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The Top 5 Places to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth in LA - Nell DyTang

Let me start off by saying, I love dessert. Even if I’m full after dinner, I tell myself that dessert is a second stomach and treat myself. One time, my sister made Christmas cookies for Santa. But I ate all of them before Christmas Eve, so she had to make an entirely new batch and hide them from me so I wouldn’t eat more. When I came to LA for college, I was excited to explore a whole new world of desserts, and boy, did LA deliver. I’ve tried a lot of places in my years here, so to help you begin your quest for the holy grail of dessert in LA, here’s a shortlist of some of my faves.

1. The Pie Hole – To be completely honest, I wasn’t a huge pie person before I came to USC. Then, my friend brought me Earl Grey Tea Pie from Pie Hole, and my world changed. At this point, I’ve tried almost all the flavors at Pie Hole, and while they are all delicious, none of them compare to the Earl Grey. It balances fluffy and creamy and includes a hint of lavender, which combine to make the most delicious dessert I have ever eaten. Even if you’re skeptical, at least give it a try. I have yet to meet someone who dislikes this pie.

2. Sweet Lady Jane Bakery – Like Pie Hole with pie, Sweet Lady Jane changed my opinion of cake. I’d been disappointed too many times by dry cake that I had started generally saying I wasn’t a fan of cake (unless it was ice cream cake). But the Triple Berry Shortcake at Sweet Lady Jane is pure bliss in a giant slice of cake. The cake itself is moist and doesn’t crumble, the frosting between layers complements the cake beautifully, and the berries add a great burst of flavor. My friends and I ordered a number of different flavors and tried a bit of each, but the Triple Berry was my personal favorite, while my friend likes one of their chocolate flavors.

3. Café 86 – Filipino desserts. Need I say more? Probably. I’m just biased because both my parents were born and raised in the Philippines, so I grew up with Filipino food, so when I discovered this place I was very excited. Their most popular dessert is their Ube Leche Flan Cupcake. Ube is purple yam and is commonly used in Filipino desserts. This cupcake was absolutely incredible. I tried to take my parents to try it, but when we arrived at 8 PM, the cashier told us they’d been sold out since 3 PM. That’s how delicious it is.

I also tried their Ube Crack Cheesecake (this was my favorite), Ube Bars, Ube Milk Tea Boba, and Ube Milkshake. Note: the closest location to USC is all the way in Pasadena, but the trek is so worth it (there’s also a great Argentinian place down the street if you want dinner).

4. McConnell’s – I believe as a general rule of thumb that it’s hard to go wrong with ice cream, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be a superior ice cream shop. McConnell’s is that superior shop (at least so far, I’ve yet to try Jeni’s, which I’ve been told could change my mind). I’ve eaten a lot of ice cream in LA (Salt & Straw, Van Leeuwen, Peddler’s Creamery, Cream, Baked Bear, Bennett’s), but McConnell’s is the only place where I can never decide which flavor to get because I legitimately want them all. I’ve tried almost all their flavors because I’m that annoying person who holds up the line to ask for a million samples, and I honestly couldn’t choose a favorite.

5. Milk Jar Cookies – As you could probably gather from my intro, I love cookies, so I had high expectations going into Milk Jar Cookies. They did not disappoint. I tried three cookies – Banana Split, Salted Caramel (the seasonal flavor), and Chocolate Chip (as a baseline). The best in my opinion was the Salted Caramel, but Banana Split was a unique flavor, which was also wonderful and a refreshing twist. One thing to note, these cookies are very sweet. I only ate one immediately after purchasing, but the other two kept well after a couple days.