It had to end with a birthday cake, of course. My brother took us to a little Thai restaurant on Sunset Boulevard with fabulous food called Rambutan. Because it was in Silverlake, it was authentically ethnic, not chic funky ethnic like many restaurants in LA.

After dinner, the waitress brought out a cake my brother had dropped by earlier. This actually turned out to be an answer to Scott's question (see previous post): Where to get healthy and/or thrifty desserts.

My brother bought a frozen Charlotte Berry Torte from Trader Joe's, made with lady fingers and layers of berry mousse and sponge cake, with blueberries, red currants and raspberries on top. He decorated it with fresh blueberries and strawberries. It was beautiful, tasted good and made a very satisfying ending to a Thai meal and to Sugar Week.

I'm kind of proud of my photo, which I took without a flash. 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

K Chocolatier operates out of the tiniest Beverly Hills space imaginable. But don't let that fool you. She has some very famous customers, including Barbra Streisand, Hugh Hefner and Whoopi Goldberg. The owner, Diane Kron, is said to have invented chocolate-dipped strawberries. She also made her chocolate truffles with vodka for Jackie Kennedy.

Her latest thing is sensual chocolates made with Chinese herbs that are supposed to have an aphrodisiac effect. I had to cover my daughter's ears when the sales person started describing it in detail.

They are, of course, expensive.

(Photo courtesy of Gailor Large)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Something funny has happened to me on the way to becoming the person I am now. I actually prefer the ice creams that don't have 150 percent butterfat.

I know that's hard to believe, but I love the housemade ice creams in fine restaurants that are so ephemeral. They disappear in the blink of an eye because they have no preservatives, and  come in flavors like cardamom and Grand Marnier.

My passion used to be Baskin-Robbins pralines 'n' cream, so that's a pretty major change.

On the other hand, I want to give a thumbs up to Edy's Slow Churned ice creams, which must have a ton of preservatives and so on (I'm afraid to look) but also have half the fat and yet taste amazing rich, every bit as good as the regular. 

I'd like to start a list of favorite places to get ice cream and/or gelato. I'll get the ball rolling with Moxley's, Sylvan Beach and Pitango Gelato. Please post below, or are you sugared out from yesterday's doughnut fest? 

(Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
                    

I bet you thought I had forgotten it's Doughnut Wednesday. Not so. I've simply been too busy dealing with the gadzillion comments about doughnuts under yesterday's entry "Tomorrow is Doughnut Wednesday."

Really, all that's left for me to do is to assemble the list of suggestions below and to tell you how you can actually make a doughnut taste even better and be even worse for your arteries. ...

Continue reading "It's Doughnut Wednesday" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
                    

With the publication of The Book of Great Desserts, Maida Heatter did for desserts what Julia Child did for French cooking. Her recipes are so meticulous, and the results so delicious, that I've never had a failure or a disappointed recipient of anything I've made from it or any of her other cookbooks. (The one pictured to the right was published a couple of years later.)

The greatest accolade I had was for her Queen Mother Cake, a fabulous flourless chocolate creation. (This was before every restaurant had a death-by-chocolate cake on its menu.) I served it to a guest who had never had it before; and while she was eating it, to make polite conversation I asked, "And what's your favorite dessert?"

"This," she said, without missing a beat.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

As promised, we celebrate Sugar Week tomorrow with Doughnut Wednesday, in which I share my guiltiest pleasure (even worse than bakery birthday cake) and hope that readers can give us suggestions of little known places (beyond Krispy Kreme and Dunkin' Donuts) to go for our deep-fried sugary dough treats.

(AP Photo/Nell Redmond, File)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)
                    

Of course I don't mean that fruit can't be a wonderful ending to a good meal. What could be better than serving crisp apples and passing around a bowl of walnuts in their shell (warm them in the oven) to have with the apples. But is that dessert?

Bananas Foster, peach cobbler and cherries jubilee are definitely dessert, but are they fruit?

I think not.

The closest I can think of would be something like peche melba or poire helene, where the poached peach or pear is accompanied by -- but not overwhelmed by -- ice cream and raspberry or chocolate sauce.

I leave you with this quote from Jason Love:

"Fruit only angers my need for chocolate."

(Photo by Mario Villafuerte/Bloomberg News)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

I love this pie. It has a spicy gingersnap crust, a thin layer of bittersweet chocolate custard and a layer of light, fluffy rum-flavored custard. It's topped with swirls of freshly whipped cream and shavings of chocolate.

The recipe that follows is a version of one that was published in Majorie Kinnan Rawlings' Cross Creek Cookery. 

In it she describes it as "a pie so delicate, so luscious, that I hope to be propped up on my dying bed and fed a generous portion. Then I think that I should refuse outright to die, for life would be too good to relinquish."

Louie's Bookstore Cafe, where Ixia now is, is the only restaurant I've known that served black bottom pie. It was good, but I hope Jimmy Rouse won't be offended if I say mine is even better. ... 

Check back later today and we should have the video up and running of Amanda demonstrating how to make it. 

(Photo courtesy of Amanda Hastings-Phillips)

Continue reading "Black bottom pie" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

The time we've all been waiting for with bated breath (and poised forks) has come. Welcome to Sugar Week, a celebration of all things, well, sugary.

I thought I would open Sugar Week by introducing myself -- insofar as sugar is concerned. 

Luckily my mom liked to bake, tossing off as an after-school snack not Rice Krispie treats but large cream puffs filled with custard and iced with chocolate. (Wasn't it nice when mothers didn't have to work?)

As an adult, my craving for sweets has lessened, but not my appreciation. I have a fondness for French pastry and fine chocolate, but I also have lowbrow sweets I can't resist. My guilty pleasures are usually sugary treats I loved as a child and never quite grew out of.

Here's a quick rundown: 

Continue reading "Welcome to Sugar Week" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
                    

This is Amanda Hastings-Phillips, an actress in LA who also happens to be my daughter's bff and her doubles partner in college. More important for our purposes, she's an excellent cook. (She just finished making a friend's wedding cakes for 200 guests.)

Amanda has kindly agreed to do a video demonstration for my blog for Sugar Week, which as you know starts August 19. The working title is How to Make a Black Bottom Pie, Arguably the Greatest Dessert of All Time. This is a recipe I developed from one in Marjorie Kinnan Rawling's great Cross Creek Cookery. I know you won't want to miss it.

I will, of course, also include the recipe on my blog. 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Listen up, boys and girls. I have a treat for you. In honor of my daughter's birthday month, I'm designating the week of August 19 through 25 Sugar Week.

A little history is in order here. I thought I was the perfect mother. I made all her baby food from healthful, natural, unprocessed ingredients. Then one day she toddled up to the dining room table and started eating sugar by the handfuls out of the sugar bowl. I realized then it was hopeless. This is someone who has discovered that chocolate is one of the four major food groups.

Sugar Week is going to be a celebration of sweets: The Baltimore area's best bakeries, chocolatiers you might not know about, the best restaurant desserts, the greatest desserts of all time (such as Maida Heatter's Pie That's Better Than Sex), and, of course, my own favorite desserts and dessert recipes. Except for the restaurant desserts and my own recipes, this isn't really my area of expertise, so between now and then if there are any places you think I should know about, please post below.

Let the festivities begin. 

(Photo courtesy of SFMOMA)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)