Flavors: Coconut Delight and Carrot Cake
Cost: $2.50-$2.75
Score: 5
At some point, in all of our lives, we’ve been stereotyped or have stereotyped people, places and things. I’ve definitely stereotyped food; vegan food in fact. I have avoided this review for some time because I had thoughts of tree-hugging, granola-eating yuppies serving me overpriced and bland cupcakes. To be honest I didn’t know what to expect when I walked into Sticky Fingers Bakery. However if there’s one thing that Sticky Fingers personifies is that labels need not apply here!
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| Sticky Fingers Bakery in Columbia Heights |
Located within steps of the Columbia Heights metro station I found metered street parking directly in front of the bakery. Filled to the brim with urban hipsters, everyday people, and yuppies alike, I saw a young woman in a Barnard sweatshirt while another woman posted on the wall with her collie- Summer. The staff quickly filled orders as the restaurant ebbed and flowed with hungry customers eager to engage in the affordable ($4.99) Sunday brunch. In the corner, a patron dropped a bottle of hot sauce and within seconds the mess is cleaned and the bottle is replaced.
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| Yummy cupakes that are also vegan |
The glass case holding all of Sticky Fingers’ treasures ranged from carrot cake, double chocolate, chocolate raspberry, peanut butter, and coconut delight to name a few. I ordered the coconut delight cupcake and a carrot cake cupcake priced sweetly at $2.50 each. The best treat was meeting bakery owner Doron Petersan.
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| Author & Founder Doron Petersan |
One of the first things that I noticed about Petersan is that she is extremely genuine, very pretty and passionate about her business. While we talked in her shop, three different customers came over to express their absolute adoration for her and her bakery. Like her winning cakes, her brand is rock-star status but she exuded unaffected graces.
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| Petersan and 'The Critic' smiling for the camera |
Most people became familiar with Petersan while she was a contestant on Cupcake Wars and stood out in her 1950's look, complete with tattoos and Chanel red lipstick. That day Petersan wore sweatpants, a comfy Sunday sweater, and there was no Chanel in sight. A newly minted mom, she showed me pictures of her 7 month old son, Ezra, whose bottom teeth are sprouting. We swapped stories of college, (she has a degree in Dietetics from the University of Maryland and her husband is a non-profit attorney), the obstacles of women in business, and what makes a good cupcake.
“At the end of the day, either it’s a good cupcake or it’s not. It shouldn’t matter if it’s vegan” ~ D. Petersan
As a critic, you can find yourself in the quandary of liking the shop and the owner but not liking their cupcakes. It’s a dilemma. I prayed that this would not be the case- and it wasn't.
Biting into the coconut delight I paused and said aloud, “This is a good a** cupcake!” Mind you, The Critic isn't prone to potty mouth. The flavor of the frosting was delectable and the texture immaculate. The cake was moist and the flavor perfect. It replicated the loving desserts that my grandmother made but my grandmother wasn’t a vegan. I quickly tore into my other cupcake and found it equally as enjoyable (although the after taste left hints of Olive oil). The carrot cake’s frosting was rich and the cake soft; not overrun with raisins which I like.
Internally I questioned,”How did she do this with no butter, eggs, or milk?” Fortunately for us Petersan is sharing all her secrets to baking in her new book, ‘Sticky Fingers’ Sweets: 100 Super-Secret vegan recipes’. More importantly, the good people at Penguin publishing will be giving two of my readers signed and personalized copies of the book (for contest rules click here).
Looking back on my time spent with Petersan and at the bakery, I learned that different shouldn’t be avoided and to prejudge or label anything is depriving one's self of something new. In this case, it meant depriving myself of some good arse cupcakes!
