Food debate: cake

Ever have a food debate? A group of friends and I had one recently.  The topic: cake. 

Fittingly, it started over dessert -- a birthday cake -- with an offhand comment from my friend Miranda:

"My favorite cake is coconut.  Soon after we started dating, [my boyfriend] Rod and I were walking past these cakes at a store. I spotted an amazing coconut cake, turned to him and said, 'I could stick my face in that for an hour and not come up for air.' "

Then someone else chimed in with their favorite cake: devil's food.  Half a second later forks were flying as the cake debate ensued: Which cake rules, and which L.A. bakery reigns supreme?

For Miranda, the best cake bakery was a no-brainer:

Cake and Art in West Hollywood, best known for its themed cakes (check out its website; apparently Lindsay Lohan likes it too -- she had a Marilyn Monroe cake for her 22nd birthday).

For the chocaholics in the group, the choice of bakery was unanimous: Sweet Lady Jane, also in West Hollywood. But with the variety of cakes available there, it was tough to decide on a favorite; ultimately it was a draw between the Chocolate Blackout Fudge and the Chocolate Old Fashioned.  Hmmm ... tough choices....

For me nothing compares to cheesecake.  Simple, good old-fashioned cheesecake -- light but rich, with a classic graham-cracker crust.  Fruit toppings are heretical.  Locally, I'll take Susina Bakery.  But if I have to satisfy the last-minute fix, Trader Joe's will work in a pinch.

As for that birthday cake that sparked the debate, it was the fresh strawberry whipped-cream cake from Phoenix Bakery in downtown L.A.  My friend Ron says it's the only birthday cake he'll allow since moving here from Washington state several years ago. It's the best. Really.

-- Noelle Carter

Photo credit: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times, and Noelle Carter