<p>My best friend from high school owns Cupcake Jones in NW Portland, Oregon. Unfortunately, I have celiac disease and cannot eat any wheat products, but I’ve heard from others that their cupcakes are to die for!</p>
<p>I just had some delicious gluten-free cupcakes from Crave Bake Shop in Aloha, Oregon!</p>
<p>I’m surprised no one has mentioned Sprinkles. They have a red velvet cupcake that is AMAZING. Sprinkles is pricey and there is always a line but well worth it! Check out one of the stores if you’re anywhere in SoCal and now, they’re expanding to all of the major cities in the country.</p>
<p>^^^look back at my posts. I am quite familiar with Sprinkles</p>
<p>We have a Sprinkles near here (SF Bay area). It’s pretty good. I wouldn’t turn down a Sprinkles cupcake if it were sitting in front of me.</p>
<p>I just checked out the upcoming locations for Sprinkles and see one is coming to DC. Interesting that they are opening within blocks of both Georgetown Cupcakes as well as Baked and Wired. Does Georgetown really need 3 cupcakes stores within walking distances of each other; could we not share the sweetness with the rest of DC? For those with a sweet tooth in the area it’s great, but it would be nice to have one in another part of the city.</p>
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<p>barrons, did you grow up in the Philly area? Those of us who did, or most anyway, would agree with you. There’s something about a love of Tastycakes that never goes away. I’m visiting the area next week and will undoubtedly bring a supply home for the family. </p>
<p>For those of you who may be seeking an international cupcake, come to Toronto and visit The Cupcake Shoppe. There are probably a few dozen cupcake shops here but this one is the favorite of everyone I know. </p>
<p>[The</a> Cupcake Shoppe - Custom Cakes in Toronto](<a href=“http://www.thecupcakeshoppe.ca/gallery.php#3]The”>http://www.thecupcakeshoppe.ca/gallery.php#3)</p>
<p>alwaysamom,
We will be visiting Montreal and Quebec City in the near future. Any personal knowledge of such bakeries in these fine cities? (We have vacationed in your fair city and are trying to give equal time. :))</p>
<p>A small market in Bernal Heights, San Francisco features a bakery stall with vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, yeast-free, high fiber cupcakes.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what they ARE made of. Doesn’t sound too appetizing to me, especially where frosting is concerned.</p>
<p>momof3, I haven’t tried it myself but several Montreal friends and family members rave about Cocoa Locale. I don’t have any Quebec City recommendations. Have fun on your trip!</p>
<p>I was eating at Maxes deli int he Stanford shopping center and TOTALLY MISSED that there was a sprinkles next door! AGGH. Now I will wait til one opens in my town (supposedly on the list of “coming soon”). BTW, they have a gluten free red velvet cupcake.</p>
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<p>I was lucky enough to have dinner at Cyrus, a two start Michelin restaurant. (Fantastic. Unbelievably fantastic.) As it was my husband’s birthday and he is allergic to milk/butter/cream, they brought him a vegan brownie. Now, realize that everything that comes out of this kitchen is amazing, just amazing. The vegan brownie was barely edible. If the best chefs in the world can’t make vegan taste good, it just doesn’t taste good.</p>
<p>i dont know if this has been mentioned yet, but…</p>
<p>GEORGETOWN CUPCAKES IN DC!</p>
<p>i just had the cookies and creme, strawberry, red velvet, lemon berry, carrot, and the vanilla2 for my 21st bday…HEAVEN</p>
<p>Yes, I grew up about 60 miles northeast of Philly in west NJ where they were sold eveywhere. We also bring them back when we visit. Often a suitcase full.</p>
<p>Okay I had to jump in - vegan can taste VERY good - if you know what you are doing but most non-vegan chefs can’t see past what they think are the limitations of a vegan diet :)</p>
<p>That said - Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World is a fabulous cookbook and the cookies and cream cupcakes in the book win over most non-vegans I have shared them with :)</p>
<p>I’m actually excited Sprinkles is coming to Georgetown because they have a vegan red-velvet I can’t wait to try. Cake Love also makes some vegan options but they often are out of stock and don’t compare to ones I can make at home. However I have a husband and son who love when we are near enough to Georgetown Cupcakes earliy enough in the day that they can get in and get out with some treats and the free flavor of the day. My one daughter also loves when we go in and ask them to not frost a vanilla cupcake for her (she hates all frosting) and they look at us like we have 3 heads in not wanting the “signature swirl” but she’s thrilled. My other daughter and I are both vegan so we enjoy them at home when we bother (I just don’t crave sweets or cake like I used to) or if we happen to be out we have had some great desserts at a dive restaurant in Boston and my favorite bakery case is in Govindas in Philly.</p>
<p>We enjoy watching Cupcake Wars though I wish it came down to more than just the dsiplay at the end but we gave up on DC Cupcakes because it was painful to watch.</p>
<p>“can’t see past what they think are the limitations of a vegan diet”</p>
<p>If you’re talking about the flavor difference between butter and margarine, you are exactly right that I can’t see past that limitation. There are plenty of non-vegans out there who can’t taste the difference, or don’t care. I just am not one of them, at least when it comes to something like vanilla frosting. In a dark chocolate or espresso situation, I’m sure it’s possible to mask it.</p>
<p>Milk substitutes are a different story – where cakes are concerned, I don’t think anyone can tell the difference, and coconut milk can actually be a step up from dairy.</p>
<p>We like to bake in our house and my chocolate chip cookies are beloved by everyone we know. There is absolutley no way they would taste the same without butter. I have tried these with margarine and it is not the same at all.</p>
<p>I saw a show, I think on either Bravo or Food Network, that dealt with a cupcake competition. One of the competitors was an organic cupcake store. Interesting breakfast cupcakes with bacon. Another had lox and cheese and capers. Yummy!</p>
<p>I attended a Send Off Party last night that had a cupcake display, and as I’m not a cupcake fan, I passed it by.</p>
<p>Now, I am craving cupcakes, thanks to this thread, and wish I had partaken of that cupcake tower!</p>
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<p>Me either. Every time I see a commercial for “I can’t believe it’s not butter,” I always think, that’s because you have no tastebuds. I, on the other hand, have no difficulty distinguishing butter from imitations.</p>
<p>I’d also point out that vegans don’t eat eggs. Cupcakes are made with butter, eggs, flour and sugar. If you leave out two of the four ingredients you have a difficult time with flavor (the butter) and structure (the eggs).</p>
<p>The frosting is even more of a challenge. No butter, no cream, no cream cheese, not even eggs for a meringue frosting-- what does one frost a vegan cupcake with?</p>
<p>But I’m willing to try a vegan recipe for a cupcake, if one is posted here that doesn’t have strange ingredients. I’ll bake it and report back.</p>
<p>CF – Basic vanilla cupcakes with chocolate ganache --vegan cupcakes take over the world. You can get both recipes by searching inside the book on amazon. One of the simpler recipes in that book (I’m too lazy to have tried the complicated ones) but I really like them. There is a variation with oil and one with margarine; I have only used the oil one and had success with that.</p>
<p>I second that book. DD made vegan cupcakes with strawberry rhubarb topping from that collection of recipes, and they were delicious. D assumed that we suddenly turned into vegans because we talked too much about vegetables, gardening, recycling, composting and healthy habits. :)</p>