Before you even get your shorts twisted, it’s not as bad as it sounds. Vegan desserts are becoming a tad easier to find, but I still had to go on a trek. I took along my husband, who has to deal with dairy allergy on the daily.
First up was Seed, located in the Lower Garden District. I’ve heard rave reviews about their vegan nachos, which we ate so quickly I couldn’t even get a picture in time. Alas, that’s not why we ventured there. We only tried one dessert, and we chose wisely. The chocolate mousse with whipped “cream” was exactly like a delicious pudding cup from my childhood. Our bartender, Melanie, told us it is made with tofu. TOFU?! WHAT?! Yeah, tofu. And it was awesome. It’s not the prettiest dessert, but it started the vegan tour off right. (And if you can’t tell, I had already eaten some before I remembered to snap a pic.)
Note: Dairy loving husband says, “I liked it. A lot.” Man of so many words.
Vegan chocolate mousse at Seed.
Next up was Breads on Oak, in the Carrollton neighborhood. Most of the selection there was vegan, which is a nice change of pace since most bakeries only have one or two options. We decided on the strawberry brioche and bread pudding. First taste of the bread pudding and I was thrilled with my choice. It didn’t taste like there was any way this item could have been vegan. It was rich and decadent – too much for one person to enjoy. The brioche on the other hand, I felt… meh, at best. I just didn’t think it was very good. Kind of like a cafeteria roll with an overly sweet strawberry filling. My partner in this adventure absolutely LOVED it. He couldn’t have finished that brioche any faster.
I would definitely go back and try some other items.
Vegan bread pudding & strawberry brioche at Breads on Oak.
I didn’t realize when I decided what order to visit places that I saved the very best for last. Shake Sugary in the Bywater was hands down the best one.
They had quite a few vegan cookies to choose from, so we grabbed two of those. One cookie was the best gingerbread cookie I have eaten in years. The other was a chocolate cranberry that was, as my husband put it, “fine”. But, I don’t want to overshadow the magic that was the strawberry tart.
It’s everything I wanted it to be. It was absolutely the closest thing I have had to a tart since finding out I can’t eat dairy. It wasn’t a creamy filling, more gelatinous, but the taste of it made it super easy to look past. The strawberries were perfectly sweet, and the crust was a star of its own. This was the “chef’s choice”, so I can’t promise it will be there when you go.
Two of my other favorite vegan dessert makers are Girls Gone Vegan and Rocket Girl Treats. They don’t have shops to pop into, but you can find their goods at a variety of places around the city.
So, my fellow non-dairy folks (and vegans), there are more options out there for us than expected! Enjoy!
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