I love seeing “vegan” proudly displayed on buildings!

Milky's Frozen Yogurt

Milky’s Frozen Yogurt

Milky’s is located at:
1429 S Robertson Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90035
Mon – Fri :11 am-11 pm
Sat: 11 am-12 am
Sun: 11 am-11 pm

Sjaak’s Vegan Easter Candy

Posted by socalvegangal in Dessert, Mail Order

I’m not that into Easter, but I’m very into Easter candy.  Luckily for vegans, many companies now create cute little treats in vegan varieties.  Sjaak’s is an awesome company making some of those vegan candies.  I ordered two kinds of Easter themed chocolates from Vegan Essentials recently.  Wow!  Both were really good!

First was the Vegan Milk Chocolate Almond Butter Easter Bunny.  So adorable!  It’s a small bunny (1.1 oz) and can be eaten in one-three bites.  Sjaak’s vegan milk chcolate is divine!  Just how I remember dairy milk chocolate.  The almond butter inside was creamy and a perfect complement to the vegan milk chocolate.

Sjaak's Easter Candy

Sjaak’s Easter Candy

Wanting more, I opened up the second chocolate candy I ordered: Chocolate Easter Egg Filled with Crunchy Peanut Butter.  Again – petite (2 oz) and adorable!  Both of these would be perfect in an Easter basket for someone special!  The vegan milk chocolate was still wonderful and the crunchy peanut butter was great at adding some texture to the treat.  I’ll have 1,000 of these, please!

Sjaak's Easter Candy

Inside the goodies

Unfortunately, I just checked out Vegan Essentials website and they are no longer offering these products.  Sjaak’s website is sold out of the Easter Eggs, but still has the almond butter bunnies here.  Get them while you can!!