Dessert Darling

Susina Bakery- Charming Atmosphere and Delicious Selections!

Su Su Su-Yeah! Woh-Oh!

What's that song from the '80s? Anyway, everytime I think Susina, that song comes to mind. 

Susina is a super charming bakery & cafe on Beverly Blvd and La Brea that serves one of the best berry cream cakes I've had. Indeed, their Berry Blossom vanilla sponge cake layered with white chocolate mousse, fresh berries, and touches of orange liqueur, meringue, and white chocolate shavings, would make Sweet's Lady Jane's bland rendition cry.

Susina's pastries are also quite delectable.

The red velvet cake let my friend and me down a bit with it's thick and mild frosting, and the cookie, while darling, was hard, firm, and tasted liked it came from a box in a grocery store.  

Overall, I highly recommend convening with friends at Susina Bakery or stopping by to try some of their many tempting treats yourself!

 

 For more information on Susina Bakery & Cafe, click here.  

xo

 

Cream Puffs from Pacific Puffs

Wow, these cream puffs, also known as profiteroles, were UH-mazing. Amazing, Amazing, Amazing.  Cream puffs are very dear and near to my heart as they were special treats that I'd enjoy with my mom on family vacations.

It's been so long since I've had a good cream puff that my expecations were mildly low when I stopped into Pacific Puffs, a bright and darling corner shop that sits pleasantly across a flower stand in San Francisco's Marina.

The first bite oozed the most delicious, silky filling that hinted fresh vanilla and eggs. Furthermore, this soft custard was chilled to a refreshingly cold temperature, making it reminscent of my all time favorite dessert, ice-cream.  Finally, the thick chocolate layer on top was precisely Heaven.  Clearly, Pacific Puffs uses only the finest ingredients, and with care at that.

If you're in SF, you must stop at Pacific Puffs! It's very likely that I'll revisit this entry to award Pacific Puffs the Golden Cherry.~

I enjoyed all 4 flavors of the day: fresh strawberries with cream, peanutbutter, vanilla, and with chocolate. Again- Amazing.

Images taken by my dessert companion, Anita of Dessert First. Check out her pastry book!

 

The store was created by two friendly brothers who use their mom's secret recipes. That's gotta be one proud Mama!

For more info on Pacific Puffs, click here.

 

 

Marzipan Treats and Pastries at Berolina Bakery

Today my friend and I stumbled upon Berolina Bakery in Glendale, where I had the most delicious marzipan treat. It was called a "Vacuum" and was basically a small log of mild rum soaked chocolate cake, enveloped by a layer of marzipan, with the sides dipped in a delicate shell of chocolate.  The mild rum and almond flavors ruled the show as the chocolate took a quiet seat back-stage.  The consistency was thick, pasty, and delicious! 5 Cherries for the Vacuum!

The pastry, on the other hand, bored me with it's thick dried out sides. However, it did have delicious fruit on top!  Over all, the Berolina Bakery earns 4.5 cherries for the exquisite Vacuum, which almost makes me forgive and forget the very ordinary pastry.  

For more info on Berolina Bakery, click here.

 

Glazed Croissant and Carrot Cake at Let Them Eat Cake in Chicago

On my way home from Chicago, I stopped into the enticing airport bakery Let Them Eat Cake to grab a few goodies for my flight.  

Glazed Croisssant with Almond Shavings:  Ok, this thing was nearly as large as my face and I intended on sharing it with my travel companions. Furthermore, I had just scarfed down two large Jimmy John's subs and thought for sure I could only manage a few bites of dessert.  While a bit sweet, the croissant was so darn delicious it simply dissolved in my mouth, one bite after the next. The massive treat was gone before my friends even knew I bought it! Oops~

 

Carrot Cake: While there isn't such thing as a bad carrot cake in my book, you can have some that just don't sing hallelujah.  The icing on this dessert was very sweet while at the same time leaving a bit of a bitter aftertaste, a sign of artificial ingredients at work here. Bleh.  

 

Pumpkin Muffin and Scone at Starbucks

It's Pumpkin Week! And what better place to start than Starbucks, where we can all drop in to taste the season's spiced specialties?  

Pumpkin Muffin with Cream Cheese Topping

This item is more like a pumpkin cupcake than muffin. The cake is moist and spiced deliciously with a mild cream cheese topping.  Not quite muffin, not quite cake, it falls a little into No-Mans Land. As a muffin, it's too sweet, and as a cake, it needs more and yummier cream cheese "frosting."  Still pretty solid over all though.

Pumpkin Scone

  

My friend and I were at Starbucks first thing in the morning when the baked goods are surely their most fresh (which was evident in the muffin). The scone, however, let me down completely.  Dense, dry, flavorless, and heavy. Boom, you're out. 

Bountiful Desserts

We all know the Farmer's Market is great for fresh fruits and vegetables, but who knew I'd find the most amazing desserts amongst the rows of vegetation too?

Denise Assad of Bountiful Desserts has the most exciting stand with her array of freshly made treats that include her famous carrot cake (perfectly spiced), old-fashioned double chocolate layer cake (divine), Banana cream pie (so fresh you'd swear she has banana tree in her yard) and brownies so unbelievably out-of-this-world magnificent, that they earn the highest honor with the Golden Cherry (see below).  

When Denise lost her job as a designer, she used what money she had to sell her baked goods to the parents at her son's pre-school.  One year later, her desserts have become so popular that she now supports her child with the treats she makes from scratch, using her grandmother's tin recipe box.  What a sweet tale :) 

Chocolate-Caramel Brownie Puddle

 

OhmyGawd, this divine creation tangos with your tastebuds as it melts in your mouth. An outer shell of chocolate brownie envelopes a gooey, chewy, chunky center that's laced with a hint of salty-sweet caramel.  This caramel touch so enhances the experience, one learns cleary, it is the missing ingredient in other, more mundane cocoa bars. Not even my mom's brownies compare to this cosmic concoction (sorry Mom! Love you).

For more info on Bountiful Desserts click here. 

       

 

Rugelach from Suzanne's Sweets

Oh my.. I can't stop eating as I write...trust me, I keep trying to put them down, but every time my fingers touch the key pad my mouth goes "but wait! there's another one.. go on.. just one more bite!"

What's so delicious I can't focus on this entry? Good question!  I'm not really sure how to pronounce it myself, I'm ashamed to admit, but it's Rugelach, a traditional Jewish pastry.  Specifically, I'm enjoying Suzanne's "outrageously delicious Rugelach" from Suzanne's Sweets.

Rugelach, or the Rugel, as I shall hereby rename it for my fellow goyem, is a hearty treat with sweet fruit preserve and nut filling hand rolled into fresh layers of sour-cream dough. The rugel that continues to woo me happens to be completely dipped in a snug layer of delicious chocolate.  (Yes yes, I see and hear you dear chocolate ones, I'll get right back to you in a moment.)

I'd recommend this treat with your morning coffee or tea and find it especially suitable on chilly mornings when you want to cozy up to something special to start the day. Step aside bagel, the rugel has taken the stage!~

For more info on Suzanne's Sweets and her online store, click here.

Pastries at The Woodside Bakery

((Happy Sigh))

Walking into The Woodside Bakery is like stepping into my childhood. While the bistro has been chicly revamped to suit the upscale Silicon Valley clientele of late, the bakery and its delectables remain the same as the good ol' days.

Napoleon: A 5-Cherry pastry! This was by far my favorite, which surprised me since I wasn't in the mood for it, but the cool whipped cream, fresh berries, and sweetened filo dough had me at Hello~  

Chocolate Chip Brownie: this brick-like treat was so dense, I had to whittle my fork just to cut through it. The consistency didn't actually bother me so much as the salt-factor. If they toned down the salt, it would be a rather tasty baked-good!

Custard Pastry:  The filo was lightly sweetened to perfection and wrapped around a pool of yummy, mild custard.  A dash more sugar and salt would have amped the custard from mild to brilliant. 

Triple Chocolate Mouse Cake: While this cake looks absolutely gorgeous, I could have done without. I'm very particular about my white chocolate and found that this one fell in the trap of tasting bland and waxy. The chocolate layers below the white were lovely enough, but you're only as strong as your weakest link.

For more info on the Woodside Bistro and Bakery, click here. 

Napoleon (pic below)

Dense brownie (pic below)

Custard Pastry (pic below)

Triple Chocolate Mouse Cake (Gorgeous, see below)

Childhood on a Tray: my favorite was the cream-cheese pastry in the center row