Whether you’re a devoted vegan, vegan-curious or just love a good sweet treat, The Fragile Flour — a new tiny, charming bakery on E7th Street creatively helmed by a veteran pastry chef is serving up plant-based versions of the city’s most popular signature desserts.
The East Village outpost — outfitted with floral accents and multicolored chandeliers — has a small but welcoming seating area, a hand-picked menu of natural wines and an appealing glass case full of everything from traditional birthday cakes to plant-based brownies, pies, cupcakes macarons, ice cream and a wide range of cookies to enjoy.
Having recreated New York classics like the Black and White and Rainbow Cookie, Chef Ashton Warren told us that “I wanted to make sure that we hit all of the New York City bakery staples that everybody is used to — all the things that you may not have been able to get as a vegan,” she said. “Banana Cream Pie is actually one of our best sellers — because everybody's like, ‘I've never been able to have banana pudding or banana cream pie that’s vegan!” As for their seasonal ice cream, Chef Ashton hopes to conjure a nostalgic flavor profile with the bakery’s newest creation. "We want it to taste like the aerated, light feel of a Mister Softee or McDonald's cone," she said.
Chef Ashton began her pastry career at the Michelin-starred Restaurant Marc Forgione, where while working as a hostess, she helped the resident chef develop a new chocolate cake recipe. It was an instant hit, and she became the Executive Pastry Chef at Forgione before leaving to work as a pastry consultant and lead the Fragile Flour.
She’s now worked as a pastry chef for the past 12 years and has been a vegetarian since 2007. “I just started doing vegan desserts about eight months ago,” Chef Ashton told us when we stopped by the bakery in its opening weeks. “For me, it’s about making sure that everything tastes exactly the same as it should — that you can't taste the difference between a dessert being vegan or not,” she added. “The sign outside does say ‘vegan bakery’, but you should just be able to order something and not know if it's vegan or not. And if you are vegan, then you have everything here!”
In addition to developing limited-edition, seasonal treats, she constantly experiments with new challenges in vegan desserts, working on plant-based versions of pavlovas and cream puffs using aquafaba (chickpea cooking liquid) instead of eggs. “We’re going through the steps and figuring out what our limits are — and then manipulating them,” said Chef Ashton.
Patrons thus far have also been willing to experiment. “We have a lot of regulars already — people are pretty excited that we’re here and that they can pick something up after dinner,” said Chef Ashton. “We recently had a guy come in who said, ‘I’ve never had vegan desserts, but I’m willing to try!’. And I thought, ‘Ok - I’ll make a believer out of him!’” Having tried one of the Fragile Flour’s signature rainbow cookies, we’re believers, too!
