These are heady times for vegan bakers, who are shedding their reputation as makers of tasteless, hockey-puck pastries.

Vegan bakers—who eschew milk, eggs, butter, and honey—took first-place honors twice on the Food Network's "Cupcake Wars" television series. A vegan bakery recently opened at Walt Disney World. Vegan bakeries have evolved into fast-growing businesses, racking up sales of moist flax-seed cakes, soy-butter cookies and fudgy brownies (one secret: adzuki beans).

All this success ought to be giving vegan baking a good name.

The problem: Some vegan bakeries don't flaunt their identity for fear of scaring off customers. That stirs up proud vegans who believe every delicious pastry should help promote a world in which no animal is used for the sake of a snickerdoodle.

At Mighty-O Donuts in Seattle, which makes vegan doughnuts, there is no sign highlighting that fact. Founder Ryan Kellner says it could lose him omnivore business. "We use terms like egg-free and dairy-free. Vegans read labels," and can figure out the code, he says.