The Cupcake Addict's Cupcake Collection

We ended a recent vegetarian dining trip to Portland at the Sweet Pea Baking Company, a vegan bakery/coffee shop.

Mural on the wall @ SweetPea

I should have made this post sooner… This trip was a month ago.  Things I liked: choice of soy, rice or hemp milk in my latte, gluten free options.   Things I didn’t: the staff (wasn’t very friendly) and this cupcake…

German Chocolate Cupcake

The cake was very dry.  So far, I’m not a fan of vegan icing.  This one thing could possibly keep me vegetarian instead of vegan: no more buttercream.   I’ve thought about trying Earth Balance, which is a vegan margarine that is extremely tasty, to make buttercream, but it’s $6 for a pound of the sticks.   I like to believe that my butter comes from happy, well treated cows.  I may be living in a dream world, but I like a tasty frosting!  (I also realize that there is no way to make a vegan meringue for Italian Meringue Buttercream.  I don’t think life would be worth living without that.   I also imagine that my eggs come from happy and well adjusted chickens.  In fact, some of my eggs did come from happy chickens…my friend Tanya’s…but I digress…)