Serious Eats: New York
Sugar Rush: Vegan Strawberry Vanilla Mousse Cake from Penny Licks
While I find vegan restaurants to be disappointing about 50 percent of the time (I like to accommodate my vegan friends when I eat, alright?), I have much better luck with vegan baked goods and sometimes even prefer them to the "real" thing. When I went to Penny Licks—a candy, ice cream, and vegan bake shop in Williamsburg—the beautiful and pristine strawberry vanilla mousse cake jumped out at me. I devoured about a third of the ginormous $6 quadruple-layer cake wedge before fullness kicked in. But I kept going—the fluffy, lightly sweetened and strawberry-flavored mousse went down a lot easier than conventional frosting, and the cake, while a bit dense, was satisfyingly moist and not too sweet. Maybe I'll just meet my vegan friends at Penny Licks from now on.
Penny Licks
158 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11211 (b/n N 8th and N 9th; map)
718-384-0158