Picture of five colorful vegan wedding cakes by My Little Panda Kitchen — Cakes by My Little Panda Kitchen (Petersham, NSW, Australia)

No Eggs, No Dairy, No Problem!

So, let’s talk about vegan wedding cakes! What are vegan wedding cakes, you ask? They’re the same as any other magical cakes, but it’s made without any animal products. There are so many egg and dairy replacements the market these days, so bakers have a wide selection of tools to choose from. Because it’s gotten so much easier, more and more “conventional” bakeries are starting to master the art of vegan baking, which is extremely helpful. There are also independent vegan bakeshops popping up all over the place- there’s a good chance you’ll find one near you! Your wedding cake is, of course, a big symbolic piece of your celebration – you need it to be delicious. Make sure to set aside time for ample tastings (fun!); I almost didn’t, hence the cautionary tale below.

(Just want to see the list of vegan-friendly bakers? Click here to skip on down!)

Shopping For Vegan Wedding Cakes: A Cautionary Tale

When I was an engaged bride-to-be, I dealt with a strange combination of characteristics throughout the planning process; on one hand, my passive, people-pleasing nature helped me steer clear of the cliche Bridezilla stereotype (angry, demanding, and pushy). On the other hand, I was a bit obsessive (to put it mildly) about every detail pertaining to the wedding food, because I felt I owed it to the animals to make the plant-based cuisine not just as good as, but better than most other wedding feasts out there.

Jessica Chris cutting vegan wedding cake — Cutting the vegan cake with my husband! Photo by Meigan Canfield

My obsession didn’t end with dinner- my hunt for vegan wedding cakes was just as important. I wanted my guests to leave my wedding with a new appreciation for and curiosity about vegan eating, in hopes that they might consider including more cruelty-free options in their diet going forward. I knew the last bite they would take would likely be the cake, so it couldn’t be a failure.

Here’s where my cautionary tale comes in: I came very close to committing to a very mediocre cake. I only knew of one vegan bakery in town, so I assumed they’d be the right choice. They don’t specialize in wedding cakes, and their website didn’t seem to pay much attention to weddings at all. That should’ve been the first red flag. The photos of the vegan wedding cakes they’d made previously sort of looked like they were made in the 1980s, as though their cake decorator wasn’t aware of any decorating techniques that were discovered after the VHS release of Father of the Bride. That should’ve been the second red flag.

Alas, I mistakenly assumed that a fully vegan bakery would be far superior to conventional bakeries that claimed to be “able to” make vegan wedding cakes. I figured the non-vegan bakers wouldn’t care enough to put time and energy into experimenting with egg and dairy substitutes. And thus, over the course of a couple months, I bought three separate cakes made by the local vegan bakery. They don’t do tastings, so I had to pay full price for them all (another red flag). Each time I hoped they would just magically be better than the previous one. And yet, each one was lacking in flavor and was way more dense than a cake should be.

I found myself briefly doubting the quality plant-based food all together, wondering, “Is this just how vegan cake tastes? Do we really need chicken eggs to make fluffy, decadent baked goods? How have I never realized this before?” In retrospect, this thought was so silly; I’ve had countless vegan baked goods over the past decade- enough to know that there is zero sacrifice in texture and flavor if the chef knows what he or she is doing. I had simply been working with the wrong bakery.

Fortunately, after sample cake #3, the last email I received from the vegan bakery was surprisingly rude and dismissive, which promoted me to finally look elsewhere. We were getting dangerously close to the wedding by this time, so I began to panic. I flew through the pages of The Knot, emailing highly rated bakeries in hopes of finding one that would consider making a vegan cake! I was beyond pleasantly surprised to discover that four of the five bakers I wrote were experienced with vegan options, and a few even listed so on their websites. Sometimes I honestly forget how far the world has come; I had been so naive to think that in a progressive and relatively big city (Denver), it would be a challenge to acquire a cruelty-free cake!

vegan wedding tasting the cupcake gypsies — Tray of decadent vegan cupcakes for my tasting with The Cupcake Gypsies

I decided to do a tasting with The Cupcakes Gypsies, a local traveling bakery whose vibe I just really liked. Their website specifically noted that all of their many flavors could be made vegan, which made it clear that vegan options weren’t just an afterthought. I arranged a cupcake tasting and was blown away by the decadent perfection of every flavor they created. We ended up committing to a single two layer wedding cake (strawberry shortcake, covered in edible gold glitter) and nine dozen cupcakes (Candy Apple, Nutty Monkey, Stranahan’s Red Velvet, and Chocolate Truffle). All vegan, all delightful. So, the moral of this long story is: with any decision you make during the wedding planning process, don’t accept the first offer unless you’re blown away.

vegan wedding cake cupcake gypsies — Our Vegan Strawberry Shortcake with Edible Gold Glitter by the Cupcake Gypsies. Photo by Meigan Canfield

Without further ado, here is a list of vegan and vegan-friendly bakeries that can absolutely make your wedding cake and/or cupcakes! And, as my story indicates, I recommend sampling the goods from at least two bakeries before committing: