Just in case you didn’t know, the last week of June has been official Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale week. The idea was to host vegan bake sales all over the globe, each one raising money for a local pro-animal cause. Here in San Francisco, we did two days worth of vegan bake sale-ing, and we raised $3,000 to be split between Animal Place and the East Bay Animal Advocates. Both organizations do great work for the animals, and we were all really stoked to be able to give them some cash!
While the activism and the camaraderie and the getting to meet new vegans you hadn’t met before was awesome and all, the real high point of the event was the baked goods themselves (well, okay, the activism was just as good, but it’s harder to photograph). Both days featured masses and masses of cupcakes, cookies, scones, exotic Swedish pastries, pies, loaves, donuts, and all manner of other amazingness, and both days sold out!
Not only was the sale a very successful fundraiser, but we also were able to really get the point across the vegan food does not equal healthy, boring rabbit food. It’s amazing how far a good chocolate chip cookie can go in helping people to see veganism in a different light. With one bite, a person who had never seriously considered veganism can have their heart and mind opened, and that tiny seed of “maybe this isn’t such a hard thing to do after all” can be planted. Not to get all sentimental, but it’s pretty amazing what the simple act of baking something with pride and with care can do. I guess that’s what got me thinking about what I was going to make for the sale myself: Donuts! Perfect – I was even able to decorate them to match up with the Pride theme (June 28, the second day of the bake sale was Gay Pride Day).
Like I’ve mentioned before, I’m pretty broke, and that means that I don’thave much money to spend on ingredients for baked goods that I’m not going to eat. I wanted to make something impressive that would draw people in and that people might not associate with vegan baking, but buying 3 tubs of Earth Balance was out of the question. I racked my brain and eventually settled on yeasted donuts. I’ve made them a couple of times before and have been working on perfecting my recipe, and I’m happy to say that on Day 2 of the bake sale (sorry Day 1), I think I finally got it! The donuts were cheap to make, totally bad for you (no vegan rabbit food here), and pretty tasty if I do say so myself. I made a couple dozen basic glazed, and then painted the tops using Wilton food colouring paste. The result was visually appealing and pleasing to the stomach. These bad boys required a couple hours’ worth of work, but I like to think that they’re a pretty good example of what you can do with good intentions, a bit of work, and not a lot of money.
Thanks to all who volunteered, baked, or bought at the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sales all over the globe, and hopefully we’ll see you again next year!
No Murders In The Rue Morgue 