Today we’d like to introduce you to Valerie Vedral

Hi Valerie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?

The Vulgar Vegan is a gourmet vegan cupcake bakery. We bake delicious cupcakes that are made with high-quality, premium ingredients and served with a side of sass.

We love to create truly unique vegan cupcakes that you won’t find in any grocery store – from the vegan Hawaiian french toast-topped Breakfast at Tiffany’s that is dusted with edible diamond glitter dust to the blueberry lavender delight Damn Right I Got The Blues. The Vulgar Vegan’s cupcakes were first served at a wedding several years ago before the business was even born – people still talk about those cupcakes to this day! Our cupcakes have been served at weddings, birthdays, baby showers, graduations, bridal showers and more.

This all got started years ago with a homemade chocolate-vanilla marble cake for a kids’ birthday party and, well, the rest is history. Store-bought cake or cupcakes have been flat-out refused ever since.

In 2022, The Vulgar Vegan was part of the inaugural Berwyn Shops business incubator project’s first season and was a runner up in Ingredion’s Plant-based Protein Cook-Off. In 2023, The Vulgar Vegan won second place in the Grubhub x The Hatchery Pitch Competition, which allowed us to move out of the shared kitchen and into our own private kitchen. Moving into our own kitchen space has allowed us to grow and better serve our customers.

The Vulgar Vegan has participated in the Riverside Farmer’s Market, Austin Town Hall City Market, Brookfield Farmer’s Market, Naperville Artisan Market, Oak Brook Artisan Market, Chicago Vegan Test Kitchen’s markets, Cruelty Free You + Me’s Vegan in the Burbs markets, the One Of A Kind Spring Show at The Mart, Local Edition Luxury Farmers Market and more. We also frequently participate as a pop-up vendor at the XMarket vegan food hall, 804 W. Montrose Avenue in Chicago, one of only three exclusively vegan food halls and bodegas operated by PlantX in the U.S.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

We have been lucky in that the road has mostly been smooth. There have been some bumps as we learned how to produce in a commercial kitchen, scale recipes and meet demand. However, all of our struggles have served as learning experiences.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?

The Vulgar Vegan is a gourmet vegan cupcake bakery that offers cupcakes made with high-quality, premium ingredients and served with a side of sass! We also offer a line of specialty-grade roast coffees. Our cupcakes and coffees are meant for those customers who want a sweet vegan indulgence and a damn fine cup of coffee as well as those who would like to have a decadent dessert that is all around better for you and the environment. We love to create truly unique vegan cupcakes that you won’t find in any grocery store – from the vegan Hawaiian French toast-topped Breakfast at Tiffany’s that is dusted with edible diamond glitter dust to the blueberry lavender delight Damn Right I Got The Blues.

We love to push the envelope with flavors and creations! One of our most over-the-top cupcakes is What the Fluff – a chocolate cupcake topped with a vanilla marshmallow fluff frosting that then gets dipped in chocolate and dusted with sprinkles! We make many ingredients in house, such as the graham cracks that top our The Campfire s’more cupcake and the animal crackers that top our Under the Big Top cupcake.

What sets us apart from others is that we are all about the experience – from the moment you read our menu to the moment you take a bite into one of our signature cupcakes!

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?

Just do it. Don’t wait until your idea is perfect. You will learn along the way, and sometimes find that the idea you had in mind was not what was going to be the most successful.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vlgrvegancupcakes
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/thevulgarvegancupcakes/