Hey Everyone!

It’s been pretty quiet around these parts, but worry not, another Bakesale is coming your way soon! In the meantime, check this out:

Have you heard of Test Kitchen Bakery? The owner, Andrea, has been contributing to the SF vegan scene for over 11 years, via working at various local cafes like Haight’s The Grind, running her own online bakery, and by donating to the SF Vegan Bakesale. Now it’s time for us to help her out! 

Last year she quit her awesome full-time job (BRAVE!) to fulfill her lifelong dream of running a cafe and bakery.  After months and months of searching for the right location, Cafe St. Jorge has found a wonderful home at 3438 Mission Street and should be opening the doors this summer! Named after her family’s hometown in Portugal, the cafe will feature Stumptown coffee and Portuguese-inspired fare. All that, plus delicious vegan and gluten-free baked goods? We’re in!

But! She needs our help to open up the doors. She’s got a Kickstarter campaign going, so swing on by and donate! Keep a lookout for more info as her opening date approaches! 

Thanks! 

We’d like to extend a huge THANKS to everyone who helped make our bakesale this weekend a great success! We raised over $1500 for Animal Place! A special thanks goes to everyone who donated, businesses and individuals alike, we couldn’t have done it without you. We are so grateful to all who volunteered, whether by spending time with us at the sale, ferrying treats to the sale, or putting up flyers- You’re the best! And of course, a great big thanks to everyone who visited our sale- we loved meeting fellow vegans and spreading the word that cruelty-free treats are the most delicious of all. THANKS! Keep in touch, we’d love to hear how you’re all doing in between sales. Happy Valentine’s Day!  

New to vegan baking? Reference our handy guide, and you’ll become a pro at baking up delicious vegan treats. Don’t be afraid to experiment, baking is fun!

Like that poster down there? Hugs and Kisses, Hearts, and all that? Believe me, those cookies taste just as good as they look! With a bit of searching, I found a delicious cookie recipe I know I’ll be using for years to come. With one surprise (to me, anyway) ingredient, the recipe makes the type of sugar cookies I remember before going vegan- buttery and soft, with a slight snap when bitten into. Find the recipe for the cookies HERE.

Then comes the tricky bit: the frosting. I initially follow the recipe posted underneath the cookie recipe, but found it, and others like it on the internet using corn syrup and almond extract, totally lacking. My initial batches turned out soupy and sickly sweet, no good! So I stuck with my tried and true recipe, one based on my memories of the book The Joy of Vegan Baking.

Vegan Royal Icing:

1 1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer (see below)
2 Tbsp water
1 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
food coloring, optional. (Check out a post for food-based alternatives HERE!) 

Combine first three ingredients and whisk until frothy. Slowly add powdered sugar (sifting first removes lumps!), and stir or beat until smooth. Divide into bowls, and add food coloring. You can adjust the thickness by adding more powdered sugar or water depending on your needs. 

If you’re feeling fancy, you can add more powdered sugar to one batch to create thicker frosting you can then use to outline the cookies. Then more water to another batch to use for flooding. Check out a great tutorial HERE. 

Otherwise, do what I did and just dip ‘em straight in, letting them drip excess into the bowl, and swiveling them around to catch the last little bit. It takes a few tries, so start with the wonky ones. By the end, you’ll be a pro! 

Enjoy! 

Hello All! 

We at the SF Vegan Bakesale can’t think of any better way to celebrate LOVE this Valentine’s Day than with cruelty-free cookies, cake, and chocolate.

Join us for some of the Bay Area’s best vegan treats on Sunday, February 10 from 11-5 pm outside Herbivore in the Mission (983 Valencia Street, SF). We’ll be sending our love (and sale proceeds) to Animal Place, whose shelters provide permanent sanctuary and placement for farm animals in need. For more information, visit animalplace.org.

So whether you’ll be playing heartbreak hits or sappy ballads this Valentine’s Day, we’d love your help. WE NEED BAKERS AND VOLUNTEERS! Any donation of vegan baked goods would be greatly appreciated. 

Can’t bake? You can still help! Please spread the word, distribute our flyer, and come by to lend your support. Valentine’s Day’s nothing without some sweet treats! Thanks!

We did it! Thanks to everyone who made our first bakesale a HUGE success, from those who baked, those who bought, and those who spent the day with us! We raised $1000 for PAWS! While we’d, of course, hoped for the best, I know both Lali and I expected to hit more than a few speedbumps along the way. What we didn’t expect was to reach our $1000 goal, sell out our entire table, and even make a new friend or two. YAY! 

We had a great time, and are looking really looking forward to our next one. Well, maybe after a little sugar break: as soon as we stop finding frosting on the elbows of all of our clothes, that’s how we’ll know it’s time for the next one. 

We also can’t believe how many people requested recipes from the sale! Over the next few days, we’ll be sharing some of our favorites, like Christine’s Banana Creme Whoopie Pies and Kim’s Almond Shortbread cookies.

We’d love to hear about some of your favorites as well! Keep in touch with us via Twitter and Facebook.

Get your oven mitts ready, it’s time for another SF Vegan Bakesale!

The bakesale torch has recently been passed along, and as new organizers of the sale, we’d love your help making our first one great!

Like our awesome predecessors, we’re out to show the world that veganism doesn’t have to be all about kale and chia seeds, and can instead be about stuffing your face with delicious vegan treats for a great cause. It’s the best kind of altruism, because, really, cupcakes + cuddly animals? Who can resist? Not us, certainly!

Don’t worry, I have 911 on speed dial because as soon as you see this poster your eyes will fall from your head due to a CUTENESS OVERLOAD. Kudos to Heather, SF Vegan Bake Sale’s co-organizer, for outdoing herself yet again on this poster.

World Wide Vegan Bake Sale, y’all! We’re there! Outside VegNews, too (“Swanky,” you say). All proceeds go to the House Rabbit Society and we may have bunnies on site during the sale! Snuggle everything!!!!!

As always, we need bakers, so please reach deep down into your oven mitts and help us out. Email sfveganbakesale@gmail.com to tell us what you can bring. The sales are a great way to meet fun people, so stop by and hang out with us! I am as magnificent in real life as I am online (I wear a cape).

Spread the words, flying monkeys! See you on the 22nd!

Success!

Sunday’s bake sale was awesome, thanks to you! We raised $785 for PAWS (Performing Animal Welfare Society), which they’ll definitely need for their newest residents, 3 elephants from the Toronto Zoo. Internet high five!

The food at this sale was BEYOND: carrot cake muffins, POP TARTS (omg!), caramel apples, biscotti and cupcakes galore! Someone even brought cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven. Let’s just say I did not restrain myself. Who can blame me? NO ONE.

Thanks again to all of our bakers and everyone who came out to support us! We SF vegans are a friendly lot. Pretty hot, too, which let me say, if you’re looking for a date you should volunteer at the next bake sale because what human could not be instantly attracted to another human handing them a cupcake? Find me that person. Actually don’t, they repulse me.

THANKS Y’ALL! See you around the holidays, probably. Stay tuned…

HAVE YOU SEEN A CUTER POSTER? No, you have not. Heather, our amazing co-organizer, made this! She is a genius.

YOU ALL: Another bake sale is here! THIS Sunday, 11-3 in front of Herbivore on Valencia (983 Valencia @20th/21st).

All money goes to PAWS — Performing Animal Welfare Society! They have an elephant sanctuary! My heart is bursting, I can’t stand how much I love them. Join me this Sunday in emptying my bake accounts in their name, and filling my stomach with sweets in the name of goodwill and decency! 

WE NEED BAKERS! Who cares if you haven’t ever used your oven, or can only make chocolate chip cookies. The elephants need your goods! Email us PRONTO to let us know what you’re bringing: sfveganbakesale@gmail.com