Conscious Cakes
This post is all about Conscious Cakes. Don't they look tempting? :)
I must tell you that I am excited and disappointed about Conscious Cakes. I'm excited because the cakes look and sound so yummy! You'll see what I mean, as you read the post. BUT I'm disappointed because I can't taste them! Fingers crossed that Conscious Cakes will extend where they ship their goodies soon! :)
Kelsey will now tell you all about what they do, where you can find them and more...
What does Conscious Cakes specialise in selling?
We sell 100% vegan and gluten-free cakes and cookies in mason jars. Everything is made on dedicated equipment and ready to eat as soon as you receive it.
Where are you based?
We are located in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Do you exclusively serve those who are local to you or can others who are further away access your products too? If so, how?
We can send our products to anyone in North America. We'd love to be able to ship to more countries, but we haven't yet mastered all of the shipping and import regulations for some countries outside of North America.
What inspired you to create a business that solely focuses on plant-based cakes?
One of our awesome co-owners, Melissa, who also happens to be my best friend and a fabulous graphic designer has been vegan for almost as long as I can recall. I've had a number of health issues and gluten-sensitivity was one of the diagnoses. Combined, we realized how hard it was for people to find vegan and/or gluten-free desserts that weren't crazy expensive or tasteless. So we sat down and decided to take Conscious Cakes and change it from an idea into an action. Not only do we feel great about helping people source delicious desserts that won't leave them feeling left-out, but we are so happy to help support a cruelty free lifestyle.
How easy is it for you to source cruelty free ingredients for your cakes?
Surprisingly a lot easier than I originally thought. The rise of Veganism and Celiac Disease means it's much easier to source our ingredients than it would have been even a year ago.
Do you think these ingredients effect the outcome of your cakes in any way, when compared with non-vegan ones?
Absolutely! But not in a negative way. I think our cakes and cookies are packed with much more flavour than our non-vegan counterparts. The way we bake them in the jars also yields, in my humble opinion, a cake that is more moist and fluffy.
Do you experiment with ingredients and tailor-make the cake mixes?
We have a customised recipe for each of our flavours. We usually start with a 'regular' recipe and then 'tweak them in order to come up with our own version. This also means we experience a fair amount of failure. We usually go through two or three rounds of recipe updates before we settle on one that we feel is perfect enough for our customers.
For someone who hasn't tasted your cakes before & is indecisive about what to buy; is there a particularly popular one you can name?
We each have our own favourite, but the Red Velvet, and the Peanut Butter Cup are two of our biggest sellers. During the spring our Raspberry Lemonade is also wildly popular. We recommend buying the Sampler Set for anyone who is indecisive because you get to pick whichever four you'd most like to try AND it yields about a 22% discount over buying four cakes separately. These also make excellent gifts for holidays, anniversaries, and birthdays.
Are you owned by, or in partnership with, another company that does test on animals or sell non-vegan products?
We are not. Conscious Cakes is it's own company and brand.
Tell me a bit about yourself before you launched Conscious Cakes
I am originally from Columbus, Ohio which is where Melissa and I met a long, long time ago. I went to the University of Cincinnati for my undergraduate education and got degrees in Marketing and Entrepreneurship - which is where I met Tony, our other co-owner.
What is your vision for the future of Conscious Cakes?
World Domination! No, in all honesty we just want to make sure people can enjoy our amazing product. Short-term we are working on a line extension that will be diabetic friendly. We've had a fair amount of requests for such options and we would love to be able to help fill that gap for our customers as well. Generally speaking we're just working on getting our name and our product out there for the world to see. Starting this summer we'll begin working on wedding orders in addition to our Etsy shop. Hopefully in the next 5 years or so we can expand into a physical store front.
So...if you're lucky enough to be able to order a Conscious Cake, you're in luck! PShift15 gets you a saving of 15% until July 31st.