Tag Archives: ice cream

The Best Artisan Desserts in LA

Los Angeles has some of the best sweet treats in the country, and with warm weather year round, you’ll never run out of reasons to eat ice cream. From macaron ice cream sandwiches to maple bacon donuts to homemade pop tarts, you can find it in LA and it’s guaranteed delicious.

You couldn’t taste all the delicious sweet treats in LA even if you tried, but you may as well! Here are a few to get you started.

Ice Cream – Salt and Straw

This small batch, artisanal sweet cream shop on Abbott Kinney is always packed, no matter the weather or time of day.

Drool over flavor combinations like their cult favorite, honey lavender, for which they steep two pounds of lavender flowers in honey and cream, bringing out a deep, almost smoky lavender color and then add a sweet touch of honey.

Salt & Straw
Image courtesy of Salt & Straw

For the more adventurous, try black olive brittle and goat cheese. They create a sticky olive candy using diverse olive oils and combine it with a “funky” goat cheese ice cream.

Salt & Straw
Image courtesy of Salt & Straw

 

Donuts – Sidecar Doughnuts

No matter your pleasure, sweet or savory, you can get your fix at Sidecar Doughnuts in Santa Monica. These donuts are made fresh all day every day and, without the use of preservatives, they’re recommended to be consumed within an hour of purchasing.

They feature flavors like huckleberry, with a berry pink icing and bits of berry baked inside the warm dough. Another favorite is maple bacon, a gooey donut covered in maple icing with chunks of candied bacon on top.

As an extra treat, you can see the chefs pouring the glaze and frying the donuts right in front of you.

 

Cookies – Milkjar Cookies

In addition to being an absolutely adorable venue, with cookies served on pretty china and drinks in mason jars with paper straws, this place has some of the best cookies in LA.

Milkjar Cookies
Image courtesy of Milkjar Cookies

Banana split, birthday cookie, mint chocolate, white chocolate chip macadamia, lemon blueberry; whatever you pick, you really can’t go wrong. Every cookie has a nice, crispy crunch on the outside but is warm and soft inside like a cookie should be.

Milkjar Cookies
Image courtesy of Milkjar Cookies

Wash your tasty morsel down with a big glass of milk or go all out and add ice cream.

 

Cakes & Pies – Cake Monkey Bakery

This place will bring you back to your childhood, serving up adult versions of ding dongs and whoopie pies and other confections. Their pies are delicious as well and come in single serving flavors such as cider roasted apple pie in a double cheddar crust. Yum!

Image courtesy of Cake Monkey
Image courtesy of Cake Monkey

Try some of the retro treats like their homemade Poptarts, filled with your choice of brown sugar cinnamon, blueberry crumble, apple, or chocolate almond.

Be sure not to miss the cult favorite; the summer Camp Chocolate Chip Cookie, which is made with caramelized Rice Krispies and marshmallow. Delish!

cake monkey
Image courtesy of Cake Monkey

 

Cupcakes – Sprinkles Cupcakes

This place is practically an LA landmark and often has a line out the door. The cupcakes are made fresh daily and have the perfect frosting to cake ratio, with neither being too sweet but just sweet enough.

sprinkles cupcakes
Image courtesy of Sprinkles Cupcakes

The cupcakes are rich in flavor, hitting the sweet spot after eating just one. Sprinkles offers classic flavors like chocolate, vanilla, and red velvet, but if you’re feeling a little more adventurous you can find your perfect cupcake in flavors like green tea with lavender frosting, ginger lemon, or vanilla peppermint. Get your dog a pupcake too!

 

Ice Cream Sandwiches – Milk

Milk takes ice cream sandwiches to the next level, and stuffs homemade ice cream between their giant macarons and dips them in melted chocolate and toppings.

The macarons give the ice cream sandwich a satisfying crunch, with a chewy bite inside. The ice cream is served at the perfect level of “meltiness” so that it doesn’t get all over your hands and isn’t too cold to taste.

Strawberry shortcake bar from Milk
Strawberry shortcake bar from Milk | Image via L.A. Foodie on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Explore flavors like thai tea, coffee toffee, fruity pebbles, strawberry with white chocolate, or matcha green tea macaron ice cream sandwiches. Milk has other goodies, but this is what they’re known for and best at.

6657633593_185e8a4716_o
Rocky Road ice cream sandwich from MILK | Image via Larry on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

10 Must-Visit Cities for Summer Sweets

 

Nothing is more synonymous with summer than sweets. Twisted soft serve in a cone topped with rainbow sprinkles, shaved iced decked out with handmade syrups, fried rolls full of cool, creamy delights. They may look and taste different depending on where in the world you are but they all have one thing in the common; the ability to put a smile on a face whether you’re 9 or 99.

From Bangkok to New Orleans and everywhere in between we rounded up the desserts of summer you’ll want to travel for.

 

Palawan, Philippines

Hidden off the beaten traveler’s path, Palawan is the stuff of dreams. Small fishing villages, turquoise waters and sandy beaches, jungles full of wildlife. It’s no wonder Travel + Leisure keeps putting Palawan on its must-visit list. And when you’re lounging on the beach you’ll order Halo-Halo. It’s basically everything sweet in a jar. The name actually means “mixed together.” There’s shaved ice, syrup, ice cream, custard and some sweet toppings.

halo-halo
Halo-halo | Photo via lalaine22shoots on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Visit:  Noki Nocs Savory House, Tita Esh

 

Portland, Oregon

It should come as no surprise that America’s locavore capital is serious about its ice cream. Known for food trucks and local brews, Portland has upped its ice cream skills in recent years. You’ll find spots offering up ice cream flights of six tastings for when it’s just impossible to choose between scoops filled with a variety of local ingredients including strawberries and microbrews.

ice cream

Visit: Salty Sow, Ruby’s Jewel.

 

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

With all eyes turned to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympic Games it’s only natural to include the city in a list of must-visit places for summer desserts.  Especially, when you consider that the typical Rio dessert of summer is actually something you can eat for breakfast, lunch or just as a snack. You know it as an açaí bowl, (Açaí na tigela). It’s made of frozen, mashed açaí, served in a bowl or as smoothie and topped with tapioca, or granola and banana.

acai bowl
Acai bowl

Visit: Bibi Sucos

 

New Delhi, India

Apologizes to the ice cream fans but once you’ve had Kulfi you’ll never really be satisfied with your beachside favorite again. India’s version of ice cream is creamy, dense and designed to melt slowly. Grab a cup, mango is one of the most popular flavors, and wander around historic Old Delhi, take in the Jama Masjid Mosque and shop at Chandni Chowk.

Girls having Faluda Kulfi
Girls having Faluda Kulfi

Visit: Kuremal Mahavir Prasad Kulfiwale, Giani

 

New Orleans, Louisiana 

The Crescent City is bursting with history, music and food. So much so, it could take a lifetime to try all of New Orleans’s delights. Bananas Foster was invented here, Antonine’s Baked Alaska is famous, but if you only indulge in one sweet during your trip make it the Sno-Balls. Don’t mistake their traditional dessert of summer as a snow cone.  Sno-balls, are made of shaved ice not crushed or ground, which New Orleanians believe makes the handmade syrup soak in better.

new orleans sno-ball
New Orleans Spearmint Sno Ball with condensed milk | Photo via Aromas on Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Visit: Hansen’s Sno-Bliz.

 

Rome, Italy

Multiple gelato shops on each block make Rome, one of the best cities for something cold and sweet. Denser and more intense than American ice cream you’ll find a gelato flavor for every type of sweet lover in the Italian capital. Stick to the traditional in a cup or opt for something more indulgent like a gelato panini, a warm brioche filled with gelato, or affogato—a shot of espresso poured over a scoop of vanilla gelato–additional shot of coffee liqueur optional, but recommended.

gelato
Case of various gelato flavors

Visit: Ciampini

 

New York, New York

Many turn their back on New York City during the summer choosing sand over sidewalk, but minimal crowds make the summer one of the best times to visit the city that never sleeps.  Especially if you’re a lover of frozen desserts. Want a Blueberry Macaron Ice Cream Sandwich? A Tangerine Granita? What about gelato or the Philippines’s halo-halo? In addition to homegrown ice cream boutiques where you can grab an old-school scoop or a classic sundae, NYC is home to shops serving the world’s hottest dessert trends.

Irish Coffee Milkshake Shot 3
Image courtesy of Vandal

Visit: Vandal, Stanton Social, Patisserie by Francois Payard

 

Bangkok, Thailand

For street food lovers Bangkok is paradise. Around every corner is a new vendor and the food is as unique as the city’s districts. In the green area you’ll find some of the oldest markets selling traditional Thai food while the Victory Monument area has a plethora of modern options. But one thing you’ll find almost everywhere is stir-fried ice cream. As you watch a vendor pours milk onto an ice gold grill, adding in flavors of your choice such as green tea, coffee, chocolate, and fruit and mixing it until rolls form at which point you can add more toppings.

thai woman holding ice cream

Visit: Any vendor selling it that has a line.

 

Paris, France

Much like New York, Paris empties in the summer and while there is never a bad time to visit the City of Light, in the summer you’ll find it a little calmer. It’s the ideal time to wander the streets, take in the sights while window shopping and sample the many many delicious sweets. There’s the ultimate profiterole, an ice cream sandwich with pastry and chocolate sauce, the classic cream puff and of course you can never go wrong with macaroons with ice cream centers.

profiteroles
Profiteroles | Photo via Edward Kimber on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Visit: Profiterole Chéri, Amorino