Desserts

10 Best Cupcake Shops in Los Angeles

The gourmet cupcake bubble should have burst -- long ago. For some reason, it hasn't. New bakeries claiming they specialize in cupcakes seem to pop up every month. How do you separate the wheat from the chaff? How do you know which bakeries are selling desiccated supermarket cupcakes at inflated pri ... More >>

Q & A With Katherine Tidy: Buttering Up the Food Stylist From BBC Films Toast

BBC Films' coming-of-age food comedy Toast, which is directed by S.J. Clarkson and opens at the NuArt today, might have trouble plucking heartstrings as effortlessly as it did when it aired in the UK last Christmas as a made-for-TV movie. In the first place, it's based on Toast: The Story of a Boy's ... More >>

Katherine Tidy's Very Yellow Lemon Meringue Pie: A Recipe

In our conversation with Katherine Tidy, the food stylist on BBC Film's coming-of-age food comedy Toast, we spoke of a lemon meringue pie that presented Tidy with one of her biggest challenges on the shoot. "It was pivotal," says Tidy, "so I did lots of samples of it and took pictures of it and e-ma ... More >>

Sweet Technology: iPhone Cupcake Apps

Crumbs​Cupcakes aren't only big business in the real world, they're also making inroads in the virtual one. A couple weeks ago, Crumbs Bakeshop released an iPhone app, but they're hardly the first to combine cupcakes and technology. Too lazy to bake cupcakes in the real world? Any number of ap ... More >>

Sweet Potato Pie, 7-Up Cake Banana Pudding: The Cobbler Lady Isn't Just Dishing Out Cobbler

J. GarbeeOatmeal Cookies Plain and Simple At The Cobbler Lady​There are days when whatever farmers market-inspired creations certain pastry chefs dream up are what you really crave (fine, every day), but there are still plenty of back-of-the-box banana pudding sort of days in all their diglyce ... More >>

Q & A With Danielle Keene: Just Desserts, The Issue of Cupcakes The Possibility of an Ice Cream Truck

BravoDanielle Keene​For those of us who've been following pastry chef Danielle Keene for the past few years, from Wilshire's Ice Cream Shoppe nights, to stints in the pastry kitchens of BLT Steak and Little Door, to her own on-line pastry kitchen, Bittersweet Treats, it didn't come as much of ... More >>

Cookbook Review: The Perfect Finish, Baking For The Obamas (Ya, He'll Have The Pie)

​For some, The Perfect Finish to summer might involve a cooler full of Bomb Pops and Good Humor bars. Bill Yosses is more the four-sesame sundae type -- homemade sesame ice cream (vanilla ice cream base flavored with sesame oil) drizzled with both tahini (sesame paste) and caramel sauces and t ... More >>

Beat The Heat: A Round-Up of L.A.'s Ice Cream Sandwich Spots

Coolhaus Truck​ It might be mid-August, but it looks as though summer has finally arrived. In the same way we Angelenos become unglued at the first drop of winter rain, we also start to melt the moment the mercury rises beyond 85 degrees. So what do we do when we want to beat the heat? One o ... More >>

Cream Cuffs, Cupcakes & S'mores: A Dessert Lovers Paradise at Savor Los Angeles

Christie BishopPlaisir's Cream Puff Display​ Someone once said, "life is short; eat dessert first." Then again, perhaps she didn't have to choose between cream puffs, cheesecake, cupcakes, ice cream, s'mores and chocolate-covered bacon all in one sitting. Which was exactly the dilemma we face ... More >>

Magnolia Bakery Opens Tomorrow in WeHo

DommmNYC Magnolia Cupcakes ​ You've seen Magnolia cupcakes in chick flicks such as Sex and the City (in an episode where Carrie falls for Aden), and in The Devil Wears Prada (when Andy buys a cupcake as a belated birthday present/peace offering for her boyfriend.) And after nearly a year of p ... More >>

New Baking Book Review: United Cakes of America

​In the good old U.S.A, we hold our cakes to higher standards than cookies. A cookie can be dry and crumbly (that's what coffee is for). A cake must be both beautiful and tasty (good luck, as fondant will never taste good) and stay fresh for days (impossible without copious amounts of booze or ... More >>

Sweet Rose Creamery Opening Preview: What You Get From That $65K Ice Cream Maker

Jenn GarbeeSweet Rose's Chocolate Ice Cream Pie ​ It's almost summer. Pinkberry stores are closing at an alarming rate. We need ice cream reinforcements. Now. (Wednesday would work fine, too). Enter Sweet Rose Creamery. On Friday, Squid Ink swiped a few sneak preview tastes from the much-an ... More >>

Squid Ink Food Fight: Banana Cream Pie, Apple Pan vs. Jar

Certain foods feel nostalgic, whether they were a part of your childhood or not. You don't need to have grown up in the 50s to have a sense of comfort sitting in an Eisenhower-era roadside diner, drinking burnt coffee and eying a piece of cherry pie sitting under a glass covering on the counter. Pie ... More >>

Frosted Cupcakery Opens Second Location In Hollywood Looking to Hire a Baker

A. ScattergoodFrosted Cupcake in Hollywood​ Stacia Samartan, co-owner of Frosted Cupcakery, is not a culinary school trained baker, but years of baking at home with her mother have resulted in her opening up two cupcakeries. With the original Long Beach location up and running for four years, ... More >>

David Lebovitz's New Ready For Dessert Cookbook A Chocolate Banana Ice Cream Recipe

​In the movie biz, you don't typically expect the average trilogy to have a fantastically rich whipped crème fraîche ending. The book publishing industry can be even worse. And then you flip through Ready For Dessert, former Chez Panisse pastry chef turned transplant Parisian-about-town Dav ... More >>

Cook's Illustrated Cupcake Tasting: They Hated Them All Their Solution

Flickr user tednmikiDoes Your Cupcake Measure Up?​Sprinkles fans, you might want to step away from the computer for a cupcake break. The June issue of Cook's Illustrated, the Consumer Reports of test kitchens, features a chocolate cupcake tasting challenge. They've dubbed Sprinkles' version th ... More >>

Free Cupcakes: Sprinkles Has a Birthday Party

So what do you want for your birthday? World peace, a nuclear arms treaty, a trip somewhere, a job. Probably not a Lexus. But cupcakes, definitely cupcakes. We all want cake, especially if it's portable. Well, today Sprinkles is turning 5 years old, and they're celebrating their birthday by giving y ... More >>

Sugary (and Corn Syrupy) Blast From the Past: A Look Back at Our Nation's Favorite Desserts

From banana splits and Eskimo pie to cake kits, ambrosia, and bacon-laced cupcakes, American society has always craved something to satisfy its ever-present sweet tooth. But what defines our taste in desserts? Cleverly packaged free "recipe books" published by companies like Pillsbury and Del Monte, ... More >>

St. Patrick's Day Bakery Hop: Guinness Bundt Cakes and Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

Crumbs Bake ShopSt. Patrick's Day cupcakes by Crumbs Bake Shop. Would you rather wake up from a sugar crash or a hangover after St. Patrick's Day? Yes, for revelers with a sweet tooth who also want to indulge during the holiday, Los Angeles bakeries will be baking Irish-inspired treats of a differe ... More >>

Surviving The LA Cupcake Challenge: A Judge's Perspective

Robert TakataMini-cupcakes from the 2009 Cupcake Challenge.​Cupcakes are the cheerleaders of the dessert world, standing coyly on the side of the pastry case looking cute, perky and, above all, girlie. When bakeries started selling them for $3 apiece, people laughed -- then they lined up to bu ... More >>

Mall Update: Now You Can Get Cupcakes at Cinnabon. Lucky You.

The cupcake craze is not only Never Going Away, it's still growing. Not only do we have the upcoming Cupcake Challenge, but the makers of Cinnabon have now introduced a new cupcake menu. I guess cinnamon rolls were a little too old-fashioned, or maybe they just did't have the same cachet. For whatev ... More >>

Baking Whoopie: A New Whoopie Pie Online Bakery

Baking WhoopieBaking Whoopie's whoopie pie​Are whoopie pies the next big dessert trend of 2010? Roxy Rubell of the newly-launched online bakeshop Baking Whoopie is betting on it. "I think they're the next cupcake," says Rubell, who bakes the little pies out of both her home and a commercial ki ... More >>

Little Spoon Desserts Ditches Truck, Partners with Groundwork to Sell Vegan Desserts

After less than three months in business, Melissa Hanna and Laurel Tincher are ditching their Little Spoon Desserts truck (Twitter: @weliketospoon) in favor of a new business model: selling Little Spoon's desserts on other trucks. They've already partnered with fellow Road Stoves clients the Nom Nom ... More >>

From Moveable Type to Moveable Feast: Eat My Blog Bake Sale This Weekend

http://ravenouscouple.blogspot.comRavenous Couple's mochi truffles​Chances are many blog-induced fantasies will be realized this Saturday at Eat My Blog, a bakesale organized by food bloggers Cathy Danh and Laurie Moore to raise funds for the L.A. Regional Food Bank. Featuring the work of 40 f ... More >>

Downtown Chip Brown: Big Men Bake Too

Cupcake baker is probably the last career you'd imagine for Chip Brown. A towering 6 feet 5 inches, Brown has the physique of a football star--and the culinary sensibility of a pastry chef. Or your elderly aunt. A New York City native, Brown baked cakes for co-workers and for the catering business h ... More >>

Top 10 Places to Buy a Pie For Thanksgiving (And Then Say You Made It Yourself)

Thanksgiving is a food-lover's holiday. Everywhere you turn, there's talk about what to eat or cook for the big day. Scan the food sites and you'll find discussion boards dedicated to the topic of turkey, stories of family food traditions, and lots, and lots, of recipes. What's a food loving person ... More >>

Thanksgiving Round-Up Part Deux: Where To Get To-Go Turkey

A reminder that Thanksgiving's right around the corner. Like a week from today. If it's all becoming too daunting, or if you just need some help, here's a follow-up list of dine-in and to-go options, including a kosher restaurant and holiday dinners with Cajun, Southern and Scottish twists on the mo ... More >>

Pro Volleyball Players Make A Giant Ice Cream Sundae For A Manhattan Beach Cancer Fundraiser: Do Good, Eat Ice Cream, Play Volleyball

If you have an ice cream and volleyball fetish, tomorrow's your lucky day. Professional volleyball players will be serving not volleyballs but ice cream at a fundraiser this Saturday, November 14th, to help raise money for Padres Contra El Cancer at Manhattan Beach's Tin Roof Bistro. The highlight o ... More >>

Tavern Pastry Chef Breanne Varela Her Chocolate Ghost Cupcake Recipe

Tavern pastry chef Breanne Varela spent four years at Lucques and AOC -- three of them as the head pastry chef -- with only a deck oven and stove top within reach of her small corner workstation. Now, a deck oven is perfect for making those glorious rustic fruit tarts she's known for, not so great f ... More >>

A Recipe From the Chef: Sona's Pumpkin Creme Brulee Recipe

Sona's pumpkin crème brulée is a perfect mixture of seasonality, holiday flare and basic kitchen technique. Sona pastry chef Kuniko Yagi makes the custards in little ramekins and sends them out as an amuse-bouche. She tops the little custards with a fine dice of sauteed pumpkin and a few edible fl ... More >>

Name That Pastry Chef: Jashmine Corpuz of Drago Centro Her Amaretti Cookie Recipe

Folks, we have a resident cyber pastry-guru in our midst. H.C. guessed correctly again. This week's Name That Pastry Chef is Jashmine Corpuz of Drago Centro. Not to worry, you all get the grand prize - Corpuz's amaretti cookie recipe. "I've always been passionate about pastry... when I was a kid I ... More >>

Name That Pastry Chef 3: Amy Brown of Provecho & Her Mexican Wedding Cookie Recipe

Yup, you were all correct. This week's Name That Pastry Chef is Amy Brown. The 30-year-old pastry chef served up late-night ice cream sandwiches at Magnolia in Hollywood before taking over the dessert menu at Provecho downtown in March. She's also the owner of the virtual bakery BrownSugarLA. On our ... More >>

Top 10 Places to Get Your Fro-Yo Fix

Erinn EichingerNew Zealand Natural​ Tart green tea or mint chocolate? Icy or creamy? Fresh fruit or mochi and lychee for toppings? For frozen yogurt aficionados, these are key elements in what makes a good cup of fro-yo. And serious frozen yogurt fans can be just as cultish in their loyalty ... More >>

More Cupcakes: Magnolia Bakery Set to Open This Fall in LA

New York's Magnolia Bakery is opening a Los Angeles store this fall, according to The Nation's Restaurant News. The bakery, which was started in Greenwich Village in 1996, now has three locations in New York City. (Some people credit Magnolia, which was featured in Sex and the City and The Devil We ... More >>

An Interview with Spago Pastry Chef Sherry Yard A Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe

sherryyard.comSherry Yard with Wolfgang Puck​Sherry Yard moves at the speed of someone who, for professional reasons, consumes a lot of sugar. But when she's not at the pastry kitchen of Spago or Cut, or overseeing the desserts of Wolfgang Puck's vast and growing empire, or writing cookbooks ( ... More >>

I Drink Your Milkshake: Tips from Pastry Chef Mariah Swan and Councilmember Eric Garcetti

The personal diet is now intensely political. This ethic now even applies to lighthearted summer drinks like the milkshake. City Council President Eric Garcetti is among the participants in the latest Got Milk? campaign focusing on milkshakes featuring recipes by Grace and BLD pastry chef Mariah Sw ... More >>

Pistachio-Rosewater Ice Cream Recipe: Exit National Ice Cream Month

Felicia Friesemashelled pistachios, mortar & pestle​"Baba gave us each a weekly allowance of ten Afghanis and we spent it on warm Coca-Cola and rosewater ice cream topped with crushed pistachios"--The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.With National Ice Cream Month about to vanish into our thighs ... More >>

Chardonnay or Chantilly? Cupcake Vineyards vs. Layer Cake Wine = A Hungry Jury

Cupcake VineyardsChardonnay and cupcake pairingA cabernet frosted cupcake is bad enough. But cupcake-inspired wine? Despite the name, Cupcake Vineyards, a division of global producer The Wine Group's Underdog Wine Merchants, produces no dessert wines. Last fall, Cupcake introduced a selection of $ ... More >>

Ludo Lefebvre's Chocolate Cupcake Recipe: Foie Gras Chantilly Optional

"I'm thinking about creating the world's most expensive cupcake," says Ludovic Lefebvre as he drowns nuggets of fattened goose livers in heavy whipping cream for a foie gras chantilly.

Pastry chef Danielle Keene's online sweet shop Bittersweet a cookie recipe

Danielle KeenePasty chef Danielle KeenePastry chef Danielle Keene hasn't just been baking cookies since she left Little Door in January: she's been setting up her own online pastry shop. And for those of us who have missed her ice creams--she started Ice Cream Shoppe night at Wilshire--or the artfu ... More >>

Venice's Intelligentsia Finally Opens, Debuts New Breakfast Pastries from Cake Monkey

At Intelligentsia's Venice locationYesterday at noon, the long awaited, often delayed, opening of Intelligentsia's Venice location simultaneously marked the debut of Cake Monkey's new line of breakfast pastry. Breakfast is a gear-shift for the Burbank bakeshop, famous for supplying clever desserts ... More >>

LA People 2009: Baby Cakes — Elizabeth Belkind and Lisa J. Olin, Cake Monkey's Tiny Cake Queens

Best Cupcakes: Oinkster

Sugar Highs and Lows at Hollywood's Cupcake Challenge

If you give a guy a cupcake ...

Cupcake Challenge Winners (We Called It)

Cupcake Challenge took place Saturday in Hollywood. Read about the overload of sugar, butter, chocolate, frosting and wine here. The winners have finally been announced - and they are.... Best Traditional 1st place: Vanilla Bake Shop Red Velvet (judges' choice) 2nd place: Yummy Cupcakes Red Vel ... More >>

Best Sweet-Tooth Fix

Ask Mr. Gold: Cheesecake

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Coffee and Dessert

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