veganhacker.com

There’s all sorts of recent good news about vegan cupcakery BabyCakes, a NYC sensation since 2005. For one, they’re opening a new west coast location smack dab in the middle of the historic Bank District of Los Angeles; then, for folks who live too far from NYC or LA, there’s a new BabyCakes cookbook out on the market, and to celebrate (you can’t help but share in the enthusiasm!), they’ve produced a fun video to feature it (the book is currently available!).

The goodies are not only vegan, but also gluten-free, and most use agave rather than refined sugar.

To keep track of their LA opening and other news, check out their blog or follow them on twitter.

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Sometimes there isn’t time (or energy!) to cook and sometimes you’re surrounded by nothing but fast food chains. Gratefully, there are useful guides on veg*n fast food options currently available online. Check out PETA’s Quick Picks on their VegCooking site, Vegetarian-Restaurants.net’s compilation of options, or the vegan-specific list posted on My Life as a Vegan. There are some surprises amidst the listings — who knew there’d be anything vegan at Arby’s, but apparently, their fruit turnovers are. Also, Round Table and Pizza Hut do not offer vegan crust and only one of Domino’s 4 crusts is vegan (but it is not available at all stores); Chuck E. Cheese, of all places, does use a vegan crust….

Via the Vegan Lunch Box: Baskin-Robbins has added a couple of new vegan flavors — Tropical Ice and Strawberry Sorbet — to their list of currently existing ones, Lemon Sorbet and Lime Daiquiri Ice.

It looks like their Fruit Blast Bars and Fruit Blast drinks are also vegan.

If you’re nowhere near Maggie Mudd or Wheeler’s, and non-vegan folk want to enjoy some frozen goodies with you, it’s nice to know you have a national chain like Baskin-Robbins as an option. Now, if you join their Birthday Club, you can enjoy a free scoop of a different flavor for four years in a row!

Do note, though, that the ingredients for most of these products contain artificial colors (Red 40, Red 3, Yellow 5, etc.), additives that seem worth generally avoiding.