Vegan Bakery Near Me in South Beach: ZEN Cakes on Washington Avenue

ZEN Cakes is the South Beach answer to a vegan bakery near me search when you want a proper slice of layered cake rather than a cookie. Every cake at 1239 Washington Ave. is plant-based, gluten-free and made without refined sugar, and the café is open every day from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. A slice costs $15, and a 4-inch mini cake that feeds two is $26.

What separates ZEN Cakes from a typical vegan cupcake shop is the base recipe. The cakes are built on almonds, dates, coconut cream and fruit, with Belgian chocolate, ceremonial-grade matcha and real coffee for flavor, and they are developed gluten-free from the start. One thing to know before you order: the breakfast side of the café is not vegan. Eggs, smoked salmon, mozzarella and chicken all appear there, so vegans should order from the cake counter.

The slice case is where most people start. Eleven flavors sell at $15 a piece, including Tiramisu with espresso-soaked layers and vanilla cream, Salted Caramel-Espresso, Chocolate-Cherry and Lemon-Blueberry. The Matcha-Strawberry slice is the most distinctive: matcha and strawberry layers on a crunchy pistachio base, finished with Belgian chocolate. Undecided? The Set of Pieces bundles Tiramisu, Lemon-Blueberry and Vanilla for $40, which costs $5 less than buying the three slices separately.

If you are avoiding tree nuts, read the labels closely, because almonds run through most of the menu. The plain Chocolate Cake is the exception worth knowing. The café lists it as sweetened with monk fruit and tags it as vegan, gluten-free and no added sugar, without the tree-nut flag that sits on almost every other cake. The Toast ordering page goes further and describes it as nut-free. A slice is $15, and a 6-inch whole cake is $52.

The Cake for Two line is the smartest buy for a couple or a solo treat. Each mini cake is 4 inches across, weighs about 320 grams and costs $26, which is less than two separate slices. There are five flavors: Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry, Blueberry and Espresso. They travel well in a small box, so a mini cake makes more sense than a slice if you plan to carry dessert back to a hotel on Collins Avenue.

For a group, the whole-cake prices are clear. A 6-inch Tiramisu, Matcha-Mango or Chocolate-Cherry cake weighs 620 grams, cuts into five slices and costs $48; the 7-inch, 1,300-gram version cuts into eight slices for $88. The 7-Flavor Signature Cake, with a different flavor in each of its seven slices, is $63. The showpiece is the Vanilla Bubble Cake with Raspberry Confit Filling at $108. Birthday Cakes run $64 for 6 inches and $103 for 7 inches.

Vegans who want something savory before dessert have one clear choice on the breakfast menu: the Vegan Avocado Toast at $14. It comes on rustic sourdough with avocado, cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes and microgreens. Skip the burritos if you eat plant-based. Both the tuna and egg burritos list eggs made with almond milk, and the breakfast plates carry eggs, salmon or chicken. Breakfast is served all day, so the toast and a slice make an easy late lunch.

Timing matters because the café closes at 4:30 pm, earlier than most of Washington Avenue. That rules out an after-dinner slice, so plan dessert as a mid-afternoon stop between the beach and the evening. Mornings after 8:30 am suit anyone who wants a quiet table with coffee or matcha. Weekends bring more beach traffic down Washington Avenue, so a weekday morning is the calmest time to sit with a slice and a laptop.

Whole cakes do not need a week of notice. ZEN Cakes advertises same-day orders, with cakes ready in one to two hours for pickup or delivery across Miami, and orders run through its Toast page. That makes it a realistic fix for a forgotten birthday on a South Beach trip. Add the edible Happy Birthday cake topper for $6. When we checked on October 15, the 7-Flavor Signature Cake was marked out of stock online, so pick a backup flavor.

The room is designed for lingering rather than grab-and-go. It is a bright café with free Wi-Fi, and the owners invite you to bring a laptop and stay for another coffee. There is outdoor seating on a dog-friendly patio, which is useful on Washington Avenue, where many places will not let you sit with a dog. You can dine in, take your order away or have it delivered. The cakes are displayed whole, so you can see each cross-section before choosing.

The story behind ZEN Cakes is short and personal. Its founder, Alex, is an entrepreneur and Ironman athlete who moved to the United States and could not find desserts that suited the way he ate. With no professional culinary training, he began testing cakes in his own kitchen in 2024 and sold first to friends. Production expanded in 2025, and in fall 2026 the brand opened this Miami Beach café, its first.

Walk off the slice without leaving the neighborhood. The Miami Beach Post Office, a 1937 Art Deco building with a round lobby, stands one block north at 1300 Washington Ave. Two blocks farther up is Española Way, the pedestrian street of Mediterranean Revival facades between 14th and 15th streets. Heading south instead, the Wolfsonian–FIU museum of design and propaganda art is at 1001 Washington Ave. Ocean Drive and Lummus Park beach are two blocks east.

Hours are 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday through Sunday. Every cake is vegan and gluten-free; most contain tree nuts, and the café kitchen also handles eggs, dairy cheese, fish and chicken, so people with severe allergies should speak to staff. ZEN Cakes suits vegans, gluten-free eaters, anyone cutting refined sugar and anyone in South Beach who needs a cake within two hours.