Los Angeles Dessert Tour: Swirls Desserts, My Favorite Cupcake February 3, 2010
Posted by Dorothy in cake, chocolate, cookies, cupcakes, dessert tour, information, reviews.Tags: glendale desserts, swirls cupcakes, swirls cupcakes review, swirls desserts, swirls desserts review
5 comments
The Westfield Fashion Square Shopping Mall in Sherman Oaks, CA is like any other mall. There are the usual retail chains, and the usual mediocre and completely overpriced food court. After a disappointing stroll around the food court, you realize there is a delicious very un-food court like scent mingling with the greasy food court smell – the heavenly smell of sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, spice, and everything nice. That delicious aroma brings you to a full stop a couple stores down from the food court – at the entrance to a pleasantly pink modern desserts shop.
This is Swirls Desserts.
As the title of this post claims, Swirls Desserts is home to my favorite cupcake! Their blueberry cupcake is seriously my favorite cupcake ever. I want to marry it!!! But all the other cupcake flavors are pretty amazing. They’re all super moist and carry a good amount of flavor. The best cupcakes at Swirls are the fruit flavored ones – Blueberry (my most favorite cupcake ever!!!), Apple Cinnamon, Orange Cranberry, Lemon Tort… if it has fruit in the name, I strongly recommend it!
Apple Cinnamon, Peanut Butter Chocolate, and Strawberry Milkshake
Here are some of my favorites (and a few of the reasons why you need to go visit Swirls NOW):
Blueberry: My Favorite Cupcake EVER! I’ve never had a blueberry cupcake before Swirls, but now I cannot live without it! Beyond moist and chock full of fresh, delicious, whole blueberries. Paired perfectly with swirls of cream cheese frosting. This is the cupcake that makes this place my favorite cupcake place!
Apple Cinnamon: Perfect blend of cinnamon and sugar with a satisfying amount of apple flavor. Smells like Christmas. The cinnamon-dusted cream cheese frosting is reminiscent of having apple pie a la mode. My second favorite flavor, tied with Orange Cranberry!
Orange Cranberry: Normally I don’t like orange flavored or even orange colored anythings, but I adore this cupcake! The orange flavor is sweet, the cranberry has a bit of a tang and everything is just dandy! Tastes like a grown-up Orange Creamsicle with the cream cheese frosting. My second favorite flavor, tied with Apple Cinnamon!
Strawberry Milkshake: Tangy-ly sweet and buttermilk-y! Really does remind me of a Strawberry Milkshake (thanks to the cream cheese frosting), but less sweet and not as cold! Great strawberry flavor. NOTE: I stopped by Swirls the other day and got this and it was amazing! Another close second favorite flavor now!
Lemon Tort: Lemony sweet! The cake is a fun bright yellow which definitely makes eating it even more fun – and Swirls only uses natural, vegan colorings, if colored food bothers you! Great, strong, lemon flavor.
Very Vanilla: Perfect for the vanilla lover! Strong vanilla taste throughout the cake and frosting.
Red Velvet: I know everyone is wondering about the Red Velvet! The Red Velvet here is amazing as well. Swirls Desserts has a super moist buttermilk cake lightly touched with cocoa topped with traditional cream cheese frosting. Perfect for those who don’t like their red velvet with too much cocoa!
Cupcakes are not the only desserts available at Swirls. They also have a wide selection of Belgian chocolates and gourmet coffees in a multitude of dessert flavors. I tried the Mocha, and the chocolate flavor was way better than any chain.
Free Samples!
And I haven’t even mentioned the BEST PART about Swirls Desserts yet! No, its not the moistness of the cupcakes, or the Blueberry Cupcake (well, that totally ties for the best part), or the cute décor (bright pink with a cute orange bar where you can enjoy your sweets), the cream cheese frosting, or how its on my way home from work everyday… no, the best part about Swirls is the FREE samples! An inviting tray of cupcake samples sits by the door for shoppers to enjoy all day, everyday. But beware, if you sample one you are very likely to go in and buy a few! DO visit Swirls Desserts if you are in the area! You’ll be very glad you did.
It really makes up for that mediocre not-so-satisfying-yet-completely-overpriced meal from the food court.
And good news! Swirls Desserts is expanding! Look out for new menu items to come soon. You can find them at various locations including the FOX studio lot (where lucky Helen can enjoy them everyday), major parties and events, and dessert trucks. They are also available online and deliverable, so you can get them wherever you are! Visit swirlsdesserts.com to order.
Swirls Desserts
Westfield Fashion Square
14006 Riverside Drive
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
818.986.9900
Delicious, Gluten-Free, Organic, and Healthy Cookies – yes, they EXIST! January 21, 2010
Posted by Dorothy in chocolate, cookies, information, reviews, vegan.Tags: Doodles Cookies, gluten free, gluten free baking mix, gluten free chocolate chip, gluten free nut butter, nut free nut butter cookies, vegan baking mix
4 comments
Organic, Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
“All-natural, organic, and gluten free cookie mix” reads the Chocolate Chip Cookie mix sample from Doodles Cookies. The list of ingredients begins with Organic Whole Grain Oat Flour, and also has Organic Chocolate Chips and Whole Grain Brown Rice Flour. I turn the package around and examine the appetizing, chewy, and chocolate-y cookies in the photograph. Yum! And they must be good for you, with all the wholesome and organic ingredients. There’s even an USDA Organic logo! Already looks way better than my last gluten free mix disappointment.
I rip open the package, toss the contents into a mixing bowl, add a couple of (organic) eggs, margarine (the box tells me I can substitute applesauce instead for a lower fat cookie, but I like my fat!), and the last ingredient – vanilla extract. This is one of the very few mixes that tells you to add your own extract, and I love it! You can control the flavor by adding the extract of your choice! It also tastes better and makes me feel good about eating it, knowing that it doesn’t have artificial flavorings! I mixed up the batter like any old cookie batter, scooped them out onto cookie sheets, and plopped them into the oven for a measly 9 minutes.
Nice – the package examination took me 2 minutes, mixing and scooping out the batter took 11 minutes, and baking took 9 minutes. 22 minutes to gluten free cookies and chocolate chip cookie scented kitchen!
I remove from the oven and examine – looks like a normal cookie made with flour and smells just like one too! But what about the taste?! I have to say, these are delicious! I can taste that they are gluten-free as they have more of a nuttiness to them than cookies made with all-purpose flour do. But I like them this way! The nutty texture of the gluten free flour is fun to chew and the chocolate chips taste great.
"A HeartFelt Hug for the Tummy" - How cute is that?!
Doodles Cookies are available in three flavors: Chocolate Chip, Nut Butter, and Sugar Cookie.
Nut Butter: The Nut Butter is actually my favorite out of the three. These are vegan AND nut free! Practically anyone with any food allergies or dietary needs can eat these! You just take the mix and add the nut butter of your choice. These take the least amount of time and effort to make (not like any of them really take much time) and taste great – the nutty texture of the gluten free flour enhances the nut butter (I used peanut butter) flavor in the cookies. I like these as much as regular peanut butter cookies!
Sugar Cookie: These are fun as you can flavor them however you want – just add the extract of your choice! Make lemon cookies with lemon extract, cocnut cookies with coconut extract, or sugar cookies with vanilla extract. For these you need to add eggs and butter along with the extract of your choice. These also taste great! Like the others, you can taste the gluten free flour, but it works!
I definitely feel better about eating these cookies than about eating “regular” cookies. Yay to Doodles Cookies for creating healthy, organic, gluten free cookies which are so crazy easy to make that anyone can enjoy them regularly! You can find any of these mixes and more at these select stores or order here.
Los Angeles Dessert Tour: The Scoop on Scoops (cheesy, I know) December 18, 2009
Posted by Dorothy in dessert tour, ice cream, information, vegan.Tags: college desserts, harvard, ice cream, lacc, lax, los angeles desserts, los angeles ice cream, ucla
8 comments
The thing I love about colleges is that every college has its own legendary snackery/bakery/eatery – the place incoming freshmen look forward to visiting for the quintessential (fill in name of college) experience. UCLA has Diddy Riese, USC students think they have Diddy Riese, Princeton has Small World Coffee, Harvard has the Cambridge Ice-Cream Triumverate, Loyola Marymount has LAX (the airport), and LACC has Scoops.
Scoops is the ice-cream boutique located off busy Melrose, home to a tantalizing array of ice-creams, gelatos, dairy free ice-creams, and vegan ice-creams, in almost every combination you could want. Scoops is small and inconspicuous, easily missed unless you know what you are looking for. I’ve driven past it too many times to count before I realized it was even there! And I’ve actually been there more times when it was closed than when it was actually open – they are not open late nights and only open for 4 hours on Sundays.
Scoops has a very wide and imaginative array of ice-cream flavors. This is probably one of the very few places where you can find ice-cream flavors like Blueberry Apricot Brandt, Fois Gras and Sweet Cream, or Vegan Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar. And they let you sample any and every flavor you want! Not only do they have ice-creams, sorbets, and gelatos, they also have a nice selection of dairy-free ice-creams, and vegan ice-creams! Definitely the best selection and best vegan and soy ice-creams I have ever had (although my experience is limited to Trader Joe’s).
The interior of Scoops is small and sweet, with ‘Scoops’ spoons hanging from the ceiling and bright red tables and chairs. There is also a comfy “Loner” corner with one lone sofa hidden by the window.
And you definitely get your money’s worth at Scoops. A single scoop at $2.75 is actually two full scoops of ice-cream – so make sure you get at least two different flavors to take advantage of all their unique flavors! There is also a free toppings bar, with chocolate sprinkles, rainbow sprinkles, and chopped nuts!
Flavors randomly change by the day and by the time. Make sure to go early in the day for the best selection of flavors or call ahead to see what they have at the moment. Once a flavor is gone, it is replaced by a different flavor.
They let me sample every flavor – there are 16 flavors at any given time! I’m only mentioning the ones that stood out to me here:
Brown Bread: Scoops’ legendary and most popular flavor – I didn’t know what to expect, but I’d heard so many gushing raves about it I was expecting something crazy. Its basically sweet cream/vanilla ice-cream with a brown and white sugar Grape Nuts mixture on top. Great combination! I can see why everyone loves this flavor – its very basic (compared to their other flavors) and sweetly satisfying.
Oreo Cheesecake (vegan option and non-vegan option): Chocolate cookies in cheesecake ice-cream! I love their ‘Oreo’ cookies – super cakey, as if they used chocolate cake instead of chocolate wafer cookies (which maybe they did).
Pistachio: Yummy! Pistachio ice-cream is one of my all-time favorite sweets. This one was great, but Rite Aid’s classic pistachio ice-cream is still my favorite!
Pistachio Honey: Sweeter version of the pistachio ice-cream – a lot less pistachio flavor.
Lavender Honey: Sweet honey ice-cream, yum!
Bailey’s Irish Cream: I love how the Bailey’s Irish Cream came across strong in this ice-cream. Other Bailey’s Irish Cream ice-creams just tend to have a hint of Irish Cream.
Chocolate Guiness: strong, like the Bailey’s. Love it!
Earl Grey Tea: surprisingly sweet and bitter, like Earl Grey Tea
Salted White Chocolate: I thought this would be good, like Salted Caramel – not true. Couldn’t finish my sample. Not for the faint of heart.
Vegan Chocolate Coconut: Great chocolate taste, not so much coconut taste.
My friend and I ended up devouring a generous single scoop of Brown Bread and Oreo Cheesecake each… and wanted to go back for more.
Scoops
712 N Heliotrope Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90029
(323) 906-2649
Adorably Pink and Delicious: Hello Kitty High Tea and Hello Kitty Brunch October 22, 2009
Posted by Dorothy in information.13 comments
Hello Kitty Waffles
Supercute Hello Kitty Brunch
Hello Kitty Tramezzini
Hello Kitty High Tea
Hello Kitty Pancakes
Adorable Hello Kitty Cookie
How cute and delicious are these?! All of these are exclusive Hello Kitty desserts/edible goodies from the Royal/T Cafe in Los Angeles for Sanrio’s Three Apples Exhibit. These are only available Oct 23 – Nov 15! Check out the menu below:
Hello Kitty’s Kawaii High Tea $25
An assortment of sweets, savory canapé, and mini sandwiches, including a pot of tea
mmm Delicious Mixed Mushroom & Cheese Tramezzini $8
Toasted white bread pockets filled with mushrooms and cheese, served with organic mixed greens
Say Hello Chicken & Artichoke Tramezzini $8
Toasted white bread pockets filled with artichoke hearts and chicken, served with organic mixed greens
School is Fun Ham & Cheese Tramezzini $8
Toasted white bread pockets filled with ham and cheese, served with organic mixed greens
Super Yummy Waffles $7
Waffles, mixed berries, whipped cream, and syrup
I ♥ Pancakes $7
Pancakes, bananas, whipped cream, and syrup
Individually wrapped, hand-decorated Sweet Happy Cookies $6
The Three Apples Exhibit is a multi-media celebration of all things Hello Kitty for her 35th anniversary. For more information on this unique Hello Kitty event click here. For more information on Hello Kitty food from Royal/T click here.
Too cute to eat? I can’t decide!
Oh, who am I kidding?! Of course I am going to go and eat everything!
Images courtesy of Wagstaff Worldwide
Las Vegas Dessert Tour: World’s Largest Chocolate Fountain October 10, 2009
Posted by Dorothy in bars, chocolate, cookies, cupcakes, dessert tour, ice cream, information, sweet eats.Tags: bellagio, chocolate, crepes, jean philippe patiserrie, las vegas dessert tour, las vegas desserts
10 comments
Let’s continue on my Las Vegas Dessert Tour with a stop at the delicious Jean Philippe Patisserie inside the Bellagio:
Berry Crepe
Chocolate Crepe with Dark Chocolate Fudge
Not only is the Jean Philippe Patisserie famous for their Chocolate Waterfall, they are also known for their French style crepes. There are all sorts of crepes – sweet, indulgent, fruity, and savory – to satisfy everyone. We tried three different crepes:
Veggie Crepe: Crepe filled with Mediterrenean vegetable mix and a side of field greens. Good, but not amazing. Tasted a little bit like marinara pasta and salad.
Chocolate Crepe: Crepe with chocolate syrup, intense chocolate fudge, brownie bites, chocolate shavings, powdered sugar and mint garnish (comes with whipped cream if you like). I LOVED this crepe – Very indulgent and SO delicious! Extremely chocolate-y; a must for chocoholics!
Berry Crepe: Crepe with berry (strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry) compote, powdered sugar, and whipped cream – my favorite one of the three! Sweet and berry delicious! I loved the chunks of fruit and the perfect balance of sweet and tangy fruit. Very light and leaves you craving more.
Pastries
The dessert paradise that is Jean Philippe Patiserrie has a never-ending supply of pastries, candy, cakes, and gelato. There are giant almond brioches, fancy eclaires, a variety of sandwhiches, baguettes, hazelnut spread, opera cake, slabs of chocolate from the chocolate fountain, Sponge Bob birthday cakes, Hello Kitty cupcakes… you name it! I could barely take it all in with my eyes. Can’t wait to go back!
Jean Philippe Gelato
