There's still time to get some shopping done for Hanukkah and Christmas and whatever else occasion is on the horizon, and if you have a food lover on your list and want to get them something "so L.A." we have put together a few gift ideas we think they would love. more ›

Artisanal LA is back in full force this weekend, with a new sea-side location on the Dining Deck of Santa Monica Place, and a mix of new and returning vendors to a fun recurring shopping, tasting, and learning event focused on local and sustainable eating, drinking, and growing. Thanks to a sneak peak last night at the venue, we've got a few picks for some must-sees and tries when you hit up the event today or tomorrow. more ›

If you've got a relative or co-worker whose home-baked holiday goodies take the cake at every gathering, there's no need to be green with envy--or food coloring--any longer. Sweeten up your December Saturdays with classes at Bakelab, and learn how to decorate cupcakes, or make fun holiday treats. more ›

After months of anticipation (and some revelatory chatter about the business of parking) New York's Magnolia Bakery is ready to open its doors today here in Los Angeles. more ›

They eat, they write, we read. But when it comes to raising money for a great cause, local food bloggers, writers, and even some professional chefs, are getting in the kitchen to make goodies themselves. Eat My Blog is a bi-annual bakesale organized by Cathy Danh of Gastronomy blog, with the help of some of the city's most beloved bloggers, foodies, and food pros; this Saturday at Tender Greens in West Hollywood marks its second occasion. more ›

When it comes to Laker pride, L.A. hopes we don't have to eat our words. But we can eat our Laker pride...in the form of cupcakes, that is. Crumbs is offering special Lakers cupcakes in their local Bake Shops from now until the end of the NBA finals. Get your dose of Purple and Gold while indulging your sweet tooth. Each signature-size cupcake is $4. Crumbs' cupcakes are pretty big, so a Lakers cupcake is definitely something you could share. But that NBA champ title? Heck no will we share that with Boston! Crumbs has locations in Beverly Hills, Glendale, Malibu, and on Larchmont. more ›

L.A.'s best cupcake shop--that's just, like, an opinion, man--recently introduced a line of cupcake mixes so you can rock out at home and impress your friends. The $13 mixes make 18 cupcakes and include the mix, liners, frosting and any toppings if necessary (like pink sugar crystals for the vanilla flavor). The flavors offered--Red Velvet, Strawberry, Vanilla, Chocolate, Black Tie (dark chocolate), pumpkin and others--are basically the same as what you can buy already-made at Famous Cupcake's Valley Village and Beverly Hills locations. more ›

As soon as the Valentine's Candy went into the 50% off bin, the aisles of your local grocery and drug stores were stocked with colorful bags and boxes of egg and bunny shaped chocolates and candy, as has become the commercialized standard for the upcoming Easter holiday. more ›

Hot off the virtual press and soon to be hot out of the oven, Babycakes NYC, a bakery specializing in "Vegan, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Agave-Sweetened, Kosher" goods is opening their Los Angeles shop tomorrow. Here's the Twittered proclamation: "OK, LA! We are opening tomorrow! We will see you from 10a-8p at 130 East 6th Street." [map] On their menu posted online: Cupcakes and Cakes (Vanilla, Chocolate, Carrot, Red Velvet); Loaves (such as Gingerbread, Pumpkin, Lemon Poppy); Cookies; Muffins; Macaroons; Brownies; Biscuits; Scones and more. more ›

California health officials today are warning of high levels of lead in Chen PiMei Candy imported from China by a Rosemead-base company. "Recent analysis of this candy by CDPH determined that Chen PiMei Candy contained as much as 0.14 parts per million (ppm) of lead," explained the state's public health department in an e-mail notice. "California considers candies with lead levels in excess of 0.10 ppm to be contaminated." They say lead is especially harmful to infants, young children and developing fetuses. "Anyone in possession of the candy should discard it immediately." more ›

Although it soft opened last month, Sweet Surrender Cupcake and Candy Shop in Las Vegas' Palazzo officially announced its opening today, on National Cupcake Day, of course. Besides the more pedestrian cupcake flavors like red velvet, lemon strawberry and chocolate ganache, the superstar sweet treat is the "Decadence D’Or." Retail price: $750.00. more ›

Personally, Famous Cupcakes from Valley Village (now in Beverly Hills, too) takes the cake when it comes to best cupcakes in Los Angeles. It's not about buzz or the crazy themed flavors, it's the cake part. Everyone can do frosting, but the true test is the cake part. Is it moist? Full of flavor? Could you eat it without the frosting? That's just me, though. more ›

LA's a-glut with foodbloggers, and many of them will put their fingers to work in their kitchens, not their keyboards, next Saturday to take part in the first ever Blogger Bake Sale. The event, dubbed "Eat My Blog," happens on December 5th at the WeHo location of Zeke's Smokehouse [LAist Review], and was put together by Gastronomy Blog's Cathy Danh. more ›

It's just about Halloween, so why not have a four-day fall open house with different free samples each day? That's what Valerie Confections on West 1st Street (Beverly/Virgil) is doing, starting with their famous version of Coffee Crunch Cake from Blum's Bakery today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. They'll also be sampling Blum’s Lemon Crunch Cake. The full schedule of treats can be found here. more ›

Yesterday not only marked the last day of September, but also the last event at a vegan festival (of sorts) called 30 Days of Celebrating Being Vegan. Bakers and those with a sweet tooth gathered at 2 Headed Horse Production/Art Studio on Glendale Boulevard for the event last night, which benefited Compassion Over Killing. more ›

For Emily Zaiden, her popsicle business started with how all delicious things should begin: with an undaunting passion for the food she loves, in this case, desserts. "I've always been a frozen dessert fanatic," the Echo Park resident, Laurel Canyon native, explained over the phone from her company kitchen. "In elementary school for the inventions convention, I invented an ice cream flavor," she said with a laugh. more ›

Think a churro is just something you buy off a cart at a festival or theme park? The folks at Xooro invite you to think again. With one store open in Santa Monica, and a second area location poised to open in Hollywood next week, Xooro offers an impressive selection of "Spanish Fritters" in cylindrical form in many enticing flavor combinations. more ›

Although her weight gain and amazing loss has been grabbing tabloid headlines as of late, the real news about Melissa Joan Hart is her new sweets shop that just celebrated its grand opening on Saturday in Sherman Oaks. Meet Sweetharts, a whimsically decorated frozen yogurt, gelato, cake, cupcake, hard and soft candy store. more ›

Rejoice! The Valley will soon have a dedicated vegan ice cream shop. Spotted on Cahuenga Blvd. at Regal Place, Nice Cream is a few storefronts down from recent vegan newcomer, SunPower Natural Cafe, which is from local veteran Chef Rawsheed. more ›

Fans of cupcakes, rejoice! Next Sunday, you can bask in the glory of your favorite baked goodies as many of Los Angeles' top cupcake-makers gather at the Nesquik Cupcake Challenge. more ›

Like most places, sales have been sluggish at Cold Stone storefronts across the nation in the current economy. Loyal customers who visit the store 2.3 times a month on average are coming in less. And although they have closed 100 stores, they are opening new ones and are now adding new items to hopefully boost sales. more ›

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Leave it to our friends to the north of us in San Francisco to come up with a confection that might leave some of you gobsmacked, and the rest of you drooling. If your life revolves around all things bacon, you might have to put your order in for Lollyphile's Maple-Bacon lollipop. They say:

While we admit that it's pretty far from the norm (it's definitely not kosher!), once you make that initial leap of faith and try it out, we're positive that you'll love it. The salty chunks of bacon make a delicious and unique counterpoint to the subtle sweetness of the maple, and oh, yeah- you'll be eating an oh-my-god bacon lollipop!

Can't be hassled with slaving over an oven to make treats for all those holiday parties you're gonna hit up? L.A. has many wonderful dessert shops to save the day. Take your pick. Will it be cute peppermint cupcakes, a personalized gingerbread house or how's about a Yule log cake? more ›

With the holiday season right around the corner, it's time to start thinking about gatherings, celebrations, indulgences, and treats. Of course, sometimes we get in a holiday rut; the same old-same old cookies, cupcakes, and pies. LAist recently got tuned into a truly delicious alternative, the Los Angeles based Sweet Square, who make really scrumptious squares and bars available by order. We were lucky to sample some of their four-cornered fare, including the Oatmeal Fruit Squares, the S'mores, their fudgy Brownie, and, our favorite of the bunch, the Peanut Butter and Jelly. more ›

Let's face it. Ever since Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills first filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Famous Cupcakes in Valley Village over the use of a modern circle, people had to give the competitor a try. What happened? Business went up for the Valley Village storefront, according to employees, as many cupcake fans discovered they liked Famous better (us included). more ›

There have been bake sales and Dem versus Rep chocolates, and now Echo Park's Delilah Bakery is putting the frosting on the upcoming election, so to speak, with her free mini-cupcakes in patriotic red-white-and-blue. Head over this weekend to get a bite for yourself! more ›

Next week's election presents a tough choice for some, although others have known for sometime which option is more suited to their taste. Here the dilemma gets a sweeter treatment, in the form of McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden chocolates for your choosing, as caught by LAist Featured Photos contributor C-Monster. These confection candidates were found in Laguna Niguel at Downey's Chocolates--we don't know which one is more delicious, but we did get to sample their nonpartisan--but artisan--chocolates a few weeks ago at the Luxury Chocolate Salon. more ›

Are you so over cupcakes? Too sweet for you? You may want to give bundt cakes a try. Stop laughing. We tried them at the newish bakery, Kiss My Bundt, in Midcity and were pleasantly surprised because 1) they are available in teeny tiny cupcake-size bundts rather than not-so-cute bundt cake slices, 2) they aren't uber sweet, making them a perfect coffee complement and 3) the small bundts are pleasantly cheaper than most cupcakes out there. more ›

On Sunday, there was a big community Bake for Barack event in Silver Lake. Their goal? $10,000. We're not sure if they made it, but the goods sure do look good (thanks to Tom Andrews for taking these photos). In fact, we wish we had some of those Cupcakes for Change as we watch (and hack) tonight's Presidential Debate. more ›