Princess Cake Los Angeles?

[Pei]

When I lived in SF, a group of 'hounds held a princess cake tasting and their efforts resulted in a fantastic list of bakeries that specialize in princess cake. Are there enough princess cake bakers in LA for us to do the same? So far I know of these places:

Viktor Benes' (Century City)
Sweet Lady Jane (West LA)
Berolina (Glendale)

Where do you get your favorite princess cake?

[mfhacker]

Thee's Continental Pastries in the original Farmer's Market (3rd and Fairfax) - hands down the best Princess cake in LA - the baker used to be an assistant to the real Victor Benes and Victor gave him his recipes when he left to open Thee's - also fantastic butter cookies, old fashioned hamburger buns, Hollywood bars and other things

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Thee's Continental Pastries
6333 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90036

[jenn]

When we lived in LA we always got our Princess Torte [a birthday essential] at the Thees Continental Bakery at the Farmer's market. Tried the Victor Benes one once but was not impressed. Like Berolina for many things but its a bit of a schelp.
Wouldn't waste taste buds on SLJ.

IKEA cake is actually not bad in a pinch.

[ciaolette]

Princess Cake may be special ordered from Hygge Bakery. Also, not special order, so you could try first, they have a pastry called a "Goose breast" which is essentially the same as Princess cake.

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Hygge Bakery
1106 S Hope St, Los Angeles, CA 90015

[tkkordic]

I live in San Pedro and I miss that bakery so much (my uncle lived right behind it). I have looked and looked for a comparable princess cake and have found none in LA really. Though, these places are OK too: Torrance Bakery probably does the best one... believe it or not, the one from IKEA is pretty good. the Alcove Cafe in Los Feliz is descent. I have probably tasted about a dozen or so and the rest are not worth mentioning. The worst was at Alpine village. I have to say I am really lucky, b/c a good friend of mine has a grandmother who was very good friends with the women who owned the baker in San Pedro and taught her how to make the princess cake, so I get one from her for my birthday every year (though I have not gotten the recipe YET). Yuuummmmm. Quick Fact: all the materials (including training time) from Bakery were sold to Jacaranda gourmet store in San Pedro/Rancho Palos Verdes when they closed down. You can order the cake to made for you from them (kinda pricey but still good). They do not have them for sale everyday.

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Torrance Bakery
1341 El Prado Ave, Torrance, CA 90501

[Yumalish]

Viktor Benes is soooo bad. Just tried it over the weekend. Their version of a Princess Cake is joke. Everything was too sweet and the whipped cream was lumpy. I wish - oh - I wish this one Norwegian Bakery was still open in San Pedro. Alas, No. They had THE BEST! Light white cake, perfect whipped cream, raspberry jam and white marzipan on top. The Sweetest part of the cake should come from the marzipan.. not from any of the other parts. Otherwise it's too cloying. Will have to check out Berolina as others have recommended.

[bulavinaka]

Just curious - which VB did you purchase your Princess Torta from? We occasionally get these from the MdR store but it's been a couple of years... TIA.

[Cinnamon]

Just had some Princess Cake from one of the Gelson's (Viktor Benes) bakeries - amazing! Great!

[bulavinaka]

I concur but according to Das Ubergeek and WildSwede (both come with Swedish credentials), Berolina in Glendale is the top of the bunch when it comes to Princess Cakes. I'm going there the next time the occasion calls for one of these beauties... If you beat me there, please give us an update!

[katkoupai]

I went to Berolina this morning to get a coffee and a pastry, but unfortunately, they are closed on Sundays. Schreiner's deli (next door) was also closed. There was, however, an interesting market going on nearby, called the Montrose Market, I believe.

[bulavinaka]

Hey Kat, it's good to know that I'm not the only one getting shut out at places that I visit on Sundays and occasional Mondays as well... hope that Montrose Market made up for your trip...

[katkoupai]

It was okay. I got to take a scenic freeway tour of Glendale and Pasadena. I actually only drove by the Market, and I did not bother to stop and find parking. I never got my pastry and just had something to eat at home. Come to think of it, I think my current pastry and cappuccino craving is actually the one that I never sated this morning. :)

[rswenson]

I actually like the Princess cake you can buy from IKEA frozen. Thaw it out and seriously you would be surprised.

[sll]

Hmm - I've only had the P. Cake by-the-slice from Berolina once, the other 4 or 5 times I've had it, it was a whole cake made to order. I do remember being less than thrilled with the slice, but I love, love, love that cake when it's fresh... can you come up with a good excuse to order a couple of whole cakes from your top contenders?

[George]

B&L ROCKS.

[Jerome]

Just for info- B&L (which it feels like I"m always touting) also makes it. 3rd near San Vicente.
Does Berolina make the swedish sandwich cakes?

[WildSwede]

Hi Jerome, what are Swedish sandwich cakes?

[Das Ubergeek]

I think he means smörgåstårtar.

[Jerome]

uh...
sure.
They are savory cake shaped confections - instead of butter cream or ganache, the frosting will be mustard/mayonnaise piped through a pastry bag. Layers of bread mask cold cuts, spreads herring, egg salad, etc.
and...
here's a picture at the wikipedia article on the subject
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sm%C3%B6...

for what it's worth, there used to be a place in Orange County, The Swedish Sandwich Cake Shop that made them.

[Das Ubergeek]

I've never heard them called "sandwich cakes", though it's an apt description -- we just call it smörgåstårta (plural, smörgåstårtar). They're tasty but we Danes cut them into triangles before serving.

[WildSwede]

yes smörgår = sandwich; tårta = cake. However, I have never seen them at Berolina.

[Das Ubergeek]

Nor have I.

[berolinagirl]

Yes! they do make swedish sandwich cakes. The owners are Belgian and Swedish. We dont usually put them in the case but will make them special order.

[Das Ubergeek]

How far in advance do you need to know? My Swedish mother-in-law (who sends me up there every time she feels the need to let loose and limpa a little) would probably love them.

[berolinagirl]

im not sure, the orders don't come in all the time, i'd guess five days to a week in advance because only the owner makes them

[Das Ubergeek]

I love the prinsesstårta from Berolina.

[gnarlex]

I like many Viktor Benes items, but their Princess Cake pales in comparison to Berolina's. Maybe it's that P.cake is Swedish, so Berolina's does it better than Benes, which excels at Austro-Hungarian style sweets.

[WildSwede]

Alas, the place that did it the best has been gone for many, many years - Kristiansen's Delicatessen in San Pedro. Damn I loved that store!!

[Amuse Bouches]

There's also Thee's in the Farmer's Market.

And Ikea.

[jenn]

Ikea, so-so but Thees gets two thumbs up from the swedes in the family.

We have found that victor benes varies wildly depending on which place you buy from. Several were just too sweet without any flavor other than sugar. We've had good, we've had lame, now we just stick with Thees.

[Diana]

I had a Vicor benes princess cake from Gelson's for my engagement/brithday party. They used whiote chocolate fondant insetad of marzipan, because of my allergy to nuts. It was REALLY good.

[The Oracle]

a HUGE second to the Gelson's rec.

[dotrat]

What exactly is princess cake? I am very intrigued.....

[LT from LF]

Here's a fairly accurate description: http://tinyurl.com/yq4beo

I did a similar taste test in NoCal when I was last there.

[Bob Brooks]

Bailey's Bakery in Beverly Hills does one.

[WildSwede]

Berolina is my fave, but I believe that Federico's on Colorado in Pasadena does it also.

[ruddy]

Yes, Federico's does make a very nice princess cake. We served one once for our little princess' birthday.

[Jwsel]

You have Victor Benes, but it's not only in Century City. Benes has bakeries at a lot of Gelsons, including Encino, Sherman Oaks, and North Hollywood. Each has the Princess Cake.

[katkoupai]

Yup, the Gelson's in Pasadena at the Paseo Colorado has Viktor Benes bakery goods too. I assume they are at every Gelson's, but I may be wrong.

I had their princess cake once. It was a gift, actually, and I was scared of it, because of the smooth covering (marzipan?) on the cake. I thought it might be gross.

I was actually pleasantly surprised with the taste, texture and freshness of it in the end (from the marzipan to the cake to the filling). My friends also liked it, and there were no leftovers.

[George]

Sweet Lady Jane, WeHo (Melrose) -- whoops you already have that one. Sorry. (edit)