A one-woman shop is quietly baking up some of the best cupcakes in Portland. Located on Hawthorne between sandwich shop Devil’s Dill and futbol bar Gol, Likely Ivy opened its doors in May 2025. The shop exclusively sells mini cupcakes, covering a range of traditional and experimental flavors and topped with a luscious, silky buttercream. But they’re also secretly vegan. There are no signs in the store or on their website advertising their vegan status. I tried the cupcakes having no clue they were vegan, and even after learning they were, I was convinced this was a mistake. But no—everything in the case is indeed plant-based.
“I don’t push or promote it,” Ivy Nacol, a self-taught baker and chef explains, adding that she prefers to just let the cupcakes speak for themselves to avoid any bias from non-vegans. “The vegan community here is so loyal and supportive and wonderful. I kind of knew they’d show up, but my goal is to appeal to non-vegans too.”
Appealing to omnivores is in Ivy’s wheelhouse—prior to opening her cupcake shop, she worked as a private chef making vegan versions of dishes that her clients, who had gone vegan for health reasons, missed most…