At 19 years old, Clara Polito counts skateboarding, punk music, and Gossip Girl nostalgia as just a few of her hobbies, but none are more dear to her than bakingand its with good reason. The teenager is also the one-woman force behind Clara Cakes, the in-demand bakery operated out of her family home in Los Angeles, where she dreams up gluttonous desserts that also happen to be entirely vegan.

While shes been a vegetarian since the age of 5, she didnt start pedaling her wares until the age of 14 when she became a full-fledged vegan and set up shop at The Smell, an all-ages music venue in Downtown L.A. where young, likeminded guys and gals have partied sans adult substances since 1998. Since then, shes built a local roster of private clients who crave her unassumingly vegan confections.

Now on the edge of turning 20, Polito is taking a post-graduation step toward building an empire not unlike steadfast vegan chef Chloe Coascarelli, whose byChloe fast casual concept has grown rapidly since it opened its doors in August 2015. To kick it off, shes releasing a book entitled Clara Cakes: Delicious & Simply Vegan Desserts for Everyone, due out today from PowerHouse Books.

Inside, readers and wannabe bakers alike find recipes for waistline expanding Butterfinger pie, sweet andsalty potato chip blondies, and corn flake-topped Breakfast Cakeall made without any eggs, dairy, or other animal product contraband in sight.

Read more:

The 19-Year-Old Vegan Baker You Need to Know - Observer