Jambon beurre sandwich

In France, on a road trip, lunch is usually jambon beurre (literally, "ham butter"), a crusty baguette spread with good sweet butter with some thinly sliced pink ham laid between the two halves. If you find a great example -- made with excellent bread, quality ham and good butter -- there's no better travel companion.

Americans sometimes have a hard time wrapping their heads around the idea. What, no tomato? No lettuce? No mustard? Non. Its beauty is in its simplicity. Admittedly, it's a long way away from the sub or hero sandwich, but I love it.

Lately, I've been making a pit stop at Cookbook in Echo Park for baguettes (some of the best in town). One Sunday I got there early (it opens at 8 a.m.), and the woman behind the counter was making up what looked very like a jambon beurre. "Yes, it is," she said. But made on the most slender ficelle (super-skinny baguette).

On Monday, I picked up a sandwich for lunch. The ficelle is wonderful, slathered with sweet butter and enclosing a single slice of prosciutto. Perfect if you're headed for a hike in Elysian Park. 

It didn't get that far. I ate it in my car.

Cookbook, 1549 Echo Park Ave, Los Angeles; (213) 250-1900; www.cookbookla.com. Jambon beurre sandwich, $5.

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Trails Cafe: Grab a bite after your hike

July marks the six-year anniversary of Trails Cafe, a favorite stop for Griffith Park regulars and out-of-town visitors alike. The cafe's ultra-small setting can be a baker's challenge, but this before- or after-hike stop still manages to pull off an efficiently run production. Its baked goods are made in house, from scratch daily. Scones, quiches, galettes, pies and cookies, with daily changing flavors, are on display in the cafe's windows for the indecisive to "ohh" and "ahh" at while waiting in line to order. Stumptown Coffee is a recent addition to the menu, and as of late, weekend specials include homemade ice cream. There are vegan options too. 2333 Fern Dell Drive, L.A., (323) 871-2102, thetrailslosfeliz.com.

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Photo: Trails Cafe sign. Credit: Michelle Youssefzadeh

Paper or Plastik Cafe: More than just a cup of joe

The coffee condiments sit atop an old Deluxe television set amid the cafe's industrial setting with high ceilings, copper fixtures and a glass-paneled storefront. A joint venture between Anya and Yasha Michelson, along with daughter Marina, Paper or Plastik Cafe is a neighborhood coffee shop and the heart of a community hub.

The goods come from all over town; coffee from Intelligentsia Coffee and Ecco Caffe; pastries (homemade pop-tarts, pies, croissants) from Cake Monkey, Sweets for the Soul, Sweet Lady Jane and Le Pain du Jour; and a rotating menu of sandwiches and salads from Auntie Em's Kitchen and Breadbar.

There's even a playful ad campaign touching on the cafe's function as a multidisciplinary arts space.  With coffee as its core, the Mid-City cafe aims to serve the community as an artistic center, providing an outlet for visual and tactile performing arts.

5772 W. Pico Blvd., L.A., 323-935-0268

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Video credit: Paperorplastikcafe.tumblr.com

Guinness cupcake for Dad? Sugar Blossom Bake Shop has you covered

Tired of buying your dad beer for Father's Day? Why not switch up that tired tradition and buy him a beer cupcake instead? Thanks to pastry chef Lei Shishak at Sugar Blossom Bake Shop in San Clemente, you can do just that.

From June 10 to 19, Shishak will offer these rich, brown-and-bubbly little Guinness cupcakes, ready to serve at any family gathering featuring man-centric activities geared to celebrate paternity in its many-splendored glory. Yes, this year, being a dad matters. And beer cupcakes are the fresh-baked proof.

Opened about a year ago, Sugar Blossom is Shishak's homage to her favorite things: quality, all-natural ingredients and the tender, warming feelings that accompany a good sweet treat. After all, she dropped out of a fast-paced career in New York City finance to enroll in the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. Before opening Sugar Blossom, she was the executive pastry chef at Michael Mina's Stonehill Tavern at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point.

That's pastry-chef street cred to be sure. And your dad deserves nothing but the best. Also, if you want to make these boozy dreamcakes yourself, Shishak has been kind enough to share her recipe after the jump. It hasn't gone through the Test Kitchen, but it looks good.

It's National Macaro(o)n Day: Where to get some

Whether you spell the dainty French buttercream-, jam- or ganache-filled colorful sandwich cookies with one ‘o’ or two, today is National Macaro(o)n Day. And you don’t have to drop everything and hop across the pond to enjoy these treats at famous Parisian maisons like Ladurée or Pierre Hermé. Angelenos are in luck as there are plenty of macaron masters scattered throughout this city, offering a delectable collection of confections from the color –- and flavor -– spectrum, on its dedicated holiday … or whenever:

Jin Patisserie: Tahitian vanilla, yuzu and chocolate mint are a sampling of the distinct macaron flavors created by Kristy Choo at her Abbot Kinney storefront. 1202 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, (310) 399-8801, jinpatisserie.com.

Lette Macarons: Macaron enthusiast Paulette Koumetz and pastry chef Christophe Michalak offer what they describe as a kaleidoscopic selection of macarons at their Beverly Hills shop: Earl Grey tea, Sicilian pistachio, Colombian coffee. 9466 Charleville Blvd. at Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, (310) 275-0023, lettemacarons.com.

Hotcakes Bakes: A Parisian native, owner Elfie Weiss studied cuisson at prominent bakeries Gerard Mulot and Ladurée. Try the coconut, strawberry or S'more. 4119 S. Centinela Ave., Los Angeles, (310) 397-2324, hotcakesbakes.com.

XT Patisserie: Pastry chef Xuan Ngo was born in Vietnam but grew up in France, baking his way to Los Angeles, where he perfected the macaron at Boule in Beverly Hills. Flavors like hazelnut, orange blossom and passion fruit are available online and at the South Pasadena and Larchmont farmers markets through Sugarbird Sweets. Xtpatisserie.com.

Bottega Louie: The long glass dessert case at the entrance of the establishment boasts an array of elegantly decorated pastries including beautiful, brightly colored macarons like the mandarin, cassis and salted caramel. 700 S. Grand Ave. L.A., (213) 802-1470; bottegalouie.com.

Little Next Door: The artisan marketplace features a boulangerie, and the Parisian-like ambiance is perfect for enjoying a macaron, or two. Cookie creations include dulce de leche, chocolate and raspberry. 8164 W. 3rd St., L.A., (323) 951-0487, thelittledoor.com.

La Provence: With locations in Brentwood and Beverly Hills, the café produces more than 10 flavors such as lavender, rose and pumpkin spice, to name a few. 8950 W. Olympic Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 888-8833, laprovencecafe.com.

--Caitlin Keller

Photo: Macarons. Credit: Bernhard Winkelmann

5 Questions for Jamie Cantor

Jamie Cantor is the pastry-chef-owner of Platine in Culver City, where she bakes chocolate galore cookies, caramel-topped brownies, Alsatian tarts with brown butter almond filling, lemon pudding cakes ... well, you get the picture.  

What's coming next on your menu? We'll start transitioning from our spring to our summer menu at the end of this month. I am really excited for all the summer fruit –- cherries, berries, peaches, etc. We'll have lots of farmers market fruit crisps, tarts and hand pies. Summer always brings back memories of childhood, so our banana pudding is really popular, too. We infuse the pudding with real bananas and then layer it with more fresh bananas and house-made "Nilla Wafers" and then we finish it off with some banana slices that are caramelized to order. 

Latest ingredient obsession? Right now it is rhubarb.... I love to use it for the short time that it is available. I go to the farmers market to get it and only a few farmers grow rhubarb. We are using it now in hand pies, strawberry rhubarb crisps and rhubarb Alsatian tarts with a brown butter almond filling. 

What restaurant do you find yourself going to again and again? We live in Venice, and we try to stay within our neighborhood and walk as much as possible. We have been going to Piccolo in Venice since it opened, and I really love their style, service and food. They used to have this amazing pasta with a wild boar ragu that has been off the menu for many years. Now I really like their squid ink garganelli. 

The one piece of kitchen equipment you can't live without? Definitely my tiny offset spatulas. I use them for everything. I worked at the French Laundry and that is where I became addicted to using them. In the classical kitchen most tools have a French name that you use so that people know exactly what you are talking about when you ask for something from across the room. Since we were always using them and didn't have a real quick way to refer to them, the guys started calling them "cupcakier" –- or cupcake spatula, since they were just the right size for frosting a cupcake. That name has always stuck in my head. We don't actually use them for cupcakes, since we don't really subscribe to that trend, but we use them for a million other different jobs in the kitchen.

What's your favorite breakfast? In the real world, it is a breakfast sandwich -– really good bread with fresh tomato slices, thick-sliced bacon and poached eggs. In my fantasy world, where I can exist off of sugar, it is a hot fudge brownie sundae.

Platine Cookies, 10850 Washington Blvd., Culver City, (310) 559-9933, www.platinecookies.com.  

Photo credit: Platine Cookies

Duff Goldman offers a lifetime of birthday cakes to anyone who finds his stolen Corvette

Duff Goldman, the star of "Ace of Cakes" who we caught up with earlier this week about the opening of his bakery Charm City Cakes West, is crying in his frosting. 

Goldman moved to L.A. to open the Santa Monica location of Baltimore-based Charm City Cakes, only to have his 1962 Corvette stolen from his brother's driveway in Sherman Oaks while Goldman was in Canada judging a cake competition. It's a jet-black 'Vette with a red leather interior that he spent the last three years rebuilding. The car had 150 miles on the rebuilt engine and was in mint condition.

"I'm pretty sure I'll never get my car back," Goldman said, "so I hope whoever has it loves it as much as I do, drives it as fast as I did and plays the radio as loud as I did. I really do hope they are having a blast and that I never bump into them."

Duff says he's devastated and is offering birthday cakes for life to anyone who finds the car or returns it.

Meanwhile, in a Charm City Cakes West update: The by-appointment-only bakery is now set to open July 1, pushed back from June 1, and is taking orders for that date and beyond. See the website.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo credit: Duff Goldman

Duff Goldman of 'Ace of Cakes' on track to open Charm City bakery in Santa Monica in June

We bumped into Duff Goldman -- star of the Food Network's "Ace of Cakes" -- at the L.A. Times Festival of Books on Sunday and asked him about his coming West Coast bakery. Goldman says if all goes as planned, Charm City Cakes West is set to open June 1 on 19th Street in Santa Monica. 

The original Charm City Cakes will continue to operate in Baltimore under the auspices of executive sous chef Geoffrey Manthorne, while Goldman will spend much of his time in L.A. (FYI, both bakeries are by appointment only.) Goldman says Charm City Cakes West will offer all the spectacular cakes that fueled the TV show. But after showing us an iPhone photo of a cake in the shape of a standing 3-D elephant, he said, "I also want people to know that we do great cakes, the kind Martha Stewart makes, but better."  

Charm City Cakes West is accepting orders for event dates from June 1 on. Contact Ken at (323) 642-7234 or e-mail ken @charmcitycakes.com.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Duff Goldman. Credit: Food Network

Baked-doughnut shop (fōnuts) set to open in June on West 3rd Street

Fōnuts. As in faux-nuts.

As in doughnuts that aren't fried, but baked. Either way ... Mmmmm, doughnuts.

Pastry chef Waylynn Lucas, who recently left the Bazaar by José Andrés and formerly worked at Patina, and her partner, voice actor Nancy Truman, plan to open their fōnut and coffee shop in the former Kiss My Bundt space on West 3rd Street. Its official name is (fōnuts), with the parentheses. Its planned opening date is National Doughnut Day, which is June 3. 

The fōnut is the brainchild of Truman, born of wheat-free banana bread batter that found its way into doughnut pans. Enter Truman's longtime friend Lucas, who has plans to take the fōnut to the next level. 

"I'm using different methods of steaming and baking at high heat to replicate the light and fluffy texture of a doughnut -- without frying," Lucas says. Some will be wheat-free and vegan, some more indulgent. Some sweet, some savory. Some with traditional flavors, some more cutting-edge. Lucas mentions a fōnut topped with olive oil powder instead of powdered sugar. 

The question is: Would you be willing to sell your soul to the devil for a fōnut?   

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Reuters/Fox Broadcasting

3 Food Events You Should Know About: 'Cheese Rules' debuts online; Cakes for a Cause at La Monarca Bakery; for St. Patrick's Day, chilled lettuce soup?

Cheese TV: Barrie Lynn, also known as the Cheese Impresario, has launched a guide to all things cheese with a Web video series on the Small Screen Network titled "Cheese Rules." Several episodes are online, including "Organic Pinot Noir and Cheese with Shaun Phillips" -- yes, Shaun Phillips the starting linebacker for the San Diego Chargers and apparently a passionate cheese connoisseur. Says Phillips, "You know how I love cheese." He's featured in three episodes including one that pairs Lynn’s peanut brittle and Gorgonzola grilled cheese sandwich with a Manhattan. Go to www.smallscreennetwork.com. 

Green day: Nothing says St. Patrick's Day like ... chilled lettuce soup with smoked salmon and dill? Well, it does at the Peninsula hotel in Beverly Hills. At least according to their St. Patrick's Day menu, which also includes corned beef and cabbage with roasted potatoes and sticky toffee pudding with malt ice cream and Irish whiskey jelly. The three-course menu is available for lunch on Thursday for $35, or for dinner for $45, at the hotel's Belvedere restaurant or in the Club Bar or Living Room. I'm a sucker for celebrating a holiday in the Peninsula's Living Room, but St. Patrick's Day? Maybe.... 

9882 S. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 551-2888, www.peninsula.com. 

Cakes for a Cause: La Monarca Bakery in Santa Monica is celebrating its official grand opening with the launch of its Cakes for a Cause campaign. From Saturday to June 30 the bakery will donate 20% of revenue from all cakes to the ECOLIFE Foundation, a nonprofit organization with the aim of protecting the endangered habitat of the monarch butterfly. The bakery is hosting its official grand opening party Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m., featuring free pan dulce and Mexican beverages, live mariachi, a ribbon cutting and more. From Saturday to the end of the month, Twitter followers who post “I support @LaMonarcaBakery and #CakesforaCause!” will be entered to win a 7-inch cake of their choice.

1300 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica; (310) 451-1114; www.lamonarcabakery.com.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Cheese connoisseur Shaun Phillips of the San Diego Chargers. Credit: Harry How / Getty Images