Tonight, I was lucky enough to join Vegan Divas and GirlieGirl Army for their summer cocktail hour evening at the newly opened Vegan Divas Bakery located at 1437 First Avenue (near 75th Street). Boy, am I glad I did! For those of you who don’t know, Vegan Divas baked goods and desserts are all the rage and now they have a home of their own on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Vegan Divas entire line of baked goods and desserts are vegan, 100% natural, cholesterol free, low-calorie, high in fiber, kosher, parve and made with organic ingredients. Furthermore, the healthiest possible ingredients are used such as maple syrup, cold-pressed coconut oil and spelt flour. You gotta’ love that!
When I arrived at Vegan Divas, I was greeted by two gorgeous women: Fernanda Capobianco, the founder of Vegan Divas, and Chloe Jo Davis, founder of GirlieGirl Army. For the record, Ms. Capobianco is married to world-renowned pastry chef, Francois Payard. She founded Vegan Divas after serving as an active board member of the New York Coalition For Healthy School Foods, recognizing the need for healthy snack options for students.
After being warmly welcomed by these beautiful women, I immediately noticed the impressive assortment of doughnuts on display. It should be noted that Vegan Divas’ doughnuts are baked and not fried. The calorie counts of all the baked goods were shown on a sign near each item. The luscious baked cinnamon doughnuts were 195 calories each. The baked doughnuts with the chocolate icing were only 185 calories each.
Check out the adorable assortment of mini- doughnuts. The toasted coconut minis were my favorite at only 20 calories each!
Let’s not forget about the large toasted coconut doughnuts; we don’t want to hurt their feelings!
After my initial spotting of the enticing doughnuts, I couldn’t help but notice the fabulous wall of inspirational quotes (which just happened to be many of my favorites).
And then in walked Victoria Moran, inspirational speaker, certified holistic health counselor and author of “Main Street Vegan: Everything You Need To Know To Eat Healthfully And Live Compassionately In The Real World.”
I continued to check out the other dessert items. I drooled over the double chocolate spelt brownies (at 120 calories each) and the gluten-free macaroons (at 203 calories each).
I asked Fernanda which dessert was her favorite and she quickly replied “the chocolate cake!”
There were lovely packages of chocolate chip cookies, fiber rich oatmeal raisin cookies and apple walnut scones.
As I picked out some scrumptious goodies to take home to my family, I was served a yummy frozen treat made of tofu and ginger. Much healthier than the frozen yogurts I ate during days long ago.
The “icing on the cake” was the beautiful box of goodies I picked out for my family. Feast your eyes on this!
And that’s not all! Vegan Divas also serves daily special quiches and sandwiches, gluten-free mousse desserts, muffins, carrot cake, cheesecake with raspberry jam, cereal, detox trail mix, hot and cold drinks and organic fresh juices served in glass jars to save the environment. All in all, I believe that Vegan Divas is the best thing to happen to veganism since sliced Ezekiel bread! Do not hesitate to indulge in Vegan Divas treats at their wonderful new bakery, by ordering online or at one of the locations indicated on their website including Butterfield Market, Citarella, FC Chocolate Bar at the Plaza Hotel, Health Nuts, Garden of Eden and Whole Foods Gary Null.
It doesn’t get much better than Vegan Divas. It’s hard to imagine that the donuts are so low calorie considering how absolutely delicious they are. I can’t even imagine being able to eat a doughnut a day for breakfast without feeling any guilt. While I may not turn vegan anytime soon, I’m definitely committed to Vegan Divas.
I agree! Vegan Divas is amazing!