For one baker, providing vegan products started as a mission to make cakes for people who had never had the chance to eat a birthday cake. For others, baking vegan stemmed from their lifestyle.
Customer interest in vegan desserts is on the rise. The vegan baked goods market was valued at $4.28 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach 8.32 billion by 2032.
Roughly 11% of adults in America deal with at least one food allergy, while 3% choose to live by a strictly vegan diet.
Whether it's a lifestyle choice or a food allergy, customers don’t have to give up their sweet tooth. Here are five vegan dessert shops in North Central Florida to help you satisfy the sugar cravings without animal products.
Soleil Bakery
Co-owner and baker Melanie Patrick didn’t start off as a vegan baker but discovered the need after her gluten-free products spiked customers' interest. The business started at a downtown market, but Patrick moved into a physical location five years ago, now positioned in Ocala.
The bakery is a dedicated gluten-free shop and offers multiple vegan, dairy-free and keto options.
“Any kind of allergy that you have, we can work around it,” Patrick said.
According to Patrick, one of the more popular vegan products is the oatmeal cream pie. The bakery also offers vegan brownies, cinnamon rolls and muffins.
One of the more rewarding products for Patrick is the vegan cakes the shop offers. The bakery has made vegan wedding and birthday cakes and Patrick enjoys letting customers have creative freedom.
"That's a big thing for us, when people haven't had birthday cakes in years and we finally get to make them one,” Patrick said. “We like to bake out of the box and give people who never get a choice whatever they want.”
Aside from desserts, the shop also sells vegan soft pretzels, bagels and mac and cheese.
Because vegan and gluten-free products require specific ingredients, Patrick said Soleil’s prices are about a dollar higher than those at other bakeries. Still, Patrick said customers come from all around the region.
“There's some [people] from even from North Georgia when they know they're coming through, a lot of people will be going to Disney and we're right off the freeway,” Patrick said.
Curia on the Drag
This fully vegan bakery stemmed from the owners’ desire to create a place for vegans like themselves. The establishment opened its doors in March 2015 in Gainesville.
Meredith Klump, 27, a baker and barista at Curia, said the bakery’s bagel bombs, bagel dough wrapped around cashew butter, are some of its best sellers. Klump said the bagel flavors vary, offering jalapeno, cheddar and garlic herb options.
In addition to the pastries, the shop’s atmosphere also draws in customers. Lizzy Arnold, 24, a special education teacher, heard about the business through her sister, who goes there to study.
“I really like the way it's laid out, how it's kind of separated with different nooks and crannies,” Arnold said. “I like that it's visually appealing.”
Klump said the bakery uses handwritten recipes from a former baker. To make vegan alternatives, the staff uses applesauce and pumpkin puree in place of eggs.
She said most of Curia’s customers are not vegan, though.
“One of the guys who comes here every night, he gets a cookie and a cold brew, and he's not vegan at all,” Klump said.
The Baked Vegan
The Baked Vegan doesn’t have a physical location but has grown popular at the Grove Street and Alachua County farmers markets.
Brie Ezratty, 34, started the business in 2018 when she and her husband, David Maxwell, 37, lived in West Palm Beach, Florida, because of the lack of available vegan products.
Though the couple had to take a brief break from the business, the pair restarted it in Gainesville in 2022. They started with just four products on the menu but expanded to around 20 following their decision to dedicate themselves full-time to the business in 2024.
Jess Hausmann, 36, has been vegan for more than 12 years and got hooked on the baked goods after discovering them a couple of years ago.
“I'm always excited to see new things and there's such a high demand that they sell out,” Hausmann said. “Today I said I wanna be the first person in line at Baked Vegan.”
The pop-up sells cobbler rolls, cinnamon rolls, donuts, cookies and cake slices. Some of their more popular donut flavors are Boston cream and banana pudding.
“I think upwards of 80% of our clients aren't vegan,” Maxwell said. “They just like what we sell.”
Karma Cream
For customers who want a cold, sweet treat, Karma Cream offers a variety of vegan ice cream flavors. The cafe also sells vegan pastries and sandwiches.
Molly Fisher, 19, a University of Florida pre-nursing student, said she enjoyed how the shop offered less common ice cream flavors like birthday cake and cookie monster while still offering basics like vanilla.
“I was shocked at how much it tasted like normal ice cream,” Fisher said. I would never have known it wasn't vegan if it hadn't said that.”
Karma Cream is located on the corner of University Avenue and Southwest Sixth Street, making it about a 20-minute walk for UF students.
“It's really convenient because it seems like a 10- to 15-minute walk from my apartment so it's definitely easy to walk there after class,” Fisher said.
Fisher said she was also impressed by the variety of pastries offered.
“My friend and I couldn’t make our minds up about whether we wanted their cinnamon rolls, fudge brownies or cupcakes,” Fisher said.
Vine Sourdough Bakery
Most of Vine’s pastries are not vegan, but all of their sourdough is. The bakery offers nine varieties of bread, including baguettes, rye loaves, heartier loaves and a gluten-free option.
The bakery also makes vegan oatmeal walnut cranberry cookies and apple walnut muffins.
Head baker Eden Stolkey, 22, said baking the vegan products is easier than most people expect.
“Vegan stuff is actually really easy to bake,” Stolkey said. “You can do a lot with, you can do a lot with oils, different oils, do a lot with experimenting with applesauce, banana, flax.”
Vine has been around since 2011 but moved to its permanent location in Gainesville in 2014.