V-Spot, Babycakes, Pie by the Pound, ‘sNice, Stogo, Lulu’s sweet apothecary, and Annam Brahma in NY

There are so many vegan options in NYC (and so many 100% vegan restaurants).  I searched for vegan and gluten-free friendly restaurants using HappyCow.net and SuperVegan.com.  SuperVegan is a NYC specific site.

All the food I tried in NYC was delicious and vegan.  I was in a vegan wonderland, seriously!

My favorite restaurant in NYC was V-Spot.  V-Spot is a 100% vegan restaurant with tasty gluten-free options like kale tostadas, quinoa pasta marinara, pad thai, tofu Thai curry, and veggie tacos.  They offer a brunch menu, fresh fruit and veggies juices, and a slew of vegan desserts.

I ordered the Pad Thai–rice noodles with sprouts, broccoli, onion, scallions, tofu and peanuts, served with lime and Thai peanut sauce.  This is the 3rd best pad thai I have had.  Very tasty.  The best pad thai I ever had was from Ruan Thai Cuisine in Savannah GA.  The 2nd best pad thai was from the Bees Knees restaurant in Augusta GA.  Hopefully I can make a trip to Augusta and blog about it in the future.  Sorry about the blurry picture!

V-Spot also sells pre-packaged food items in health food stores in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.

V-Spot is located at 156 5th Avenue, Parkslope, Brooklyn NY 11217.

And of course we went to Babycakes Bakery as soon as our bellies had enough room for dessert!  You just cannot go wrong with vegan and gluten-free cupcakes.  I fell in love with Babycakes because of their 1st cookbook, thanks to my friend Aggie!   From their website – Babycakes offers all-natural, organic and delicious alternatives free from the common allergens: wheat, gluten, dairy, casein and eggs.

Danny and I each tried a cupcake.  I tried the gluten-free red velvet cupcake (pictured on the left).  I can’t remember which kind Danny tried…but it looks tasty nonetheless!

Babycakes Bakery is located at 248 Broome Street  New York, NY 10002-3855.

Danny searched high and low for a pizza place that offered gluten-free dough and vegan cheese.  He discovered Pie By The Pound, a pizza joint that lets you order pizza by the pound (if you didn’t get that from the name).  Various pizzas are available at the counter and you just order as many slices as you’d like and depending on how many pounds of pizza you want.

Vegan pizzas include the Marinara (capers, garlic, tomato sauce, oregano, basil), the Veggie Marinara (mixed veggies, capers, garlic, tomato sauce, oregano, basil), Olive and Onion (black olives, spanish onion, tomato sauce, oregano, basil), and Mushroom and Eggplant (garlic, portobello mushroom, eggplant, tomato sauce, oregano, arugula).

Unfortuately the gluten-free pizza dough isn’t vegan and they didn’t have any vegan cheese :/ The regular crust is vegan though.

I ordered the Mushroom and Eggplant pizza.  It was good but the dough was very soggy because of all the sauce and veggies.

Pie By The Pound is located at 124 4th Avenue (between 12th and 13th streets) New York, NY 10003-4903.

For our second day in NYC, we got brunch at ‘sNice. I don’t know what the name means or why the capitalization is funny, but the food was great!

‘sNice is an all vegetarian restaurant (with mostly vegan options).  I ordered the curried cauliflower wrap with chickpeas, brown rice, and mango chutney (minus the wrap).

The chickpeas and cauliflower wrap mixture was warm and filling after aimlessly wandering around NYC trying to find a suitable vegan brunch location in the cold.  This kept me full until dinner time, and then we decided we wanted dessert instead of dinner

‘sNice is located at 45 8th Avenue, NYC 10014 and has other locations as well.  Check out their website to find the other locations.

To satisfy our dessert craving, we stopped by Stogo–an organic vegan ice cream shop.  Stogo doesn’t use any refined sugar, preservatives, or artificial flavoring.

There we so many flavors to choose from!  I had to try the vegan and gluten-free chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.  It was so tasty and decadent!  This ice cream is full of flavor and fatty goodness.

After our first round of ice cream, we headed to Lulu’s Sweet Apothecary, another vegan ice cream and dessert shop.  We didn’t know Lulu’s specialized in vegan ice cream until after we arrived.  They also had vegan doughnuts (but no gluten-free ones).  Danny and I both ordered a giant ice cream cone even though it was freezing outside!  I didn’t take any pictures because it was dark outside and my hands were full of ice cream

Stogo and Lulu’s both had delicious vegan ice cream.  And since they are only a short 10 minute walk apart, why not try them both?

Stogo is located at 159 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003.  Lulu’s Sweet Apothecary is located at 516 East 6th Street, New York, NY 10009.

For dinner we decided to head back to the hotel to spend time with the dogs.  We ordered take-out from Annam Brahma, an Indian restaurant that offers a smorgasbord of vegetarian and vegan options.  Vegan options are labeled with a little V on the menu.

I ordered the masala dosa (a wheat-free rice and lentil crepe filled with savory potatoes) and a side of tofu.  The dosa was just as tasty as the dosa from the Philadelphia Chutney Company in Philly.  Yum.  I don’t have any pictures since the food was squished because we ordered it to-go.

Annam Brahma Restaurant is located at 84-43 164th Street, Jamaica, NY 11432.

Oh and Danny just had to try a slice of traditional NYC pizza.  He went to one of the places recommended by Jon Stewart (when he was ripping on Donald Trump because he eats pizza with a fork).  Doesn’t he look cute?

And here’s a picture of the dogs snoozing in the car.  They were very well behaved considering all the driving and shuffling around we did.  Such good doggies!

Babycakes NYC Carrot Cupcakes – vegan and gluten-free

This recipe comes from Erin McKenna’s Babycakes cookbook. Erin McKenna is the Founder of Babycakes NYC, a vegan and gluten-free bakery!

If you don’t have time to bake your own desserts, the Athen’s Earthfare sells vegan and gluten-free desserts like peanut butter cups, smores cups, and cookies right behind the hot bar.  Vegan and gluten-free baked goods are just as decadent and tasty as ‘normal’ cupcakes.  I would be happy to give you a cupcake as a taste test if you are skeptical!

Erin McKenna’s carrot cupcakes replace eggs with xanthan gum.  Xanthan gum is only available in a fairly large bag for a price around $12.00.  You can find it at Earthfare or Kroger.  Even though the carrot cake cupcake recipe only calls for one teaspoon, the xanthan gum is necessary for the recipe because it makes gluten-free batter sticky and pliable (as if it contained gluten).

This recipe makes 24 cupcakes.  I made 12 regular sized cupcakes and 24 mini cupcakes since I don’t have two 12-cupcake trays.

Ingredients:

3 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free All-purpose baking flour (NOT the whole bag! available at Kroger, Publix and Earthfare)

1 T. baking powder

1 T. baking soda

1 t. xanthan gum (available at Kroger and Earthfare)

1 1/2 t. salt

1 T. ground cinnamon

2 t. ground ginger

1/2 t. ground nutmeg

2/3 cup coconut oil

1 cup agave nectar (available at Kroger and Earthfare)

1 cup rice milk (I used 1 cup almond milk instead)

1 T. pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup hot water

3 cups shredded carrots

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Line two 12-cupcake tins with cupcake liners.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

Add the oil, agave nectar, milk, and vanilla to the dry ingredients and stir until a thick batter is formed.  Fold in the carrots with a rubber spatula so they are evenly distributed.

Pour approximately a 1/3 cup of batter into each prepared cup.  Bake the cupcakes for 25 minutes on the center rack, rotating the pans 180 degrees after 14 minutes.  Cupcakes are done baking when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let the cupcakes rest in the pans for at least 20 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Danny is a cupcake connoisseur!

I prepared the vanilla frosting while the cupcakes were in the oven.  You might want to prepare it a day in advance so the icing has enough time to chill in the fridge.

Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk

3/4 cup dry soy milk powder (available at Earthfare)

1 T. coconut flour (I substituted coconut flakes because I wasn’t able to find the flour.)

1/4 cup agave nectar

1 T. pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups coconut oil

2 T. fresh lemon juice

Procedure:

In a blender or food processor, combine soy milk, soy powder, coconut flour, agave nectar, and vanilla.  Blend for approximately 2 minutes.  With machine running, slowly add in the coconut oil and lemon juice.  Alternate between them until both are fully blended.  Pour the mixture into an airtight container and refrigerate for 6 hours or for up to a month.  Refrigerating gives the sauce a thicker consistency so it’s more like frosting.  You can also store the sauce at room temperature for up to a week if you prefer a thinner consistency.

Try them out! Or you can try one from my batch if you’re lucky!

Labor Day fun! Vegan and gluten-free raspberry scones

Today my friends Elizabeth, Michelle, and Christina came over to bake some vegan foods!

Leela helps me pose with the cookbook

We wanted to bake something out of the Babycakes cookbook by Erin McKenna.  We decided to try the raspberry scones because we wanted something easy to make, and because we were hungry for scones!  We doubled the recipe and made some substitutions.

Raspberry Scones:

4 cups oat flour

2 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup coconut oil, plus more for brushing (we used 1/3 cup canola oil and 1/3 cup coconut oil)

2/3 cup agave nectar, plus more for brushing

2 Tablespoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup hot water

2 cups fresh raspberries

Preparation:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat.  Lightly spray the mat with cooking oil.

Here’s Christina, Elizabeth, and Michelle in the kitchen!

2.  In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add the oil, agave nectar, and vanilla and gently stir until a thick, slightly dry batter is formed.  Pour in the hot water and mix.  Gently fold in the raspberries into the batter with a rubber spatula.

3.  Place each chunk of batter (approximately 1/3 cup of batter) onto the mat and leave a 1 inch space in between each scone.  Bake the scones on the center rack for 14 minutes, turning the baking sheet 180 degrees after 7 minutes to ensure even baking.  **We had to bake the scones for 20 minutes extra because they were VERY thick.  Just check the scones after the 14 minute recommended cooking time, and add 5 minutes in the oven until they are golden brown and not doughy.**

4.  Brush the scones with melted Earth Balance butter (or oil).  We drizzled some agave nectar into the melted butter and brushed this mixture on top of each scone.   Transfer scones to a plate after letting them cool for a few minutes.  Enjoy!

Right out of the oven!

These scones were delicious!  The fresh raspberries were on sale at Kroger for 2 packs for $4.00.  We used both containers in this recipe.  So worth it!

Stay tuned for more blog posts about recipes from Babycakes!  I plan on baking EVERYTHING in this cookbook, and documenting my efforts (and my friends’ efforts when they can help!) on the blog.

We also had watermelon, and baked some fries in the oven.  Then we melted Daiya cheddar cheese on top.  What a feast!