The absolute leader of cake and dessert shops has to be Sweet Lady Jane on Melrose Avenue. Perhaps ten differnt varieties of cheesecake daily and another thirty cakes out on display for generous slices to be dispensed, ranginf from Blueberry Pies and Lemon Meringue through flourless chocolate ganaches and pecan slices.

They sell massive cakes to the Hollywood LA upper crust throughout the week and then switch to wedding cakes Saturday. Hundreds if not thousands of cakes leave the shop weekly, it's a remarkable productivity from such a small shop plus the richness of what they create is hard to fathom. In fact I'm not sure that i've ever seen a cake shop that duplicates what they offer daily. Mornings go for the cinammon roll and danishes, try the raspberry cheesecake otherwise and their absolute highlight is the three berry cake, basically layers of yellow cake seperated by berries and cream. Extraordinary.

But be warned, service is casual to non-existent and it can be incredibly busy saturdays. Open late but not Sunday for coffee and cake and they do a lunch.

I gather its about to be busier; Food Network is putting them into the "Best of".

Get there before they become innudated.

I'll second this endorsement, AND I'll add another cake shop to this tier: Rosebuds on Robertson.

- Dan

They do that three berry cake as a wedding cake, as well. Unbelievable! Re: lunch--they only have about 6 tables and a word of warning..parking is practically impossible.

I'm hoping they are pie heaven, too, as I just picked up my Thanksgiving pies there. Pricey (each pie was about $25), but they look phenomenal. I can't wait to dig into these tomorrow.

Parking was not a problem, even though they were toally packed with holiday orders. There is a parking lot behind the store, and you can park in any spot marked "200."

I'll post my pie review tomorrow!

Try Extraordinary Desserts on 5th in San Diego for picture perfect cakes, etc.

Good coffee and many small tables to sit and enjoy!

Both pies were fantastic.

We had one pecan and one pumpkin. Each was just the right level of sweetness and had a wonderfully flaky crust.

Expensive, but I highly recommend them.

Two other wonderful cake shops in LA: Phoenix Bakery on North Broadway in Chinatown makes great cakes for parties, but the real winner in my book is Hansen's Cakes. They have a storefront/bakery on Fairfax just below Olympic, and a tasting room on South Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills. Some of their cakes are sinfully delicious.

Phoenix Bakery was the "official" birthday cake baker of my employer, when I worked in Mid-Wilshire. I always found the cakes attractive, but greasy tasting. Gave me the impression they used Crisco in the frosting.

Hansens though...... yummy.

RE: Phoenix Bakery... do the whip cream frosting and their cakes are great. It's the buttercream frosting that makes them seem greasy.