I want to tell you about my recent visit to a magical place called Sweet Lady Jane.
Now, I first made note of Sweet Lady Jane several years ago, when I saw it featured in a glossy celebrity magazine as the maker of a famous person's wedding cake (I forget who; the cake was what made an impression).
And so when I recently found myself in Los Angeles for the Emmys with Duncan Hines, I made sure to check out this delicious spot in Beverly Hills with a buddy.
Sweetly decorated inside, the bakery cases present some serious eye candy: mile-high meringues, decadent cookies, gorgeous pastries, and—most importantly—cakes. Cakes, cakes, cakes. Of all sorts and sizes, from red velvet cupcakes to chocolate decadence cake to Princess Torte and more. Like, whoa.
Our Spy Selections? Chocolate decadence cake, walnut caramel tart, Red Velvet cupcake, and a sea salt brownie.
My main treat was the Red Velvet cupcake. If I could have hooked myself up to an IV to quicker receive the cream cheese frosting from the Red Velvet cupcake I would—it was my ideal type of frosting, sweet but not saccharine, and lightly tangy from the cream cheese. The cake was flavorful. The cake was good. The cake was great. But I am going to tell you the truth in that for me, it was a vehicle for that frosting.
My next favorite was the tart, which had a nice, creamy filling and delightfully thick caramel finish on top of a shortbready crust.
The chocolate decadence was for chocolate die-hards only, unapologetically chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, and weighing roughly the same as a human baby (and not necessarily a newborn).
I didn't taste the brownie, but was assured that it had a nicely balanced flavor, with the salt providing a flavor contrast and rounding out the chocolatiness of the treat.
Basically, what I am saying here is that if you are in Los Angeles and don't go to Sweet Lady Jane, you are making a grave mistake.