Flicking the Vs: February 2016

Six chocolatey vegan treats I can't get enough of

The other day, Mr Flicking the Vs came over and presented me with this little gem: It is one of my favourite things in the world: a pre...

Like you, I imagine, I love the vegan blogosphere. I love finding new recipes, tips, and generally being entertained by all the smart vegans out there. Were it not for the fact of studying for a degree, I'd spend lots more time noodling around the corners of the vegan blogosphere, for it's never short of amazing discoveries.

I made just such a discovery courtesy of Bite-sized Thoughts, who not so long ago wrote a run down of vegan options at Waterloo station. It was a post that has had a significant change to my cake eating habits.

Are you familiar with Lola's cupcake stands? They're the turquoise ones you often find at the unlovelier transport hubs of central London. They're fairly common, and I remember walking past one and thinking 'yeah, whatever, bet they don't do any vegan stuff, load of old cobblers'.

Thanks to Bite-sized Thoughts, I have learned better. I mentally had to give myself a slap around the earhole when I discovered that they not only had a vegan cupcake option, they had plural vegan cake options. Lesson learnt - don't just assume there's no a vegan choice - go investigate. Your curiosity may be rewarded.

On my first visit (of several million subsequent ones), I road-tested this inviting number, the Lola's coconut and strawberry cupcake.

I'll admit I was skeptical at first, but I was soon won over. The cake's a little on the dense side, but the it's not too sweet and the ratio of cake to icing is just right too. And there's a little liquid coconut centre in there too - it's good to see Lola's have embraced the coconut, presumably their dairy substitute, rather than trying to disguise it.

The glazed strawberry's neither here nor there, but I like the nod to dainty French patisserie, which this is clearly not an example of. This is an example of very enjoyable cupcakerie.

The coconut and strawberry cake is on the regular Lola's roster, but there are also changing weekly specials that often feature vegan options. Among them when I stopped by was big chunk of brownie. Behold:

I'd already shaved a chunk off the brownie before I photographed it, so you get the idea that Lola's weren't being shy with portion sizes - something that always gladdens my heart when it comes to cake.

It's got the crispy top and squidy middle that you'd hope for. If I was being critical, I'd say it was a little on the dry side - although sufficient measure to stop me eating it down to the last crumb and enjoying it a great deal.

But my favourite of my recent Lola's cupcakes experiments was the chocolate cupcake, which I fear may be a temporary addition to Lola's shelves (it totally deserves a permanent place on the A squad if that's the case).

The icing is fearsomely rich and fearsomely chocolately, and consequently, this is a cupcake that should only be attempted by those in need of a serious cake-and-icing fix. You'll know when you've had one of these cakes, put it that way - maybe you'll need a lie down, maybe you'll need to run around and burn off the calories. Either way, you'll know about it.

I'm a big fan. I'm not too proud to admit I had two in one week. I found out not so long ago Lola's has a loyalty card - you're not going to be surprised when I say I've now got one in my wallet.

While these friendly carts aren't going to displace your favourite all-vegan cupcake seller, but it's good to see more vegan options in mainstream places.