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
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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
Los Angeles Dessert Tour: (I strongly strongly recommend) Porto’s Bakery August 25, 2009
Posted by Dorothy in bread, cake, chocolate, cookies, cupcakes, dessert tour, information, sweet eats.Tags: burbank desserts, cheap bakeries, cuban cuisine, cuban desserts, glendale desserts, los angeles bakery, los angeles dessert tour, los angeles desserts, porto's bakery
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- Dulche de Leche Napoleon
Porto’s Bakery is my newest love and obsession! This place is so super wonderful; I have no idea why it took me so long to find it! Located in the heart of Burbank or Glendale (there are two locations), Porto’s is just a quick (and very worthy) drive away from L.A., and a definite dessert stop in Los Angeles. I recently visited the location in Burbank, and had the time of my life. The place is almost as big as a Whole Foods store, and packed to the max with cakes, pastries, desserts, and customers! This dessert heaven is completely family-owned and operated, and all the goods are made fresh at the premises.
Exotic Red Velvet Cupcakes
Surprisingly, Porto’s is actually a Cuban restaurant and features a wide variety of (delicious) Cuban sandwiches, snacks, and drinks along with traditional Cuban desserts and exotic pastries. Even though they are a Cuban bakery, they still have a great selection of the regular cakes/pastries/desserts we are used to. There is also a huge selection of fresh baked breads and rolls, too. I’ve never had real Cuban cuisine myself, but a customer standing in front of me in line told me Porto’s had the most authentic Cuban cuisine she had ever had in California – and yes, she was Cuban.
Delicious Banana Chips
Now, I never write about real food because I don’t really eat it, as I just live off dessert, but the real food at Porto’s was SO good that I am going to mention it. I had a vegetable sandwhich which was perfectly cheesy and delicious, but the thing I really want to talk about are the banana chips that came with the sandwhich. These are supersuperthin slices of banana that are freshly fried into crispy banana chips – also know as plantain chips. Soooooogood! They are the perfect thinness and perfect crispiness and they even come with a delicious dipping sauce. I suggest you order a large side and enjoy!
On to the best part now – the desserts! Porto’s is super fun because it has two extremely long glass display cases that stretch the entire length of the store completely filled with all the sweets you are craving. A lot of the sweets feature the exotic flavors of guava, mango, pineapple, apricot, and coconut which you don’t usually see in desserts at traditional bakeries. Here’s a small sample of what they have to offer in those wonderful display cases: Opera Cake, Apricot Empanada, Cheese Roll (sweet cream cheese filled pastry; their best-seller), Tiramisu, Guava Pie, Napoleons, Mariner Cake, Red Velvet Cupcakes, Tres Leches Cake, Raspberry Pudding…
Mango Turnover
admist all this wonder, I finally settled on six sweets to try:
Coconut Strudel: my favorite item from Porto’s! This was so coconutty and sweet, I ate half of my strudel and ran inside to buy more 
Dulche de Leche Pound Cake: good, like caramel pound cake from anywhere else. The only average-tasting item I had at Porto’s all day.
Dulche de Leche Napoleon (I was having a caramely day): soooo good! The layers were flaky perfection, the buttercream filling was delicious, and the dulche de leche definitely filled my caramel cravings.
Chocolate Eclair: this was pretty average as far as eclairs go.
Mango Turnover: delicious! Mango in a turnover is genius.
Refugiado (guava and cheese pastry): omg so good! I have never had guava in a pastry before, but I have totally been missing out! Similar to a raspberry and cheese strudel, but more tangy. The tang compliments the sweet cheese perfectly.
Refugiado (guava and cheese strudel)
Next time I go, I am definitely going to stock up on Coconut Strudels and Refugiados. I also want to try their Cinnamon Rolls, which are bigger than my head, their best-selling Cheese Pastry, and the Tres Leches Cake.
Doesn’t Porto’s sound amazing?! Well, I didn’t even tell you the best part yet – the PRICES! I have never been to a dessert place with prices this good. My favorite Coconut Strudels are only 85 cents each, and $7.40 for a dozen. The delicious Refugiadosare only 65 cents each! Most cheesecakes/sliced cakes/Napoleons are only $2.50. The cheapest I’ve ever had for a Napoleon outside of Porto’s was $6.50! The cinnamon rolls that are bigger than my head are $1.50! Everything is super worth it.
After that life altering dessert trip, I have added a new life goal to my list of life goals: to try every sweet at Porto’s Bakery! Yay, this is going to be so much fun! If you’re planning on going, be prepared to park far away and wait in long lines as the place is ridiculously popular and always packed and there is no such thing as big parking lots in or around LA. Porto’s Bakery has two locations to satisfy your sweet tooth:
Glendale Location
315 North Brand Blvd.
Glendale, CA 91203
tel. (818) 956-5996
fax (818) 956-0696
Map it
Burbank Location
3614 W Magnolia Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91505
(818) 846-9100
Map it
So if you live near LA, go! Now!! I’ll see you there
Dessert Obsessed Recipe Index is Up! August 18, 2009
Posted by Dorothy in bread, cake, chocolate, cookies, cupcakes, vegan.Tags: banana cookies, brownies, chocolate chip cheesecake, dessert recipes, lemon pound cake
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I went through the entire blog and indexed all the recipes featured on the blog so far for your convience. Just click the ‘recipe index’ tab on top or click here. I’ve got everything from cupcakes, muffins, cinnamon rolls, chocolate chip cookies, frostings, and even vegan dessert recipes there. I only post tried and true recipes here, so check them out!
Here are some of my personal favorites:
Coconut, Banana, and Chocolate - Tropical Brownies
Kahlua Cheesecake Swirled Brownies
Best Ever Banana Butterscotch Cookies
Lemon Sunday Pound Cake
Cinnamon Hazelnut Rolls
Super Chocolate Chippery Cheesecake
Los Angeles Dessert Tour: Gourmet Churros on the Boardwalk August 3, 2009
Posted by Dorothy in chocolate, dessert tour, information, sweet eats.Tags: chocolate, churros, gourmet churros, los angeles dessert tour, los angeles desserts, santa monica, third street promenade, xurro
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Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California, is a sunny wonderland offering blocks of ocean, shops, and most of all, delicious eats. Its the ultimate place for some fun under the sun!
Santa Monica, CA
A recent addition to the overflowing dessert shops lining up and around Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade is Xooro, home to the most exciting premium spanish fritters I have ever encountered. This is a brilliant concept. Bascially, its an ubergourmet churro. A Xooro (pronounced SURE-oh) is a filled (chocolate, caramel, etc) churro that is coated in chocolate, caramel, etc.
Xooro has a wide variety of fillings and coatings to choose from, such as Maple Bacon (churro filled with dulce de leche then dipped in white chocolate and coated in bacon pieces), Raspberry (churro filled with raspberry filling then dipped in white chocolate and coated with white chocolate sprinkles), and the Triple Chocolate (self-explantory). There is also The Original (also available as Chocolate Original), which is a churro filled with custard, and The Original Gluten Free.
We tried three different xooros:
Missippi, Jordan's Special, and Tortoise
Tortoise: The Tortoise is filled with dulce de leche, dipped in chocolate, and then coated with crushed pecans. It was delicious, but not as good as it looks. The dulche de leche filling can definitely be better, but the chocolate is very milk chocolate and the pecans and churro were satisfyingly crunchy.
Missippi: The Missippi is filled with peanut butter filling, dipped in chocolate, and then coated in crushed peanuts. Again, not as good as it looks, but still delicious. The peanut butter filling was more like straight up peanut butter; I think it would be a lot better if it was filled with a sweeter, thinner concoction, like peanut butter frosting. Also satisfyingly crunchy.
Jordan’s Special: This one is my favorite out of the three. Jordan’s Special is filled with Nutella, dipped in white chocolate, and drizzled with dark chocolate. I really liked the white chocolate here; the sweetness really balanced the bitterness of the dark chocolate and the Nutella. And the Nutella filling added the perfect hint of hazelnut flavor to complement the churro.
And don’t feel guilty about eating these! These churros are fried in rice bran oil, so they are slightly healthier than other churros. If you’re not in the mood for a Xooro, there are also a variety of cold and hot drinks, like Spanish Hot Chocolate or Dulce de Leche.
All in all, a very fun place to visit for dessert in Los Angeles. And its right next to the beach! Xooro has two locations:
Xooro
125 Broadway
Santa Monica, California 90401
(310) 260-2919
8360 Melrose Avenue
West Hollywood, California 90069
(323) 951-9592
Coconut, Chocolate, and Banana – Tropical Brownies June 4, 2009
Posted by Dorothy in bars, chocolate.Tags: banana, brownies, chewy brownie recipe, chocolate, chocolate banana, chocolate coconut, coconut, interesting brownie recipe, summer cruise
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Coconut, Chocolate and Banana Tropical Brownies
These brownies are inspired by Summer and my recent obsession with Googling for summer cruises. I love cruises; all-you-can-eat dessert AND you get to dress up to do it?! Fun!
I definitely want to go on a cruise this summer, but I don’t know which one. The Disney Cruises look the most fun, but they’re pretty pricey and all set sail in Florida, which means I would have to fly to Florida first. The Carnival ones are a lot cheaper and set sail about 50 miles from here, so they’re definitely more ideal. Or I could just go lay out in the sun by the pool and bite into one of these brownies; I won’t have any trouble at all pretending that I’m in the tropics!
Here's a close-up of the goodness
These tropical brownies have chocolate banana batter and are then smothered in shredded coconut for maximum tropicalness! These are chewy, fudgy, and you can definitely taste the banana and coconut.
Tropical Brownies
1/4 C oil
1/2 C mashed bananas (about 1 large banana)
3/4 C white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 C chocolate chips
1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/3 - 1/2 C shredded coconut
1/3 C white chocolate chips
1/4 C corn syrup
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
Mix oil sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in banana. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread batter into prepared pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes; be careful not to overbake (they’ll turn cakey)! While the borwnies are baking, stir together the shredded coconut, white chocolate chips, and corn syrup until they become a cohesive mass. When they have been in the oven for about 15 minutes, sprinkle the top with the shredded coconut corn syrup mass. Let the coconut fall slightly into the batter, but don’t let it sink all the way down. Bake for another 10-15 minutes. Wait until they are completely cool to cut, as they are pretty sticky when still warm.
Enjoy!
