Chocolate fix, chocolate cake?

[rednyellow]

I'm looking for a new chocolate fix. I have chocolate cravings that I'm having trouble conquering. I don't really want a chocolate bar. That I can fine easy enough. Maybe cake? I don't want a brownie.
Ideally a rich, moist, but not too dense cake with a deep dark shiny frosting might do the trick, but I'm also very open to a new idea. I've searched past postings and nothing really jumped out.
Any suggestions? Fairfax, Weho area prefered but can travel for the good stuff. Tanks Doilinks.

[claviclexoxo]

Hey. There is a Godiva chocolate brownie sundae at the cheesecake factory. i'm sure you could order it without the sundae part. It is so incrediable decadent! it tastes like there is no flour used. it doesn't even taste like cake OR brownie. it is such a rich chocolate, almost like chocolate itself, but you can mildly tell the difference between the two. Anywho, i would suggest this. DEE-LISH !!

[namstermonster]

to name a few: chocolate bread pudding @ josie, double chocolate chip cookie or black&white cake @ la provence, brownie @ godiva, truffettes de france @ costco :) the last one is quite the surprisingly AWESOMEEEE revelation~

[RSMBob]

If you are willing to enjoy a great chocolate dessert at home, I highly recommend getting the Trader Joe's mini Bundt cakes (4-pack). These are chocolatey goodness, and warmed up with a scoop of ice cream is one of the easiest and tastiest desserts around.

[Emme]

speaking of TJ's, try the Molten Lava Cakes in their freezer... they hit the spot for the right price...

[westsidegal]

if you are going to be going to trader joe's buy a bag of their semisweet chocolate chips.
then take said chips and, in a toaster oven set to 'broil', melt said chips on anything that comes to mind.
even if you melted those chips over a piece of cardboard, it would still taste good.

my daughter's favorite snack is to slather a piece of toast with santa cruz brand of dark-roasted peanut butter and then melt a ton of the trader joe's semi-sweet chocolate chips over the whole thing. . . ..

[choctastic]

I know this is an old thread but TJ's chocolate ganache cake is killer too.

[AquaW]

Susina's has an amazing individual-size molten chocolate cake!

MILK has some good chocolatey edibles (and potables) too!

If you don't mind restaurant-ing "just for desserts" (I sure don't) Hatfield's, Grace and Campanile should have some promising chocolatey sweets.

~H.C.
http://la-oc-foodie.blogspot.com

[rednyellow]

I just had a really good chocolate thing from Whole Foods. It is called Belgium Chocolate Mouse Cake. I'm not sure why it's called a cake. its more of a dense creamy moose on top of a gram cracker-ish crust round disc. the whole thing is a small cylinder about 3" in diameter and 3" tall. It's wrapped with a strip of clear plastic to help it hold its shape and cost $4.89. Really chocolaty, really good. a fork full in the mouth is full blast chocolate. I'll try their german chocolate cake later.

[maxzook]

Upthread someone mentioned Junior's. I have found that good delis (and even some mediocre ones) tend to have good chocolate cake, less heavy and dense than the flourless concoctions.

I can recommend the chocolate cakes at Art's in Studio City, Brent's in Northridge, Jerry's Famous and yes, even Canter's (although it's been a while since I've had the latter). Never had it at Langer's ... would it be possible to have chocolate cake for dessert after one of their pastrami sandwiches?

And then there's Porto's in Burbank or Glendale ... my favorite cakes (chocolate or otherwise) in L.A.

[Francesca]

Maxzook, you've made some very good suggestions. The cakes at Brent's look amazing.

Chocolate cake after a pastrami sandwich? Not so sure :)

[Jwsel]

I believe the Jerry's/Solley's chocolate cake is made by Cheesecake Factory. That is a dense multi-layered cake used in, among other things, the Cheesecake Factory Mud Pie.

At Roy's downtown, I had their molten chocolate souffle and it was excellent. I'm not usually that big a fan of "molten" cakes, but I really liked this one.

The chocolate souffle at Morton's is also great. Not too sweet, but it has a wonderful chocolate flavor.

Someone mentioned Viktor Benes, the bakery at Gelsons. I second the recommendation for the Chocolate Parisian cake, but also recommend the Chocolate Truffle and flourless chocolate cake (and I usually find flourless chocolate cakes too dense).

Finally, Bea's Bakery in Tarzana has an incredibly moist chocolate layered cake with what I can only describe as chocolate pudding between the layers. That's the cake I always got for my birthday as a child, and when I had it for the first time in decades, it still tasted as great as I remember.

[Emme]

speaking of flourless chocolate cakes, Whole Foods actually makes deep dark chocolatey flourless chocolate individual sized cakes that aren't cakey inside so much as they are fudgy, but really decadent and sleek.

[choctastic]

Actually Pavillions has a decent chocolate fudge cake with a chocolatey frosting. At least the Pavillions on Melrose and Brea.

[Emme]

i don't know which one you speak, but there's one called something like Mile-High Layer Cake or Ten Layer cake or something to that effect... the filling and top frosting are awesome, and the cake is ridiculously moist... sigh, i miss it.

Actually that Pavilion's also sells the great Tres Leches cake by the slice.

[choctastic]

Oh yes, the Tres Leches cake here is reeeeallly good. And i'm lactose intolerant, yet I'll brave it once in a long while.

There is the chocolate fudge cake, one layer with shiny fudge frosting. Very sweet and hits the spot with a glass of (soy in my case) milk. I love that mile high one too, but haven't had it as much.

[Emme]

*sigh* how i miss gluten and dairy.

[megs8]

The Chocolate Bunt Cake at the Alcove.

Just had it on Saturday night and it didn't let me down. I usually don't really enjoy cakes and tend to lean towards the more dense side of chocolate, but this cake is actually what cake should be...fantastic.

-----
Alcove Cafe & Bakery
1929 Hillhurst Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027

[uhockey]

Chocolate Souffle at CUT........good god. :-)

[uhockey]

Pics of the Souffle attached:

[Mel Gee]

I haven't had a delicious chocolate cake since I was knee-high to a stirring spoon -- all that flourless, chi-chi stuff is junk on the edge of the tongue. But, if you're interested in something other than cake, you can find serious chocolate candies at Mignon in Glendale. (I haven't tried their other stores.) Stay away from that dreadful espresso, however.

They also might be able to point you in the direction of the cake you seek. I sometimes get very good recommendations from stores for related products that they don't carry themselves.

-----
Mignon Chocolate
315 N Verdugo Rd, Glendale, CA

[ipsedixit]

Choclate Gelato at Bulgarini. http://www.bulgarinigelato.com/

Chocolate milkshake at Milk. http://www.themilkshop.com/index.html

[woofer]

not really a fan of junior's in westwood but their cake slices are defintely chocolatey and ample.

[Emme]

for mini slices, you might consider viktor benes' - the chocolate parisian

hungry cat's chocolate bread pudding

susina's devil's food cake

bistro garden (tho it's studio city) for their chocolate souffle

another option would be to go to the Griddle

get a chocolate cake at Amandine

I'm sure I'll get flogged for this but Linda's Fabulous Fudge Cake at the Cheesecake Factory...just hold the whipped cream...

[rednyellow]

I remember the chocolate souffle at Bistro Garden when I lived in the area, that was delish. I'll have to try some of your other suggestions.

[Francesca]

I agree w/a213b: either a store bought cake mix and frosting or a simple recipe for cake and frosting might be your best and quickest solution. Some of the recipes here on Chowhound are really great and I'm certain that they have recipes for both. All the recipes I've tried from Chowhound have been great. Let us know how you end up.

[a213b]

I have to say, why not just make one? Not trying to be a smartass, just saying you'll get a better product than 99% of the places out there, and you'll probably have it sooner to boot.

[rednyellow]

I will eat an entire cake in about half a day if I make one. If I go out for a cake or pastry, I'll have a slice maybe two, maybe even three, but it will also be something fun to do.

[Francesca]

Well, you can always give half the cake away and make someone happy...so you don't eat it the whole thing. But, I see your point about getting out for a slice. I know P.F. Changs had a great (but large) slice of rich chocolate cake called the "chocolate wall" - moist, rich with lots of good chocolate frosting. I had the rest of it the next morning w/my coffee - wow. The chocolate frosting you are looking for seems more like a ganache? Make a day of it and check out all the bakeries listed on Chowhound - you will find something. Let us know!

[goodhealthgourmet]

the flourless chocolate cake at Urth gets raves.

[rednyellow]

I walked down to Urth, seen the place dozens of times but never stepped in. I tried the flourless chocolate cake. It was truly AWFUL. I'm sure it was made with organic, sustainably, biodiamically grown stuff, but wow, what a terrible cake. The top had some nice big curls of chocolate and the top center was kind of gooey and ok, but as a whole it had the mouth feel of a kitchen sponge dregged in chalk dust and nearly no chocolate flavor.

[goodhealthgourmet]

oy, i hope you didn't go based on my one measly comment. if you did, i'm sorry! i said it *gets* raves, but i've never actually had it myself - i figured you'd do a little more research before trying it. but at least you can cross that one off the list ;)

[rednyellow]

Dont be sorry, Thanks for the input. I walked over and gave it a try. no harm at all. It just happened to suck.