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Dina’s pumpkin cheesecake brownie cupcakes recipe!  »

Remember that pumpkin cheesecake brownie cupcake from reader Dina we showed you last week? Here, let’s refresh our memories:

Yeah, that’s the stuff.

Dina was so pleased with the response, she wanted to give you guys her recipe so you can make your own, just like hers! Aren’t you lucky?

Dina says, “The brownie is a modified version of the Vegan Diner (by Julie Hasson) Ooey-Gooey Brownies. I used black cocoa and omitted the chocolate chips. The pumpkin cheesecake is where it gets dicey since I use the unwritten recipe in my head. 

For the pumpkin cheesecake:
1 container cream cheese
1/2 to 3/4 container of silken tofu
1/2 to 3/4 cup pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. clove
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Toss it all into a food process and blend until smooth. Pour a little brownie batter into cupcake pans and top with some cheesecake batter. Bake until the knife comes out clean from brownie batter.”

There you go: pumpkin cheesecake brownie cupcakes. Thanks again, Dina!

Guest recipe: Pumpkin brownies!  »

What up, my sexy vegan ladies (and dudes, y’all are welcome, too)? It’s getting to be fall here in the Midwest, which means I’m arbitrarily dumping pumpkin into everything I’m baking. This week, it’s dark chocolate pumpkin brownies. I’m giving you the recipe as a half-batch (because I have no self control and eat the entire pan, so, you know, I’m being healthy this way, right?), but the times for a full batch are included.  Let’s bake, bitches!

Ingredients
1/2 cup vegan butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin (I buy the canned stuff, but you can be fancy and cook your own, too)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 to 1 cup flour
1/2 to 3/4 cup roughly chopped dark chocolate

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Melt your butter, and mix the ingredients in order, making sure each is well combined before moving on.

Grease and flour an 8x8” baking pan, pour the batter in, and bake for 26 minutes. If you’re hungry (or you have to share), double everything, pour into a 9x13” pan, and bake for 32 minutes.

Cool, cut, devour. Goes best with coffee.

Lisa Holmes is a vegan art student living in Missouri. Her free time is spent baking, swing dancing, singing a capella music, and building things out of stained glass. Find her on Twitter at @labelledinosaur.

Discounted vegan baked goods from Gone Pie!  »

Hey people! Vegan and Celiac-friendly New York bakery Gone Pie has a cool thing where they take the leftover cookies from their big shipments and send them to you in those $5 flat-rate USPS shipping boxes! Because of shipping costs, their baked goods can be on the expensive side, but with these mini-orders you can get cookies and brownies for $14 to $18—shipping included! Take advantage of me this deal!

Road trip: Babycakes in LA!  »

Babycakes has always been a staple of my New York living experience. Whenever I buy a new pair of shoes at Mooshoes, I always pop over to Babycakes to see what’s cookin’ (or bakin’, to be precise). I’m kind of miffed that the mostly gluten-free, vegan bakery offers dairy creamer for their coffee (I mean, soy creamer, coconut milk creamer, rice milk, almond milk— there are thousands of alternative milks out there that don’t involve the exploitation of animals!!!!), but they sure as shit know how to pound out some delicious goods. My hips, thighs, and butt are even more miffed that I have such an affinity for Babycakes’ delicious, decadent cupcakes—red velvet, anyone?!

Upon hearing that a new Babycakes was slated to open in LA today, I knew KNEW I had to haul ass (21 miles to be exact) to make it to the opening. And boy, am I glad I did. Erin McKenna was there (pictured in super-stalker fashion), in the flesh not two feet away from me icing some beautiful cupcakes. “Hi, I’m Brianna and I live in New York and I love Babycakes and I love you,” I gushed to her. She’s super-sweet and amazing and I was so happy to be in her presence. So, how does the LA location stack up to the NYC one?

LA is super-spread out, and although downtown is being gentrified, it’s still pretty inconvenient for most people in the Valley, in the beach communities (Santa Monica, Venice), in the UCLA area, etc. Babycakes LA is in an unassuming space in downtown, in the Historic Core district, where parking is scarce (and expensive!). The space itself is fairly large and much more open than the Lower East Side location in New York—but I think it loses some of its charm in that respect. The old-fashioned feel you get from Babycakes NYC just didn’t translate to its new West Coast locale. No more wooden barstools or cutesy decor; on the flip side there’s more room to breathe and sit and enjoy the goods: there are about three tables inside, and some sitting space outside.

As for the food, I’m fairly sure the baked goods in LA are more delicious than the original. I went with my mom and we practically cleaned out the place: four mini brownie bites (two filled, two unfilled), a cinnamon sugar donut, two cupcake tops, corn bread, a cinnamon toastie with cranberries, and some coffee. Out of all of the food sampled (read: devoured), my mom and I agreed that the cinnamon sugar donut was the most delicious. Almost churro-y in flavor and texture, the old-fashioned shape gave this donut some scrumptious charm. In the 20 minutes we were there, an entire tray of three dozen donuts completely sold out—they’re quite the popular menu item, apparently! The NYC donuts I tried about a month ago have NOTHING on the LA versions. The rest of the baked goods were, of course, delicious. The cornbread was moist and flavorful, the oozing chocolate brownie bites were decadent (but appropriately sized), the cupcake tops cut down on calories and gave you the good stuff (it was basically a sliver of cake with a huge dollop of yummy YUMMY icing) and even though the coffee was mediocre, I still enjoyed it—mostly because the whole place put me in a great mood. Pictured is someone else’s order: a chocolate chip cookie sandwich, a brownie bit (yum), and two donuts, the cinnamon sugar (!!!!!!!!) and chocolate.

Overall, Babycakes LA was worth the trek. I exited the shop feeling like a lardass, and it was then that I knew the bakery had done its job. Hopefully, its semi-obscure location, at 130 East 6th St., won’t deter people from frequenting the adorable shop, but only time will tell. I believe the shop is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

[All photos by Brianna]