Big buttery brownie points for Leda’s Bakeshop, the tiny, impeccably charming, food-network-worthy gem of a bakeshop in Sherman Oaks. Let me give it to you straight: Best cupcake in LA. Period. They specialize in mini cupcakes of glorious flavor combinations fit for any baby shower, wedding, birthday or bite-sized binge. But don’t go there for the cupcakes. No, my chocolate-lusting friend, go there for the brownie. The thick, rich, fresh-cut, crunchy-edged wedge of just-baked brownie-brick heaven. Made with Scharffen Berger chocolate and baked from scratch everyday, that brownie saved the Valley from my ever-widening skepticism about LA’s bakery scene.
See, I grew up in Van Nuys, but my stomach grew up in Paris and San Francisco. So in a nutshell, I’m spoiled. I turn my nose at scones that sink, and scoff at soft croissants (you know, the kind that chew but don’t crack and flake all over the place like they should?). When it comes to brownies, I’ve been known to bake my own from a box, but if I’m out and about, if I’m paying $3 for it, please make it with more than some oil and a packet of brown powder. Word.
So when I first walked into Leda’s Bakeshop, I was thrilled. A “Give me everything”, press-my-face-against-the-glass and-make-out-with-it kind of thrill. The dainty counter pops with color, topped with rows of cake-stands brimming bright with fresh-baked muffins, scones, and blondies. Healthy bite-sized samples lay in piles neatly at the alter of each doughy delight, and a gleaming case of mini cupcakes adorns the right side of the store in a treasure-trove of pastel. Finally! A bakery in the valley that gets it! A bakery that lives up to the standards of foodie charm and quality that I am happy to say resides in Sherman Oaks. Not in SF, not over the hill, but here, where chains and charmless food abound.
(But is it a surprise, however, that the owner lived and studied in San Francisco before opening the shop 3 years ago? Ah! perhaps my foodie-sense is still correct! But I’ll take it.)
Leda’s Bakeshop is wedged between two big buildings, just west of Woodman on Ventura, set back and smiling like a golden, pale green pastry princess. They make everything I mentioned and more, fresh daily from scratch taking pains to make the fluffiest, moistest cupcakes in the city (twice sifted batter folks!) And I’m not even one of those ‘cupcake war’ people. I honestly don’t care, I’m a scone and brownie baby. But Leda’s Bakeshop MADE me care.
Topped with pure, flavor-infused butter cream and a dollop of handmade ganache or fruit curd (lemon, orange, or passion-fruit curd), these little cupcakes remind me of French-style chocolate truffles like Jacques Torres. They’re the chocolate truffle version of cupcakes: Homemade Dulce de Leche, Coconut Lime, Peanut Butter Chocolate, Espresso and Vegan Velvet being just a few of their creations.
Speaking of vegan, they have an AMAZING selection of scones, cookies, cupcakes and a brownie that almost rival their egg and butter counterparts. I have seen many a vegan and non-vegan customer bow-down to the quality of their selection, and sometimes, myself included, prefer the vegan version over the traditional. (Like the scones! Best vegan scones you’ll find anywhere, and they don’t used hydrogenated crap either.)
Their staff is knowledgeable and charming with owner/baker Ledette working alongside, talking to the ingredients and adopting cupcake children along the way. As a foodie, there’s nothing I trust more than people who personify food. Happily sampling new recipes, they make crunchy granola, biscotti and shortbread as well, and espresso drinks to boot. If you can’t get to Sherman Oaks, they also sell scones, and I think cookies, to The Gelato Bar in Studio City.
But really, I still insist, the brownie beats anything. It’s a soft, falling chunk of chocolate mountainside, the kind of delight you want to take home and make love to beside a roaring fire with a glass of cold milk, weeping. So prime your tissues and tend the tinder-box, the Valley finally delivers a bakery fit for a foodie.
Leda’s Bakeshop
13722 Ventura Blvd
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
(818) 386-9644
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