Gastronomy Blog by Cathy Chaplin

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08 Oct 2012

{swoon} Old Fashioned Ice Box at Lark Cake Shop

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Cupcakes are cute and all, but here at James and Colleen Standish’s Silver Lake bakery, it’s the sky high layer cakes that rule the sugar high roost. A dozen different creations, including “Stacey’s Old Fashioned Coconut Cake” (coconut cake with cream cheese icing and coconut shavings) and the “Berry Shortcake” (white cake layered with fresh berries, pastry cream, and whipped cream), are baked fresh every day ready to be personalized and picked up for backyard birthdays and celebrations of all sorts.

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Restaurant Review

05 Oct 2012

Proof Bakery – Los Angeles (Atwater Village)

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If you thought the recent heat wave was rough, imagine having to make croissants without air conditioning in that weather. That’s exactly what the team at Proof Bakery did, and I will forever bow down to Chef Na Young Ma and her band of talented bakers for possessing that kind of masochistic moxy. This redefines the meaning of bad ass.

Proof Bakery, which debuted in Atwater Village in late 2010, has been a stellar addition to an already happening neighborhood (See: Canele and Viet Noodle Bar).

The aforementioned croissants are made with a touch of sourdough starter and are considered to be some of the city’s best. In addition to plain ones, Proof also makes croissants filled with Valrhona chocolate, almonds, and ham and Gruyere. These flaky pastries sell out in a heartbeat; each and every one had been scooped up by earlier birds when I arrived at 11:30 on the nose.

Available throughout the day is an array of stunning sweets ranging from simple to intricate. The gorgeous tart with fresh figs and diplomat cream was damn near perfect. The fruit was plain luscious, while the cream was cool and balanced. The buttery, crumbly crust tied everything together.

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03 Oct 2012

{swoon} Fan Tuan at Huge Tree Pastry

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There are a handful of restaurants serving traditional Taiwanese breakfast in the San Gabriel Valley, but my favorite is the one operated by the Liu family in Monterey Park. Tucked behind a grocery store on the far end of a strip mall, Huge Tree Pastry is the place to get your you tiao on. Deep-fried to order, these twisted, golden crullers shatter at first bite and are just as good dipped in a bowl of steaming soy milk. Scallion pancakes, which come with or without an eggy coating, benefit from a drizzle of soy sauce. Chili oil is nowhere to be found here.

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