Just in time for Valentine’s Day, PETA has launched a nationwide battle royal to see who takes the cake—and the Top 10 Vegan Sweet Treats in the U.S. include Red Velvet Pound Cake, Tiramisu Trifle, cookies, cupcakes, and cinnamon rolls!
Here are the winners:
- Cashew Cheesecake served on a ginger-cashew-oat crust and topped with vanilla-coconut whipped cream and blueberry ras el hanout spice coulis at Sprig & Vine in New Hope, Pennsylvania
- The Red Velvet Pound Cake, a dense, delicate version of this exquisitely tasty cake drizzled with a vegan cream cheese glaze that comes in Lemon, Chocolate Turtle, Red Velvet, and Strawberry Crunch flavors, at Estella’s Vegan Cuisine & Desserts in Detroit
- At L’Artisane Creative Bakery in Coral Gables, Florida, the Coconut Caramel Cruffin (pictured) filled with vegan coconut dulce de leche made in-house with caramelized coconut milk
- The fluffy Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls at Riley’s Vegan Sweets and Eats in Peoria, Illinois, which come in a variety of flavors, including classic, chocolate, and pecan
- At SconeGrown in Bellingham, Washington, the Classic Scone served with clotted coconut cream and strawberry jam
- Crispy outside but with a satisfying soft center, the fresh-baked Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies at Jalen’s Bakery in Fresno, California
- The Tiramisu Trifle, made with homemade vanilla streusel base, silky marshmallow fluff, and a special house-made pastry cream, at HaleLife Bakery in Clearwater, Tampa, and St. Petersburg, Florida
- The decadent Chocolate Cake topped with a rich chocolate pastry cream at Chaumont Vegan in Los Angeles
- At Sweet To Lick in Williston Park, New York, the Strawberry Dream Cake, consisting of three layers of strawberry cake and strawberry cream drizzled with pink chocolate
- The cupcakes at Inspired Cravings in Gainesville, Virginia, which come in more than 20 creative flavors, including Love Strawberry Swirls, Forgiveness Honey Raspberry, and Boldness Triple Chocolate
Consumers’ demand for vegan food out of concern for animals, the environment, and their health has sent the vegan food market skyrocketing: It grew two and a half times faster in 2021 than it did between 2018 and 2020, and it’s expected to reach $22 billion by 2025.
Each eatery will receive a framed certificate from PETA, which offers free vegan Valentine’s Day dessert recipes on its website along with a selection of sweet gifts from the PETA Shop.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org