Road Tested: Frosting Bake Shop

Home for the Holidays always provides a nice chance to check out any new foodie delights that have popped up since my last trip to the Bay Area... and this time I stumbled upon a gem.

It's no secret the a good cupcake is 50% of the way to steal my heart (the other 50% belongs to a cute Jewish boy). Frosting Bake Shop in cozy downtown Mill Valley is beyond adorable from the moment you step in the door. The whimsical paint - brown polka dots and bright pink and orange stripes - brings a smile to your face upon entry. And then, there's the cupcakes...

Adorably lining the counter in individual glass display cases, the flavors range from classic Black & White to Peanut Butter Bliss and Juliana Banana. Karen, the baker and owner, also creates seasonal cupcakes, which she often samples in the store. I was able to taste Gingerbread, and although I'm not a fan, that cupcake alone inspired me to buy two to take home and share with the family: Black & White and Oreo.

Okay, I'll be honest, I had full intention of sharing the cupcakes with my parents, but upon entering my car, I happened to take a bite of the moist and rich Black & White cupcake, and neither treat made it home.

Now I just have to make sure Frosting doesn't become a Bar Mitzvah, or my boyfriend will have some stiff competition.

Frosting Bake Shop

7 E Blithedale Avenue

Mill Valley, CA 94941

415.888.8027

$

It's a Small World After All

There's nothing like the "bite-sized" factor when it comes to the sweet stuff. Vanilla Bakeshop, Santa Monica's resident cupcakery has mastered the art of itsy bitsy treats. Cupcakes that fit in the palm of your hand range in flavor from Passion Fruit to Peanut Butter Chocolate, but the cute confections don't stop there. Vanilla also offers a variety of miniature pudding cups and cheesecake bites. Now you can have your cake and your dinner too - and not feel so guilty about it afterwards!

Vanilla Bakeshop
512 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 458-6644
<$

Butter Me Up

In a town where my therapist is on the South Beach Diet, and my Gardner does leg-lifts in between pruning my roses, I am ever so amused by the cupcake revolution that has exploded on the L.A. scene. When Sprinkles opened in Beverly Hills, thrones bowed down in appreciation (well, maybe they were just purging, but what does that really matter). I too joined the masses in rekindling my fond appreciation of the tiny cakes, but couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the irony of the whole thing. I mean, do people know how many calories are in those little things? Whatever magical spell the cupcake vendors have put over our town, I’d like to borrow for a weekend’s shopping trip with my boyfriend (“you are getting spendy, very spendy…you want to buy expensive shoes for your girlfriend…”).

Needless to say, I am hooked on cupcakes. In search of something a little different than the every so trendy Sprinkles, I stumbled upon a little gem on Pico. Buttercake Bakery is squeezed next door to a Subway Sandwich, and if you blink on the block between Prosser and Manning streets, you’d almost miss the blue awning and the tiny flower boxes that dress the outside of the bakery. A step inside the small shop and you really appreciate this bakery for what it is: a bakery. There are no Oz curtains to pull back as the whole kitchen is exposed behind the counter. An operation of 4 people was busy baking with the voices of the Food Network cooing them through their hanging television set. The bakery case is adorably arranged with various cake tiers and pretty platters (and the baked goods didn’t look too bad themselves). But I wasn’t there for a chocolate chip cookie (which looked divine) or a lemon bar (which was calling my name). I was there for one thing and one thing only: a cupcake.

What I got was much more, for Buttercake offers their signature cupcakes in miniature sizes! That’s right, I can only get a little fat if I want to. So I did what any girl with an appetite would do and purchased 3 miniature cupcakes: Red Velvet, Chocolate with Mocha Buttercream and Vanilla with Vanilla Buttercream. I felt so skinny already, getting three cupcakes for less than the size of regular one. I think I stumbled upon the real Los Angeles oxymoron: diet(ish) cupcakes. While Buttercake doesn’t offer the plethora of flavors that our famed Sprinkles does, they do a great job with the limited items they create. The cupcakes themselves were buttery and moist. The Buttercream was divine: creamy, sweet and ooey gooey. The Cream Cheese frosting on the Red Velvet was to die for. The Mocha frosting took the cake (pun intended, as always) blowing away any cupcake Sprinkles makes. A must go for an only slightly guilty pleasure.

Buttercake Bakery
10595 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
$