It’s Dessert Time in LA!
Is it a blessing or a curse to have a sweet tooth? Whenever a server wants to know if I’ve saved room for dessert, I simply answer, “I’ll take a look.” There just may be that perfect sweet to finish off a great meal.
Recently, I’ve been thinking about some of the best desserts I’ve ever had, but miss terribly because it’s no longer offered. Like the peanut butter terrine at Bottega Louie. I still find pleasure in finding a great red velvet cupcake and slice of tres leches cake, but feel it’s slightly silly in the land of a gazillion frozen yogurt shops (why are they STILL around?).
Actually, cupcakes and cake (and pie, pudding and ice cream!) aren’t ever out of date. Not to mention brownies or lemon bars.
NYC meets LA at Magnolia Bakery
I can’t remember the first time I had heard about Magnolia Bakery. It was definitely before the cupcake craze hit LA. A passionate baker told me they loved Magnolia and then it seemed like I waited years for them to come to LA. By the time the shop landed on West 3rd, Magnolia quickly rose to the top of the baking pack. I recently went in and tried almost everything in the store but my ultimate favorites (besides the cupcakes which are moist, with the right amount of frosting and not-overly sweet) was the banana pudding. It was like my favorite childhood Nilla Wafers cookies but in a banana-bready form.
Cone or cup at Scoops Westside
When I was a kid, there was nothing more fun than chasing after the ice cream truck. I was also fond of getting a fruit popsicle from the paleta man roaming the streets of North East LA. But how could I forget going to Thrifty’s for ice cream (still available at Rite-Aid). My favorite combo was butter pecan and apricot sherbet. It just worked. And sometimes on my birthday, my family would take me to the most magnificent ice cream parlor, Farrell’s.
Scoops Westside captures all those feelings of wonderment in a small shop on the Westside. As an adult, I love the creative flavors. One of my faves is pistachio but add in poppy seeds to pistachio, and you got something special.
Yeah, yeah, I’ve talked a lot about red velvet cupcakes and cupcakes in general but my favorite thing at Milk is the Blue Velvet cake!
It’s this great blueberry cake in an electric shade of blue. Cookie Monster comes to mind. Milk also does great brownie sundaes, ice cream, cookies and other baked goods. Try the red velvet ice cream bar (ha, I knew we couldn’t leave red velvet behind!).
Get Your Pie on at Simple Things
I blame those 100-calorie packs for our obsession with mini things. Or maybe it’s because they’re just so darn cute. At Simple Things, not only can you buy a whole pie, you can buy ‘em in different sizes. Do you feel like Papa Bear, Mama Bear or Baby Bear? That’s how I think about the sizes at Simple Things. The large is a regular 9” diameter, the medium is 5” diameter or get your own personal sized pie at 2” diameter.
But what flavors? At 2” diameter, it’s easy to want to try them all! My favorites were the bourbon pecan and peanut butter chocolate.
While Bakelab doesn’t have a storefront, you can find their baked goods at a variety of locations in LA; including Food + Lab, The Oaks Gourmet and the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Or order online to make things easier. I really enjoy Bakelab’s cupcakes as well. They’re not too sweet and just so adorable to look at. I never thought I’d love peanut butter cookies so much but Bakelab’s are addicting. It’s actually two thin cookies with a layer of peanut butter. Genius! And if you’re a texture person like me, you’ll enjoy the contrast of crunchy and soft textures in that cookie. Bakelab also does that with the ginger molasses and lemon sugar cookies.
However, the most famous things I have to say Bakelab is known for must be the fluffy coconut clouds. In either a cheerful pink (chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream) or snowy white (coconut cake with lemon buttercream), these domes are delightful.
