BabyCakes: GF and Vegan Bakery
Posted by GFVegmom on Mar 06, 2009 · Member since Sep 2008 · 565 posts
I am so totally excited! I just heard about this cookbook, and as soon as payday rolls around I am getting it. All the recipies are vegan and gluten free. YEay!!!!!!!!!!
I put this one on my Amazon wishlist...but I hope someone gets it for me really soon!! I've had their cupcakes and they're pretty good!!
i think i might stop by this place this weekend - mmm!
some of their recipes were reprinted in food and wine magazine--you can find them online on the magazine's website
I pre ordered the book a couple of days ago. It comes out in May I think? I saw her on the Martha Stewart show a while back and the cupcakes looked fantastic. Wish I could taste them.....PPC, please report back!
oops sorry - i did visit when i was there and i had the red velvet cupcake with vanilla frosting. the cupcake itself i was disappointed in, the texture and everything was fine, but it just seemed to taste like nothing. the frosting however was amazing, seriously. ive never had frosting like that, the texture was super smooth and silky, no graininess from the sugar at all but still thick. idunno how they do it but i think someone mentioned coconut oil - i could be wrong though. anyway, they sell the frosting by the shot for a reason! i would love to have that recipe.
they were also giving samples of some kinda cinnamon loaf/cake thing and it was good, but nothing to go crazy over.
I'm not such a huge fan of Babycakes, but my sugar-free, gluten-free, vegan friend Emma certainly is! We tried to make carrot cake cupcakes with coconut oil frosting together and the frosting came out pretty weird because we had no clue what we were doing. I know that she is really excited for this cookbook to come out and therefore I'm excited because then we can do more baking together and hopefully have stuff come out good!
I just ordered this on amazon today and I'm super excited! I got the cookbook and a 1 year subscription to VegTimes for $20 - and free shipping!! ;)b
wow - good deal!
I have never been to Babycakes in NYC (Ok, so I've never been to NYC, period), but I keep hearing about this place and book...really, really interested in purchasing it because I hear she uses natural sweetners. Does anyone have the book yet? Are the ingredients accessible?
I ordered it from Amazon too and still am waiting for my copy.
i just got this for my bday and wow!!!!!!!!!! the frosting is something amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I never thought i would eat thick, "frosting-like" frosting again!!!!!
I'm not gluten-free but was intirigued by the sugar -free-ness,
I will have to try some cupcakes next!
i never had this kind of frosting - even non-vegan.. it's 1,000 times better than any ive had.
I read several reviews of this on PPK forums and it sounds like most of the recipes in this book are a PITA to make/find ingredients...(and expensive) I think I'll put this one aside on my wish list for another time. :-\
I still haven't gotten mine in the mail but I did see it in the bookstore and flipped through it.
BabyCakes is a hardbound book with lovely layout and stunning photos of mouthwatering, vegan bakery ... scones, Hostess-like cupcakes, double chocolate chip cookies, etc. It would look pretty on any coffee table.
The ingredients she recommends do cost more and/or are harder to find ... garbanzo fava or Bob's Red mill gluten-free flour, coconut oil, xanthan gum, powdeed soy milk, arrowroot, etc.
Still, while I am not on a gluten-free diet, I am excited about exploring a new world of vegan baking and baking for those who have diet restrictions using the recipes in this book.
I still haven't gotten mine in the mail but I did see it in the bookstore and flipped through it.
BabyCakes is a hardbound book with lovely layout and stunning photos of mouthwatering, vegan bakery ... scones, Hostess-like cupcakes, double chocolate chip cookies, etc. It would look pretty on any coffee table.
The ingredients she recommends do cost more and/or are harder to find ... garbanzo fava or Bob's Red mill gluten-free flour, coconut oil, xanthan gum, powdeed soy milk, arrowroot, etc.
Still, while I am not on a gluten-free diet, I am excited about exploring a new world of vegan baking and baking for those who have diet restrictions using the recipes in this book.
I feel the same way, so very well stated! I probably won't make these exclusively, but it's always fun to try new things. I'm not GF either but I love trying different flours. My copy is still in transit from Amazon and I hope it gets here soon!!
i have only made the frosting thus far, but i subbed canola oil for the coconut oil, rice milk and powdered ricemilk for the soy, maybe these are easier to find/cheaper if anyone is having problems with ingredients.
I have also considered, since I do not have a gluten free diet, subbing reg w wheat pastry flour for the special ones, the author reccommends sticking to the recipe closely, but.......... I'm not great with following directions.
for anyone else who has thia, what would one also take out/replace in a recipe if not using the gluten free flours?....
i have only made the frosting thus far, but i subbed canola oil for the coconut oil, rice milk and powdered ricemilk for the soy, maybe these are easier to find/cheaper if anyone is having problems with ingredients.
I have also considered, since I do not have a gluten free diet, subbing reg w wheat pastry flour for the special ones, the author reccommends sticking to the recipe closely, but.......... I'm not great with following directions.
for anyone else who has thia, what would one also take out/replace in a recipe if not using the gluten free flours?....
how did your subs work out? taste/texture-wise? have you had the original at the bakery to compare the frosting to?
I got my copy on Friday and looked over it this weekend. First, let me say that it's a beautiful hardcover book with amazing pictures! I found the celebrity/product endorsements to be a little strange but I guess they might help bring in a new audience. I am not a big fan of Bob's Red Mill GF baking mix, so I'm going to sub it out for my own blend of flours. I stocked up on agave nectar (which is the primary sweetener in the book) and I already have soymilk powder, but I still need to get coconut flour and xanthan gum. Many of the ingredients are on the pricey side and can be hard to find, but I'd like to try the cupcake/frosting recipes as written at least once.
the frosting was great w/ canola, rice milk and rice milk powder, i have not tried the originals, so I have nothing to ci compare it too. the rice milk powder was the hardest thing to find, but it was at whole foods.
i want to try the cupcakes, but i haven't bought any other flour yet, (the coconut flour was $8.00!)
totalluy worth it for the frosting, yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
let me know if there are other recipes in there I just HAVE to make!
they all look amazing!
The Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe in The Joy of Vegan Baking is fabulous.
The Lower-Fat Banana Bread recipe in Veganomicon is delicious.
The banana bread/banana chocolate chip bread in babycakes, sadly, was a disappointment. And an expensive one too.
I really hate giving a vegan cookbook a poor review, but here it goes.
I bought higher-priced, harder-to-find ingredients, like Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Flour and xanthan gum, and ended up with a funky-tasting banana bread. I did half the recipe with chocolate chips, half without. The bread with the chocolate chips was way better because it helped mask that strong strange taste.
The pros. The recipe was easy. The chocolate chips upped the flavor significantly. The bread had a good moist texture.
But the taste took some getting used to. Actually, I'm still trying to get used to it.
Thanks to a couple VegWebbers who responded to another thread I posted inquiring about the flour and suggested I use another flour blend instead of the Bob's Red Mill(made with garbanzo bean, sorghum, fava bean flours). A lot of the recipes in babycakes call for Bob's Red Mill or garbanzo-fava flour.
I don't know what to do with this book now. At least it's pretty to look at.
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