Reykjavík Grapevine - nóv. 2020, Blaðsíða 28

We <3 Cake
Baunin serves up ve!an treats for the a!es
Words: Hannah Jane Cohen Photos: Sunna Ben & Provided by Baunin
Cakes!!
Order cakes at baunin.com
Covered with delicate, earthy, ab-
stract flowers overlaid in rich jewel
tones, you’d be forgiven for wonder-
ing if you’d just walked in on some
sort of woodland fairy feast when
you first see cakes by Baunin, Ice-
land’s premier vegan cake company.
Lára, the lady behind the frosting,
is a cornucopia of imaginative pair-
ings, consistently serving up fla-
vours that make you say, “Wait, you
made a cake of that?” So holidays
of 2020, buckle up and get ready for
some plant-based magic. Baunin
is here.
Freelance cake artist
Lára officially opened Baunin in
2019, quickly developing a cult fol-
lowing in the local vegan commu-
nity. “I noticed that the standards
for vegan food were very low here in
Iceland, as well as in other parts of
the world,” she explains. “I wanted
to raise that and provide something
entirely different.”
She quickly corrects me, though,
when I refer to the bakery as a busi-
ness. “I certainly don’t like the com-
plexity of being a business,” she
notes. “I could consider myself a
freelance cake artist”
You can sense the mirth in her
words, but it’s nonetheless an apt
title. Lára is an artist—both in taste
and in presentation. Her wares
embody the problem of wanting to
have your cake but eat it too, which
is natural considering how she got
her start as a baker. “I started as an
intern in a cake shop in NYC, mak-
ing these kinds of cakes that look
like skyscrapers or animals,” she
explains. “We used to make cakes
for all kinds of famous actors and
businesses in NYC. I thought this
was so cool to be able to see people
and places I wouldn’t have seen if I
wasn’t given access to that.”
The vegan trick
Lára is, as previously mentioned, a
passionate vegan and has been so
for many years. The lifestyle change,
she explains, was spurred on after
seeing videos of animal abuse.
“It ’s understandable that it
causes people difficulty to under-
stand what’s really happening. I
think we’re a bit brainwashed in
this,” she says. “[But] eventually
something does ‘click’ in your head,
if you’re open to it. I think animals
are not put on this earth for our
convenience and if I can do some-
thing to help them, I will. Normally
I don’t even tell people the cakes
are vegan. It’s a fun trick when they
can’t tell.”
Granted, Lára’s cakes gastro-
nomically go so far beyond the
norm that focusing on whether
or not they include milk and eggs
could very well be the last thing
on your mind when taking a bite.
While she does serve up conven-
tional cake flavours like vanilla and
lemon, Lára also regularly whips
up more eccentric ones, including
matcha with black sesame, pista-
chio, and other, well, more off-the-
wall offerings.
“I really like using herbs and
spices, and things that don’t ini-
tially sound that great, but that’s
why I experiment,” she says. “My
favourite is my Bloody Mary cake. I
made it for Luna Flórens. It had to-
mato and red fruit ganache as well
as tomato and horseradish cream.
The cake was a vanilla cake with
black pepper. I think the one for the
weekend had vodka in it too!”
While Lára won’t reveal just
what she has planned flavour-wise
for the holiday season yet, we can
only imagine what combination
she’ll cook up. She says you’ll just
have to follow the bakery on social
media to find out.
Our recommendation? Perhaps
a nice grape flavour with an earthy
vine-y undertone. Yum.
Veganism-inducing imagery
Food
FISH & MORE
SkólavörDustígur 23 • 101 reykjavík
Steamed Fresh Fish, Traditional Icelandic Fish ‘Stew’, Fish & Vegan Soups,
Smoked Salmon & Vegan Toppings on Sourdough Bread, Beer, Wine, Coffee & more
15% DISCOUNT
SALKA VALKA
15% discount of total bill, every day
IF you bring this ticket
Lára (le!) and a cake
Laugavegi 28
537 99 00
sumac@sumac. is
sumac. is