L.A. Times Concierge: 'Where can I buy the best celebration cake for a dear friend?'

Where are the champion bakeries to bargain solemnisation cakes? I privation to get a barroom for 1 of my assemblage friends — we’ve been friends for 40 years — who is retiring from teaching kindergarten. I’m having a tiny brunch enactment for her astatine a edifice successful Long Beach. It’d beryllium large if the bakery is successful Pasadena oregon connected the East Side, but I volition question for awesome cake! She loves cocoa and espresso martinis. — Roberta Tragarz

Looking for things to bash successful L.A.? Ask america your questions and our adept guides volition stock highly circumstantial recommendations.

Here’s what we suggest:

Roberta, I deliberation it’s truthful saccharine that you are throwing a status enactment for your longtime friend. In my opinion, nary solemnisation is implicit without a bully barroom and I, too, volition thrust conscionable astir anyplace for 1 that I deliberation the recipient would love. Here are immoderate bakeshops that mightiness conscionable person “the one.”

With Pasadena being convenient for you, you’re successful luck. Times edifice professional Jenn Harris calls the metropolis a “pastry and dessert destination.” She writes astir six stellar caller bakeries that person opened wrong a one-mile radius, including Salted Butter Company, which offers a gorgeous circular barroom topped with seasonal florals, and Sweet Red Peach, which tin make conscionable astir immoderate customized barroom you tin imagination up.

Given that your person loves chocolate, see buying a barroom from Proof Bakery successful Atwater Village. The worker-owned cooperative store utilized to merchantability a cocoa espresso cake, which would’ve been cleanable due to the fact that your person loves espresso martinis. However, they swapped it retired for a cocoa blueberry barroom with cocoa mascarpone mousse and blueberry compote. Thankfully, it looks conscionable arsenic delicious. And you tin inactive marque Proof’s cocoa espresso barroom astatine home.

No L.A. bakeshop has been recommended to maine much than SusieCakes. With aggregate locations dispersed crossed the region including 1 successful Pasadena, the classical bakery makes an array of delightful desserts: old-fashioned cocoa cakes, flourless cocoa cakes, rainbow sprinkle cakes and adjacent a barroom formation truthful you tin effort each of their signature slices. Former Times nutrient exertion Amy Scattergood wrote astir SusieCakes, “You tin prime the spirit of barroom and colour of buttercream frosting, get worldly written connected top, adjacent bid a beauteous awesome Barbie barroom (they supply the doll; the barroom is the dome of her monolithic skirt).” A “Teacher Barbie” that looks similar your person would beryllium adorable.

Now, this isn’t a accepted barroom but perceive maine out. My bully person Tori Johnson had a cinnamon rotation barroom astatine her caller day enactment and I haven’t been capable to halt reasoning astir it since. It was gooey, brushed and slathered successful a classical tangy pick food frosting. Her fellow got it from BadAsh Bakes, the viral bakery based successful Pasadena champion known for its cinnamon rolls, cookies, brownies and furniture cakes. You tin preorder the cinnamon rotation cake, which comes successful a classic, reddish velvet oregon matcha flavor.

For an eye-catching, avant-garde barroom that you won’t find astatine a accepted bakery oregon market store, see ordering a customized dessert from Celeste Perkins, the L.A.-born baker who makes “cakes with large personalities, for big personalities,” arsenic Times contributor Tasbeeh Herwees writes successful Image. Perkins, who works retired of her location kitchen, got her commencement baking cakes for friends and has since made them for an array of personage clients including Tunde Adebimpe (frontman for the set TV connected the Radio), Japanese American vocalist Mitski and British vocalist Suki Waterhouse. Not lone are the cakes yummy, they are photo-worthy.

Now for immoderate rapid-fire picks crossed L.A.: My workfellow Jason Lew recommends Phoenix Bakery successful Chinatown, specifically the strawberry barroom with sliced almonds. Times Features newsman Lisa Boone besides suggests Valerie Confections successful Glendale. “I’ve ordered barroom from Valerie respective times for antithetic occasions and they’re ever truly special, beauteous and truthful good,” she says. Her favourite is the fallen effect cake, but the bakery besides sells a flourless cocoa almond barroom and German cocoa cake. There’s besides République, the French-inspired bakery and cafe known for its salted caramel cocoa cake. Finally, you tin ne'er spell incorrect with Porto’s, which sells an array of cakes including cocoa raspberry, Parisian chocolate, mango mousse, strawberry cheesecake and more.

Retiring is specified a large deal, truthful I emotion to perceive that you are celebrating it arsenic such. I anticipation that these recommendations assistance you find the cleanable barroom for your friend. Be definite to nonstop america a photograph of the 1 that you choose. Have a fantastic time!