I made my first attempt at baking a vegan dessert for my boyfriend’s birthday last week. I decided to continue with the theme of homemade gifts from our Valentine’s Day celebration (when he cooked for me all day instead of treating me to one meal at a restaurant). Since I hadn’t baked in years and this was my first time baking anything vegan, I was part nervous and part excited.

I initially thought about making a vegan version of my mom’s black forest cake, a popular request of my family for special occasions. But I figured it would be safer to use a recipe originally meant for vegans. Thankfully, the one I chose delivered on simplicity and flavor! I went with Naked Cupcake’s vegan black forest cupcake recipe that was inspired by a recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I also ended up using my mom’s recipe for the icing/topping instead of the cherry pie filling the recipe originally called for.