Fat Bottom Bakery

NEW WEBSITE!

2011-09-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

We are happy to announce we've just launched a new and better-looking website!

Please visit www.fatbottombakery.net from now on!

We'll continue our blog posts over there, and you can also check out our photo galleries and special order menu, and even submit an order inquiry right through the form on the site! We've also got a couple very exciting announcements to make in the near future, so please bookmark the page and visit often. See you over there!

We'll be closed this week

2011-09-02T12:37:00.000-07:00

Hey all, and happy holiday weekend!

Fat Bottom Bakery will be closed (that's right, we're taking a mini-vacation) From Sunday, September 4th through Thursday, September 8th and will not be able to fill any orders during that time.

Please get in touch with us after that, and we look forward to baking for you once again!

Special Order Menu

2011-08-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

The Big Gay 10k strikes again!

2011-08-15T14:19:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to be invited back to the Big Gay 10k-- a run both tough and whimsical benefiting the San Francisco Aids Foundation-- for a second time this year. Last year we just dropped off our rainbow goodies, but this time we got to stick around and watch the runners come in, eat some snacks, take pictures and actually interact with people ourselves-- always nice!

I don't know what there really is to say about this event that the pictures can't say much more efficiently, so...

Queer Cupcakes in Space (and everywhere else too)

2011-08-08T10:14:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had the pleasure of donating cupcakes to two totally fabulous parties: one for our friends of the SF Dyke March, and one for a fundraiser called Queers in Space. What's "Queers in Space" all about? Well, I'll let the organizers/beneficiaries explain it to you:
Six queer people of color/mixed race folks go in a van to the Star Trek convention in Las Vegas.

We're brown, we're down, we're Trekkies.

And we're meeting our icon, George Takei (but he doesn't know it yet) and videotaping our journey.
Star Trek fans are unabashed in our geekiness.

Queer people of color and mixed race folks are unabashed in our fierce fabulousness. Our home planets were colonized. So we search for a place to live, play and love at the intersections; in each other, we find home.

How rad is that? Anyway, we made them these awesome geeky Star Trek cupcakes to raffle off at the party, and by all accounts it was a raging success!

Here are the cupcakes, in all their glory.

And this is the box we put 'em in. Good pun, right? Right? Wah wah...

In a continuation on the theme of beyond-awesome queer events, this Saturday, August 13th, we'll be waiting at the finish line of he Big Gay 10k selling cupcakes! You may remember our cupcakes for the Big Gay 10k last year, and we're honored and stoked to participate again in 2011! Check it out!

P.S. Go watch that George Takei video linked above. Seriously.

Good news!

2011-07-25T16:07:00.000-07:00

The bakesale yesterday was absolutely awesome, with the usual assortment of unbelievable vegan treats--- actually, let me take that back. This was an unusually great assortment of unbelievable vegan treats (and if you know how good the bakesale usually is, this should really impress you)!
When all was said and done, everyone's hard work added up to $940 made for Save KUSF and Bay Area Girls Rock Camp!
Now, for some drool-worthy photos:

Peanut butter chocolate whoopie pies!

Gluten free mini cupcakes from Local Love!

Super delicious focaccia with cashew cheese

Cupcakes! That look like hamburgers!!

Vegan conchas from Hella Vegan Eats!

Super tasty pizza

A veganized "It's It" ice cream sandwich! Good lord this was delicious!

Noella and KUSF's DJ Irwin, who spun records for us and brightened up the sale!

Thanks as always to all our wonderful volunteers and bakers! And special thanks to Noella and Issues, Tiffany from Hella Vegan Eats, Morgan, and Megan who I took some of the photos for this blog from. You guys rule!

Rock and Roll East Bay Vegan Bakesale this month!

2011-07-11T13:51:00.000-07:00

Exciting news! Another East Bay vegan bakesale is almost upon us, and this time round it's all about empowerment through music and radio!

Please join us on Sunday (that's right, it's a Sunday this time for all those of you who can never make the Saturday events!), July 24th in front of Issues from 11am to 3pm. We'll have the usual assortment of delicious baked goods from the Bay Area's best vegan bakers, as well as, hopefully, some special surprises for you involving our two beneficiaries!
Who are the beneficiaries this month, you wonder? Let me help you get acquainted.

First we've got Bay Area Girls Rock Camp.

BAGRC is a nonprofit dedicated to empowering girls through music, promoting an environment that fosters self-confidence, creativity and collaboration. It is a place where girls learn to play instruments, form bands, and write and perform their own music in a supportive environment of female instructors and mentors. Through music lessons, workshops, group activities and performance, girls acquire skills that help guide them throughout their lives.

And our other fabulous beneficiary, Save KUSF.

From their website: From 1963 until 2011, KUSF was a community and student-run broadcast station owned by the University of San Francisco. At 10am on January 18, 2011 USF Deans informed the on-air dj that the station was going off the air and he was to cease programing and leave the studio at once. There had been virtually no warning that the station was to be sold. The dj and the rest of the volunteer staff and students were escorted off the premises by campus police. Following the frequency's abrupt sale to USC, USF announced plans for a stripped down form of the station to become an online-only entity. The organization saveKUSF feels the sale is an injustice to the community KUSF served and is fighting to block the sale of the broadcasting rights to 90.3fm.

As usual, we're looking for more bakers, volunteers, eaters and promoters! Does one or more of these descriptions fit you? If so, please contact us at ebveganbakesale@gmail.com and let us know how you'd like to contribute! Likewise, if you want a larger version of the flier for distribution, let us know and we'll send it to you.

Thanks, as always, for your support, and we're super, super excited to see everyone in a couple weeks at the next bakesale!!

P.S.
If you're looking for something to do this Saturday, there's an even in Golden Gate Park put on by Rentalic, an online community that facilitates sharing and rental between members. Oh yeah, and a great big tower of 8 different flavors of our cupcakes will be there waiting for you!
Go check it out!

Eye on the Bay Video

2011-07-04T12:09:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! Just in case you missed it, now you can watch our teevee appearance any time you please, on the internet no less!

Special thanks to my brother Justin Rowe for whipping up this edited version of the video and sticking it up on Youtube!

Happy Summer! We've got lots to tell you about.

2011-06-27T16:29:00.000-07:00

Remember how we told you we were going to be on TV last week? Well, it happened, and it wasn't even that embarrassing-- it was actually really fun!
We got to spread the word about tasty vegan baked goods, and hopefully also let folks who have food allergies (and parents of kids with allergies)know that there are great options (like us!) out there to fulfill their need for sweets minus the dairy and eggs. Plus, we got to give treats to the Eye on the Bay crew, including our very gracious and enthusiastic host, Thuy Vu.
I believe our clip will be up on their website, though as of this writing I don't see it yet. Anyway, check back if you missed it on CBS and wanna watch!

In other exciting news, last night we got to take part in Yelp's Sunset Showdown event at the Craneway Pavillion, and it was totally crazy! In a good way.
Before arriving to set up, we weren't exactly sure what we were getting ourselves into. Once there, however, it became clear that we were surrounded. Completely surrounded by dozens of other local food businesses, a giant stage to host the evening's musical acts, aerial artists, a parkour demonstration (look it up), a tent and photobooth set up by the awesome folks of Girls' Rock Camp (who were beneficiaries of the event), and... did I miss anything? Let me show you some pictures to help give you some idea what the heck I'm trying to describe.

The stage

The tent!

The view from our table-- yes, that's the parkour group in the background! Also pictured: our red velvet, toasted coconut, and chocolate cupcakes

During setup-- yep, that Pyramid Brewery you see. We were more than taken care of in the beer department, with them and several other local brewers at the event

...And once the crowds arrived. As you can imagine, the 400 cupcakes we brought were gone pretty damn quickly

We had a great time getting to meet people and sample out our treats to lots of folks, from brand new vegans, to people who thought vegan cupcakes sounded weird until they tasted one and had to come back for seconds (always satisfying!). If you're a Yelper who's checking out our blog after checking usout at the event, welcome! It was nice to meet you.
We also had the pleasure of sharing a table with Nature's Express, and were lucky enough to have a heaping plate of deliciousness from Souley Vegan, as well as running into Jen from Angel Cakes. Overall, a winning Sunday night.

In one final, less exciting piece of news, we will not be selling cupcakes at Art Murmur this Friday. We'll be back in the swing of things next month, but for now we're moving (house, not shop) and need some time to unpack. I mean, you know how it is, right?

'Til next time!

Watch us on TV this Friday!

2011-06-20T14:33:00.000-07:00

Exciting news! Last week we got filmed for a short segment on CBS' Eye On the Bay in which we got to showcase our cupcakes and cookies! The piece will air this Friday, June 25th at 7pm on CBS in the Bay Area.
We had a great experience being interviewed (though when you watch it you'll notice they only had one mic, so only one of us got to talk! Ha) and are stoked to see it on the teevee! Please watch, and tell your friends too!

TWO Bakesales this Saturday!

2011-06-17T16:45:00.001-07:00

No matter what side of the Bay you're on, this Saturday, June 18th we've got a very worthy event for you! Oh yeah, and some ice cream sundae-inspired cupcakes to eat, too. We're sending along a box of 'em to each of these two bakesales this Saturday, so head out and support some great organizations, all while giving yourself a totally-worth-it tummy ache.

First up is the latest installment of the San Francisco Vegan Bakesale, which will be in front of Mission Bicycle, at 766 Valencia St. (between 18th and 19th Streets) from noon to 4p.m. They're raising money for two amazing organizations: The Milo Foundation and San Francisco Bay Vegetarians .

And for the East Bay folks (oh hey!), head over to Splash Pad Park (across from the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, where the wonderful farmer's market is on Saturdays) to check out the bakesale benefiting the awesome Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary. This one will be held from 9:30am to 2:30 pm, which actually means you have time to hit up BOTH of these tremendous bakesales! Hey, there's an idea, why not do that?

Stay tuned this Monday for some exciting news about what you're doing next Friday at 7pm!

Weekend Success!

2011-06-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

Hey all, just wanted to share a few photos with you of our weekend events!

Friday night, we had our event over at the Classic Cars West Gallery, which was a great place to take shelter from the drizzly rain and check out some amazing lady-made art (oh yeah, and cupcakes).

Look what an awesome gallery space this is-- complete with some of the actual classic cars that fill the building on any given day.

Thanks to Lulu and the Classic Cars West Gallery for this hardly-even-awkward photo of me and our little setup! She got to us before the crowds flooded in, so you can actually see the table.

Next up, let's revisit our trip to the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society Saturday morning for their weekend adoptathon event!
When we got there, they were setting up decorations for an awesome party atmosphere.

Every animal adopted went home with a free mystery gift...

And their person went home with a cupcake!

After we set up the cupcake table, we got to go inside and meet the cats who were up for adoption, including this little kitten pile.

It was almost impossible to leave there without scooping at least one of them up (I was beyond charmed by a big adult cat named Laredo, who was the sweetest and most beautiful), but we've got little animal friends of our own at home already, so we left them to meet their perfect match at the adoptathon. And I'm sure they did!

So that was our weekend. We'll keep you updated when we find out from the Humane Society how (wildly successful) their weekend turned out in the end!

Best Weekend Ever! Come adopt a friend and eat some sweets!

2011-05-30T12:53:00.000-07:00

You guys: The most joyous, exciting and wonderful event is coming this weekend, and we'll be there to celebrate with cupcakes!

This Saturday, June 4th, is the beginning of the weekend-long Maddie's Matchmaker Adoptathon, connecting people and shelter animals to help animals find their forever homes! Shelters all across Alameda and Contra Costa counties will be participating, and thanks to Maddie's Fund (named after Maddie, a miniature schnauzer!), all adoption fees will be waived! In fact, the shelters will be receiving at least $500 per pet that is adopted in order to cover fees and help them continue the vital work they do to save companion animals.

We'll be bringing a healthy supply of cupcakes at 11 am Saturday to the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society (a past EBVB beneficiary, located at 2700 Ninth Street in Berkeley) which will be given away to help people celebrate their new non-human family members. There will also be free gifts for adoptive pet-parents, as well as a makeshift photo booth, where people can pose with their new friends! How cute is that? The cutest.
Seriously, can you imagine a more wonderful event? Tons of animals finding a home, vegan cupcakes and other goodies, and money going to help fund East Bay shelters... now is definitely the time to come adopt, if you've been thinking of bringing home a companion animal.

And, also this weekend we will be at Oakland's Art Murmur on Friday slinging cupcakes out of our trays, and after that, at the Femme Cartel Girly/Urban Art show!
Art Murmur is always huge, and keeps getting better as the nights start warming up, and at last count, the Femme Cartel Art Show has hundreds of people RSVPed! In addition to FBB, the show will also feature other local vendors including jewelry makers and clothes-sellers. It's gonna be rad.
For more info on those two events, check out our previous blog post.

Have ideas about what cupcake flavors you'd like to see for sale on Friday? Let us know! We aim to please.

See you this weekend!

Art Shows, Art Murmur and Birthday Party Season are upon us!

2011-05-23T13:01:00.000-07:00

Hey all, sorry once again for lagging on blog posts-- we've just got so many things going on it's hard to find the time to post about all of them (or remember to bring the camera to take pictures; d'oh!). But now that we've got the apology out of the way, let me update you on what's new and exciting in the world of FBB.

First up, it's toddler birthday party season! Or so we've been told by one of our recent customers, and it seems to be true! Not sure how a season of birthdays really makes sense, but at the very least, it does seem to be the season of birthday parties! We've gotten to do tons of really cute cupcakes lately for some lucky kids, including these "Sesame Street" themed ones.

Subtle, huh (sort of?)? We thought it would be cuter and more classic to go with primary colors for the frosting and complimentary colors of sprinkles to get across the theme without using anything over-the-top cartoon printed. Anyway, I think they look super cute, all in their box together.

As always, if you know a kid, young or old, who needs some rainbow-sprinkled sweetness in their life, please get in touch! We love helping people celebrate all kinds of events. We even got to make a special delivery for someone on his 25th wedding anniversary the other day! It totally makes our day to help make your day. Sounds silly, but there's just no other way to say it.

Next up, we've got a couple upcoming events we'd love to see you at!

As per usual, we will be at the Oakland Art Murmur next week (first Friday of the month, so June 3rd)! The weather's getting warmer and Art Murmur just keeps getting bigger and better, so it's definitely going to be the place to be next Friday. You'll find us there with our cupcakes trays and two tasty flavors for you to choose from. Be on the lookout!

Then, after the street-fair-type portion of the night is over, we'll head up the street to Classic Cars West on 26th St for the Femme Cartel Girly/Urban Art Opening! We'll be there starting around 8:30 or 9, and are stoked to be selling our treats at what looks like it's going to be a really fun, female-centered art show! Being surrounded by creative women of all stripes sounds like a pretty excellent way to spend the beginning of your weekend, doesn't it?

Here's the link to the Facabook event, if that's your thing-- respond and repost!

So that's it for now. Please come out next weekend, and let us know here or on Facebook if you have any special cupcake flavor requests for Art Murmur! We'll see what we can do, and see you there!

Sweet Cups to eat and photos to look at

2011-04-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

This weekend we welcomed the lovely ladies of Sweet Cups (a delicious new all-vegan candy company whose treats you may have tried at the last bakesale) into our kitchen for a mini photo shoot. We were lucky enough to get in on the action for a few shots, so hopefully you'll be seeing some of those in the near future!

In the mean time, I took a few photos myself and wanted to share. No big news here, just some stuff for you to look at.

(Elysse and photographer Aldrin)

(Box mountain!)

(Double chocolate chip, and lemon poppyseed cookies)

(...and their friends assortment-of-cupcakes!)

'Til next time... enjoy!

Fatshion Clothing Swap update + April Bakesale Postponed!

2011-04-11T13:44:00.000-07:00

Hey all! First, I want to do a quick report-back on the Fatshion Clothing Swap held yesterday in San Francisco. In short: it effing ruled!

We went and set up our vaguely John Waters-themed mini cupcakes (tacky-cute, right??):

Right next to the champagne (and sodas! But mostly a big bucket of champagne!):

And then the swapping commenced!

I got this adorably appropriate and extremely comfy t-shirt, among other things.

It was really amazing to be in such a totally body-positive space with a bunch of happy, lovely ladies trading clothes and eating treats on a Sunday afternoon! Much respect and admiration to our friend Laura (who brings you not only the fat lady clothing swap, but also your favorite blog Vegansaurus etc. etc.), and her co-organizers. Rumor has it they're going to plan another one sometime soon, so we hope to see some of you there!

In other news, we're announcing the postponement of the next East Bay Vegan Bakesale! It was originally scheduled for next weekend, April 17th, but due to a variety of factors we've moved it back a month or so to late-May/early-June. Not the best news, I know, but hey: not bad either.

We'll be sure to keep you all updated as soon as we've got a new date planned. It's really going to be a great one, benefiting Bay Area Girls Rock Camp and Save KUSF! There's even word that we may have a DJ in attendance, doing their dj thing right from the event. How rad is that?

And to leave you with a sweet image to tide you over, here's the result of a recipe we tested this morning for sticky buns.

Cupcake Challenge + Fatshion Clothing Swap!

2011-03-18T17:15:00.000-07:00

I know we've gone a little while without a blog post here, but we've been super crazy busy with recent events and new orders, so apologies!
But now, we wanted to report back on the Cupcake Challenge we undertook a couple weekends ago! I'll spoil the ending by saying that, sadly, we did not win.
However! It was a pretty fun event, packed with tons of people and cupcakes, and we got to connect with a lot of nice folks with sweet tooths (teeth?). Our creamsicle mini cupcake got an especially large number of compliments, and it was fun to be able to interact with a lot of people who didn't have a lot of prior experience with vegan treats!
A few of our pictures are below, and some good ones (by a professional photographer and everything) are up here at Sf Station.

Our friend Debbie was an amazing helper all weekend!

Big tower of creamsicles

Check out our new chalk board sign!

Look at this crazy ballot/menu! Unfortunately we didn't get to try any others, since they weren't vegan...

...however, Debbie did! So we were able to get the lowdown on some of them from her.

In exciting-future-events news, FBB will be providing the treats for the Fatshion: Turn to the Left clothing swap in San Francisco Sunday, April 10th!
This is basically just what it sounds like, except even cooler. It's a clothing swap for plus-sized ladies to get their fashion on in an environment full of rad clothes that will actually fit! And as a bonus, any leftover clothing that doesn't get picked up at the swap will be donated to Out of the Closet after the event. Oh yeah, and there's only a small suggested donation ($2-$6) to participate, and the cupcakes will be free! The event is co-organized by our friend Laura of everyone's favorite Vegansaurus, so you know it's gonna rule. Tell your fabulous size 12+ friends to come out, eat some cupcakes, and update their wardrobes with us!

Oh, and one more event-related announcement: unfortunately we will not be tabling at the Farm Fresh Friday farmer's market as we announced in the last blog post. The organizers had to change the time of the market, and it just wasn't possible to fit into our weekly schedule. Here's hoping we'll get a chance to see you all at many other markets in the near future!

That's all for now, but we're working out details for the next East Bay Vegan Bakesale, so stay tuned!

So Many Events!

2011-03-03T16:14:00.000-08:00

First, as you may have heard, we're fresh from another successful East Bay Vegan Bakesale last weekend, where we were able to raise close to $1100 for Home at Last and Lyon-Martin Health Services! Thank you again to all who participated! We had a truly great collection of volunteers and donors this time round, and the bakesale was a blast.

But despite this awesome success, we've got no time to rest on our laurels. This weekend has a bunch more in store for us as makers and you all as eaters of sweet treats! Let's go in chronological order because, why not.

First, Fat Bottom Bakery will be tabling at our first farmer's market starting tomorrow, and continuing every Friday for the next several months! We're participating in Urban Classic Events' Farm Fresh Friday program, bringing local, sustainable fruits, vegetables and other foods to a variety of school campuses around the Bay Area!

You'll find us at Escuela Bilingue Internacional School, 410 Alcatraz Avenue in Oakland, from 2:30 to 6:30pm (that's right, it's on the campus of a bilingual school-- pretty cool!). There will also be a bunch of other great vendors selling fresh produce, specialty items and artisan goods, so it's pretty much going to be awesome. Please come out and support us and this great new farmer's market series-- we look forward to seeing you there!

(In case you're wondering, this does mean that unfortunately we'll be skipping out on Oakland's Art Murmur this month. But! We plan on starting back up the first Friday in April, so you'll have two places to find us that day!)

Next we have two events on Sunday! As you already know, we are preparing to kick ass at the SF Cupcake Challenge at the Mezzanine in San Francisco, from 1pm on.

Meanwhile across town in front of Mission Bicycle Company, some friends of ours will be holding the Cupcakes for Choice Bakesale to raise awareness about and funds for Planned Parenthood and the much needed services they provide! We're donating some treats, as are tons of other wonderful bakers, and I believe they're still looking for even more! If you're interested in baking or helping out, please email Robin at rdoolin09 at gmail dot com.

And! In other, non-weekend-specific news, we're excited to have our treats sold at New People Cafe in San Francisco's Japantown starting this week! If you're around, stop by and pick up a cupcake or cookie and let the lovely folks at New People that you're happy they now have even more vegan treats!

Alright, do I have it all covered? Yes, I think that's it for now. We hope you can come out to one or all of this weekend's fantastic events-- see you around!

The SF Cupcake Challenge is Coming

2011-02-21T13:59:00.001-08:00

It's been awhile since we've entered a competition, so when we heard about the next month's cupcake challenge, we figured it was about time to get back in the ring and have a go at kicking some non-vegan ass. I mean, showing the world (or at least the 500 people expected at the event) how delicious cruelty-free treats can be!

What in the world am I talking about? Well, allow me to introduce you to the inaugural SF Cupcake Challenge. Fat Bottom Bakery will be going up against a bevvy of local bakeries on Sunday, March 6th at the Mezzanine in SF to see whose cupcakes reign supreme in the 'traditional' and 'original' categories. It seems they're keeping everyone's flavors a secret until the competition, but I will tell you that we'll be there with our best-seller for the 'traditional' entry, and a cupcake that's seen battle before and wants vengeance in the 'original' category.

As far as I know, we're the only vegan competitors, and as such I'd like to register our complete confidence in the battle-worthiness of our recipes, and also ask all our fellow vegan treat-eaters out there to send us your moral support! It seems unlikely that you'll want to actually come to the event unless you're a well-off cupcake fan who's ok with dairy and eggs since the tickets are a steep (but probably worth it) $40.

At any rate, wish us luck, and wait for a full report-back after the event! We hope to be victorious, of course, but even if we return to the kitchen without any awards, we'll be happy to have served over 1,000 of our delicious vegan minis to a lot of folks who may not have tried them otherwise.

P.S.
There's a video of the recent competition in LA here, and SF Weekly has a little blurb about the upcoming competition here.

February East Bay Vegan Bakesale!

2011-02-14T16:25:00.001-08:00

Just a quick note to give y'all a heads up:
The next EBVB is coming Saturday, February 26th! It will be held, as usual, in front of Issues Shop in Oakland, and run from 11am to 3pm.

We've already got lots of awesome bakers on board (including Cinnaholic and Local Love!), but we're always looking for more! You don't have to be a professional to donate treats, just make something tasty and vegan and we'll be grateful to have you!
We're also looking for a few more volunteers to help with setup, break down, and money-taking during the bakesale.
If you're interested in doing any of these, please email ebveganbakesale@gmail.com.

~~We've got an awesome flier on its way which we'll be sure to post so you can spread it around later this week-- keep an eye out for it!~~

UPDATE: Here's the flier, please feel free to share!

And another UPDATE!

This month's bakesale will be your first opportunity to get a limited edition, totally rad EBVB t-shirt! Check it out (and ignore this less-than-great photo):

Be sure to bring $12 extra!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T11:55:00.000-08:00

Hope you all have a great Monday! If you need something to sweeten it up a little bit, why not pick up one of these little darlings at the Valentine's Day Bakesale at UC Berkeley (12 to 4pm today), or at any of the Berkeley or San Francisco Herbivore locations?
And if you were one of the lucky ones who got a special delivery sent to you today, we hope you enjoy!

Valentine's Day Special!

2011-02-07T17:11:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again; whether you love or hate it, Valentine's Day is upon us! Why not take this opportunity to give your loved ones a very special vegan treat, to show them how much you care?
By loved ones, of course, I mean to be inclusive. It doesn't have to be your sweetheart you're giving a sweet V-day present to-- you don't even have to have a sweetheart! Wouldn't your friends and family (or hey, YOU) love a dozen rich chocolate cupcakes with pink fresh raspberry buttercream and chocolate ganache?
Yeah, you heard right. Our gift to all of you on this loveliest of holidays is our Valentine special. For a limited time-- Sunday the 13th and Monday the 14th-- you can have a dozen very special chocolate raspberry cupcakes for just $25!

If you'd like to place an order, please email fatbottombakers@gmail.com to let us know by this Friday the 11th so we can make sure to get you on our special order list for the weekend!

("Artist's" rendering of the lucky cupcake recipient-- super stoked!)

If you're tempted by this deal but find one or two cupcakes to be more your speed, you can always go by any of the three Herbivore locations in Berkeley and San Francisco on Monday the 14th and buy them individually (after you feast on a delicious meal, of course)!

(This picture is NOT of your very special V-Day cupcakes, but I wanted to use it just so I could say we're "cooking up some treats" for your big Monday-- wah wah)

Mama Buzz Benefit Tomorrow!

2011-02-02T10:15:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow night at the Stork Club there is a benefit for Mama Buzz Cafe!

Don't freak out, they are not in danger of shutting their doors or anything! Mama Buzz just needs some help making some necessary repairs.

For a small (and incredibly helpful) donation of only FIVE BUCKS you get a line up of local musicians, a raffle, and food offerings.

So we will see you there?

FBB at Philz Coffee! Plus, some teasers to get your mouth watering.

2011-01-24T15:33:00.000-08:00

Good news, everyone: as of this week, there is one more place in the Bay Area to pick up some Fat Bottom treats! Even better news? It's Philz Coffee in Berkeley!
In case you've never been, allow me to tell you this place is incredible! It's huge, with lots of seating and, oh yeah, they brew their award-winning coffee one cup at a time. It pretty much rules, and we recommend you go check it out asap. And leave with your choice of vegan cookie or fruit bar while you're at it!

And now, I've got a handful of pictures to make your Monday (or whatever day it is when you read this) a little more mouth-watering. First, a variety of cupcakes (and some cookies!) for special orders, just because I thought they looked nice:

And, just to tease you a bit more, check out our progress on the coveted vegan croissant! We've made a few batches now, and they're getting better and better! They mayyyy just be making their public debut at the next East Bay Vegan Bakesale. No promises! But, uh, I almost promise. So start saving now so you can pick some up in addition to everyone else's fantastic treats that'll also be there. Enjoy!

Sf Vegan Bakesale this weekend!

2011-01-10T13:45:00.000-08:00

No, the fact that I'm posting this (adorable) flier again isn't an accident-- notice the changed date! That's right, the last San Francisco Vegan Bakesale ended up getting postponed and moved to this Saturday! And you know what's great about this new date? It means we'll get to be there with Fat Bottom treats!

Please show up to another fantastic bakesale, and support Mickacoo and Muttville!

Also, no details for you yet, but remember we'll be having another East Bay Vegan Bakesale in February! And this one may have a special surprise way for you to support the bakesale-- hold your horses and we'll announce it when everything's all set in its place.

And, just as a bonus for you to warm up this cold Winter Monday a bit, here's an incredibly charming and tiny kitten enjoying one of our classic vanilla cupcakes.

Ok, so he doesn't look like he's enjoying it that much, but that's only because he wasn't really allowed to eat it! Other than that, this little guy was totally high on life.
'Til next time!

Get Ready...

2011-01-04T16:08:00.000-08:00

Vegan croissants are coming!

That is all.

Well, that's not quite all. If you're our friend on Facebook you've probably already seen this picture (and if you're not our friend on Facebook, well, why aren't you?). In case you haven't, do you know what this means?! We did our first vegan croissant experiment this week, after months of thinking and talking about it, and are happy to report these croissants were effing amazing! Not to toot our own horns or whatever, but you know, someone had to say it.

There's definitely still tweaking to be done, and we're going to work on the recipe until it is 100% perfect, at which point you'll be able to get your hands on these babies yourself. How exciting is that? We'll keep you updated!

Holiday Schedule + FUDGE!

2010-12-20T11:02:00.000-08:00

Just a reminder, we'll be out of the kitchen (and out of town, actually) from this Wednesday until early next week, so no special orders during that time. The usual suspects will be stocked up with Fat Bottom treats through the middle of this week though, so go get some to tide you over until we're back Tuesday the 28th!

Also in the interest of tiding you over, I thought I'd share my super-rich vegan fudge recipe (which will be one of the recipes in my upcoming cookbook!). We don't post a lot of recipes here on the blog, and this is actually not something that FBB sells (though we could start-- what do you think?), but it is what I'm making to give to some of my family members and friends for the holidays. Because, who doesn't love fudge? Also, it's legit and I guarantee you won't have one recipient tell you it tastes "vegan".
So here you go:
Chocolate Walnut Fudge

½ C vegan chocolate chips

6 Tb margarine (like Earth Balance)

3 C powdered sugar

½ C cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla

½ C soymilk

1 C chopped walnuts (optional, but unless you’re allergic you probably want them!)

Grease a 5” x 9” pan with margarine or oil.

In a sauce pan, melt the margarine over low-medium heat and stir in the soymilk. Slowly mix the chocolate chips (a little at a time!), stirring constantly until melted. Stir in all other ingredients except the walnuts, and mix until thoroughly combined and smooth. Remove from heat and quickly mix in the walnuts, then pour into your greased pan. Smooth into an even layer of fudgey deliciousness.

Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour to solidify, but preferably several hours or overnight. Cut into modestly-sized squares (it’s rich!) and serve.

Now go enjoy some fudge and a glass of sparkling cider/champagne/kombucha (I don't know! However you roll) and we'll see you in the new year!
Or maybe next week. We'll see if we're not too drained after our extremely taxing once-in-a-lifetime vacation (ha-ha) to write one last 2k10 blog post. Either way, have fun and be safe 'til then! Cheers!

P.S. I am sorry for being the type of nerd who would put this picture at the end of a "holiday" post, but hey, what are you gonna do. You can blame me and not Carolynn for this. Anyway, it tied the champagne/sparkling cider reference right in, don't you think?

The Latest Installment in the Continuing Saga of "What We've Been Up To"

2010-12-13T15:42:00.000-08:00

You know what we've been up to wholesale-wise, and hopefully some of you have been enjoying our treats at your local cafe, grocery, or restaurant! But we haven't forgotten our special order roots, and thankfully lots of other folks haven't either-- as evidenced by some really fun orders we've had lately!

We love working with individuals, and we're happy to work with you to supply sweet treats for all kinds of special occasions, from your sweetheart's birthday:

To your sweetheart's birthday:

That's right, both of these were birthday gifts ordered by people for their partners in the last week. As you can see (as if you didn't already know), Fat Bottom Bakery accommodates a wide range of tastes!
I was especially delighted to work on the hammer and sickle designs, which you may or may not be able to tell are actually on top of rainbow cupcakes! Glorious!
I borrowed that first picture from our Yelp page, where the cupcake recipient posted it herself (thanks, AC! We're always happy to hear your feedback).

We're looking forward to a bunch more orders coming up in the near future, in addition to our regular wholesale schedule, so we're definitely keeping busy. Not too busy for you, though! If you've got an event or special occasion coming up, please feel free to get in touch by phone or email and let's talk about it!
Keep in mind we'll be out of the kitchen and not taking orders from next Wednesday the 22nd through Monday the 26th-- vegan bakers need a winter break too!

In other news, the San Francisco Vegan Bakesale is back, and it's coming to SpeeSees on Valencia St. this Saturday!

We actually won't be able to make it this time, but you should definitely go check it out, as there will be tons and tons of other wonderful bakers and you know how these things are. The Bay Area's vegan bakesales are the best! Always delicious, and always for a great cause.

On that note, allow me to say stay-tuned for news on the next East Bay Vegan Bakesale, coming sometime in January to ring in a new year of sweet, animal-friendly confections.

Until next time!

Fat Bottom Bakery takes over the world! I mean Bay Area stores.

2010-11-30T17:33:00.000-08:00

As November draws to a close and the end of the year approaches (is it possible? Already?), we wanted to give you a little update on how we've been spending our Autumn days. And how we've been spending our Autumn days is in our cold, cold kitchen baking up treats for you to buy at a whole bunch of amazing places around the bay.

We told you about some of them a couple weeks ago, but wait, there's more!

Herbivore in Berkeley now has Fat Bottom cupcakes to accompany whatever other deliciousness you may order there. Breakfast burrito and a cupcake? Sure! Grilled "Chicken" Sandwich and a cupcake? That would be my choice for lunch. Cocktail? Smoothie? Cupcake? It's true, now all this can be yours. Head over to Herbivore and let them know you're stoked!

And now, with the biggest selection of FBB goods in the bay, Mama Buzz in Oakland is serving up fruit bars, cookies, AND cupcakes! Every day! Enjoy them with a soy latte, a big beer, a cigarette out back in their patio-- we won't judge! Bring your schoolwork, reading, friends, or your dog. Did I mention Mama Buzz is an all-vegetarian cafe? Rad.

Of course you can also still pick up your choice of treats with your coffee at Rooz in Oakland, or with your groceries at Other Avenues in SF, too.

And, this Friday, we'll be at Oakland's Art Murmur once again with our specialty red velvet cupcakes, and a surprise seasonal flavor. Look for two ladies in dresses and, well, this guy:

If you've been to either of the past couple First Fridays, you may have seen (or, more likely, heard) our friend Ryan with us slinging cupcakes. When you think of Fat Bottom Bakery, do you tend to think of ballpark-peanut-vendor style sales tactics (ie. yelling)? If not, you clearly need more Art Murmur in your life. And more Ryan Parks. See you all there?

Where to find FBB this weekend

2010-11-10T16:46:00.000-08:00

You guys. Exciting news! Starting this very weekend, Fat Bottom Bakery treats will be available at some of your favorite local stores and cafes.

First, why don't you stop by Other Avenues Food Coop in the city for a cupcake and a fruit bar in addition to your usual reusable bag full of high-quality vegetarian groceries? Seriously, Other Avenues is a great shop and we're excited to be working with them. And for all you who are fans of the raspberry bar, now's you chance to go out and get some!

Then we've got Oakland's fabulous Rooz Cafe on Park Blvd., who will be getting in a fresh shipment of cupcakes on Saturday to hold them through the weekend. Or at least the first few hours of Saturday, because I know you all are going to rush the counter and buy them up before Sunday. Right? Right.

And, as always, the fine folks at the Donut Farm will have an assortment of cupcakes for you starting Friday morning, which you can enjoy with their house-roasted coffee and, uh... a donut? Seriously though, it's not a bad idea.

Please go out and support us wherever you can this weekend! It would really mean a lot to us for y'all to let the lovely people who run these shops know that they're making the right choice by carrying some local, vegan products made by a couple of ladies in Oakland. We're hoping to get out there far and wide in the coming months, and every time you buy a Fat Bottom baked good from your local shop, you're helping us reach our goals. It may sound cheesy but it's true! And I can't stop myself!

Pawesome weekend event & October bakesale success!

2010-11-08T15:36:00.000-08:00

This Saturday, November 13th, join us at the Women's Building in San Francisco for a super-amazing event, presented by Rocketdog Rescue, the Bold Italic, and Pawesome! The event starts with a free pet fair taking place from 6-8pm, followed from 8-10:30pm by BINGO (that's right), a raffle, vegan chili pie, and tons of other food and freebies, all benefiting Rocketdog! Including a shit-ton of mini-cupcakes donated by yours truly.

I know that's a lot to wrap your head around, so let me rephrase: in short, there will be tons of vendors with stuff to help you care for/pamper/totally spoil your companion animals, a raffle with lots of fancy and desirable prizes to be won, bingo, beer, and chili pie! Oh, and FREE cupcakes from Fat Bottom Bakery, as well as food and drinks from Lagunitas Brewing Co, Treasure Island Wines, Ike's Sandwiches, Sugar Beat Sweets and Eat Pastry.

For more info on the event, visit the Bold Italic, or check out the Facebook event, where you also can and should RSVP!

And, as all that was sort of a mouthful, allow me to present the less-talk-more-rock version of my EBVB wrap up:
We made $1330 for our two organizations! We had the pleasure to work with some lovely folks from the East Bay Children's Book Project, as well as people and birds(!) from Mickaboo, and despite the rain we had a great turnout. Now on with the pictures!

Thanks again to all who participated! We couldn't do it without you. See you next time!

Weddings, Birthdays!

2010-10-19T15:59:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we were lucky enough to participate in two of our favorite kinds of events: a wedding and a kid's birthday!

We packed up three kinds of cupcakes for a wedding out in Livermore. I've never been before and I had no idea what to expect.

As it turns out, Livermore is effing gorgeous (at least the part that we were in).

We approve!

The drive was magic- we saw the most wild turkeys, cows, miniature goats, horses AND an emu!I will obviously be having my wedding in Livermore.

We managed not to get sidetracked and arrived at the wedding venue. We set up the cupcake tower and chatted with bride, groom, and their family and friends, who were incredibly gracious.

Cupcake tower with chocolate cake with coconut frosting and ganache, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, and lemon with strawberry frosting.

On the drive back got to stop and take in the scenery and wildlife.

Ashley looking at the emu, from a safe distance.

Shortly after this, the emu tried to get out of the fence and we had to make a run for it.

cows!
Us... and cows in the distance. It was pretty windy.

The very next day was the birthday of one of my all-time-favorite-kids! Indigo is the son of my incredibly good friend and possibly the best person ever. I've had the pleasure of seeing him grow up from a teeny tiny to a six-year-old little man!

He had a pirate themed party with a cake made by the talented Amanda, and cupcakes from us. I think he knows how lucky he is!

The cake lighting.

Anticipation builds!
The little pirates seemed to enjoy their cupcakes.

It was a great weekend and there is a lot more to look forward to this month. We are getting for the Halloween themed EBVB- see you there!

October EBVB

2010-10-06T15:40:00.001-07:00

Here it is, what you've all been waiting for: the official announcement and flier for the next East Bay Vegan Bakesale!
As we all know, the EBVB is always outstanding (I mean, right?), but this is no ordinary bakesale. This one is Saturday, October 30th, the day before Halloween-- a holiday that already revolves around treats-- and will coincide with Piedmont Avenue's Halloween festivities. Festivities that include a parade and a ton of awesomely adorable families in costumes!
As usual, we'll be in front of Issues, from 11am to 3pm.

This month's beneficiaries are Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue, who will be on site with literature (and maybe real live birds?! Oh, we hope so!) and the East Bay Children's Book Project. As you might expect, the East Bay Children's Book project is a, uh, project that collects books and distributes them to kids with little or no access to them. So, we're offering a free bakesale treat to everyone who brings a children's book to donate! Check out the organization's website for guidelines on what types of books they're looking for.

We're going to have treats from tons of awesome bakers on hand, lots of Halloween themed goodies, and, obviously, lots of fun, so we hope you'll join us! And wear a costume! Please don't let the two of us be the only adults dressed up (not that we're above that, but you know).

If you'd like to volunteer to help out at the bakesale, or to bring some vegan items to donate, please get in touch! You can email us at ebveganbakesale@gmail.com, and follow us on Twitter too!
P.S. if you want a larger version of this flier to print out and distribute, just let us know and we'll email you one.

A Weekend of Opportunities!

2010-09-30T16:47:00.001-07:00

This is a special weekend, you guys. Over the next few days, you will have more opportunities to get yourself a Fat Bottom treat than you have maybe ever before! We've got two different events in two different cities, as well as a Donut Farm full of our cupcakes starting Friday 'til they're gone! If you're planning to go the Donut Farm route (which you probably should), make haste: we dropped some cupcakes off yesterday around noon, and went back today to find them all sold out! Anyway, drop by Friday afternoon or Saturday morning and you should be safe!

To start our weekend off with a bang, we'll be at Oakland's First Friday festivities, tomorrow, Oct. 1st! Help us ring in our (or at least my) favorite month by coming out and eating some cupcakes! We'll be out in the streets (around 23rd and Telegraph) with our cupcake trays full of Red Velvet and Raspberry Lemonade cupcakes starting around 6pm. Last time we sold out in just a couple hours, so try to catch us earlier rather than later? We want to see you all there!

Here I am at our last Art Murmur with the lucky dude who bought the last cupcake. He was very stoked, and also very nice!

Saturday we'll be in San Francisco with our tray wandering alongside Look Around: A Fashion Crawl and Trunk Show, at the Mission Cultural Center as a part of this month's Celebrate San Francisco events. The Mission Cultural Center is awesome, and the lady who hooked us into this event is a new friend who we met at the Femme Conference, so if that tells you anything, this should be a rad event. We'll be there from 1 to 5pm with our trays in the early afternoon, then probably moving to a table inside the gallery a little later on.

Who knows, if we're feeling crazy we may even take our trays and head over to Dolores Park. No guarantees, but that would be fun, right?!

Also, just as a sort of save-the-date FYI type deal, the next East Bay Vegan Bakesale is going to be Saturday, October 30th in front of Issues! We'll have all the details and a glorious flier for you very soon. Anyway, write it in your planner now!

Cupcakes AND Donuts? Who could ask for more...

2010-09-23T15:34:00.000-07:00

Hey dudes, just a quick note to let you know what should be on your agenda for this weekend.
We trust that you all know the all-vegan, organic deliciousness that is Pepple's Donuts, but did you know that they now have a storefront? The Donut Farm is located at 6037 San Pablo Ave in North Oakland and is just waiting for you to drop by.

And you know what else? Not only is the Donut Farm filled with donuts, but this weekend (and hopefully all future weekends! And maybe week days!) it will also be filled with our cupcakes. No joke, we're gearing up to bake a lovely assortment for these fine folks to sell to you starting tomorrow until they sell out! So make sure you stop by in the next couple of days and buy some sweet treats to eat there with some coffee or take home on gorge yourself on later. How can you pass up FBB's store-debut?
Please go check it out, and let us know what you think!

A Fond Farewell to August

2010-09-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

So you've heard a little bit about our amazing August events in past posts, but I thought I'd go ahead and do one final wrap-- with pictures! So you can remember fondly (if you were there along with us) or know what to mark on your calendar for next year (if you missed out).

Ready? Here are a couple from the Femme 2010 Conference. I really cannot tell you how many nice, fun and charming people we met here. There were tons of other great vendors there, and unfortunately we were too busy chatting and making sales to take lots of photos of the scene!

But I can show you what we brought:

The full spread

Muffins! We brought banana walnut and mixed berry muffins, to the delight of the morning conference crowd. We understand not everyone is ready for a cupcake at 10am.

And what would the Femme Conference be without some of our famous rainbows?

We donated a dozen to be raffled off, and this lucky lady won them (just in time for her to share some with friends here and take the rest home to Portland)!

And the very next weekend we took over Jack London Square as a part of Eat Real. Let me tell you, this event was amazing! There weren't a ton of vegan options, but every one that we tried was totally incredible. Especially the Indian-style street food we got from our next door neighbors Soul Cocina (who also were super-sweet guys and helped us when our tent threatened to fly away in the intense wind)!
Same deal here where we didn't quite have the time to walk around taking pictures of our fellow vendors, but here are a couple of our booth.

We sold out early both days! Sorry especially to everyone who wanted a mini red velvet and didn't get one.

You can also check out some photos and a short interview with FBB over at The Food Pilot. And be sure to check out fellow vegan/veg-friendly vendors Besto Pesto (soooooo effing good; and from Oakland!), and Soul Cocina. Speaking of Soul Cocina, I was in a street-food-photo-shoot with one of the guys from it for the New York Times Sunday magazine. I guess they're having a food issue in the next month or so that includes Eat Real. The photographer told me they'd taken thousands of photos, so who knows if ours will be used, but if anyone subscribes to the NYT and happens upon this, please do let us know!

That's it for now, but as usual we've got tons of amazing stuff in the works, so stay tuned. This Fall is shaping up to be even more exciting than summer has been!

What we've been up to Part 2: Taking it to the next level

2010-09-02T12:56:00.000-07:00

August was a whirlwind! We got to participate in some amazing events and had an amazing time. In the midst of baking and tabling, we have been working on a huge project...

Fat Bottom Bakery has secured our very own kitchen space in West Oakland!
Oh and also, we are totally legit- totally licensed, permitted, and and ready for operation!! I think we literally put our blood, sweat, and ( just a couple) tears into setting up the kitchen.

We by no means did this alone. Our wonderful friends helped to repair things, clean, paint, and support us every step of the way. Thanks guys!

Look at it! So spacious!

This is our new-to-us convection oven. I am in love with it. WE HAVE TWO OVENS!

Now that we have our own kitchen we are going to be able to move into a whole new phase. In the upcoming months we are going to be expanding our menu, selling wholesale, and applying to farmer's markets. That's right, soon you won't have to wait for an event or make a special order (though we would love it if you did!), you will be able to find our goods in cafes, at grocers, and in farmer's markets!

So, let us know what you would like to see on the menu and where you want to FBB goods! Send us an email to fatbottombakers@gmail.com and tell us what you want to see!

What in the World is Up With Fat Bottom Bakery Pt.1

2010-08-17T18:11:00.001-07:00

Oh, hello.
We seem to say this a lot, but if it's been awhile since you've heard from us, it's not because we have nothing going on. In fact, quite the opposite! We've been so caught up in the trappings of running a bakery, we've been neglecting to properly fill you in on all the details of what we're up to! So please accept this post as the first in a series that promises to get you all caught up.

It's August now, and summer events are in full swing! Fortunately we get to take part in a lot of them, and this month started with a bang when we made our rainbow cupcakes for the participants of the Big Gay 10k. Yes, you read that right. The SF AIDS Foundation asked us to make colorful cupcakes for all the folks who were rad enough to run in this awesome fundraiser. So, on a balmy San Francisco morning we went and delivered 17 boxes of these guys to the site of the race.

Check out those decorations!

Check out those fabulous pink wigs!

(With me in this picture-- in the fabulous pink wig-- is our friend Morgan who always brings super-delicious and unique confections to the East Bay Vegan Bakesale. Hey Morgan!)

Amazing, right? But what about events you can find us at that haven't already passed? Well, the next two weekends we'll be at Oakland's Femme 2010 conference, and then Eat Real, where you can come visit us and get your fix of tasty treats.

We're excited to check out the Femme Conference this weekend at the Oakland Convention Center in the Marriott downtown! We'll be there Saturday and Sunday (the 21st and 22nd) selling treats all day, mingling with awesome queer folks and allies, and hopefully finding time to steal away into some of the awesome talks and workshops taking place throughout the weekend. We're also donating a dozen rainbow cupcakes and a gift certificate to their raffle, and you know you gotta be there for a chance to win. It costs money to register for the conference, but check out their website and the schedule of workshops and I think a lot of you smart, sassy, queer-and-queer-friendly political types will find plenty of reasons to show up! In addition to our smiling faces and sweet treats, I mean.

And next up, who could forget one of our favorite events from last year, the Eat Real Fest at Jack London Square? We'll be returning this year on the weekend of August 28th and 29th, and guess what: this time round we've graduated to a full-blown booth! Come find us and try our mini red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, and summery seasonal fruit cupcakes.
And while you're there, you may as well also check out the boatloads of other awesome street food vendors, all with a variety of items for $5 or less. Also, did I mention the event itself is free to attend? Bring family, bring friends, bring "friends" (you know, Facebook this shit), just be sure to show up for at least one of the days! If you're the tweeting type, you can also follow Eat Real on Twitter for all the latest updates.

Alright, now that we've filled your next two weekends, we're going to give this blog a rest-- but only for a second!
Stay tuned in the coming weeks for What in the World is Up With Fat Bottom Bakery Pt.2, in which we let you in on some very exciting news about the near-future of FBB!

East Bay vegans make it happen

2010-07-07T16:36:00.001-07:00

So it's been awhile, but we wanted to update you on some goings-on, past and future!

Firstly, last month's East Bay Vegan Bakesale was a fabulous success, raising just over $1400, or $700 apiece for our two beneficiaries! We had donated sweets from some folks representing the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society, and a visit from some of the rad people from Walk Oakland Bike Oakland. Oh yeah, we also had treats of all stripes keeping veganism exciting and delicious, from Mexican wedding cookies, and salted caramels, to peanut butter cups, animal crackers, and our own rainbow cupcakes.

Our always-gracious hosts at Issues have put up a post on their blog with some photos from the event-- why don't you go check it out?

Next up on our (fun) to-do list is East Bay Vegan Drinks next Tuesday. Have we mentioned this before? The second Tuesday of every month a bunch of local vegans get together to talk shop, shoot the shit, and have a few beers/cocktails/non-alcoholic delights at a different East Bay bar. It's always a good turnout, and we've been known to while away a couple hours playing darts with our friends from Cinnaholic at vegan drinks (when it was at the Albatross a couple months ago)-- what more could you ask for? Next week it'll be at the Beta Lounge in Berkeley, from 6:30 to 8:00 on Tuesday the 13th. Show up and say hi, or introduce yourself if we don't know you!

That's it for now, but stay tuned. With summer in full-swing we've got lots of exciting events coming up, including the return of Eat Real Fest (which you may remember from how totally awesome it was in 2009)!

East Bay Vegan Bakesale is just around the corner!

2010-06-07T19:30:00.000-07:00

It's almost time for the East Bay Vegan Bakesale again!

Here's the deal, the EBVB will be on June 26th from 11am-3pm at the amazing Issues (20 Glen Ave and Piedmont).

This months beneficiaries are Walk Oakland Bike Oakland and the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society. Both of these organizations are effing awesome!

WOBO advocates for a more walk-able and bike-able Oakland. They have done a lot of great work in the neighborhood Ashley and I live in, so thanks WOBO!

The Berkeley East Bay Humane Society has hit had times. The BEBHS was severely damaged by a fire in May and urgently needs financial support and volunteers to help them rebuild.

Not only are we going to be supporting important organizations in the East Bay but we are gonna have some great food too. This month's sale is going to feature the baked goods of some of the best vegan bakers in the bay area, and Ashley and I are planning some really amazing stuff too!

Also we have the cutest darn poster in the world designed by the talented Kelly Rose Mcclellan.

If you are interested in helping out at the sale then you are wonderful and please email us at ebveganbakesale@gmail.com!

2010-05-21T16:58:00.000-07:00

Even as we prepare for tomorrow's cupcake challenge at Rock Paper Scissors, we've been working tirelessly to pump out the special orders, as well as perfecting some of our newest treats!

In light of all the hard work we've been doing, we thought it would be nice to share with all y'all in internet-land some pretty photos of our progress.

So behold, our brand new apple-blueberry galettes (made for the SF Vegan Bakesale), classic chocolate chip cookies, and mini vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with super sweet seasonal fruit:

If that doesn't get you in the mood for a Saturday afternoon full of vegan cupcakes (may I direct your attention again to the contest we've entered?), I don't know what would.

Cupcake Bake-Off at Rock Paper Scissors!

2010-05-15T14:25:00.000-07:00

We are getting ready for a really amazing event. Rock Paper Scissors is hosting their second annual Cupcake Bake-Off. This year, in a stroke of genius, the entire competition is vegan!

Come down to RPS on Sat. May 22 to sample exciting and inventive cupcakes made by 10 competitors. Fat Bottom Bakery has put together something pretty exciting and we hope you can all come. Tasters get in for just 4 bucks and you guys get to choose the winner!

We can't wait to see what all the bakers come up with!

Ordering Information

2010-04-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

Looking for a delicious dessert for your special event, or a sweet gift for a special someone? Fat Bottom Bakery is now taking custom orders for our cruelty-free cupcakes, mini-cupcakes and cookies from Bay Area customers!
To order, get in touch with us at fatbottombakers[at]gmail[dot]com.

Please provide the following information with at least five days' notice, so we can give you a quote and get your order rolling: name, email address & phone number, date needed, and a short description of what (and how many) you'd like.

We're happy to send you a menu of our current cupcake and cookie flavors to help you decide! All orders are available for pick-up, or delivery within Oakland.

The bakesaling continues in SF, plus a very attractive way to show your support!

2010-04-15T16:19:00.000-07:00

Oh hey! Just wanted to post a very brief note about the next San Francisco Vegan Bakesale. It's coming up, Saturday May 8th, and they're looking for bakers! Also, volunteers, flyer-ers (right?), eaters, etc., but mainly, lots of great local vegan bakers! We'll be there as usual, and hope you'll come enjoy the day with us "most likely" in front of Ike's Place again!

Baked goods, beautiful sunny day (I'm assuming), and best of all, knowing your time and money is going to two fabulous beneficiaries: WildCare, the only place to take sick or injured wild animals for good quality care in the bay area, and Virunga National Park, working to protect the last 600 mountain gorillas in the Congo.
If you want to get involved, email laura@vegansaurus.com asap! And keep an eye out on Vegansaurus as well as here for more details as they come.

Also, if you'd like to further support the vegan bakesale movement, and have a totally fashionable and very comfy brown t-shirt to prove it, Herbivore Clothing Company's got a piece of brand new bakesale merch with your name on it! Check it out!

A weekend in photos

2010-04-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

Oh hey! So sorry it's taken us a little while to show off our fabulous bakesale weekend, but the time has come, the pictures are here, and you can quit your whining now.
I'm going to keep this short on text, since I think the photos basically speak for themselves, and just say: We raised $1200 for Animal Place and HERF! Thanks again to Issues, Cinnaholic, Pepple's Donuts, and all our wonderful, amazing volunteers for helping us make it happen-- we'll see you again in June (that's right, you've got a little while, so get ready to make the next East Bay Vegan Bakesale the best yet!).

But wait, our weekend bake-fest wasn't over with the end of the bakesale! After every delicious treat was sold, and all our tables and platters packed away for next time, we headed back to the kitchen to prepare 200 cupcakes (in four different lovely flavors!) for a wedding the following day. Check out our epic cupcake tower (and the adorable elephant cake toppers) below...

Congratulations, Sujatha and Bobby!

FBB interviewed on the Big Vision Podcast

2010-03-09T14:12:00.000-08:00

A little while ago, we were approached by an amazing woman name Britt Bravo who makes her living by helping "facilitate people having fun and doing good while realizing their big vision for a better world." Seriously. She had heard about Fat Bottom Bakery and the East Bay Vegan Bakesale, and wanted to get the inside scoop on our baking, our ethics, and the ways we like to have fun and do good. So she came to our house, set up her recording equipment, and interviewed us!

And now it's up on the internet for all to enjoy! You can hear our interview right here on the Big Vision Podcast.

Sometime probably next week, the full transcript of the interview will be posted on Britt's blog Have Fun Do Good. I don't know if you have any experience with transcribing, but reading the way people actually talk... well, I just hope we're half as articulate as we assume we are in the day-to-day, or else looking at it on paper (blog?) is going to be pretty cringeworthy for the two of us.

That said, I'm sure it's great! We have tons of great things to say, and you'll love listening to or reading them! Or both!

And in the meantime, before the transcript is up, check out all the other rad and inspiring things over at Have Fun Do Good!

Bakesale flier!

2010-03-04T15:15:00.000-08:00

Oh man, everyone look at our amazing flier, put together by our friends Mel and Shane!

If you want a bigger version to print out or post, email us and we'll pass it along! Likewise, there is a smaller version (as in, a slightly different, slightly less detailed version) which we'd also be happy to give you if you have a use! Email ebveganbakesale@gmail.com.

The East Bay Vegan Bakesale returns!

2010-03-03T12:45:00.000-08:00

It's that time again-- the second East Bay Vegan Bakesale is coming, and we need YOUR help! We'll be doing our thing in just a few weeks, Saturday, March 20th from 11am to 4pm in front of Issues! The same place we held the last bakesale, Issues is at 20 Glen Ave off of Piedmont in Oakland.

We're excited to announce that this bakesale's proceeds will be donated 50/50 to Animal Place sanctuary in Vacaville (soon to be Grass Valley!), and Haiti Emergency Relief Fund (HERF), an organization based right here in the East Bay helping to fund crucial relief work in Haiti. Be sure to check out the links for more info on both of the beneficiaries!

Now let's get right down to it: what do we want from you? Well, aside from spreading the word wherever you can (please do!), we need volunteers to help us run the tables at the sale, and as many bakers to donate their delicious vegan treats as possible! If you can do either (or both!) please get in touch ASAP! You can email us at ebveganbakesale@gmail.com. For more updates, you can also follow us on Twitter!

We'll be there, of course, and have just gotten word from crowd-favorites Cinnaholic that they're on board too! And as usual, we expect lots (should I say shitloads?) of other amazing local bakers too! Please spread the word, help out, bake, volunteer and eat!

P.S. Like our new logo? If you think it looks familiar, you're right.

Pinky the Pitbull, the next EBVB and, uh, bringing sexy back

2010-02-25T20:22:00.000-08:00

We just got some great news from Donna at Bad Rap letting us know how they're going to use the $1100 earned for them at the January East Bay Vegan Bakesale, and are so stoked to share the news! Looks like they've got a precious little girl named Pinky who's in foster care right now and needs double-knee surgery. It's a big, expensive surgery, but lucky for her, her friends from Bad Rap and the bakesale have conspired to make it happen! You can meet Pinky and read all about her adventures here at her blog. You can also see her, and the other great dogs at Bad Rap, on Bad Rap's adoption page. And while you're there, be sure not to miss who has an adoption pending! Right below Pinky on the page, it's our friend from the last bakesale, Huckleberry! We're so happy he's found his home!

Here's Pinky, charming the hell out of everyone with a towel on her adorable head.

And while we're talking about the East Bay Vegan Bakesale, let me take this moment to do our first official call for participants in the March bakesale! Our next bakesale will be Saturday, March 20th from 11am to 4pm in front of Issues! As always, we need bakers and volunteers, so please get in touch at ebveganbakesale@gmail.com if you're interested, and be sure to spread the word! We'll have a flyer for you shortly, so keep checking back.

Meanwhile, please take a second to head over to PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian Next Door contest and vote for me HERE! That's right, I entered, and my goal is to make it onto the front page, so please show some support! You can check out what our amazingly awesome friends over at Vegansaurus had to say about it here, where you can also read my statement about why I entered. Tell your friends! Use all your email addresses and cast a vote with each! You have two weeks until the voting is over. Thanks, guys!

That's it for now, since we have some coconut cupcakes to bake for a very special order, but do stay tuned for more on the next bakesale!

Dinosaurs and valentines!

2010-02-23T13:37:00.000-08:00

Remember that Vegan Outreach Valentine's Day dance we kept bugging you about? Well we went with our hundreds of pieces of baklava and raspberry bars in hand and had a wonderful time! Seriously, we got to hang out with some rad vegans, eat delicious food, and I even won a raffle prize!

If weren't able to make it, you should check out the recap on VegNews press pass! There was also a really cool vegan photographer there taking pictures of the whole event, so we may have to post some when we get them all sent to us.

Since the event we have been busy as ever baking and working.
Thankfully, we did get a chance to relax and hang out for a dear friends birthday. Check out these cupcakes Ashley whipped up!

That's right, these are chocolate dinosaur cupcakes!

The Birthday Girl was delighted!

As always, we have some more events coming up in the near future, and some exciting new baked goods to share, so keep checking back!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T14:30:00.001-08:00

Two ways to spend your weekend, PLUS FBB in the Huffington Post!

2010-02-10T14:51:00.000-08:00

Lest you let this weekend's events sneak up on you (I know lots of people are busy getting ready for Valentine's Day/Chinese New Year/whatever else you like to do in mid-February), let us provide you with a reminder of what you should be doing this Friday and Saturday:

First, there's still time to get your tickets to the Vegan Outreach Valentine's dancing/drinking/speed dating bonanza this Friday!
For $50 you get Fat Bottom's famous vegan baklava and raspberry bars, as well as treats by Sugar Beat Sweets, an open bar with beer from Lagunitas, all kinds of fun V-day activities, and a chance to win some seriously incredible raffle prizes! Check out the link for many more details, and to buy tickets!

If that description isn't enough to lure you to the event, maybe this Huffington Post article about the history and excellent work of Vegan Outreach will. Oh, also it talks a little about the V-day event, and mentions Fat Bottom Bakery (as well as our friend and event organizer Karine Brighten). In case that doesn't sink in immediately, we're in the Huffington Post!!! Thanks so much to Anneli Rufus for the great writeup and mention, and to Vegansaurus for calling it to our attention! Wow!

Whew, ok, can't get overexcited because we're not done with the weekend's events yet.
After Friday comes Saturday, bringing us another sure-to-be-amazing SF Vegan Bakesale! From 11am to 4pm in front of Ike's Place in San Francisco, benefiting two truly deserving organizations: Cycles of Change and Harvest Home Sanctuary. Seriously, these bakesales are some of the most enjoyable events we've ever had the pleasure of participating in. Come out and buy some Fat Bottom treats! And, everything else. Including an Ike's sandwich or two, because oh man, are those things delicious.

To sum up: Events! Huffington Post! Valentine's day is coming! Color us delighted.

Vegan Valentine's Day!

2010-01-27T19:20:00.000-08:00

Okay so Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Ashley and I probably just seconds away from busting out our pink construction paper, glitter glue, and anything heart shaped to make all those near and dear some hand crafted valentines.

But that's not all, we will be celebrating Valentine's at a ridiculously fun event on Friday, February 12 organized by the talented Karine Brighten.

The Vegan Valentine's Day Dance is going to be great! There is going to be food, drinks (an open wine and beer bar to be precise), and dancing. As a sponsor Fat Bottom Bakery is providing our specialty pistachio baklava and amazing raspberry bars.

Your ticket also gets you an awesome gift bag and enters you in a raffle and there are seriously a million prizes- gift certificates to restaurants, gift bags, and a certificate for a hour and a half of massage, and on and on. If you win you get to choose your own prize!! You should really check out the list of prizes, it is out of control.

(Note: Please if you win before me stay far away from that massage gift certificate-I call dibs!)

Not only is it going to be totally fun but this event is benefiting the wonderful Vegan Outreach!

Heck, why wouldn't you want to go?

So come on out! Bring your sweetie (or not), put on your dancing shoes, and bring a backpack to haul back all your gifts/prizes.

This Weekend- Bay Area International Children's Film Festival

2010-01-21T14:47:00.000-08:00

Can't wait to get out and do something this weekend, after the rain, wind and hail(?!) we've had all week? Us too!

We'll be out in Alameda at the crazy art deco theater at Michaan's Auctions both Saturday and Sunday for the Bay Area International Children's Film Festival which, for the record, is going to be completely awesome. There will be two full days of films from around the world, in addition to animation workshops for kids 7 and up. Check out their festival program here for all the info.

Ok, so two days of awesome movies, whatever, right? You're probably wondering what we'll be doing there. Well, as an official food sponsor of the event, we'll be there for a a couple hours (around 11 to 1:30) during lunch time walking around with our cupcake trays full of big vanilla lemon cupcakes and mini red velvets!

Tell all your friends with little ones and make sure to come out yourself, because I'm pretty sure this is going to be fun for everyone who shows up. Not to mention delicious.

Bakesale success!

2010-01-18T13:23:00.000-08:00

After some unexpected and highly ridiculous delays (the camera with all our photos on it won't interact with my new computer!), we've finally pulled our shit together to give you some semblance of a wrap-up of the East Bay Vegan Bakesale!

BUT FIRST! A time-sensitive, bakesale-related announcement:
There are all kinds of vegan bakesales popping up country-wide to send emergency funds to Haiti to help the earthquake relief effort!
The PPK site has a cumulative list of all of them (so check it out, wherever you're from, and if you don't see one in your area, organize one!). The one that will probably apply to most of the people reading this is one in San Francisco, this weekend. It's Saturday, January 23rd, in Patricia’s Green (on Hayes Street at Octavia Street), from 11 AM to 4 PM. Please bake, show up, eat and support!

And now, with that said, onto the EBVB photos (courtesy of our friends Mel and Jose):

We set up our three tables in front of Issues as the sky threatened rain, and mercifully restrained itself all day! (For everyone who came to the sale: seriously, how great is Issues?! We are so thankful for their help, and hope you all continue to support them now that you've experienced their awesomeness firsthand).

Just a small sampling of all the delicious that people brought throughout the day. We had baked goods coming in waves, and were able to keep restocking our platters to almost the very end, ensuring that everyone who came by had lots of delicious options!

Thanks to all the volunteers who collected money and answered questions...

To the students of Laurel Elementary, for making us this rad sign! (here endorsed by cool-dude Jose)...

To the dogs of Bad Rap, for coming out and being their sweet, adorable, stereotype-busting selves...

And of course, thanks to everyone who baked, bought, and spread the word! It was truly amazing to meet and work with you all. And, all together, our efforts raised $2200 for our two causes!

We'll see you all in March for the second installation of the East Bay Vegan Bakesale! In the meantime, follow us on Twitter, or contact us at ebveganbakesale@gmail.com to be added to our email list and receive updates.

For more coverage of the bakesale (especially since we have so few pictures!), check out the Cinnaholic blog. Did I mention Cinnaholic came through with FOUR different cinnamon buns for the bakesale? Swoon.

Stay Tuned

2010-01-11T09:38:00.000-08:00

Stay tuned for an East Bay Vegan Bakesale wrap-up!

As soon as we get all our photos uploaded and our minds and kitchens pulled back together, we're going to have an awesome post for you on the AMAZING bakesale that raised almost $2200!!

UPDATE: In the mean time, check out the VegNews Press Pass about the bakesale!

For now, we'll leave you with the above photo. This was the scene in the street with the Bad Rap dogs on site...

The East Bay Vegan Bakesale is coming!

2009-12-28T15:21:00.000-08:00

You guys! Can you believe it's almost a new year? 2009 has more or less come and gone,

and as we prepare to manifest all the wonderful things we've got planned for 2010, one stands out as the most pressing, the most urgent, the most deserving of everyone's immediate attention (because, uh, it's the first thing we've got going on in the new year)...

It's the East Bay Vegan Bakesale!

And here is our fabulous, adorable and really, I'd say, irresistible new flyer designed by the lovely Minty Lewis:

Please check it out, print it out, and spread it around! If you'd like a higher quality version, email us at EBVeganBakeSale@gmail.com. Likewise if you'd like to do some baking and donate your goods-- we're still looking for more bakers!

Looking forward to seeing all your smiling faces and arms full of tasty treats there!

cupcakes, champagne, and sparking cider this Saturday!

2009-12-10T11:26:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, it’s cold outside! But if you can get yourself out of the house this weekend, put on some layers and come to LOCAL LOVE this Saturday, December 12th from 6-9pm sponsored by the merchants of the 40th Street Corridor!

This event is all about celebrating local art, local goods, & local community with simultaneous holiday parties at 1-2-3-4 Go! Records, ISSUES, Manifesto Bicycles, Mercy Vintage Now, Premium Tattoo & Vintage, Rowan Morrison Gallery, & Subrosa Coffee!

Your first stop should be the amazing Issues celebration, where you can refresh yourself with champagne and sparkling cider. Ashley and I will be there hanging out and selling a selection of our mini cupcakes. As long as your there, remember to check out the adorable locally made bags, wallets, and jewelry of Oakland's own Pollyanna Cowgirl.

And yes, Issues is the very same shop that's making the upcoming East Bay Vegan Bakesale possible by sponsoring and hosting the event. Check out our post about the Issues anniversary party earlier this year!

Keep checking back, really soon we are going to announce the beneficiaries of the EB Vegan Bakesale!

Big News! The very first East Bay Vegan Bakesale is coming!

2009-12-07T15:26:00.001-08:00

As you may recall, we had some big news to announce at last weekend's SF Vegan Bakesale (which, incidentally, made $4200--HOLY SHIT--for the bunnies and the Food Empowerment project!!!).

Ahem.

Anyway, those of you who were there may have gotten a flyer. Those of you who follow us on Twitter or read Vegansaurus (surely that must be just about everyone, right?) may have already heard the news. But for the rest of you...

Get ready for the very first East Bay Vegan Bakesale!

Stay tuned for more details (and maybe even a less punk flyer), and be sure to get in touch if you want to bake for it or volunteer to help out! We've already got a great cast of folks who've promised to be there, just in the last few days.

Plus, it's in front of our friends' magazine shop Issues! How fun will that be?

Two awesome events this weekend!

2009-11-30T14:28:00.000-08:00

I know we've mentioned this one before, but it cannot be overstated how much you need and want to come to the SF Vegan Bakesale this Saturday. I mean, remember how great the last one was? Also, don't you want to give your money to the bunnies. And stuff your face with delicious treats in the process?

But wait, one more thing! Fat Bottom Bakery has a special announcement to make at the Bakesale, and you have to be there to be the first to know! We promise, you'll be stoked about what we've got up our sleeves. Curious yet?

Anyway, now that you're convinced about that one, let's back up a minute (ok, a day). This Friday, December 4th, Oakland's own radical publisher AK Press is having its annual holiday sale from 4-10pm. Everything in the warehouse will be 25% off, and there will be hundreds of books and t-shirts available for $1-$5. How could you go wrong? Get all your holiday shopping done in one fell swoop. Or just pick yourself one or two or ten of the awesome vegan cookbooks AK sells.

Ok, so sounds pretty good, right? But what does it have to do with Fat Bottom? Well for one, I, Ashley, have been a collective member at AK Press for a couple years now, so I'll be there working this bad boy all night. And, perhaps more exciting, we're going to bake up a little something delicious serve as a part of the FREE refreshments provided by AK! That's right, in addition to the free beer, soda, chips and who-knows-what-else, there will be free Fat Bottom baked goods!

So, see you this weekend, yeah?

FBB has a lunch date with VegNews magazine!

2009-11-19T13:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Ashley and I were lucky enough to join the lovely staff of VegNews for lunch! If you don’t know, VegNews is a rad magazine all about the veg lifestyle. It has articles about news, travel, recipes, and just about anything else you would want to read about.

For lunch we whipped up our award winning mac and cheese. And, of course, we brought some dessert! We brought an assortment of cupcakes including our coconut cupcakes, red velvet, and carrot cupcakes with “cream cheese” frosting.

This is our coconut cupcake!

Here's a red velvet decorated with pink dinosaurs for Laura of Vegansaurus!

And a carrot cupcake with crystallized ginger on top.

We took our goods across the bay to the VegNews office in San Francisco. It was a surprisingly lovely day and as we arrived at the offices we saw tables set up to dine outside in the sunshine!

We were greeted by the VegNews staffers who were (as we expected) super fun, welcoming, and generally awesome. Ashley and I got a tour of where the VN magic happens and got ready to eat some lunch.

Our mac and cheese was paired with a great salad made by the VN staff and some delicious brussels sprouts made by the delightful Laura!

After we ate our fill we managed to find some more room for cupcakes too.

Here we are!

So lets recap: We got to spend our day eating delicious vegan food out in the sun with amazing people. Yup, that sounds about right.

Looking ahead, remember to come to the SF Vegan Bakesale Saturday, December 5!

This event is ridiculously fun! If you need a reminder of how awesome the last one was, check this out. There will be an assortment of mind blowing desserts prepared by all kinds of genius bakers around the bay area and all the money is going to some great causes : the Food Empowerment Project and SaveABunny!

Also stay tuned, as Ashley and I are working on a really exciting project that we are going to unveil in the next couple of weeks. I can’t say too much now except, get ready to get stoked East Bay vegans!

What I did on my summer vacation. Wait. What?

2009-11-12T18:34:00.000-08:00

Whoa, sorry it's been awhile! We've been super busy with all kinds of things, bakery-related and not. Allow me to present a couple of them for your appreciation:

First of all, we celebrated Halloween a couple weeks ago with some chocolate spider web cupcakes (baked on Halloween morning listening to the Mistfits!) and a Fat Bottom inspired pumpkin:

...dressed as two eras of Dolly Parton:

As you can see, Carolynn is sweet country Dolly and I'm all-made-up glam Dolly. We marched through town with the Brass Liberation Orchestra and even won (ok, third place in) a costume contest!

(Jose was a bat playing a drum!)

Shortly after recovering from Halloween and a suspiciously swine-flu-like illness, I was off to Southern California for my brother's wedding. No, we didn't bake the cake for the reception (in fact, there wasn't one!), but spending some time in Santa Barbara where the ceremony was held allowed me to check out the city's cupcakery, Crush Cakes.

Crush Cakes is by no means a vegan bakery, but lucky for me and the vegans of lovely SB, they do have one rotating vegan flavor every day.
The day I went it was Strawberry:

(Yes, it was a lot of frosting!)

I was hoping to talk to the owner, as she's a fellow baker, blogger, and lady business owner, but she didn't seem to be around that day. Oh well! I devoured that thing and was out of there for one more day with my family and a short flight back to Oakland.

So that's where things stand now. I mean other than the fact that we're preparing for a couple of mind-blowingly awesome appearances in the next month, but I'll save that for another post. Stay tuned!

Be There or Be Square!

2009-10-22T13:56:00.000-07:00

Hey there!

All right! So are you not sure what to do this weekend? No worries, we've got you covered with two more awesome events.

Saturday at noon head to the SF Walk for Farm Animals! There’s gonna be a silent auction, free vegan food samples, guest speakers Joyce Tischler and Christopher D. Cook, and of course some walking! The best part is the event benefits the Farm Sanctuary!! Check out the link for more details.

The walk's Silent Auction is going to be totally crazy! There is a huge list of wonderful people donating prizes, including Fat Bottom Bakery. We are donating a gift certificate for 2-dozen cupcakes or 4-dozen minis! It’s a great cause and will be fun!

And on Sunday you should come see us at Pandora's Trunk 1001 Fabulous Nights. It’s  a multimedia fashion performance, live music,  & lobby bazaar with indie clothing, art, and micro foods! How crazy does that sound?  Sunday from 7-11pm at the Brava Theater, 2781 24th St near Bryant.

We'll be there with our famous ~~cigarette~~ cupcake girl trays, walking around inside and outside the event, so you can catch us whenever your sweet tooth strikes.

See you then!

Cupcake Battle 2K9

2009-10-22T11:57:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we left the amazing Bakesale with smiles on our faces, a sugar buzz, and a huge box of treats. But there was no time to dilly-dally. It was time to get serious.

Ashley and I had to put on our game faces and get ready to compete in the SF Food Wars Cupcake Clash!

For the first time ever Ashley and I were competing against each other, and let me tell you it was brutal! The kitchen was filled with the typical sounds of electric mixers and oven timers, but also the unfamiliar sounds of trash talk and tense silence….

Just kidding. We did a pretty terrible job of being competitive in the kitchen and overall baking went really well.

Ashley prepared her Creamsicle Cupcake, an orange cupcake with a cream filling, marmalade, and vanilla “butter cream” frosting.

I whipped up my Spiced Mocha, a mocha cupcake filled with mocha cream and topped with a cinnamon and clove spiced chocolate frosting.

The day of the event Jose came to represent Ashley (who was working at APE ) and Debbie came for moral support. We carted all our cupcakes across the bay.

Jose representing Ashley! Look at that display!

Debs is the best!

And here I am!

sup!

At the event Jose was seated next to the lovely folks from Cinnaholic, who we had met at the bake sale.

Here's Cinnaholic's spread

As competitors arrived I saw all the wide varieties of cupcakes and displays. Some were novel (including chives, siracha, bacon) and some more traditional...

Look at 'em! Unfortunately most of the cupcakes were not vegan...

Tasters piled there plates high with cupcakes and took on the task of trying all 22 flavors!

It was hectic but fun day. Ashley was even able to join us for a bit of the event, see the fruit of her labor, and catch the awards!

So on that note… I’ve got some good news and bad news. Neither Ashley nor I won this time BUT our fellow vegans Cinnaholic received 1^st place and photographer’s choice! Go vegans!

The SF Vegan Bakesale was pretty much the greatest

2009-10-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

So, as expected, this past weekend was a huge one in the world of Bay Area vegan baking (that's its own little world, sort of, right?). We'll post something regarding Sunday's SF Food Wars mini cupcake clash sometime this week, but for now, let me tell you about the bakesale.

Oh the bakesale. What can I even say? I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking, but here's a pretty good summary:

Over 40 vegan bakers made an absolutely epic variety of goods (caramel apples, two different types of cinnamon rolls, all sorts of cookies, cupcakes, bars, a cake-- it was nuts).

We made a bunch of raspberry bars and a big tray of baklava.

Not quite enough, as it turned out, because the whole sale was sold out an hour and a half ahead of schedule, at 2:30!

In all, we made over $2600 for Give Me Shelter cat rescue! Those cats are so stoked, and so are we! There were also a few of the cats from the shelter there up for adoption, and we heard two of them found homes that day! If you ever doubted the power of a cruelty-free baked good to create change, uh... get over it.

clearly stoked!

The sale itself was spread out on a bunch of tables in front of Ike's Place. Let me tell you about Ike's Place. Actually, let this line tell you about it:

We ate some effing delicious sandwiches from their massive menu of vegan options. Everyone there was the friendliest, most helpful person alive. It was seriously crazy.

We got to meet and hang out with so many rad folks, including our friend Laura from Vegansaurus (also one of the organizers of the bakesale) and her mom(!), Rachael from Idle Hands, the folks from Cinnaholic (who we also get to hang with the next day) and tons more totally amazing people. Two of our friends even made the trek up from San Jose!

Basically, everyone had the greatest time ever. Money was raised, cats were adopted, connections were made, and most of all, about 80% of all the delicious things in the world were together in the same place at the same time.

But wait, there's more! Since this one was so successful and all the participants were so enthusiastic, it's likely going to become a bimonthly thing! So stay tuned for the details of the next SF Vegan Bakesale, and come see us in December!

Just a tease

2009-10-12T09:49:00.000-07:00

No time for a real update, I'm afraid, but I wanted to tempt y'all with a couple pictures of things we've been working on lately.
First, mini creamsicle cupcakes for the SF Food Wars mini cupcake clash this weekend:

That's right, these suckas have a cream filling...

...an orange glaze, and the usual buttercream. What more could you ask for?

And then there's this guy:

Oh, the potential!

While I've got your attention, please don't forget to stop by the SF Vegan Bakesale this weekend! We'll be there Saturday from 11 am to 4 pm, with raspberry bars and vegan baklava! Are we insane? Yeah, I said baklava.

SF Vegan Bake Sale and Mini Cupcake Clash!

2009-09-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true: we'll be in San Francisco doing events two days in a row next month. And you better believe this is the caliber of event that will tempt us across the bay.

First up, on Saturday October 17th, the second incarnation of the SF Vegan Bake Sale. We seriously could not be more excited to participate with all these rad local folks. I mean, look at the lineup on the flier and say you won't be in attendance. Eh? That's what I thought.
And anyway, it's for the kitties!!

(Designed by Megan of Say It's Not Soy)

And then, as if that weren't enough for one weekend, we'll be competing in this:

Remember that mac and cheese thing we won an award for? Well, this is the cupcake version of it. Just think about that for a second.
Also, Carolynn and I will be competing against each other, rather than teaming up. It's not only hilarious and sort of awkward, but it doubles our chances of winning something! Right? Or, I don't know.

Anyway, mark your calendars and prepare yourselves for numerous updates and competitive cattiness in the following weeks.

Bananana Nut Bread! Show This Saturday!

2009-09-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

Winding down from our plethora of events last month has given us some time to (finally) get back to the basics a little bit. And if there's one thing I'd consider a 'basic' of my personal baking career, it's this banana nut bread.
My immediate family is not filled with cooks, and it's certainly not filled with vegans, but despite all that, I managed to inherit from them this recipe. It was good when my parents made it, and, with just a little tweaking--in the form of ousting the dairy and eggs--it's gotten even better. I think it just may be the perfect banana bread recipe. Super moist, with a great mellow banana flavor and full of crunchy walnuts. Just look at it up there!
It's not available for purchase just yet, but soon enough we'll be offering a selection of breads and cakes for special order, to compliment our cupcakes and cookies. Keep an eye out!

And, while I've got your attention, allow me to remind you of your next opportunity to get your hands on some FBB baked goods. You know it already, right? It's the Mount Eerie show at 21 Grand in Oakland, this Saturday, the 19th. We'll be there with a variety of delicious little items available for your purchase and consumption, including chocolate vanilla swirl cupcakes and mint-chocolate minis.
Don't miss out!

Into the future

2009-09-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

So, we've talked a lot about our conquering of various festivals and competitions over the last few weeks, but now it's time for us to look ahead, over our gingham table cloth and variously-sized cupcake stands, and stare destiny in the face. And to us, right now, destiny looks like this:

That's right, destiny is a Mount Eerie show at 21 Grand. (What did you expect?)
Come out September 19th (it's a Saturday!) at 8:30 and watch some great bands, say hi to us, eat some baked deliciousness, etc.

If you're not convinced you should come, let us offer you some incentive in the form of our Yelp reviews:

"I just tried my first Fat Bottom Bakery cupcake at Eat Real fest in Oakland this weekend. SO DELICIOUS...The best part was that AFTER I ate it & raved about it for about 10 minutes I found out they were vegan! How the hell they're able to make such delicious products without any dairy products is beyond me, but it's so awesome that they do!" (thanks Jenna H!)
"I would highly recommend going to all the events Fat Bottom Bakery is selling at and BUYING EVERYTHING."

Etc.

(Also, if you've tried some of our stuff and liked it, please feel free to leave us a review! By which I mean, we would be effing thrilled if you left us a review!)

And one more thing (the last thing, I promise!) before we can move on from our past... I just have to share a few photos from Eat Real because it was so awesome.

(we got fancy for y'all)

(the kids were totally stoked)

(this guy seriously ate the whole thing in one bite)

Who Cares: It's just an award winning mac and 'cheese' recipe

2009-08-31T12:19:00.000-07:00

You saw it here first, everyone.
Unless you saw it on chow.com first, in which case I guess we can't really say that.

WHO CARES VEGAN MAC AND CHEESE
This rich mac and cheese is great with steamed broccoli or some bbq tofu and dark sautéed greens. This is not really your everyday weeknight mac. I more imagine this dish at a potluck or a dinner party or when you just wanna impress the pants off someone.

Oh, it can totally be made a day ahead! Just combine sauces with the pasta and refrigerate (covered, of course). When you're ready to eat, follow heating directions and sprinkle with bread crumbs before you serve!

Serves six.

INGREDIENTS

16 oz box of pasta, we use Cellentani
dash of paprika (to sprinkle on top)

CASHEW SAUCE

1 ⅓cup chopped Yukon gold potatoes, about one large potato
¼ cup chopped carrot, about one medium carrot
1 cup water
⅓ cup raw cashews
¼ cup raw pine nuts
⅓ cup margarine (we use Earth Balance brand)
½ cup nutritional yeast
2 ½ Tbs miso

2 Tbs tahini
2 Tbs lemon juice, about one juicy lemon
1 tsp salt
½ tsp Dijon mustard

CREAMY SAUCE

½ cup margarine
5 Tb flour
2 cups soymilk
½ cup nutritional yeast
¼ tsp turmeric
½ tsp salt

BREAD CRUMB TOPPING

Use a stale baguette if possible. You can also store any unseasoned breadcrumbs in the freezer in a sealed container. A food processor is best, but if (like us) you don’t have one, a blender will work.

½ sweet baguette
2 Tb margarine
½ cup nutritional yeast
¼ tsp onion powder

METHOD

1. Start a large pot of salted water boiling and preheat oven to 325 F.

2. Peel and finely chop potato and carrot. Combine with 1 cup of water in a small saucepan. Cover and cook potato and carrots on medium-high heat until quite soft, about 10-12 minutes

3. Prepare your breadcrumbs by ripping ½ baguette into 1 inch chunks. Combine a handful of chunks with the margarine and pulse until crumbs are small.

4. Add the remaining bread chunks. Stir and blend until breadcrumbs are small. Add nutritional yeast and onion powder and pulse until combined. Set aside and rinse blender.

5. In blender combine the cashew and pine nuts. Pulse until the nuts are in small pieces but have not formed a paste.
6. Add the remaining cashew sauce ingredients to the blender, including the softened potato and carrots with the water they were cooked in. Mix with a spoon and then blend away until sauce is smooth and creamy.

7. Taste and adjust seasonings. At this point the sauce should be pretty intensely flavored, since it is going to be combined with the mellow, creamy sauce.

8. Set aside in blender.

9. Start toasting breadcrumbs in a thin layer on baking sheet covered in parchment or foil for 10-15 min. or until crisp and light gold. You may want to stir them a couple times to ensure even toasting. Set aside to sprinkle over baked mac and cheese.

10. While breadcrumbs are toasting start on the creamy sauce.

11. Melt the margarine in a saucepan on medium heat, and whisk in the flour
to make a roux.

12. Once the flour and margarine are thoroughly combined and not lumpy,
whisk in the nutritional yeast, salt and turmeric.

13. Slowly add the soymilk, stirring constantly and scraping the edges and
bottom of the pan to combine.

14. Continue to cook over low-medium heat for several minutes, continually
stirring, until the sauce thickens to a creamy consistency.

15. Combine sauces in blender and blend for 15-20 seconds.

16. Pour over pasta in baking dish and stir to evenly coat. Cover with foil and
bake for 25-30 min.

17. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and a dash paprika and black pepper once everything is out of the oven.

18. Enjoy with several of your closest friends!

Also, if you're interested in this sort of thing, here are links to a few other posts about the event (so you can see all the crazy shit people made! truly intense):

Sf Food Wars' official recap
Photos from Chow.com
Judge Tamara Palmer's recap
Beer and Nosh

Get ready to Eat Real!

2009-08-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that after the crazy week we've had we're gearing up for another-- even bigger-- event right now! How big, you ask? Well, even the New York Times has an article about it!

Of course I'm talking about Oakland's own Eat Real Festival. We've announced before that we'll be there, but now we've got details!

We'll be walking around with these guys:

(those are big fat vanilla cupcakes with lemony buttercream and fresh blueberries, and lil' mini chocolate cupcakes with raspberry glaze and fresh raspberry buttercream)

...in these guys:

(I'm talking about the trays)

From 2:00 to 6:00 pm, both Saturday and Sunday. That's right, we'll be roaming, so you'll have to work for your cupcakes! The thrill of the chase and the sweetness of success will be yours!

~~Be there or be sorry~~ come say hi, it'll be fun!

WOW! What a fun weekend!

2009-08-25T10:55:00.000-07:00

Whew! We had a super busy weekend, what with the San Francisco Zine Fest and making award winning mac and cheese and all.

Seriously, Zine Fest was great. Zines, books, and crafts of every kind were laid out as far as the eye could see. Not only did we get to debut some of our new cupcakes but we also got to hang out with some rad people and read some zines.

Here is our spread, complete with vanilla cupcakes with lemon frosting and fresh blueberries, mini chocolate cupcakes with raspberry frosting, and of course our own Ashley's zine(!!) Barefoot and in the Kitchen.

I really just have to take a moment here: look how darn cute those mini cupcakes are?

What could have possibly made our day any better? Fate, or actually I think it was a request form, landed us next to the lovely AK Press.

And we got to share our table with Rad Dad which was was pretty much a dream come true.

Some people are really into zines ...

Ashley and I got to spend all day sitting on our tuchuses oscillating between either slinging cupcakes and zines or eating cupcakes and reading zines. Pretty good, right? The highlights of the day where, as mentioned in the last post, the ridiculously awesome folks from vegansaurus stopping by (we heart them), and winning one of the raffle prizes!

I guess this is how I look when I am delighted!

I am now the proud owner of Do It Yourself Screenprinting by John Isaacson, I am eff-ing stoked! I can maybe put the Fat Bottom logo, or really anything, on some t-shirts. Get ready.

We would have been happy as anything if that was all the excitement for the weekend. But we are ambitious. On Sunday we set out to the SF Food Wars Mac Battle Royal with Cheese. There were over over 100 tasters and a panel of judges, who obviously have great palettes: Tamara Palmer of SFoodie/ SF weekly, Allan Hough of Mission Mission, and Beatrice Gomberg, executive chef at The Corner .

Oh and all the proceeds of this event are going right to the SF Food Bank.

It was a mad house. There were a totally of 20 competitors offering a wide array totally un-vegan, bacon-spiked, truffle infused creations.

Totally crowded!

In the midst of this dairy madness we introduced our own dish titled "Who Cares". Our recipe is a serendipitous marrying of mine and Ashley's own seperate recipes. Don't worry, the recipe is soon to be online, right here on our blog and also on chow.com

Here is the sign we made. Notice the macaroni frame? Get it?

We weren't the only vegans representing! We had an ally in the Non-Dairy King's own brand of vegan mac. I was thrilled to be able to eat someone else's dish and I was not disappointed!

After a few hours of dishing out mac and cheese we waited to hear the results and were surprised and delighted to get 2nd place! We got medals and everything. In our prize pack we got a generous, if not appropriate, gift card to Cowgirl Creamery- an artisan cheese store....

Here we are posing next to our name!

So, after our glorious victory it was obvious how we should celebrate: Sundaes at Maggie Mudd! (notice our medal!)

Anyway, great. Come visit us at Eat Real Fest next weekend!

Winning Hearts and Awards

2009-08-24T12:14:00.000-07:00

Just a very quick note to make sure you all see that our new (and favorite!) friends over at Vegansaurus posted a very special post, all about us!

Now, we've got a longer weekend wrap-up post soon to come, and I hope this doesn't ruin any surprises, but eff-yeah we won second place in the SF Food Wars Mac and Cheese battle! Against crazy omnivores! With our vegan recipe!

Also, the SF Zine Fest was pretty rad too. One lovely lady we met there went so far as to say (via Twitter) "The true winner of SFZineFest was Fat Bottom Bakery. Daamn those ladies can make a mean cupcake."

Stay tuned, we've got all kinds of pictures and news for you.

And we're in love (yeah, it's mutual now!) with Vegansaurus.

P.S. Also, note that you can now follow us on Twitter! Yeah, we're on that shit. All for your convenience of course.

Eat Real Fest Oakland

2009-08-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

Add another rad event to our list of scheduled appearances for this month! We'll have more details as soon as we get them about exactly where and when we'll be there, but in the meantime, mark the Eat Real Festival on your calendar and don't make any other plans for the weekend of August 28th-30th.

This was going to be a great event regardless of Fat Bottom's presence (like, we were planning on going anyway), but we got lucky enough to be squeezed into the lineup of local food vendors at the last minute. No telling how much of the food will be vegan, but we're assured that just about every vendor will have at least a vegetarian option, in addition to everything being locally-produced and cheap! I'm not kidding-- cheap is actually a requirement.

Food Trucks and carts!
Local microbrews!
Curbside cinema!
Foodie bike tours?!

We dare you to check that shit out and not show up.

August already?

2009-07-31T14:39:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile, eh? But just because we haven't been blogging doesn't mean we haven't been working! In fact, we've been testing new recipes, securing our spot at events and taking baby steps in the direction of becoming legitimate business-ladies (sounds appealing, doesn't it?). Oh, and doing what we like to call "market research". That is, buying all the vegan baked goods we can find at the likes of Whole Foods and Rainbow Grocery and then talking about how they're too dry/bland/ugly/etc., and then scheming to one-up them.

But enough of the boring shit, let's get to our next event already!

We'll be at the San Francisco Zine Fest near the end of the month, breaking up this paper-dominated event with a little dose of sugar. If the idea of Fat Bottom Baked goods in lovely Golden Gate Park (did we mention it's in Golden Gate Park?) isn't enough to get you out to the zine fest, ~~you are a fool~~ check out this list of all the rad exhibitors and get stoked.
Oh yeah, and another thing! Did you know I (Ashley) make this vegan cookzine, Barefoot & in the Kitchen? I'll try not to be offended if you've never heard of it (but 'friend' me on myspace anyway, yeah?). Anyway, copies of all four issues will be there sharing some table space with Fat Bottom, so you can take them home and do some cooking of your own once you're all inspired from the delicious baked goods.

The whole thing is two days long, Saturday and Sunday, but we may not be there Sunday because, well, we're competing in this macaroni and cheese competition.
You may be thinking to yourself, "Hey, wait, I thought they were vegan! What a couple of hypocritical, money-mongering, (sub)cultural appropriators! Who do they think they are, claiming to be a vegan business??"
And if you're thinking that, well, let me explain. We will, indeed, be serving up vegan mac and cheese, no doubt to a crowd made up exclusively of omnivores (what kind of vegan goes to a mac and cheese event?!). And, in our far-fetched yet beautiful, cruelty-free dreams, we're going to kick the other competitors' asses and have proven the culinary value of nutritional yeast once and for all.

Ahem.

At any rate, we'll see you at the SF Zine Fest on Saturday, the 22nd! And we probably won't see you at the mac and cheese event (right?), but you can bet there will be self-satisfied gloating or bitter venting in the days to follow.

Best week ever!

2009-07-04T15:33:00.000-07:00

Oh my, last week was super busy and amazing! Ashley and I really pulled ourselves together and created new recipes, tabled at 21 Grand, and sold our spectacular rainbow cupcakes at Dyke March...pretty impressive, right?

First thing first, we owe a BIG thank you to all the lovely people at 21 Grand and Club Sandwich for their support and for inviting us to the show!

If you were at the show, then I don’t need to tell you how great the music, the people, and Fat Bottom baked goods were. Ashley and I were stoked to be at the show because it gave us a chance to make the first public debut of some new recipes AND we got to enjoy the music of Stripmall Seizures, KIT, Father Murphy, and Baaddd. All the bands were really outstanding and a real pleasure to be around.

Maybe you’re wondering what recipes we debuted?

We had our coconut cupcake with toasted coconut frosting…

our chocolate raspberry cupcake- a BRAND new recipe!-

here they are together!

If you weren’t at the show shame on you! You totally missed out. But it’s okay you can make it up by coming to our next event.

So as I said we also went to Dyke March. Ashley and I worked all day in kitchen making the most cupcakes ever attempted by Fat Bottom Bakery; we made what felt like a million of our tiny psychedelic rainbow cupcakes. Our prep time went off without a hitch and was really fun thanks to the help of our lovely friends Tucker, Kathleen, and Jose (You three are the best!).

Seriously, look how helpful Tucker is!

After the baking Ashley and I got all prettied up in dresses, did our hair, and even wore makeup! We headed out to Dolores Park. It was incredibly hot and simply packed with lovely queers and allies. Ashley and I braved the heat and had a great time slinging cupcakes, talking to old friends, and meeting new people.

Here they are! If these cupcakes don’t say pride, then what does?

and here we are!

Thanks to a lovely lady, Steph, for these pictures. Check out her website http://www.schmootography.com

And thanks to Jose for this photo!

Oh, we also made special buttons for the big day!

The day was a pleasure all around and just as it began to cool down and everyone got ready for the march we sold our last cupcake. Ashley and I were free to join in the festivities of the march without the burden of our cupcake tray!

Our week speed by super fast and now we are enjoying a more relaxed week. But not to worry we are busily making new recipes and will be keeping an eye out for new events.

San Francisco Pride 2009!

2009-06-23T15:10:00.000-07:00

Hey all you local queers and allies, Fat Bottom Bakery is gearing up to peddle our own personal brand of pride at the Dyke March next Saturday, June 27th-- in the form of rainbow cupcakes!

If the combination of this:

This:

...and the sight of the lovely Fat Bottom ladies (uh, I mean Carolynn and me) walking around in fancy dresses with trays full of the above cupcakes adds up to an irresistible event in your eyes, rest assured you're in good company.

I mean, let's face it, most of the folks there won't have come for the cupcakes, but who's to say the cupcakes won't be the highlight of the weekend? Really, look at them.

And if you get tired of looking at them, you can eat them.

And once you're tired of eating them (yeah, right), you can walk off all those delicious calories on your way from Dolores Park to the Castro!

We'll be there pretty much all day, starting around 3pm at Dolores park, where the festivities begin, and, starting at 7pm, following the march on its path through the city to the Castro.

Music and treats at 21 Grand, Tuesday!

2009-06-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

Join us tomorrow, June 23rd, to take in the sights and sounds of 21 Grand, one of Oakland's raddest art and show spaces! Why is 21 Grand the raddest? Events are usually all ages and sliding scale, which means whoever you are and however pitiful your allowance (or minimum wage, or unemployment) may be, you can come! It's also rad in that it's what they call an "interdisciplinary arts space", which basically means you can check out some crazy paintings and photos and sculptures made out of cardborard, string and macaroni while you enjoy the bands!

What bands are playing, anyway? Oh, you know, Stripmall Seizures, KIT, Father Murphy, and Baaddd (which doesn't have a website that I can find, but has been described as "(mostly) instrumental electro pop, that's coated in whipped cream and dripping with chocolate sauce." How could you go wrong?

We'll be there with the usual goods available for your enjoyment starting at 8pm.

21 Grand
416 25th St.
(at Broadway)
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 444-7263

I love lemons!

2009-06-09T18:19:00.000-07:00

I love summer food. Ashley and I have been perfecting recipes for all kinds of summer treats, like our strawberry cupcakes and brand new chocolate-mint cupcakes.

So even though it was a gloomy, grey, entirely un-summery day, in my heart I knew I wanted to make something that would be totally refreshing on a hot sunny day- I needed to make batch of lemon poppy seed cookies and a pitcher of ginger lemonade!

So I bundled up, walked to the market, and bought the most lemons ever.

Seriously, lemons are the greatest!

The cookies are crisp, chewy, tart.

So basically they are the best.

Keep checking back Ashley and I have been making have a bunch of new recipes and are always looking out for places to table.

Sale books and cupcakes and raffles!

2009-06-09T09:37:00.000-07:00

If you didn't make it out to the Issues Anniversary party last weekend, allow us to recap for you what you missed:
There were out-of-control stacks of sale books lining the sidewalk, giant piles of t-shirts for only $10 (Joy Division? Check. The Smiths? Check. The Issues store logo? Double check.), free food provided by Casa Latina, free palm reading, free beer(!), a giant raffle with prizes from more than 20 local small businesses, and, of course, a table full of Fat Bottom baked goods.
It sounds like almost too much, right? Like you can't even imagine how awesome it was? Or maybe you just need photographic evidence to believe this shit really happened. Well, we've got that for you too.

Allow us to start with our own goods:
We've got mint chocolate and vanilla strawberry cupcakes...

And chocolate chip and maple-walnut cookies.

Debbie and Tiffany demonstrate the proper way to be stoked about baked goods.

Indigo is unsure...

...But comes around after a bite or two (we knew he would!)

Fan, helper, and sometimes-photographer of Fat Bottom Bakery, Jose, fell in love with a puppy.

Meanwhile, inside the store, Issues owners and friends work diligently to keep their valued customers happy.

While outside, we prepared our raffle prize to go to its lucky recipient-- we told you we had a prize in the raffle, right?

Carolynn even made a fancy box for it.

Raffle time came around at 4pm, and store-owner and generally-awesome-lady Noella got the crowd pumped up...

Seriously, the crowd was like 20 times that big. It was massive. Like, too-big-to-all-fit-in-one-photo-style.

We couldn't have had a better time!

I'm telling you, that's genuine delight on our faces.

All in all, it was a pretty perfect day. We got to meet tons of new local folks and convince them of our merit as a local Oakland business (I think it's called "networking" or something), run into some good friends, meet some cute dogs, hang out with the folks from Issues and even win a prize (I won a tote bag from Spectator Books in the raffle!). Oh, and we got sunburned! That part may not have been perfect, but rest assured it was our own damn fault.

Issues anniversary festivities this Sunday!

2009-06-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

First of all, thanks to everyone who stopped by our table at Gilman last weekend! We had an awesome time at the show, and had a chance to meet some rad local (and not-so-local) people.

But all that is behind us now, and it's time for you and us alike to gear up for our next appearance!

What I'm saying is: Fat Bottom Bakery will be at Issues this Sunday, from 2 to 6pm slinging cupcakes and more!

If you live in Oakland, you're probably familiar with Issues, our local independent news-stand-plus. If you're not, well then, you should be. Issues is way more than a news stand-- they've got an absolutely massive selection of magazines and newspapers, as well as books, vinyl, t-shirts and trinkets.

And best of all, they're turning two this Sunday, and having a party to celebrate!
Check out their website for more details here:http://www.issuesshop.com/

Fat Bottom will be just a part of all the fun things going on, including food and beer, a sidewalk sale, and a raffle. And-- wait for it-- one of the raffle prizes is a sampler pack of our vegan treats!

Be there.

Issues. 20 Glen Ave. at Piedmont. Sunday, June 7th, from 2 to 6pm.

New cupcakes!

2009-05-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

It was a lovely summery weekend. The skies were clear, the sun was shining, birds were chirping…etcetera. What did Ashley and I decide to do? Go on a hike or take a swim? Nope. We spent all weekend working over a hot oven perfecting cupcake recipes in our million-degree kitchen. It was great and totally worth it. This was one of those baking experiments that turns our perfect on the first try, which as you may know is not always the case.

Introducing coconut cupcakes two ways!

We invented a seriously intense coconut cupcake, a moist coco-nutty cupcake with coconut cream frosting and chocolate ganache topping. This is a real dessert cupcake, it’s super rich and totally satisfying.

And we also created a strawberry coconut cupcake. This is an airy coconut cupcake with a fresh strawberry butter cream. It’s light, delicious, and perfect snack on a summer evening.

As always, keep checking back for more new creations-- and while you're at it, come find us when we're out and about and try some of them for yourself!

We're sure you've already marked this on your calendar, but in case you forgot, our next official public appearance (with a variety of treats, of course!) is Friday, May 29th at 924 Gilman.

Fat Bottom Bakery's first event! Che Cafe, May 8th, 2009

2009-05-14T10:40:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to table our first event last weekend at San Diego's collectively-run Che Cafe, which has been a showspace, cafe, and something of a zine library for many, many years. Plenty of southern California kids grew up at the Che, and over the years, not much has changed--the same sort of troubles most collectives have (dealing with insurance, the university [it's on the UCSD campus!], each other, you know), as well as countless awesome shows, broken mics, rad kids, and veggie burgers.
The show itself was a fairly epic reunion of a bunch of old hardcore bands (Swing Kids, Portraits of Past and Unbroken were some of the more exciting), and drew a ton of kids from out of town and out of state. We were lucky enough to meet lots of them, and get to know some over some delicious cupcakes.
Special thanks to Spencer, for helping us out with the tabling aspect, Jose, for getting us an in at the show, and Jose's mom Camelia, for being an amazing lady and also for letting us use her house.

Now on to the pictures! (click 'em to see the full versions)

Setting up before the show...

The full spread.

Cookies and cream cupcakes were a hit.

As well as chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies, and vanilla cupcakes!

Carolynn and Ashley may seem a little awkward in photos...

But really, we were pretty stoked.

And as a bonus, a video of Swing Kids, for those who couldn't make it out (I was trying to find some more videos and pictures from the rest of the show, but don't have any myself because I was outside slinging baked goods almost the whole time!):

Wish you'd been there? Well, make sure to come out and visit the Fat Bottom table at some of the other shows and events we'll be at soon.
The next one is 7 Generations at 924 Gilman in Berkeley, Friday, May 29th. We better see you there!