la.foodblogging

NB — As of mid 2008 — opening hours are only Fridays and Sats for walk-ins; other days for pre-orders. See below.

There has been some hot debate on Chowhound this week about cupcakes.

Those in the know insist that Leda’s Bake Shop beats Buttercake and Sprinkles (funny, no mention of Joan’s on Third) any day of the week, citing evidence of long treks from the Westside over the hill just for a box of these mini-morsels of pure perfection. Fights had even been witnessed over the snatching up of the precious last few of a particular variety…

Well, seeing as I can get to the corner of Woodman and Ventura in about 12 minutes (and I had a pile of dry cleaning just begging to be dropped off at the Steamer Cleaners at said intersection) I was off!

Three apiece was apparently the magic number. I chose a passion fruit, a dulce de leche and a dark chocolate on chocolate. My sweetheart got a raspberry, a passion fruit and a lemon one. No sign of their (seasonal) pumpkin and orange butter cream one…

Here’s how I ate mine:

First I scooped a little bit of the passion fruit butter cream off the side. It tasted kind of funny, actually; a little fake and oily (well, buttery). Light and whipped, but not substantial like mousse. Then I ate the little sugar decoration. It was thin and sugary (natch). When I bit the cake in half, the butter cream blended beautifully with the vanilla cake. The passion fruit flavor was subtle. I gobbled it up in a few seconds flat. Then I scraped the silver foil wrapper with my bottom teeth to get all the cakey remains. I think there was some finger licking involved, too.

Next was the dulce the leche. Magnificent! It had an intense blob of pure caramel under the light butter cream. The cake was great too.

The double chocolate was wonderful as well. It also held a surprise; a nugget of dense ganache under the fluffy butter cream. I don’t know if you can see that in the crappy picture.

My guy got very stroppy (meaning belligerent - we’re Australian) when I tried to sample his lemon one. “I have to taste it for my article!” I insisted. “Bull-SHIT!” he bellowed, trying to dodge my greedy little fingers. I didn’t come down in the last shower, you know.” I watched him bite into the lemon one. It also had a blob of lemon curd under the cream.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever tasted such delicious cakes,” was the satisfied sigh from his studio.

These mini cupcakes will transport you to a state of sheer bliss. $1.50 apiece.

Leda’s Bake Shop
13722 Ventura Blvd
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
(818) 386-9644

next door to Senor Fred’s,
just West of Woodman Ave

OPEN:
Leda’s Bake Shop has new opening hours. After observing recent business trends, baker Ledette is devoting Tues, Wed and Thursdays to catering and pre-orders. You’ll need to place your order the day before and there is a 24 cupcake minimum per flavor, but no minimums on their outstanding cookies, macaroons and delectable scones.

On Fridays and Saturdays, Leda’s Bake Shop is open for that spontaneous mini-cupcake craving, 10.30am ’till 6pm.

Go to their website for a full range of their flavors: http://www.ledasbakeshop.com/

By MaxMillion (see more of her posts). Max Million is the nom de 'net of Pauline Adamek. Born in Sydney, Australia, Pauline has lived in Los Angeles for the past ten years and finds it agrees with her. She has been reviewing films and filing celebrity-based interview articles since 1991, and has filed stories from various international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. She is completing a family cookbook and also writes novels for 8-12 year olds.