Cupcakes have been on the brain a lot lately, but we're hardly alone. We met Melisser and her brand new company Sugar Beat Sweets at the World Veg Festival. She's playing with vegan confections, like the candy corn she had on hand, but her focus is on cakes and cupcakes that defy the usual vegan dryness.

Taking advantage of the special sale she had at the event, I selected the four cupcakes pictured above: Snickerdoodle, peppermint patty, vanilla and PB&J. Melisser has certainly achieved her goal of just good cupcakes, period; all passed blind tests of unassuming taster pals who didn't know they were vegan and don't normally choose vegan anything. Flavors are deep and the mouth feel is just what is wanted in a cupcake. For now, Sugar Beat Sweets cupcakes are available at Other Avenues, Rainbow, Underdog, Real Food Co., Ike's Place and Urban Harvest Market. —Tamara Palmer

North Berkeley sweet spot The Xocolate Bar has luscious treats that make us weak-kneed, from lavender marshmallow pillows to dried raspberry figs, as well as insanely gorgeous vegan truffles (and spectacular gelato, if you visit the store). Chocolatiers Malena Lopez-Maggi and Clive Brown are also known for their amazing sculpture pieces, many of which tend towards the erotic. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month (and from now on), they'll donate 20% of sales of their Titty Titty Bon Bons ("dark chocolate champagne titties") to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The Xocolate Bar is located at 1709 Solano Ave. (at Ensenada), Berkeley. —Tamara Palmer

World Veg Festival Weekend
San Francisco County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park
October 5, 2008

Notes and Photos by Tamara Palmer

San Francisco Vegetarian Society and In Defense of Animals took over the San Francisco County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park for World Veg Festival Weekend. The two-day event brought a plethora of vegan and vegetarian food, fashion and sympathetic causes that added up to the components of a cruelty-free lifestyle.

Vegans have long gotten a bad rap for bad cooking. But the art and the bar has been raised in recent years, and this was a great place to taste that.

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By Catherine McCulloch

Most vegetarians I know try going vegan at one point in their lives. I am one of those vegetarians. My greatest struggle in becoming a vegan was giving up breads and pastries. Needless to say, I didn’t last more than a week. However, during that brief stint, I became addicted to vegan cookies and other vegan baked goods.

A love for San Francisco cuisine combined with a passion for vegan pastries motivated me to poke around for a vegan bakery in the city. Sadly my search was not as successful as I had hoped it would be. All of the vegan/vegan-friendly bakeries that I had discovered over the course of my research have apparently closed! I was left stranded in the most vegan friendly city in the US with no dairy-free and egg-free goodies!

Feeling zapped of energy and on a general sugar low I decided to head over to my favorite coffee shop, Ritual Roasters. Upon walking through the door I remembered why Ritual is my favorite coffee shop: it carries delicious vegan treats! Vegan donuts, vegan pound cake, vegan cupcakes…..! My mouth began to water. I ordered a slice of the apple cinnamon dessert bread. It was quite scrumptious - a little too dry, but perfect when paired with coffee. (I had previously tried the strawberry bread and it was perfectly moist! I have yet to sample the donuts but I've heard that they are a no-go).

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