Dessert Darling

You Are Loved

A year ago from today my fiance proposed to me in a 4 Seasons hotel room that he had decorated with seventeen dozen cupcakes, chocolates, candies and more (full story w/ photos here ). I am the luckiest DD that ever could be.

Today I encourage you to think of something extra special to surprise a loved one on Valentine's day tomorrow. Whether it be a friend, parent, mentor, or sibling, you can never say or hear "I love you" enough.  When you smile, the world smiles back. So have fun, get creative, clever, sweet, or simple- just find a new way to say- You're loved.  

 

 

XOXO

 

ps: to see my top treats for any Valentine, check out my Redbook article here! :)

 

Woo! 944's Wedding Issue, The Best Cakes for LA Brides!

 

Hi everyone! I'm so excited to announce that I wrote a spread on the best Los Angeles bakeries for blushing brides. It took a lot of cake-eating, but in the end, I found five fabulous bakeries to suit five different types of brides.  My article is on Pg. 99 of 944's Wedding Issue. You can click here for the electronic issue and zoom in to read, or you can find a magazine on stands now. Whether you're engaged or not, it's always great to know from where to get the best cakes!

 

 

XOXO

The Best Cake in Hollywood Baby!

Ahhh!! Cake and Art makes the most Amazing cakes! This creative bakery has lived in the heart of West Hollywood for the last 35 years, producing over half a million cakes in its time-span! These impressive creations range from gorgeous, to hilarious, to downright jaw-dropping (they've even done a life-sized car out of cake!).  Nearly every studio and celebrity has enjoyed Cake and Art at their festive celebrations. Since Cake and Art is accustomed to crazy requests, wedding cakes are comparatively.. well, a piece of cake to them.  This means that they charge much less for them than other bakeries! MY GAWD. It's enough to make me want to get married in S.Cal. And did I mention.. the cake and frosting is DELICIOUS! Five cherries all the way, Baby!

 

 

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For more information on Cake and Art, click here. 

 

 

Cupcake Cafe in New York City

I stumbled into the Cupcake Cafe by accident while walking the streets of New York. The cafe had an antique feel and boasted rows of artistically decorated cupcakes and cakes that were reminiscent of Sweet Lady Jane's darling creations. However, I feared that like Sweet Lady Jane's, these cupcakes would disappoint me with a fancy show and little substance. Alas, I was right. The cake was firm and made me think of biscuits, while the "frosting" was more like slightly sweetened butter that had softened just enough to form delicate flowers.  

I give Cupcake Cafe credit for having been around since 1988 and offering cake decorating classes, which would surely be fun to take! I also think their cakes would make lovely additions to elegant and feminine affairs like showers, weddings, and tea parties.  However, these are not the treats to buy  to indulge in or satisfy your cupcake craving!  

 

 

For more information on the Cupcake Cafe, click here.

Photo by Yanina Manolova

 

Rosebud Cakes in Beverly Hills

The other day my friend and I popped into Rosebud Cakes on Robertson where they artistically craft some of the most incredible cake creations.  I mean, just check out some of these photos! Yes- These are cakes!

 

 

         

 

And of course, they can do your traditional wedding cakes too..~

 

    

 

Most impressively, these cakes are crafted with buttercream, which is trickier, yet more delicious, than using fondant. However, I can't say that all the cake flavors that I sampled wowed me. The white cream with fresh strawberries was my favorite, which surprised me since that's not usually my first choice.  The options with chocolate chips in the layers were delightful and the carrot cake also stood out as a winner. But otherwise, I found the middle layers in all the samples to be too thick and firm to really melt me. Furthermore, the buttercream frosting had a bit of that whipped up, mild, but slightly unpleasant store-bought taste to it. (Sigh), sometimes you can't win them all. 

Rosebud Cakes will surely enchant your friends for any occasion, but for simply indulging in cake, I'd make other recommendations.~  (click on "Cakes" in my categories to see!). 

A Special Cupcake Photo

:)

My guy and I are recently got to see the images from our engagement shoot and I just had to share this photo with you.  Right when the photographer snapped the last shot of me on the grass surrounded by cupcakes, the sprinklers went off! It was crazy! We were in a mad-dash to save the cupcakes. SAVE THE CUCPCAKES! And of course, the hair. Yikes!

Jerry Yoon was our photographer from San Francisco and he's an incredibly talented artist. If you scroll through his blog, you'll imediately note his interesting use of angles, light and shadow and his ability to catch people in the most precious moments as they're mid-laughter, tears, or celebration.

Thank you Jerry for wonderful day and the fantastic album that you assembled for us!!

 

For more information on Jerry Yoon photography, click here.

 

 

Cake at Hansen's Cakes

Perhaps one of the best parts about being engaged is all the cake tasting that awaits!  

Already I dove into a two-hour "Wedding Bootcamp" where free slices of the famous Hansen's Cakes were served.  Mmmm. My thoughts on their cake is not too different from their cupcakes (see review here).  The slice was totally delicious and they can tailor the layers to your heart's desire with a variety of different cream fillings, icings, chocolate chips, marbling, you name it!  Not to mention, their creative ensembles are positively works of art.  

Like the cupcakes, Hansen's cakes can only be enjoyed in small doses before the artificial feeling kicks in with an MSG like head-haze.  That said, I had it at my birthday a few years ago and the beautiful cake was a universal hit.  And look, Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom had Hansen's at their wedding! Lamar's a sugar-holic, so he knows the good stuff~

For more info on Hansen's Cakes, click here. 

 

 

Chocolate Covered Strawberries at the Monterey Plaza Hotel

Fresh off the tail of our engagement, my man and I, (eh hem) or should I say, my Fiance and I drove down to Monterey to celebrate Feb 14th at the gorgeous Monterey Plaza Hotel where chocolate covered strawberries and champagne awaited us in our room.

Might I digress, for a moment to declare. OHMYGAWD, the Monterey Plaza Hotel is one of the most luxurious, romantic, and special places I've ever snuck away to. It jets out over the ocean where the waves are so dramatic and the air so fresh, that one feels swept away in a romance novel.  Plus, the food is UHmazing there. Amazing.

 

Anyway, chocolate covered strawberries awaited us in our room and I have to say.. I'm not usually a choc-strawberry girl.  In general, I don't think fruit has a role in my desserts.  Unless it's banana.. otherwise, fruit is too zingy and healthy to be much fun. That said, these chocolate-covered strawberries were totally delicious. Even my guy agreed, and he never likes sweets (I know, crazy).

The strawberries were sweet and ripe and enveloped in a particularly delicious chocolate shell. Together, chocolate and strawberry danced in my mouth before their champagne bath.

I guess you'd have to stay a the Monterey Plaza Hotel in order to try these delectable treats... but really, would that be so bad?  A 5-cherry experience all around!

For more info on the Monterey Plaza Hotel, click here.

 

 

To see some photos, click below

I JUST GOT ENGAGED - The Sweet Sweet Story HOW

Eeeg, I get giddy just writing this post.  So: you may recall from this entry here that I said I Love Valentine's day. HA!  Well that post clearly brought me some great karma, because boy oh boy, did I have the best, and not to mention Sweetest, Valentines' EVER!

I flew up to Northern California to see Elton John and Billy Joel in concert to belatedly celebrate my brother's birthday.

After the show, we were supposed to stay at my family home for the night when we swung by a hotel to pick up my bf's luggage (he'd been staying in SF for a work convention).  Instead, though, he started taking my suitcase out of the car.

??

He said he decided to get us a room in SF, why not?

Ok...~

I now realize that we're in The 4 Seasons when he opens the door to a dimly lit suit with candles, eight bouquets of flowers, and over TWO HUNDRED cupcakes.  That's right, 17 dozen cupcakes from 8 different bakeries!!!

 

And there were jars of full of red vines, jelly beans, and M&Ms!

And the next room had boxes of chocolates and a heart made out chocolates on the bed {:-)

 

 

On one knee, he asked me a very important question....with all those cupcakes, how could a girl say no?!!!

;)

 

AHHHHHHHHHHH!  I just got engaged!!

I Actually got engaged to the love of my life {:-)

 

The next morning, we had all the goodies wheeled down to a private dining room in the 4 Seasons, where both our families gathered to celebrate!

 

 

 

My nieces were thrilled, because they get to be flower girls

 

and I ate a lot of cupcakes, from Sibbys, Kara's, Love at First Bite, Cako, and some other bakeries that I can't remember right now! :D

 

 

 

 

Mr. And Mrs. Dessert Darling, rode off into the sunset, to be happily ever after~

 

 

 

 

But not without a breath-mint first :D

 

XOXOOXOXOX Best Valentine's Weekend Ever XOXOOXOXOXO

Cakes at Susie Cakes

Over the summer I attended a gorgeous wedding that featured a table of various cakes propped on log stands from trees of the bride's home town (which looked adorable in the natural out-door setting). While everything about the affair already impressed me, I concluded that the bride had impeccable tastes when I learned that the dessert came from Susie Cakes, one of my favorite cup-cakeries in town (see review here). I hadn't experienced their actual cakes yet and was excited to try every slice and get down to business!

 

Red Velvet Cake: this slice was my favorite of the bunch and a near home-run. The red cake was a relatively natural shade (versus the fluorescent red dye that can irk me in others) and the icing was not overly sweet. Susies Cakes is really great about icing distribution, ensuring that every bite is moistened with the good stuff between layers. To achieve perfection, the icing could have had a little more flavor. I'm not sure what flavor I'm looking for, but it wasn't quite as addicting as some sour-cream/cream-cheese icings can be.

Carrot Cake: Susies' did a great job with their carrot cake. The cake was sufficiently moist with a nice texture that included walnuts, raisins, and fine carrot shavings. A touch more cinnamon or nutmeg would have further enhanced the flavor. Finally, the icing was a little dense, so a few more rounds in the whipper would have been appreciated.

Coconut Cake: this slice was the most disappointing of the four. Over all, it was simply too sweet with too little flavor. Perhaps almond or amaretto extract would have endowed this cake with a more distinct taste and zest.

Chocolate Cake: this cake burst with flavor, had the perfect texture, and was properly layered in yummy slabs of icing, but the result was not unlike a cake whipped up from a Betty Crocker mix or Duncan Hine's icing tub. If you're not expecting a decadent, dark cocoa experience, then this cake scores for the undiscriminating chocolate fan.

 

For more info on Susie Cakes, click here.