April 16, 2014

 

Vegan Cupcake Review

Can a sugar lover like vegan cupcakes?

When you walk into Petunia's Pies and Pastries a sweet little piggy greets you on the wall. Petunia's is located in Portland, Oregon and is a vegan and gluten free bakery.  
The cakes on display look delicious but vegan and gluten free! I'm skeptical about how they taste.  I'm a total gluten sugar egg loving dessert eater.
Not only can you get baked goods at Petunia's, you can order lunch and get a cocktail too.
On all the tables are Drink and Dessert pairing menu's.  One more reason to  meet friends at Petunia's and spend a lazy afternoon enjoying dessert and a drink.
 I treated myself to two cupcakes and really hoped they tasted good because they were my birthday cupcakes. Yes I know, I already had cake at my birthday party but that was last weekend. I celebrate all month :) Everyone should. It's fabulous!

The first cupcake I tried was the Yum-oha. I was told it was like a Samoa Girl Scout cookie. I tried the cake first and was pleasantly surprised.  The cake was very moist and had a nice rich flavor. The cake is heavier than that of non-vegan non-gluten free cupcakes. The icing tasted like a candy bar. mmm. When I tried the icing with the cake it was a little too much. I scraped part of the icing off and it was much better.
The next cupcake I tried was a coconut raspberry.  This cake was also  moist and rich just like the Yum-oha. When I tried the icing on this cupcake it crumbled off. The icing was stiff and very sweet. Now I like sweet but this was overly sweet. The coconut flavor was very mild. When I attempted to eat the cake with the icing, the icing just crumbled off and it was just too much.  I scraped off most of the icing and the cupcake was much better after that.
As you can see from the cut away view there is a lot of icing. I normally love icing but not the one on the coconut raspberry. The filling was a nice surprise in the cupcake.
Did Petunia's convert me to a vegan gluten free cupcake eater?  Not really.  I did enjoy both cupcakes, will be  trying more flavors and will recommend the bakery to others.  I also felt like I was sneaking in some veggies I don't eat enough of.  But my heart belongs to sugar, gluten and egg cupcakes :)

28 comments :

  1. Those cakes do look pretty amazing, but I'm with you on the overly sweet frostings. Have you been to Cupcake Jones? You should definitely try them next. So. Yum.

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    1. I'll be going back to try a slice of cake for sure. There were so many delicious flavors. Cupcake Jones is on the list to try.

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  2. These look so delicious - which reminds me that I haven't had a cupcake in ages! Need to rectify that soon! ;)

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    1. Say it isn't so! Go get yourself a cupcake. Go now! :)

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  3. Wow!! They look delcious! Too bad they didn't taste as good as they look.

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    1. The cake tasted good. And I did like the yum-oha frosting but it was a bit much.

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  4. Wow, I've had Petunia's at farmer's markets and coffee shops and never realized they were vegan/gluten-free. She does a pretty good job at masking it!

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    1. She does doesn't she! I seriously don't eat enough veggies so eating one of these cupcakes is doing my body good :)

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  5. We went to Petunia's for a slice of pie & a savory bite. I had no idea it was a vegan restaurant until halfway through our dessert. It was a little different than I am used to, but still good. :) They look great. I'm glad I read this though, I am a cupcake lover and would not want to be disappointed. I think I'll stick to Petunia's pies and yummy savory dishes!

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    1. Jenni, Petunia's does a good job of making vegan taste good to us none vegans. I haven't tried their pies yet. The cake part of the cupcake was good. I just prefer sugar and dairy frostings. Not vegan.

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  6. It's great that there are vegan/gluten free dessert options. But I probably won't be trying them any time soon!

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    1. Triplezmom, I agree. I prefer a non-vegan cupcake. But for vegan, these were good.

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  7. Cocktails and cake? Yes, please!

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    1. I know right! Why meet at a bar when you can come to Petunia's and get a cocktail AND cupcake.

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  8. Oh these look incredible and healthy. I'm an almost vegan so this is wonderful news for me!

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    1. Healthy for sure. So can you really call it dessert? hee hee If you live in the Portland area Michelle you should give them a try.

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  9. I love veggies! I think I would enjoy these cupcakes a lot. Would love to try the coconut raspberry one!

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    1. I wish I loved veggies more. Baked into these cupcakes I was probably eating veggies I normally don't like which is good. Because these cupcakes were tasty.

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  10. Good for you for giving it a try and on your birthday, even.

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    1. Although I'm a picky eater I'm always up for trying things. Even during my birth-month :)

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  11. They do look delicious. I'm not big on eating icing myself. I probably would have done the same thing.

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    1. Normally I love icing so I was disappointed I had to scrap so much off. This way I got more veggies though.

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  12. Those look amazing! I will have to come here!

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    1. Clarissa, if you're in the Portland area I would absolutely give them a try.

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  13. I've never had a gluten free cupcake, but that coconut raspberry does look tempting! And I agree about celebrating bday all month lol. Why not?!

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    1. This was my first gluten free cupcake and I was very surprised by how good it tasted. All the gluten free bread I've tried was awful tasting. Birth-month is great. I think everyone should do it. :)

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  14. That is quite a bit of icing...of course, I probably would have scraped the cupcake off the icing and eating the icing! But, still, those are pretty impressive cupcakes for being gluten-free and vegan. I have a friend whose daughter has so many food allergies that she's had to GF and vegan...I'll be sure to tell her about this place.

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    1. There you go. I'll take the cupcake and you can have the icing :) My friend who is vegan loves Petunia's. It's nice that there are places like this for those that can't eat gluten and choose to be vegan.

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Let's chat! Comments welcome :D