Top 12 Bakeries and Vegetarian-Friendly Restaurants in LA

Foodie.com has asked me to curate even more "collections" of my favorite places in LA, and I decided to create 4 more lists! Here are two of them:

I have a sweet tooth so I asked if I can create one with bakeries! Here are my 12 favorite bakeries in the Los Angeles area, from where to get cakes to baguettes to cream puffs.


I'm not a vegetarian but I do like to eat healthy sometimes, especially after a week of indulgent meals. Here are my top 12 vegetarian-friendly restaurants - some of which are vegetarian or vegan, some of which are not but simply serve amazing vegetarian dishes.

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Martha Stewart's Cakes!

Martha Stewart's Cakes
Our First-Ever Book of Bundts, Loaves, Layers, 

Coffee Cakes, and more
by the Editors of Martha Stewart Living
Trade Paperback, 352 pages

Martha came out with a book on cakes during the month of my birthday. I like to think this was planned. I was certainly excited!

She has done pies, cookies, cupcakes and wedding cakes, but this is the first book on cakes in general. The book has a wonderful array of cake styles and varieties, including:

Loaves

Bundts & Tubes

Coffee Cakes

Single Layers

Cheesecakes

Icebox

Cakes with Fruit

Layer Cakes

plus

Frosting and filling recipes, easy garnishes, 
and other finishing touches

Martha Stewart's Cakes is well laid out, easy to follow and has a full colour photo of each and every recipe. 

Chocolate Bundt Cake

From the back flap:

A one-stop resource for cakes—birthday, chocolate, coffee, Bundt, upside-down, loaf, and more. From pound cake and angel food (with many variations) to genoise and streusel-topped, from comfort classics like red velvet, six-layer coconut, rich chocolate, lemon meringue, and cheesecake to sophisticated grown-up fare including chiffon cakes and tortes with luscious fruits, these 150 recipes and color photographs cover techniques, decorating, and gifting ideas for every taste and occasion, whether no-fuss or fancy.

Maple Cake

Baking trends come and go, but cakes are timeless. From the editors and photographers of Martha Stewart Living, Cakes includes classics (German Chocolate, New York-Style Cheesecake), crowd-pleasers (Baked Alaska, Hummingbird), and cakes with unique, sophisticated flavors and embellishments (Pecan Torte with Lemon Curd, Saffron-Scented Pear Upside-Down Cake). Whether you need a birthday cake (for any age!), have bake-sale duty, want a travel-friendly coffee cake, or seek to impress at a dinner party or with a handmade gift, Martha Stewart's Cakes has more than 150 cakes plus ideas for decorating, gifting, and storing. Beautiful color photography that shows you just what you're aiming for and dozens of make-ahead tips make baking low-stress.

Pumpkin Layer Cake

 With 150 recipes in all, you will always have the perfect cake recipe for your occasions! 

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Peanut Butter Birthday Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting (Joy the Baker Cookbook Spotlight and Cook-Off}

I've made another fantastic recipe from Joy's cookbook for the Joy the Baker Cookbook Spotlight and Cook-Off challenge. Go me! And go Joy! She helped me make a special someone's birthday even better.

You see, Wednesday, March 7th was PJ's 30th birthday! The big 3-0! And I wanted to make it special. I already felt like I didn't do nearly enough to show him how important he is to me, but this cake definitely showed him. It's Joy's Peanut Butter Birthday Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting. Peanut butter lovers... doesn't that just sound amazing?! I agree. I agreed. So I made it for my love!

We both agreed that it was decadent and delicious and were yearning for more, but it was like midnight when we tried a piece and didn't wanna go overboard. Oh that frosting, oh that frosting! How do people come up with these recipes?! If I ever could whip up a recipe this good myself, I'd be so proud. I dunno how Joy came up with this masterpiece of a concoction, but I sure am glad she did. 

Peanut Butter Birthday Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

from Joy the Baker Cookbook by Joy Wilson

Peanut Butter Birthday Cake 
*makes one 2-layer 8- or 9-inch cake

• 2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

Place a rack in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans. Nonstick baking spray works well too (that's what I did). Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together peanut butter, butter, and sugars until fluffy, for 3 to 5 minutes.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating at medium speed for 1 minute between each addition. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl as necessary.

With the mixer on low speed, add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Slowly pour in all of the buttermilk. When mixture just starts to come together, add the remaining flour mixture, beating on low speed until mixture just begins to come together. Remove the bowl from the mixer and finish incorporating the ingredients with a spatula.

Divide the batter between the 2 prepared baking pans. Place on 2 racks in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, rotate the cake pans to alternating racks, and continue to bake for 15 to 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the cake comes out clean.

Let cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, before inverting onto wire racks to cool completely before frosting. Frost cakes with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows). 

Cake will last, wrapped, in the refrigerator, for up to 4 days.
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Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
*makes enough to frost one 2-layer 8- or 9-inch cake or 24 cupcakes

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
• pinch of salt
• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Place cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat the cream cheese for about 1 minute, ensuring that it is soft and pliable. Stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the butter to the bowl. Beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed for 1 minute until thoroughly combined.

Add 1/3 cup of the peanut butter to the cream cheese mixture. Beat for 30 seconds on medium speed, until well combined. Turn the mixer on low and add the salt and powdered sugar followed by the vanilla. Beat until almost incorporated. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl. Beat on medium speed until all of the powdered sugar has disappeared and mixture is velvety soft. 

If using immediately, dollop 2 tablespoons of peanut butter into the finished cream cheese and fold in with a spatula. Don't completely mix, leave streaks of peanut butter throughout the frosting. Use immediately to frost cakes or cupcakes.

If storing for later use, spoon frosting into an airtight container, add peanut butter, swirl into the frosting and store in the fridge until ready to use. Bring frosting to room temperature before frosting a cake or cupcakes.

Frosting will last, in an airtight container, in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

Printable Recipe


























Oh, and as you all know I don't have a mixer so again, I just had to mix everything together myself. Use a mixer if you have one though for sure. Obviously I'm a newbie to this whole cake-baking thing. I should have read up on Veronica's cake tips for dummies before I frosted this cake, cuz I did a bad job! You can't see the frosting layer on the inside. Oh well, I'll just have to practice, buy the right tools, and keep getting better. Hopefully my later photos will be much better than this and I can see how much I've improved. I'll just keep doing my best and I'll get better and better with practice. Definitely need a cake leveler too... my cake's looking a little lobsided. But still just as tasty.

I can't wait to get home after work to devour the rest of this cake! Oh yeah, and of course PJ can help me. It is his birthday cake, after all  :)

Happy 30th birthday, my love! And to many more together!!!

*This post is part of the Joy the Baker Cookbook Spotlight and Cook-Off sponsored by Hyperion and hosted at girlichef*

Also linking up to Cookbook Sundays and here.

Peace, and bacon grease!

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Chocolate Carrot Cake {Crazy Cooking Challenge}

Hey yall! 

I didn't participate in January's Crazy Cooking Challenge... chicken noodle soup just isn't my thing. And you know what? This month's pick - chocolate cake - isn't really my thing either. Never been much for chocolate cake. 

Or so I thought.

At first, I wasn't too excited about picking a chocolate cake recipe. Then I came across some with Bailey's and Kahlua and white chocolate and strawberries and butterfingers and all kinds of goodness. And I started to get more excited about this challenge. Then I saw it. Chocolate Carrot Cake. I absolutely love carrot cake, and so does PJ, so it was a no-brainer. Chocolate Carrot Cake was the golden one.

Oh, and this is my first homemade cake! Woot woot, go me. Not difficult at all when you've got a recipe to follow. Except when you don't follow it correctly. Leave it to me to read a recipe wrong. We only added 2 cups of carrots instead of 3 cups which the recipe called for. While the cake was delicious, it definitely needed the full 3 cups of carrots. It didn't taste carrot-y enough. (Um, what crazy person says that they want more carrots? Me, Me!). This only applies to carrot cake. This is not the norm for me to want more carrots. But for this carrot cake, it is a must.... use the 3 cups! 


And it was still so good. Though it lacked the full on carrot cake flavor, it was a delicious chocolate cake. Especially with the chocolate buttercream frosting filling and topping. I also liked the crunchy walnuts on top; they added a nice texture. Next time I may try toasting them a bit first, or experiment with other crunchy toppings.

Chocolate Carrot Cake

ever-so-slightly adapted from Burn Me Not

Cake:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 and 1/4 cups canola oil
• 3 cups finely shredded carrots

Frosting:

• 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 and 3/4 cups confectioners sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 8-inch round baking pans with baking spray. 

In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs and oil and beat until combined. Mix in carrots. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. 

For frosting, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Beat in confectioners sugar, cocoa, and vanilla until smooth.

Level cake layers with a serrated knife. Place one layer on a serving plate; top with half of the frosting. Place remaining cake layer on top of the other frosted layer, and then top with remaining frosting. Sprinkle with nuts.

*Note: I didn't line the baking pans with parchment paper. It just wasn't working right so I just baked the cakes directly in the greased pans. I carefully used a spatula to release the sides and bottom from the pan once cooled and removed to a cooling rack. I'm not sure if baking it in the parchment paper would make a difference, or how to even do it properly. I couldn't figure it out, that's why I baked it directly in the pan. You can line pans in parchment paper like the original recipe says, or bake directly in the pans like I did. Whatevs.

Printable Recipe

It's after midnight and I'm about to go have a slice, or two. Please tell me this is normal.


Check out the other chocolate cakes in the blog hop below... and maybe click on mine - the one with the most clicks wins the ultimate chocolate cake title.








Linking up here.


Peace, and bacon grease!

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Chocolate Whoopie Pies!

I know it will surprise a few people that I baked these - but when King Arthur Flour posted the recipe... I couldn't help myself. They are huge. And rich. And decadent. And seriously over the top.

With all the drama over the fate of Twinkies and other creamy-sugary-cakey snack products - rest assured you can make these at home. Just be sure you have a young person or two around to help you eat them. Did I mention how rich they are?

KAF Chocolate Whoopie Pies
shared from King Arthur Flour

Cakes

    1/2 cup butter
    1 cup brown sugar, packed
    1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
    1 teaspoon baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    3/4 teaspoon salt
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    1 large egg
    1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa
    2 1/3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
    1 cup milk

Filling

    1 cup vegetable shortening
    1 cup confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar
    1 1/3 cups Marshmallow Fluff or marshmallow creme
    1/4 teaspoon salt dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
    1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

2) To make the cakes: In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and vanilla till smooth. Add the egg, again beating till smooth.

3) Add the cocoa, stirring to combine.

4) Add the flour to the batter alternately with the milk, beating till smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, and beat again briefly to soften and combine any chunky scrapings.

5) Drop the dough by the 1/4-cupful onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving plenty of room between the cakes; they'll spread. A muffin scoop works well here.

6) Bake the cakes for 15 to 16 minutes, till they're set and firm to the touch. Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pans. While still lukewarm, use a spatula to separate them from the pan or parchment; then allow to cool completely.

7) To make the filling: Beat together the shortening, sugar, and marshmallow till well combined.

8) Dissolve the salt in the water, and add to the marshmallow mixture. Add the vanilla, and beat till smooth.

9) Spread the flat side of half the cakes with the filling. Top with the remaining cakes, flat side towards the filling. Wrap individually, in plastic wrap, till ready to serve.

10) Yield: 8 large whoopie pies (about 4" dia., about 5 ounces each).To make 16 smaller whoopie pies (about 2 3/4" dia., about 2 1/2 ounces each): drop the dough onto the baking sheets in 30g balls, about the size of a large ping pong ball, or about 1 1/4". Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, till set. Finish as directed in the recipe.

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Extraordinary Desserts (San Diego, CA): Pretty Ordinary?

Extraordinary Desserts was one of the places I was pretty excited about trying in San Diego. Finding out that they stay open late and close to my hotel, I drove straight there from LA.

Of course I had to try their famous Dulce de Leche cake, which had appeared Food Network's show "Best Thing I Ever Ate".

It was great. Moist, decadent. Big. The caramel flavor came through even among the dark chocolate. Was it the best cake I ever ate, though? I don't think so. Still, I enjoyed sitting there reading while eating the cake and drinking tea.

But I also got some pastries to go, pointing things from the display case, and this apparently wasn't the best move. The pastries seem more expensive than the cakes, considering the portion size, but that's not a big deterrent if they are truly "extraordinary".

I ordered a croissant garnished with almonds, expecting a flaky almond croissant, but the back half of the pastry turned out to be brownie-like. Huh?

The danish with pineapple and cream fared better. The pastry was flaky and the sugar-coated upper crust was crunchy. My first bite with the candied pineapple and the cream was delightful, but apparently they had only put pineapples at the ends while the middle filling was all cream.
I call that false representation.

One thing I was happy to find is their extensive list of Mariage Frere's loose leaf teas.

I tried the strangely-named yet quite delicious Tahiti-iti (vanilla beans blended with premium Darjeeling).

I would love to just sit by the window drinking tea and reading.

I think all the hype about a particular place just brings more disappointment when it doesn't live up to it. The cake was good but didn't seem all that special to me and the pastries were both disappointing and expensive. It doesn't warrant a special trip but if I'm wandering around San Diego and have free time,  I'd still come back here and have some tea and cake.


Extraordinary Desserts
2929 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 294-2132
http://www.extraordinarydesserts.com/extraordinarydesserts/

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La Monarca Bakery: Pastries, Lunch, and Cakes to Save Monarch Butterflies

This East LA institution has finally moved west with its opening of La Monarca Bakery Santa Monica. This place fits surprisingly well with the Santa Monica with its healthier pastries (low butter, low sugar, nothing is fried, vegetarian options) and the price is lower than most bakeries in the area.

The executive pastry chef Alain Bour is actually a France native and trained, and he combines classic techniques with Mexican flavors, like their croissant filled with guava paste or dulce de leche. Browsing their pastry case may be overwhelming (it's self-serve), so here are some suggestions.

Make sure you try the tacos de guayaba,a sugar-dusted puff pastry filled with guava and cream cheese ($1.50).

It's a different style but it gives Porto's guava cheese roll a run for its money. The pastry shell isn't the flaky type and I do think I prefer the guava paste here. One is never enough.

Their pan de elote is a sweeter version of corn bread and also worth a try.

Also try the Cafe Oaxaca ($3.75), made with espresso, mexican hot chocolate, and steamed milk.

They have free wi-fi and you can count on me coming here to work over some cafe oaxaca.

For the lunch crowd, there are different types cazuelas (Mexican claypot stew) served as sandwiches. Choose between Poblano chicken mole, Salsa Verde braised beef, or even a vegetarian chorizo, then choose your bread size.

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