Caroline on Crack

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Tag Archive: desserts

July 13, 2011

Blog Bite: New Dessert Menu at Father’s Office

Father's Office Dessert by Caroline on Crack

Lemon shortbread buttermilk ice cream sandwich & chocolate cupcake with stout frosting

As soon as I heard that Father’s Office was debuting a brand-new dessert menu by Lukshon‘s pastry chef John Park at the Los Angeles location, my evening’s plans were promptly put aside so I could go check it out. Enticed with promises of chocolate cupcakes with Rasputin Imperial Stout frosting and unique beer floats made with the same “no substitutions” seriousness as the burgers, I headed straight to the gastropub in the Helms Bakery building in Culver City right after work.

The dessert menu was already prominently displayed on the board over the bar, taking its place beside the food menu and new beer listings. I skipped over the hazelnut-foie gras ice cream sandwiched between two oatmeal raisin cookies (since I’m still on my veggie kick) and went for the chocolate cupcake with the stout frosting ($4) as well as the ice cream sandwich with lemon shortbread, blackberry-cassis sorbet and buttermilk ice cream ($4.50).

A La Mode Beer Float

Alas there was only one beer float being offered and it was a bit too cha-ching for just me and my bf to split — $18 for a 22-ounce bottle of Ballast Point Sculpin IPA and $3 for a scoop of grapefruit sorbet — plus we weren’t THAT hungry. The idea behind the a la mode beer float program is that you can share the specified bottle with a friend/friends and pay for as many scoops as you want.

From Eater LA:

A la cart scoops of ice cream/sorbet are NOT available. No ‘cross-pollination.’ Each float is paired to complement flavor profiles so no mixing and matching.

Kinda bummed they didn’t have more beer float options. And I get the whole not wanting to let diners mix and match beers willy nilly but why not at least do a float from a beer that’s available on tap so that solo diners (or those who don’t want that much dessert) can enjoy it, too? Hopefully that will change with time.

Cupcake and Ice Cream Sandwich

Can't taste the beer in that frosting.

Anyway, on to the desserts I did have. Oddly enough I actually preferred the shortbread ice cream sandwich to the chocolate cupcake. Sure, the cupcake’s cake was moist and rich but its frosting was like whipped air. I couldn’t taste the stout which Grubstreet LA had described in its review as making “the frosting taste just a little bit bitter, with a very light and creamy body at the same time.”

Hm, somehow I missed that. Nope, here I could only taste the peanuts that garnished the cupcake. I was tempted to scrape off the frosting altogether, something I NEVER do. Fortunately that cake was perfection.

The shortbread cookie ice cream sandwich was a bit of a struggle to eat initially because of the hard ice cream and harder shortbread but after letting it thaw in its brown wrapper a bit it was easy to enjoy the summery flavors of the lemon cookie, berry sorbet and creamy ice cream. Definitely my favorite…over the chocolate cupcake! What gives?

Apparently the dessert menu is currently only available at the Los Angeles restaurant but will some day also show up at the Santa Monica location.

Shortbread and Cream by Caroline on Crack

Delightful and delicious shortbread ice cream sandwich.

Father’s Office 2.0
3229 Helms Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90034 (map)
(310) 736-2224
Twitter: @FathersOffice

Categories: Blog Bites, Cupcakes, Dining, Featured, Los Angeles, Sweets

2 Comments

October 20, 2010

Magnolia Bakery LA’s Cupcake & Prosecco Party Debuts New Fall Flavors

Magnolia Bakery's Fall Cupcakes

Last night, I, along with several bloggers and media types, converged on Magnolia Bakery in Mid-City for a cupcake and prosecco party which previewed the new fall flavors. It was the dessert party to end all diets as we were told that we could ask for whatever we wanted: cookie bars, mini cheesecakes, icebox cakes, specialty cakes and of course cupcakes. “Pace yourself,” the publicists warned me right before they released me to the counter. And honestly, I tried to�OK, not really, but how could I help myself? I was literally a kid in a cupcake shop.

I immediately started off with the cup of the “famous” banana pudding, made with vanilla wafers, bananas and vanilla pudding. So creamy and delicious, but I had to restrict myself to only a couple of spoonfuls, especially with the general manager, Marianne Bonner, coming at me with two plates featuring the new fall flavors. See video.

Now, I wasn’t all that enthused by the S’mores cupcake, the cupcake of the month, with honey graham cake, chocolate center and meringue icing. That honey graham cake was a bit too dry for my taste. Waah. However, I did enjoy the pumpkin spice cupcake which is a lovely autumn treat; and the orange with orange cream cupcake, a nice bit of citrus on the gloomy day, seemed to be a crowd favorite.

Surprisingly the caramel cake made me shudder. I mean, caramel is one of my favorite flavors ever. But yeah, wayyy too sweet for me in that I felt like my teeth would fall out after the first bite. Then again I had just polished off a couple of cupcakes and some banana pudding, so take that for what it’s worth

No, actually my fave flavors are still the plain jane standards, the red velvet and the chocolate. But if you’re looking for cupcakes to delight the costumed crowd at that upcoming Halloween party, I highly recommend the pumpkin spice one with its maple cream cheese frosting and toasted pecans. And you can’t go wrong with the red velvet cupcakes and the Devil’s Food cupcakes with caramel cream cheese icing either.

The specialty cupcakes are $3.25 each, while “Classics” vanilla and chocolate are $2.75 each. It’s a minimum of a dozen for advance orders. You can also get an assortment of the classic flavors in mini form for $18 in a clear container or $20 in an egg carton.

For your consideration, here’s a list of some of their other fall treats:

Pumpkin spice cake: pumpkin, dried cranberries and caramel cream cheese icing
Pumpkin spice whoopee pie: mini pumpkin spice cakes sandwiched with maple cream cheese icing
Mini pumpkin pecan cheesecake with a ginger snap crust
Pies: double crust apple, apple crumb, black bottom pecan pies

Also, keep an eye on their cupcake calendar for the featured flavors of the day.

Magnolia Bakery
8389 W. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, California 90048 (map)
(323) 951-0636
Facebook: Magnolia Bakery
Twitter: @MagnoliaBakery

Categories: Cupcakes, Dining, Featured, Los Angeles, Sweets

1 Comment

April 6, 2010

Sneak Preview of Drago Centro’s Springtime Cocktails

Drago Centro's Spring Cocktails

So yesterday on Twitter, Drago Centro‘s sommelier/beverage director Michael Shearin mentioned how he’s going to debut the restaurant’s new springtime cocktail menu one special night very soon and only charge $6 for each one a la Rivera’s one-night cocktail debuts.

"Abito di Lino" cocktail

First it was going to be this Thursday but that had to be pushed back to next Wednesday due to filming. Anyhoo, I had happened to be downtown last night checking out J Lounge’s happy hour� (great food and service but horrible cocktails). But after a very disappointing tequila Manhattan I needed to get a good drink in me right quick. Michael responded to my Tweet for help, “I’ll make you a good tequila Manhattan if you want to stop by.” M’OK!

With estarLA in tow, we made our way over. And that’s when I realized, “Heyyy, maybe Michael can give us a sneaky peek of the spring cocktail menu.” But when we got there he was mum about it…

At first. He couldn’t give us the menu or the names of the cocktails because both are still works in progress. But he was able to make us three of the cocktails from the new menu. No names or fancy garnishes, just ingredients for now. I offered to name the drinks but Michael said they had to be in Italian. So with the help of an Italian/English dictionary I’ve included my own suggestions for names. Heh. To be clear, these aren’t the real names for the drinks, just ones I made up because I was bored. When you check them out at Drago for yourself, just look them up in the new menu by their ingredients.

New spring cocktails:

“Fiore de Melo” (Apple Blossom): Woodford Reserve, Pink Lady apples, Cointreau, simple syrup, rhubarb bitters. Taste impression: Very, very light whiskey cocktail. You could taste the hint of the apples and the bourbon but since this was on the rocks, the flavors were almost watered down. This is not a sipping drink but rather a guzzle-it-fast drink for that reason. Michael said that they might just serve the finished product with one big cube of ice which I think would help.
“Abito di Lino” (Linen Suit): El Jimador Blanco, White Vermouth, Amaro Mirto, Angostura orange bitters. Taste impression: I loved this one but then again I am a fan of aromatic cocktails. This one is served up in a cocktail glass and was basically the well-made tequila Manhattan I was looking for.
“Terre Lontane” (Distant Land): Dewar’s 12-year-old Scotch, cardamom, lemon juice, soda, lemon zest. Taste impression: Another really light whiskey cocktail with a lemony aroma and a hint of spice. But Michael said a lot of the cocktails are light like that to be enjoyed during the warmer weather.

As for the other cocktails on the menu, Michael said that each spirit will be represented so there’s something for everyone.

For sustenance, Chef de Cuisine Ian Gresik brought us out a a small cast-iron pan of gnocchi with sweetbread and English peas. OMG SO good! Buttery with fresh, tender gnocchi. And Pastry Chef Jashmine Corpuz fixed us up a beautiful plate of three arty samples from the dessert menu: Il Budino di Cioccolato and I Bomboloni, which will be transitioned out to make way for the new spring menu, and the brand-new La Torta di Primavera.

La Torta di Primavera

Naturally I gravitated to the creamy chocolate custard and caramel gelato of the budino as well as I Bomboloni’s small sugared doughnuts, brown butter ice cream and deconstructed apple pie-ness. However, if you’re not a big fan of grapefruit or tart flavors, then La Torta di Primavera isn’t for you. Sure, it had delicate puffs of olive oil cake and nommy avocado mousse but the grapefruit, although very juicy, was too tart for my tastes. Not to say this was a bad dessert. It’s just not my type.

You can look forward to the new spring dessert menu in about two to three weeks.

And if you’d like to sample the new spring cocktails, hit up Drago Centro next Wednesday, April 14 where the drinks will debut for a one-night only price of $6 each.

For a video of Michael making the Terre Lontane cocktail and estarLA’s taste impression of the drink, head for the jump.

Drago Centro
525 South Flower Street
Los Angeles, California 90071 (map)
(213) 228-8998
Twitter: @DragoCentro

Categories: Cocktails, Los Angeles, Sweets

11 Comments

March 31, 2010

Easter Roundup: Brunch, Sweets and Cocktails

Chocolate-dipped Peeps from Compartes Chocolatier

Seems like everyone is eggcited (sorry) about Easter this year what with all the Easter brunches around town. But I thought I’d narrow things down to Easter brunches with a twist, with something other than the usual holiday fare. And I’ve also included cocktail and sweet treat options.

Big Deal: Henry’s Hat in Studio City — Give your server the password “bunny hop” and you will score half off your food order! Also, it’s bottomless mimosas and sangrias and 2-for-1 Bloody Marys and mojitos every weekend brunch.

Henry’s Hat, 3413 Cahuenga Boulevard, Studio City (map). (323) 512-2500.

High Tea and Easter Activities: Royal/T Cafe in Culver City — A la carte menu or $25 high tea. A la carte menu with $9 Sunday scramble, $7 brioche French toast and $8 breakfast sandwiches and more. Plus a special Easter high tea set for $25 that includes Easter-themed treats and a carrot cupcake. Kiddies can be busied with three free different workshops: bunny ears-making, yarn flowers and egg-decorating. LA artist Lyman Sebastian Tillinger will also be on hand from 12 to 3pm to create Ukrainian-inspired Easter egg art.

10am-5pm. Royal/T Cafe, 8910 Washington Boulevard, Culver City (map). (310) 559-6300.

South of the Border: Fuego at the Maya in Long Beach — $26.95/person; $12/child. Enjoy a caliente brunch on the sunny patio of this Long Beach hotel restaurant. Fill up your plates from the salad bar, taquito station, ceviche bar and dessert tables. And choose from entrees like the Chilaquiles Divorciados, Cerveza-Braised Pork Carnitas and Baja Lobster Platter. Menu.

10am-2pm. Fuego at the Maya, 700 Queensway Drive, Long Beach (map). Reservations: (562) 481-3910.

Old Hollywood: Hollywood Roosevelt’s Dakota Chop House — $39/person. An elegant buffet brunch at Marilyn Monroe’s old haunt. Here, you get access to an all-you-can-eat continental buffet as well as an entree like Eggs Benedict, Huevos Rancheros, lemon ricotta pancakes or Colorado lamb rack. For an additional $12, it’s bottomless Bloody Marys and bubbly cocktails, including the “Some Like It Hot” Mary with poblano-infused tequila and Marilyn’s Favorite Mimosa of champagne, peach puree and sauternes. Free parking and Sunday papers.

11am-3pm. Dakota Chop House, 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood (map). Reservations: Click here or call (323) 785-3037.

Poolside: The Backyard at W Los Angeles in Westwood — $42/person; $19/Child. So LA, Easter brunch by the pool. Executive Chef Monique King crafted a fresh menu of watermelon and pink grapefruit salad, brioche French toast and a basket of scones. There will also be an Easter egg hunt at noon.

10am-4pm. The Backyard at W Los Angeles � Westwood, 930 Hilgard Avenue, Westwood (map). Reservations: (310) 443-8211.

En Italiano: Locando del Lago in Santa Monica — 3-course menu $49-$55; 4-course menu $69; or a la carte.� The Italian wine pairing is an additional $24/person. This Santa Monica restaurant features an Easter menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Northern Italian dishes include lamb sirloin, Alaskan halibut and vegetable roulades. For dessert, you can order Easter chocolate chunk sweet bread with bitter almond sauce.

Locando del Lago, 231 Arizona Avenue, Santa Monica (map).�Reservations: (310) 451-3525.

In the Garden: Descanso Gardens in La Canada — $50/person; $20/child. Brunch in the gardens, make sure to take your Claritin first. Here, you get seasonal Ratatouille, a build-your-own waffle bar and for dessert a chocolate croissant bread pudding.�Menu.

Seatings at 9am, 10:30am, noon, and 1:30pm. 1418 Descanso Dr., La Canada Flintridge (map). Reservations: (818) 790-3663.

LA View: Gordon Ramsay at The�London�West Hollywood — $85/person. Take in the views of Sunset Strip while visiting the sushi bar, risotto station, omelette station and a carving station with wild salmon and beef tenderloin. Best part has gotta be the free-flowing champagne, mimosas and Bloody Marys. Menu.

11:30am-3pm. Gordon Ramsay at The London, 1020 N. San Vicente, West Hollywood (map). Reservations: (310) 358-7788.

Organic: Akasha in Culver City. No prix-fixe here but lots of yummy specials like goat cheese gnocchi with fava beans ($12), herb-crusted leg of lamb with creamy polenta ($25) or sea bass with English pea and green garlic puree ($25). For booze there’s no corkage for wine or you can toast the holiday with a local sour orange mojito or blood orange and tangelo margarita.

4-9pm. Akasha, 9543 Culver Boulevard, Culver City (map). Reservations: (310) 845-1700.

COCKTAILS:

Cabo Cantina on Sunset Boulevard has bottomless mimosas and Bloody Marys for $9.95 til 3pm.

Hungry Cat in Hollywood boasts half-priced specialty cocktails, draft beer and bottles of wine all day on Easter Sunday. Reservations: (323) 462-2155

Napa Valley Grille in Westwood may have a fab Easter brunch buffet ($49/person; $19/child) but I’m liking its tableside, made-to-order Mojitos or Bloody Mary cocktails ($12) with a choice of Grey Goose or Ketel One vodka, fresh juices, savory ingredients, and garnish options. Reservations: (310) 824-3322.

SWEETS:

Buttercake Bakery has a selection of holiday desserts, like flower cupcakes and daisy petit fours for Easter and Matzah toffee brownies and flourless chocolate cake for Passover.

Compartes Chocolatier offers special treats to make your Easter basket extra chic: chocolate dipped peeps and hand-painted chocolate bunnies.

Crumbs Bake Shop has pretty pastel Easter chocolate and vanilla cupcakes decorated with sprinkles, bunny sugar cookies or jelly beans. Or for Passover enjoy the Raspberry Red Sea nut cupcake, Holy Moses chocolate cupcake or Chocolate and Vanilla Commandments. (FYI, none are kosher for Passover.)

Simon LA in West Hollywood has a brunch that stands out because of its dedicated dessert buffet, under a tree no less, which features chocolate eggs, carrot cupcakes, coconut macaroons, house made marshmallows, assortment of cookies and more.

Sprinkles is featuring brown sugar praline and carrot cake cupcakes through April 4 as well as Passover chocolate cupcake through April 6. Or you can impress the hostess of your Easter brunch with a HOP box of the spring selection of dark chocolate, red velvet, brown sugar praline and carrot cupcakes decorated with pink and green bunnies.

Categories: Cocktails, Cupcakes, Dining, Lists, Los Angeles, Sweets

2 Comments

February 15, 2010

Getting a Buzz From BonBonBar’s Bourbon Bar

Bonbonbar's Bourbon Bar

When I first heard about BonBonBar’s bourbon bar, I just knew it was made especially for the likes of me, a sweet tooth with a penchant for booze. George T. Stagg 141-proof bourbon ganache with caramel and dark chocolate? Are you kidding me? So naturally I had to order it asap. Sure, it was $15 for a box of three small bars but I knew it would be worth it.

Strata of scrumptiousness.

The box was shipped priority mail from San Francisco and I was able to get my fix on in three days. Each bar was cellophane-wrapped and tucked into a small box within a box.

I tore into the first bar but took a tentative bite. Would I even be able to taste the bourbon? Would it meld well with the sweet of the dark chocolate? Sure enough, I was and they did. The taste of the bourbon was so potent that I almost felt like I could get a buzz on, the drunk kind, if I ate all three bars in one sitting.

The sweet whiskey taste complimented the bittersweet dark chocolate and the ubersweet gooey caramel and was offset by the large crystals of Maldon salt and the black pepper.

From BBQ and Bourbon:

Stagg is 141.8 proof bourbon and renowned and loved for perfectly balancing intensity and finesse.� It is made in small batches that are released to the public only twice a year.

It’s a pretty rich dessert, though, and I’d only recommend it to the hard-core sweet tooth..teeth?…out there. But definitely a fun, tasty gift idea for the booze hound who has everything, including a taste for the sweet. Get ‘em while you can since this is a limited-production treat.

Ingredients: Dark and milk chocolates, organic cream, sugar, butter, glucose, organic egg white, unbleached all-purpose flour, organic corn flour, bourbon, salt, organic black pepper.

Box of 3: $15

Box of 6: $30

Categories: Los Angeles, Sweets

7 Comments

February 12, 2010

The Nommiest Dessert: Joan’s on Third’s Nutella Poundcake

Nutella Poundcake by Joan's on Third

For World Nutella Day last week, Joan’s on Third made the yummiest poundcake I ever heard of: Nutella poundcake. Why didn’t anyone tell me that such a thing of beauty existed? Luckily I found out from Nastassia of Let Me Eat Cake, who happens to work at Joan’s and who was good enough to save me a loaf! Huzzah! I braved a torrential rainstorm and cross-town traffic during rush hour to pick it up. And twas sooo worth it.

Once I got it home I dug into it, nearly eating the whole thing in one sitting. Fortunately (or
unfortunately) I was able to remember to save some for my bf since I had been going on and on about it and he was good enough to drive me through a torrential rainstorm in rush-hour traffic to get it. Would have been rude if I didn’t at least save him…a sliver.

Hitting the Nutella motherload.

Anyway, the cake was so moist and OMG the ribbons of Nutella that ran through the cake were like crack, making it difficult to stop eating. Just when I was about to store the cake away, I’d bite into a motherload of that chocolate-hazelnut goodness and continued to nom away. I call this the Ben & Jerry’s effect. And the top of the loaf was a little denser than the rest of the cake, so I could break if off to enjoy like you would the edge of pie crusts.

I have no doubt that I could polish off a whole loaf all by myself.

In any case, you’ll be happy to know that this isn’t a once-a-year thing. Joan’s on Third will be making more Nutella poundcake for this Saturday but they’ll be sold as slices at $1.95 a slice.

However, if you’d like to make one for yourself, unfortunately and understandably, Joan is keeping that recipe to herself but Nastassia has some behind-the-scene coverage of the making of the cake. And I found this Food & Wine recipe for a Nutella Swirl Poundcake that you can take a stab at.

Categories: Dining, Los Angeles, Recipes, Sweets

8 Comments

February 8, 2010

Beacon Rediscovered: Butterscotch Pudding, Happy Hour, Quality Dinner

Grilled chicken from Beacon

The last time I had dinner at Beacon in Culver City was, wow, a boyfriend-and-many-bad-dates ago and pre CoC. I vaguely remember having the Bento box and not really having anything stand out about my dining experience. I’ll blame it on the company back then. Heh. In any case I hadn’t gone back til I got the 30% off discount for dinner from Blackboard Eats recently.

It was closing in on the last day when I could use the BE discount code so my bf and I decided to take our chances and show up at the Asian restaurant without any reservations. Fortunately there was some room at the bar which was lucky considering they apparently have a great happy hour here.

Green Tea Soba Noodles With Grilled Shrimp

While the other bar patrons enjoyed their HH spicy tuna rolls and vegetable tempuras, we dug into the dinner menu, first letting our server know that we had a discount code. He was so nice about it. I don’t know why I was expecting him to look down his nose at me for having one but then again Blackboard Eats is always good enough to remind discounted diners to tip their servers on the full amount.

Anyway, bf and I decided to split the green tea soba noodles with grilled shrimp and each ordered our own entrees of miso-marinated black cod with sesame-tossed green beans (him) and Thai-marinated grilled organic chicken with green papaya salad (me). OMG all were so frickin’ delicious! Couldn’t really taste the green-tea-ness of the soba noodles but didn’t care. Still couldn’t get enough of them and was sad to have shared the dish with bf. Loved the finger-licking goodness of the shrimp as well.

My chicken was so tender and I especially loved the skin. Yes, I love eating chicken skin especially when it was made like this where it was crisp and seasoned-savory. However, I wasn’t all that crazy about the green papaya salad, but then again I’m not crazy about pickled-flavored things. I don’t know why I thought it would be sweet. But I’m sure those who love that tarty flavor will love the side salad. I ended up giving it to bf who polished it off for me, appreciating its freshness.

As for bf’s cod, I’ll let him speak for himself: “Tender as can be, fell apart when I placed my fork on it. Freshfreshfresh. The sauce stuff was also quite tasty and complemented the fish, and the beans were every bit as fresh. Portion size was tidy, the ‘right’ size, quality not quantity — this was some delish stuff.”

Butterscotch Pudding

We were both so happy with our dinner that I was ambitious enough to go ahead and order the butterscotch pudding for dessert. “Really?” asked bf when I placed the order. I was so sure of my decision that I told the waiter before he could even hand us the dessert menu. I first spotted this baby on Beacon’s online menu and hoped it would be as tasty as the one I had at Rush Street’s grand opening party a couple of years ago.

Sure enough, it did not disappoint. Even bf dug in and he isn’t even into sweets. “This is actually pretty good!” he said spooning gobs of the yumminess into his mouth. The pudding was soo creamy and buttery and yet not overly sweet like butterscotch usually tends to be. I kinda wished bf hadn’t tasted it because what started off as MY dessert became ours.

We’ll definitely return. I especially want to give that happy hour a try.

Beacon
3280 Helms Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90034 (map)
(310) 838-7500

Categories: Los Angeles

6 Comments