Vegan bakery finds in London

In my all-round dedication to bringing you the finest vegan baked goods in London, I've really been pushing myself this month.

A quick browse on the Borough market website showed that there's a new allergen-free bakery stall in town called Free From Bakehouse. Just for your benefit, you understand, I decided to go check it out.

It's not an exclusively vegan bakery, more's the pity, but when I dropped by, there were a good few vegan options, including cupcakes, flapjakes, banana bread and rocky road, and it was those last two I got stuck into.

I only realised after the fact that the reason they're called the Free From Bakehouse is that they make gluten free stuff. Duh!

It's to their tribute then that I didn't realise it all while actually eating that that banana chocolate chip slice that it had no gluten, or for that matter, no sugar either. It could have done with a little more moisture, but was otherwise lovely and bouncy and had a nice touch of cinnamon in.

The rocky road was delicious too, hugely rich and all the better for it.

The second bakery pitstop came courtesy of one of those Sliding Doors type moments of serendipity. I ended up being late for work and taking a slightly different route in, meaning I wandered past a stall that mentioned vegan cake. The stall hadn't set out its wares, given the earliness of the morning, so I resolved to return at later.

I hotfooted it back at lunchtime, and met with Raffo & Ridgeway. They're not a all vegan, but they're very vegan friendly - off a small stall, they had three vegan items: a summer vegetable pie, all nestled in filo (that's phyllo to you good folk Stateside); a vegan health bar (the flapjack's more glamourous cousin; and a cookies and cream cupcake.

Can you guess which one I went for? Yep, all cake, all the time.

It was just what you need in a cupcake - dark under layer, creamy over the top top, and half a cookie on top. You've got to love that shizzle.

I'm a bit of a convert to Raffo and Ridgeway - they're very friendly in person and on Twitter, and when they ran out of vegan coffee and walnut cake before I could come and remove a sizeable portion from them, they did promise to make another.

The only downside? Their location on Lower Marsh Market means not enough people will get to sample their lovely baked goods. If you're in south London, do yourself a favour and head over there.


Comments

  1. I looove banana bread. Nice choice there. The rocky road sounds interesting too but cupcakes are always a little too sweet for me. Looks like you've done us all a solid in searching out the goods, though. It's tough work but someone's gotta do it.

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  2. A cookie in a cupcake? I love it! Compounded desserts :-)

    Believe it or not, I had no idea Cookies & Scream was gluten free; the taste surely didn't give it away.

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  3. Oh man the Rocky Road will be mine, someday. Amazing that all these vegan-friendly bakes are popping up, especially at Borough. I'm sure I'm wrong but I always get the sense that Borough market isn't as vegan-friendly as it should be. (I think I'm spoiled by the Brick Lane Upmarket and the like 5 different all vegan Ethiopian stalls, haha.)

    Also, Sliding Doors is one of my faves! Nice reference :)

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  4. I was hoping you'd say the cupcake - looks great! I somehow couldn't find anything vegan the one time I went to Borough; I was looking for a veggie stall I'd heard of but couldn't locate it. Now I'm thinking I should go back and give it another shot!

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  5. Incredible finds! I'm really amazed that you chanced upon a vegan, gluten-free, AND sugar-free treat that can hold its own against traditional pastries. That's nothing short of a baking victory right there. Wish I could get that recipe.

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  6. I would go for the cupcake too - and the rocky road - though sounds like you have been travelling the right road to discover a new cafe serendipitously - it is always a nice way to discover a cafe rather than follow a well trodden path of people urging you to go there!

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  7. Stumbling upon vegan goodies when you least expect it is the best, especially when it's a cookie in a cupcake. That rocky road looks pretty darn good too. :-)

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  8. That cookie cupcake looks delicious!

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  9. If I ever manage to visit London again, I'll know just where to head. I'm depending on you to keep the bakeries supplied with customers so they will still be open for my visit. :)

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  10. I love visiting vegan-friendly bakeries, sometimes they offer both vegan and gluten-free options, which is pretty nice. A half cookie cupcake looks pretty good! Sucks about the location….but I would love to check out south London sometimes!

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