Petite Treats Vegan Bakery, YES in Dublin!

vaalea

Petite Treats, a fellow boards.ie member, hasn't seemed to do a lot of self promotion here, but I think it is sooo cool that these foods are available in Dublin, that I want to make sure everyone here knows!

http://petitetreats.ie/

cupcakes, muffins, cookies, brownies, truffles, cakes... YUM!! I hope to see these available in Dublin shops because I wasn't that excited about the vegan desserts at Cornucopia... (where else are vegan desserts available?)

Petite Treats, add yourself to Happy Cow already!!
http://www.happycow.net/submitrestaurant-ok.php?vfn=3

Absurdum

:eek::eek::eek:

oh wow!!!

anothernight

Everything looks so tasty... I'm not vegan but... it's tempting.

sweet-rasmus

Mod note - she hasn't been self promoting in posts on boards because it is against site rules

But everything on the website does indeed look delicious!

entropi

Really REALLY nice stuff!

vaalea

sweet-rasmus wrote: »

Mod note - she hasn't been self promoting in posts on boards because it is against site rules

I think this rule should be applied within reason. To me, it's not annoying to have someone post that they offer a vegan product... in fact it only does us vegans a service to know. Someone who posts over and over and over about it irrelevantly on the other hand....

but really, if we want to know where to buy vegan goods, then someone who sells vegan goods should be allowed to say so!!!

In fact it's more annoying to me as a vegan to think that I might not have heard about this vegan bakery BECAUSE of these types of mod rules. :mad:



---if there is anyone else on here who, unknown to us, provides vegan stuff please send me a PM so I can post about it!

vaalea

anothernight wrote: »

Everything looks so tasty... I'm not vegan but... it's tempting.

This is kind of a silly comment you have to admit "I'm not vegan but... it's tempting". It would make sense for a vegan to say that about a vegetarian product that they cannot have, or if you were on a strict diet-but it's tempting... but these vegan products taste just as good as any non-vegan equivalent, even better. I understand most of the Petite Treats customers are non-vegan. Here is another example: "tonight’s episode [Cupcake Wars on the Food Network] just ended, and local vegan baker chloe coscarelli took the victory home BIG TIME. not only did the young chef compete against professional cupcake shop owners who have been in the business FOR YEARS, but she won EVERY round with her 100% VEGAN cupcakes!" http://www.quarrygirl.com/2010/06/22/vegan-cupcakes-ftw-chloe-coscarellis-huge-food-network-victory/ So no worries, you don't have to be vegan to enjoy excellent vegan food.

anothernight

vaalea wrote: »

This is kind of a silly comment you have to admit "I'm not vegan but... it's tempting". It would make sense for a vegan to say that about a vegetarian product that they cannot have, or if you were on a strict diet-but it's tempting... but these vegan products taste just as good as any non-vegan equivalent, even better. I understand most of the Petite Treats customers are non-vegan. Here is another example: "tonight’s episode [Cupcake Wars on the Food Network] just ended, and local vegan baker chloe coscarelli took the victory home BIG TIME. not only did the young chef compete against professional cupcake shop owners who have been in the business FOR YEARS, but she won EVERY round with her 100% VEGAN cupcakes!" http://www.quarrygirl.com/2010/06/22/vegan-cupcakes-ftw-chloe-coscarellis-huge-food-network-victory/ So no worries, you don't have to be vegan to enjoy excellent vegan food.

Oh of course, I know what you mean I often make vegan cakes myself, just because the ones I make just happen to work well enough. It was just a light hearted comment with no real meaning behind it.
What I mean though is: if I don't have a food allergy and I'm not vegan, I'm quite good at baking and even if I wanted to buy something I could go pretty much anywhere and buy it, why would I order specifically from that vegan friendly place? That's why I said it's still very tempting, just because they look so good! (I never ever buy cakes. Making your own, vegan or otherwise, will nearly always turn out better)

vaalea

anothernight wrote: »

Oh of course, I know what you mean I often make vegan cakes myself, just because the ones I make just happen to work well enough. It was just a light hearted comment with no real meaning behind it.
What I mean though is: if I don't have a food allergy and I'm not vegan, I'm quite good at baking and even if I wanted to buy something I could go pretty much anywhere and buy it, why would I order specifically from that vegan friendly place? That's why I said it's still very tempting, just because they look so good! (I never ever buy cakes. Making your own, vegan or otherwise, will nearly always turn out better)

Then what you really mean is: "I never buy cakes, but it's tempting".

I never get around to making special orders with bakeries is my problem. Back in Ottawa we had vegan cupcakes from http://www.morselfoods.com/ or from ThreeCheersCupcakes http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=37311866506#!/photo.php?fbid=519622891043&set=o.37311866506 Chai Latte my fav! (the first moved from Ottawa, the second to other life priorities) or from http://www.auntieloostreats.ca who now has her very own walk-in vegan bakery... but when they were available at coffee shops and health food stores around town I couldn't resist, and I loved having a coffee shop option, a place where there was a sweet I could eat! I will talk myself out of putting in an order for a dozen cupcakes... but buying one here and there all the time... I hope I will see them available at a few locations in the future?
I talk myself out of baking my own often as well because you can't eat just one and it is a time commitment.
The one book I did pack in my luggage coming over from Canada was Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World... but still haven't used it yet. :P

Absurdum

vaalea wrote: »

The one book I did pack in my luggage coming over from Canada was Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World... but still haven't used it yet. :P

I have that too but have never used it either

Petite Treats

Thanks Vaalea for the mention and I will go to Happy Cow right now!

Thanks to everyone else for the kind words!

Regarding retail - I have gotten enquiries from customers about being able to purchase items in coffee shops etc. This is something I plan to investigate in the next few weeks so we will see!

Funfair

vaalea wrote: »

Petite Treats, a fellow boards.ie member, hasn't seemed to do a lot of self promotion here, /QUOTE]

Great Prices !!

Mini cupcakes:
15 minis cost €20 and are all decorated with a free sugarpaste decoration.*
24 minis cost €30 and are all decorated with a free sugarpaste decoration.*

vaalea

Funfair wrote: »

not suprised, probably to embarassed charging those prices..

Mini cupcakes:
15 minis cost €20 and are all decorated with a free sugarpaste decoration.*
24 minis cost €30 and are all decorated with a free sugarpaste decoration.*

6 standard cupcakes cost €13 and all decorated with a free sugarpaste decoration*.
12 standard cupcakes cost €26 and all decorated with a free sugarpaste decoration.*

The difference between fast food and gourmet/artisan/quality ingredients. So you might not be her typical customer. Priorities also; people spend way more a night out drinking, depends how you want to treat yourself.

vaalea

Petite Treats wrote: »

Thanks Vaalea for the mention and I will go to Happy Cow right now!

Thanks to everyone else for the kind words!

Regarding retail - I have gotten enquiries from customers about being able to purchase items in coffee shops etc. This is something I plan to investigate in the next few weeks so we will see!

Have you checked out cost to have a table at the Co-op Thursdays and/or Saturdays (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin_Food_Co-op I haven't been yet - eek)... or the market in Dun Laoghaire Sundays(went and ate a few times), or the market in Sandyford on Fridays (looked but not as veg friendly) or (http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=85430)... when the weather is nice anyway for the outdoor venues... ? In Ottawa such things were also popular at craft shows/outdoor concerts/art festivals etc. etc.

sweet-rasmus

Funfair - we don't tolerate rudeness in this form. Vegan cupcakes aren't cheap to make, by me or anyone. A tub of tofutti alone will be gone in seconds for icing and that stuff aint cheap!

vaalea - could you send any further marketing advice via pm?

--LOS--

I usually hate cakey things because of the amount of artificial crap that's in them, certainly looks like a lot healthier product on offer there, still don't know if I'd have the taste for it.

Funfair

sweet-rasmus wrote: »

Funfair - we don't tolerate rudeness in this form. Vegan cupcakes aren't cheap to make, by me or anyone. A tub of tofutti alone will be gone in seconds for icing and that stuff aint cheap!

vaalea - could you send any further marketing advice via pm?

Appoligies I didn't realise I was looking at a specialist site for people with allerigies etc..

I spoted this on the main boards page and compared the prices to my local supermarket , obviously not simialar products so appoligies again !!

vaalea

--LOS-- wrote: »

I usually hate cakey things because of the amount of artificial crap that's in them, certainly looks like a lot healthier product on offer there, still don't know if I'd have the taste for it.

Well, there are cookies and muffins and truffles... if you avoid the cakes, cupcakes and brownies.

--LOS--

'fraid those things dont really do it for me, give me a bar of chocolate any day :pac:

Weyhey

Best of luck petitetreats. Anyone starting their own business deserves a bit of promotion as it's such hard work - good on you, I wish you all the best. Given that you cater for vegans too I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I have such a sweet tooth but never got cupcakes but the rest of the options look yum.

Absurdum

http://www.independent.ie/health/case-studies/real-life-cakes-with-a-conscience-2508032.html

Real Life: Cakes with a conscience
Everyone loves a cupcake and these vegan versions taste better than anything else


Gaze at the bright, candy-coloured cupcakes baked by Mary Doyle of Petite Treats and you'd assume these delectable delights would be filled with refined sugar, eggs and lashings of butter.

But you'd be wrong. Instead, these treats are cholesterol free, animal-product free and, says Mary, fit in with her vegan diet, where meat, fish, milk, eggs, butter and honey are all off the menu.

"I have to have a cupcake every day," smiles Mary, a fresh-faced 33-year-old Galway native who moved to Dublin with her husband in 2005. A decade ago, she decided to remove all animal products from her diet, and unknowingly paved the way for a major career change.

In August 2009 she was made redundant from her teaching job, a career she assumed she'd have for life. But this provided the spur for Mary to follow her dreams of becoming a professional vegan baker, and she opened her made-to-order business Petite Treats in October 2010.

Doing so, she joined a small but dedicated group of women who have put their own twist on the cupcake trend by selling vegan cupcakes, inspired by their health and ethical beliefs.

A vegetarian since the age of 12, animal lover Mary realised that no longer eating animal products meant she had to say 'no thanks' to traditional desserts, so she started baking using recipes from old vegetarian cookbooks. "They were like hockey pucks!" she remembers.

She soon discovered newer books like 'Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World' by American chefs Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terri Hope Romero. Then she moved on to creating her own recipes.

In 2009, she attended a vegan baking bootcamp at the National Gourmet Institute in New York. There she met the legendary vegan pastry chef Fran Costigan and took more classes at the city's Institute of Culinary Education.

She hit it off with Fran and returned to spend six weeks as her intern. Mary says New York "really opened her eyes".

When she returned home, almost every night after work she would test recipes. Her heart was in baking, so when she found herself unemployed in 2009, she knew there was only one thing to do: start her own business. "At first I was saying, can I? I had a lot of doubt at first," she admits.

Recipes

Her family initially had similar concerns. "They asked me, do you know any other vegans? I said no, but I want to make cakes for people who like cakes, not just vegans.

"They asked me, are you sure there's a market, would you not stay with a pensionable job? But I think if something's inside you, you have to try it. I'm going to give this everything."

Mary spent nine months perfecting her recipes and had her kitchen HSE certified. She launched Petite Treats in October 2010.

Vegan cupcakes are a luscious treat, but Mary endeavours to make them healthier.

"A lot of vegan baked goods out there are very high in oil, with loads of white sugar. I use minimal oil but you still need some for flavour so it's finding that balance. I use unbleached cane sugar and no artificial colourings or preservatives.

"I don't want a cupcake that just tastes good because it's vegan. I want to let the cakes speak for themselves. They just happen to be vegan, which is very important to me but I know it's not very important to everyone else."

A self-confessed perfectionist, she even creates the intricate toppers that decorate her cupcakes, explaining: "I think we eat first with our eyes."

Some of Mary's customers come to her because of allergies, with one woman ordering for her children who have severe dairy allergies.

"I love that they're standing up on their own. I don't say 'here's a box of vegan cupcakes,' I say 'here are cupcakes.' The word vegan does scare a lot of people."

Caroline Horan is a vegetarian and Petite Treats customer. "My husband had no idea -- when I told him it was a vegan cake he couldn't believe it. Instead of bringing a bottle of wine to a friend's house, I order Mary's cakes. What appeals to me is the fact they're healthy but they're a treat."

Claire McElligot is another customer, who describes the cakes as "food for the eyes as well as the belly". She was looking for healthy treats to suit all her family.

"The fact it was vegan didn't put me off. It's like guilt-free food; that was the big appeal to me. You never expect something so healthy to taste so bold. I think Mary is an inspiration to young people in today's climate."

Celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres, Emily Deschanel from 'Bones' and Lea Michele from 'Glee' have all embraced veganism.

"They're bringing more positive press. Traditionally the word vegan has scared people," says Mary. "People are starting to understand better what vegan is."

What are its health aspects that appeal to her? "It's cholesterol free, low in saturated fat. It's a more varied diet; you have to become more aware of your diet. It is higher in wholefoods.

Benefits

"My health is great -- I rarely get coughs or colds. I have a lot of energy. Dairy used always make me feel stodgy. I find it easier to manage my weight, my health, while still enjoying my treats."

These health benefits also appealed to 27-year-old Paula Larkin, who sells her vegan cupcakes and treats as a hobby in Cork city.

She turned to vegetarianism after struggling with stomach issues that reduced when she cut out red meat and dairy, and then eliminated all animal products a year later.

"It was a life choice that just made so much sense to me," she says. That was two years ago, and though she initially found replacing eggs and dairy difficult, "the situation has become much better here in Ireland".

She discovered vegan baking when she lived in Toronto in 2007. Two years ago, her friend Vicky Langan set up an experimental music showcase in Cork and Paula started selling her cakes at them under the name Sugar Moon.

Paula says that the majority of her customers "are non-vegans who just really like how the cakes taste" but says "the response from the vegan community has been so positive". Some of her customers are lactose intolerant.

"Most people are very surprised to hear that the cakes are vegan, probably because they assume anything vegan is flavourless and dry."

Has veganism improved her health? "I think so, yes, mainly because I have become more aware of what I put into my body and how I impact on the world around me.

"Being vegan is no different to any other form of diet -- you can choose to be healthy or you can choose not to be.

"I can be vegan and spend my days eating chips, bread, pasta and meat replacements, or I can be vegan and eat fresh vegetables, pulses, nuts and wholegrains. For me, being vegan is about trying to treat my body with respect, and treating my environment with respect."

In the future, she would like to open her own vegan café. In the short term she wants to take Sugar Moon from hobby to business, gaining HSE certification and working around her existing job.

Another young vegan baker is Glauce Ferrari, a 35-year-old Brazilian student. She lives with her Italian husband in Dublin and both are vegan.

She moved to Ireland in 2008, and says: "Dublin has a good number of vegetarian places, but they are not that vegan friendly in my opinion. It's always better to buy vegan products and cook at home."

Customers

So she started baking vegan cakes, which she sold at gigs and then under the name Sweet to Govindas on Dublin's Aungier Street, and later its Abbey St branch, as well as taking orders for home delivery. Due to her studies, she currently only takes private orders.

Glauce says a lot of her customers are not vegan or do not have allergies, and come to her through word of mouth. Of her vegan customers, she says: "I love to bake for them because I know how hard is to find vegan options in Dublin."

For these women, vegan cupcakes are the ideal way of sharing their health and ethical beliefs with people.

"I think they are the best way of introducing people to vegan food," says Mary.

"I think that's my mission: to show people that a vegan cupcake is just a really good cupcake. You don't have to sacrifice anything."

Mary hopes that in the future she will start supplying coffee shops with her cakes, so more people can access these tasty treats.

Though the number of vegans in Ireland may be small, one thing is clear -- it looks like there's a big market for vegan cupcakes. After all, who could say no to a delicious dessert?

All of these bakers offer a made-to-order service. n To purchase cakes from Mary Doyle at Petite Treats, visit her website www.petitetreats.ie.

Paula Larkin can be found by searching 'Sugar Moon Vegan Cakes' on Facebook or at sugarmooncork@gmail.com.
Glauce Ferrari can be found at flickr.com/people/sweetvegandublin or contacted at dublin.sweet @gmail.com.

tl;dr version: loads of yummy cakes

Aoifums

I've ordered (well my mam has) one of these cakes for my birthday I can let you know how it goes down. I honestly can't wait!

pangeran

I tried these petitetreats cupcakes and biscuits at a christening last weekend and I gotta admit, they're gorgeous.......I was kinda nervous when I heard they were vegan but these were probably the yummiest cupcakes and biscuit thingys I ever had