Another Bakery in Less Than 24 hours

BUTTERCAKE Bakery- what a great name. I mean, they do use a ton of butter in their treats, which is why they are so scrumptious....

It was a tiny neighborhood bakery when they first opened their shop on Pico Blvd. Now, they have another location on Sunset Blvd in the trendy restaurant complex beside Le Petit Four, Clafoutis and Chin Chin.

Hands down, they make some of the best banana bread I have ever had. To top it off, they slice you off a very hearty piece for the price. The cake is moist, with the little black swirls you get when you cook banana. It's a double layered with a cream cheese frosting in between that is really the centerpiece of the bread. It's rich and creamy, but not overly sugary. I could have it everyday if I ran 10 miles a day...

Mouthwatering

They also have an amazing chocolate flourless cake, carrot cake and red velvet cupcakes. The chocolate cookies are good, but not the best. They are a bit too crunchy for my taste. Everyone is so friendly and helpful, you can tell they really love working there.

End 2010 with a bang and head to Buttercake bakery. You will go to the gym after the New Year.

No Plain in Hotcakes

Sometimes weird is better...

I have driven past Hotcakes, a tiny bright pink bakery nestled in between a liquor store and Mexican costume shop, a bunch of times and never stopped in. If the exterior wasn't so pink and frilly, I might never have noticed it. The only I reason I even checked it out was because it won Food Networks' 2009 Cupcake Wars for their Tres Leche and Spicy Mango cupcake.

mmmm....cupcakes...dreamy...
Note: when this picture was taken I had already eaten a couple

There were so many good choices, I bought a case of 10 mini-cakes including: chocolate peanut butter, lemon, vanilla sprinkles, chocolate cream cheese, Oreo cookie, english toffee, and red velvet to name a few.

The red velvet cake was disappointing, but the cream cheese frosting was excellent - not too sweet or tart. Honestly, I wasn't impressed by any of the "classic" cupcakes. The more exotic the combination, the better the cupcakes were!

English toffee: too sweet
Vanilla with sprinkle batter: good but not great
Lemon: very good, with a hint of lemon curd. Sweet and tangy.
Chocolate Peanut Butter: my favorite and delicious. Peanut butter isn't overpowering.

There is parking in the back. It's on Washington Blvd and Centinela in Culver City. If you go, don't get anything traditional, go with an 'out-of-the-ordinary- cupcake.