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At a time when couture cupcake shops are very a la mode, Leda's stands in a league of their own. I've been to all the fancy-shmancy shops around LA and none compare to Leda's. I see that they are closed and I can only HOPE that they are planning to re-open?!?!
When I was living in LA, friends always knew to expect a box of Leda's mini cupcakes for every birthday. They are beautiful little pieces of edible art. Each tiny cake has some kind of filling, be it passion fruit or chocolate ganache, they're all perfection. And the staff there are all so sweet and helpful. And the shop itself is so cool and retro looking. Oh, PLEASE tell me Leda's is going to re-open!! I'm hoping they weren't forced to shut their doors due to Sprinkles monopolizing the LA cupcake industry.
Crossing my fingers this review won't just be a remembrance of what once was....
Though Leda's is currently closed, I'm sure when they re-open my love for Leda's will not abate.
Whenever I find myself in the LA-area I always make sure I stop at Leda's. Inside this tiny shop is a bakery case that I would love to have installed in my home, filled daily with the mini-cupcakes of my dreams.
Though Leda's mainly offers mini-cupcakes, don't let their diminutive size mislead you. These tiny bites pack a delicious punch!
I'm a huge fan of the passionfruit cupcake - a light yellow cake with a dollop of passionfruit curd topped with passionfruit buttercream. There are few things that rate higher than eating a fresh, mouth-puckering passionfruit and these cupcakes distill that essence down perfectly.
The chocolate peanut butter also ranks as one of my favorites - a smooth peanut butter frosting with a rich, moist chocolate cake.
My latest discovery was the pumpkin. I'm loathe to share my cupcakes, especially when they're mini, but the pumpkin was good enough for me to take a bite of and be willing to offer my sister the other half so she could know just how good pumpkin cupcakes could be (We'd sampled a few disappointing pumpkin cakes from other bakeries previously).
The intensity of the flavors and moist cake are secondary to Leda's frosting. Leda's offers the real thing: meringue-based buttercream that is rich, buttery, and expresses flavors perfectly. Bad for those, like my niece and nephew, who can't wait for their frosting to come to room temperature, but excellence for cupcake nerds like me.
The funny thing about my niece and nephew - sugar addicts if there ever were any - they love Leda's cupcakes right out of the bakery case (as if we could get them to wait!). They were also our vegan cupcake tasters, mostly because my niece wanted "the purple one" and "the pink one" (purple and pink fondant shapes atop the cupcakes). Though I'm usually wary of vegan cupcakes, these stood up to the flavor test, and also received thumbs up from the little one who I expected to spit out the cake.
Leda's, when you re-open in February 2009 I'll be back. Don't change your recipes and my devotion will remain true.
Damn you, Leda's! Why aren't you going to make mini-cupcakes anymore? They are going, going, gone after 10/18/08.
After eating four hot dogs, I managed to literally crawl over to Leda's for a couple of mini cupcakes. I don't know why I decided on coconut lime considering my hatred of shredded coconut but I figured if anyone was going to change my mind, Leda's should be able to do it. Well, let's just say I didn't hate it but I didn't love it. The frosting was wonderful though.
I much preferred my other cupcake choice, the strawberry more. The frosting tasted like the best strawberry ice cream I ever had. Mmmm.
I also sampled the vegan brownie. Oh wow...it didn't taste "weird." Woah, I actually really l liked it and would order a whole one. I also tasted a bit of a chocolate chip cookie which was fine but the peanut butter brownie was really great as well. But you know, what the vegan brownie was better. I'm in a tizzy right now.
The shop is really cute with half the store being the mini-cupcake display (which is going away! *sobs*).
They're currently only open Friday and Saturdays to the public being Tuesday through Thursdays are catering days.
No public restrooms but they said their neighbor Senor Fred usually doesn't mind a stray person or two coming in for a pee break.
Leda! Please bring back the mini cupcakes!
Rating may be skewed because the cupcakes were sooooooo cute and soooooo pretty. And they were for… Read more »
Dear Future Lover,
Where the hell are you? You sure are taking your sweet time arentcha? Because I'm impatient and am unwilling to compromise my standards, I'm going to fold and just draw you a roadmap of three ways to win me over. Ready? Here goes.
1. Challenge me intellectually and be a genuinely good person
I'll find it beyond sexy if you subscribe to the Economist, can discuss great literature like Gatsby at length, and use words like "apropos," "raison d'etre," and "aggregate" in everyday conversation. We'll end up staying until closing at dinner because we're bonding over whether Banksy's art is more deconstructivist than post-modernist. I'll like you for the way you think and because what's actually *inside* your chest is big.
2. Appeal to my stomach
Not to worry though. If you didn't inherit Nobel laureate genes, you can still buy my affection. That's right. What, did you think I was better than that? But only via cupcakes and only ones that came from Leda's Bake Shop in Sherman Oaks.
Yeah yeah, I know. Oprah says Sprinkles are the best. And I also know that when you look at Oprah and see that she disagrees, your gut instinct is to say:
"DAAAYUM John M. Now that looks to me like a woman who would be an expert on cupcakes! And indeed all confections of the cake family in general now that I think about it. Do you really mean to tell me that you know better than Oprah G. Winfrey?"
To which I would respond:
"..." *gulp* "..."
and nervously tug at my collar before awkwardly changing the subject to something about the Olympics because I have no good answer to that. That IS a woman who looks like she would know her cupcakes and indeed, all confections of the cake family in general. Say, did you see that one Olympic event? You know, the one everyone's talking about. Aaaannyyywaaayy...
But I can tell you I've tried them all and still think they're the best in the city. Like the famed Magnolia Bakery in New York, instead of typical icing, Leda's cakes have real buttercream frosting - but only as one of the elements. The chocolate cakes have a sizeable dollop of chocolate ganache inside, for example and are made with real Sharffen-Berger chocolate... and it's damned incredible. They are the richest, most satisfying sweet thing in Los Angeles. If you want to win *cough* buy *cough* my affection, go on a Friday or Saturday because she only takes large pre-orders on other days and take advantage of the ample parking on Ventura. Really, I'll love you like McAdams loves Gosling if you buy these for me. No, I am not a bigger person than that.
3. Buy a French maid outfit from Trashy Lingerie, a bottle of Ketel, and let's see if we can't get the neighbors to file a noise complaint.
So I have a y-chromosome. Sue me.
Love,
John M
To stop selling good cupcakes is like making alcohol illegal.
Last few days left to get your kicks. I enjoy the Peanut Butter Cupcake. But, you might have to get whatever is left. I plan to go every morning and buy them out. Haha, just kidding. But seriously, I will. Haha, just kidding again. However, I wouldn't be surprised if someone else will be doing that. Cupcake extremists.
Oh my goodness...I don't think I've had any cupcakes, ever, that tasted as good as the ones here. My sister Jenny, aka my cupcake tasting buddy, and I split the following:
- Chocolate White Chocolate (no such thing as chocolate overkill here)
- Chocolate Peanut Butter (tastes just like a Reese's PB cup, which is my favorite supermarket brand candy)
- Carrot (how they managed to make carrot cake likable is beyond me)
- Coconut Lime ( can't go wrong with this combo)
- Passionfruit (possibly their best cupcake, but it's hard to choose)
- Velvet (moist and just the right amount of sweetness, but Yummy Cupcakes' red velvet is better)
Each bite was light, airy, and perfectly moist. The street parking is a pain and prices are through-the-roof ridiculous. However, the cupcakes themselves deserve more than five stars, so it would be unjust to deduct any stars for those reasons. Plus, something's gotta keep me from attempting to subsist on Leda's cupcakes alone.
I retract my previous statement. The best lemon bar is not at Buttercake Bakery. It's at Leda's.
Holy mother this lemon bar was epic. It was so tart!!! But so did not remind me of cleaning products!!! The goo was sooo gooey and perfect! Also, I really appreciate how the top layer wasn't at all tough/rubbery like the ones on most lemon bars. And the crust. OH the crust. It was thick and flaky and surprisingly (I don't know how they did it) not that heavy or buttery.
When I looked on the website, I remember thinking to myself, Leda's cupcakes look almost too cute to actually taste good. Thankfully, I couldn't have been more wrong. I ordered three of their mini cupcakes (only $1.50 each!): passion fruit, chocolate raspberry, and coconut lime. Out of the three, the passion fruit one was the best. I don't know what Leda's puts in their cupcakes, but all of them were so light and delicious. Unlike most cupcakes with the thick, stiff frosting piled on top, Leda's frosting had more of a lighter, whipped cream consistency, without sacrificing any flavor.
My friend ordered 5 of their mini vegan cupcakes and enjoyed them just as much I enjoyed my non-vegan ones. We sampled their baked goods, all of which were ridiculously good (both the vegan and non-vegan).
I cannot wait to come back here! Unfortunately, they're only open Fridays and Saturdays for walk-in orders. =( It's gonna be a long week...
I found this place online while shopping for wedding cakes and/or cupcakes for our wedding.
We did a tasting - they were very generous with the tasting - we sampled each and every flavor combo possible. We loved the flavors so much that we ended up ordering both a wedding cake AND cupcakes for our reception.
For our cake we ended up choosing the dark chocolate cake with raspberry mousse between the layers, and a white chocolate frosting. I have to say, this was the best wedding cake I have ever tasted (and I am not just saying that because it was my wedding!)! For our cupcakes we ordered chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with raspberry icing. DELICIOUS! The frosting is a buttercream and it is not too sweet or buttery. It is a fluffy consistency - i think they whip a lot more air into it than other bakeries. The cake itself was moist and perfect! Raspberry mousse was zang-y / zingy and a perfect accent to the sweetness of the white chocolate frosting.
The only reason I give 4 stars rather than 5 is the customer service wasn't so great. Leda seemed rushed when she took our cake order - and I was very specific about the decorations. When we got the cake home we realized she forgot the bow on top... so we ended up substituting it with flowers instead. The other thing is, they couldn't deliver to our early noontime wedding on a Saturday, so we picked it up the night before, and it ended up cracking during transport.
Either way, the TASTE of our cake was awesome -- I can't wait till our 1 year anniversary to take it out of the freezer!
I ordered 50 mini-cupcakes in passion fruit, red velvet, kids vanilla, and chocolate chocolate for a party. Let's just say I only had one cupcake because I saw guests finding creative ways to sneak out with a handful of cupcakes on their way out.
I cannot describe how yummy these mini-cupcakes are and they are so cute & happy, they can make anyone's day just a bit brighter!!! I heard from my guests all flavors are wonderful and my west LA friends were all shocked how I drove into the valley to pick them up. They know me and they know how much I loathe the 405 North and 101 North freeway.
Will order these cupcakes for any occasion I can think of from now on.
I regularly drive from Pasadena for the vegan cupcakes here, and they've done about a dozen birthday cakes for friends and family in recent years. Absolutely worth the drive, the wait, whatever you have to do. For those of us who are strict vegans, this is heaven itself.
Let me echo the vote for the chocolate peanut butter cupcakes as being particularly outstanding.
whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? its closed?!!!!!!! waaaaaaaaa noooooooooooooooooooooo.
Yes, this is as good as it gets.
The BEST cupcakes I've ever had.
I still can't forget how delish…
Read more »
I could pass on the vegan red velvets but the stand-outs for me were the dulce de leche & the chocolate peanut butter. I wanted to really love the key lime and the lemon mini cupcakes but found them OK.
I was warned when I left the shop to be sure to let the cupcakes sit to room temperature. I ate the key lime a bit too quick and the frosting felt a bit greasy. But later on that night, I tried some with my roommate and the frosting melted just right.
As for the cuteness...they are cute! But definitely most cute when there are bunch of ones with different colors and designs all together. I must note however, that they get extra stars from me due to their wonderful customer service!
My boy-friend and I stopped in here one morning, thinking it was just another cupcake shop. I was surprised that they specialized in minis (cartoon cuteness) and also surprised they offered a huge variety of other baked goodies. They had samples of almost everything and we liked each one we tried. Their vegan brownie is not discernible as a dairy-free product. Lemon bar not-too-sweet, scones so moist, granola beautiful, everything is pretty impressive.
Decision-making is seriously hard here. I picked two cupcakes...great little bites as everyone says. Boyfriend chose the non-vegan brownie which was a veritable chocolate brick. It was a great first visit, can't wait to try more!
*check their hours. i did try to return on a tuesday and was saddened to see them closed!
Their vegan cup cakes are so cute and so tasty. I customized a bunch of their vegan cup cakes with letters for a birthday and everyone loved it.
I loved it too!!
This Saturday I drove out to Leda's to check out the vegan cupcakes, not only was the presentation immaculate, but they were delicious as well!
I bought one of each of the vegan treats, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Peanut butter, Chocolate raspberry, Coconut, and Carrot. My fav was definitely the Choco Raspberry. The icing 'glue' they use to make it stick to the inside of the packing box, I was assured was vegan, so i scraped it up for a taste. Even the 'glue' is yummy! The employees were very friendly and informative as well. Oh I also tried a pecan bar, which was decadent and soft. Mmmmm! Its about a 45 minute drive for me, but I will definitely be back again!!! ;)
My friend and I went to Leda's the other day...to check out what everybody's been talking about. We got several of those mini cupcakes to try and I thought they were good, but didn't think it was all that...like what people have been talking about. I do have to say their presentation are really cute and nice. They have 15 different flavors of cupcakes. Although all the mini cupcakes were so cute & yummy looking, only one stood out from my taste buds, Chocolate Peanut Butter!! Mind you, I only like peanut butter and not love it.
So here it is the "Likes" and "Dislikes!"
Likes:
~Clean.
~Nice looking pastries.
~The size...small, so therefore you think you are
having a lot, but not really (about 4 mini's = 1 average
size cupcake).
~Only $1.50 each...it's a plus when you want to try all of them.
~Vegan cupcakes...although I'm not a vegetarian nor a
vegan, I like the fact that customers have OPTIONS...and
that's a plus!
~Nice employees.
Dislikes:
~Pricey....funny I say that because although they are $1.50, you
end up buying several of them costing somewhat a whole lot. We
bought 7 mini's and it came out to $10.??. Now, you are thinking
$10 isn't a lot of money, but when you realize all the cupcakes
you just purchased adds up to 1 1/2 average size cupcake....
mmm...yeah!
~Small seating area.
Check it out! There's no excuse for yummy in your tummy! :oP
I've tried Sprinkles, Crumbs and all those other overrated cupcake places and I always end up coming back here.
They're so nicely decorated and truly delicious.
Such creative flavors as well.
I have yet to be disappointed... except when they run out.
2
40
You can park if there is space in back, by the way.
get to the current Leda's Whilst ye can, since she is re-doing things after she shuts for a bit Oct 18th!
cakes, Cupcakes, cookies,brownies, ea cakes and more! Vegan treats!
I dream of her cakes and cupcakes, and I adore the amazing cookies. my favorite is anything pumpkin and her fabulous scones!
Amazingly sweet staff, too.
you gotta get a grab bag of everything!
Very cute display.
Very sweet cupcakes.
Very expensive cupcakes.
The bread is pretty much the same for all cupcakes, the only thing that changes is the sweet candy cream & the little decoration on top.
Since I have had the opportunity of tasting the very best pastries in Los Angeles my palate declines Leda's cupcakes.
Sorry, but the very best pastries are at a place that only I have reviewed and it deserves one of those yelp awards.
The place I'm talking about is Cafe Teramo in NorthHollywood.
http://www.cafeteramoc.../
I am an admitted cupcake fanatic...but being a vegan makes this obsession sadly complicated.
So imagine my surprise when I found this place on yelp....and went to check it out today! Every single vegan thing here is delicious! I got one of each vegan mini cupcake- my favorite ended up being the chocolate chocolate. And the cookies are delicious! After trying pieces from the multiple sample bowls littering the counter, I ended up buying two bags of chocolate chip cookies.
Contrary to the other review from MaryZaint M, I was actually told that the glue they use to stick the cupcakes down in the box is NOT vegan...apparently it has milk powder in it. But maybe the salesgirl was wrong. Who knows?
Anyways, two thumbs up for the best damn vegan desserts I've ever had!
If you are looking to be the star of your next bridal shower or baby shower or girl's night or thanks for giving me work event, then look no further than Leda's.
I discovered this place while looking for a unique thank you gift for a freelance gig I did for Sex And The City and they actually had this: http://ledasbakeshop.c...
They then were able to do custom little mini cupcakes for me with the shoes on them and all I can say is thank you. Not only did I get my check faster, but they still call me for freelace gigs.
The quality is also amazing and talk about service with a smile. Everyone here was so nice and helpful and I really can't recommend this place enough! :)
I never thought I'd say this, but Leda's created steep competition with Yummy Cupcakes. I thought the latter was the best, but Leda's cupcakes blew me away.
First off, their tiny bite-sized, delicious cupcakes and you can try lots to see what you like.
I'd enjoyed the peanut butter chocolate (mmmmmm).
Lemon cupcake was soooo delicious
Carrot cake is the shizz
The passion fruit was ok, too subtle of a taste for me.
And they have vegan cupcakes, yeh!
What I really liked about Leda's was the balance of the cake vs. frosting contrast. The cake was not dense and moist while the frosting was sweet but not too much sugar Yummy's. I've gone to Yummy a lot within the last year, but the frosting has been a bit much for me.
Leda's mini cupcakes are $1.50 and they're a bit pricey for me. Hence, the one lost star. They also brownies, macaroons, and cookies.
They take special orders for cakes and cupcakes. The workers, including Leda, are really friendly and that's really important to me. These type of people make me want to visit shops like this one. Look for parking on the street and enjoy your cupcakes.
Long live the cupcake craze!
****Leda's is not closed down, they will reopen again in early 2009!****
Leda's cupcakes are tiny treasures of sugar and color. Cheap they are not but the flavors and textures are absolute perfection. They even offer a few vegan choices!
When I find myself in the valley with new cash in my pocket I usually head on over for a trio of cupcakes. the presentation is simply adorable and the flavors make me swoon. Tiny little bites of cake topped off by the creamiest ganache I have ever had. I haven't met a cupcake here I didn't like. I want to marry the ginger scones and maybe polka once or twice with the vegan peanut butter cookies.
Leda's cupcakes are itty bitty. The fondant shapes that tickle the most perfect amount of frosting make for smile inducing eye candy. You can even score some coffee while you are at it. If you can appreciate the artistry in homemade cupcakes, I recommend Leda's. If yer a frosting fiend head on over to Yummy Cupcakes and if you prefer a tasty bar hit Big Sugar. Lucky for you, you have me around to order you about!
For a special event, do it. However, there are better tasting cupcakes elsewhere. Like others have said, expensive for the amount of cupcake you get. Basically you're paying for a boutique cupcake. Fancy appearance, cute size, additional unnecessary filling. Fillings are not necessarily good, or do not necessarily add "flavor value" to the cupcake. You get fancy Jetson's decor atop each cupcake. Very fun and stylish, but not adding further value to your tastebuds or belly.
As others have said, small. The majority of the shop is counter, prep, and cashier space. Leaving very little room for the actual baked goods, and very little room for customers to move around in when they're all in there trying to figure out what they want, order, and wait to get their stuff to go. Why do you LA shops do this? You drive me CRAZY! Sprinkles does that too. Don't bother with putting two tables in there people, just make the whole shop shopping space and let people eat on the street or in their cars, it's frustrating.
Anyhoo. Buttercream tastes like BUTTER. It doesn't taste like butter cream, seriously. Buttercream should be a halfblend between frosting and butter, and this just tastes like butter with a mild hint of another flavor, but barely there. Other than the buttercream, they use a frosting that is NOT cream cheese based.
Deeply disappointing once I put the red velvet in my mouth. They removed the dye. Thus, the red velvet looks like rum cake or carrot cake with a tan. It tastes ok, but isn't special. The point of red velvet is excessive moisture from red dye. If you take out the red dye, then make it excessively moist with something else.
Agreed, the bread is not cupcakey. It is muffiny. It is also dryish. This is probably due to the fact it sits with a lot of space around on it on a cute tray in cooler. It's not exactly a COLD cupcake but it is not room temp and I get the distinct impression it is not as moist as it could be because it's sitting in there.
Really don't dig the fillings, as you may have gathered. They had a key lime coconut and a lemon cupcake. They tasted exactly the same.
Staff IS very nice. They come round and take up more space fetching your treats for you then head back to the register to ring you up. This is inefficient. Understandable they don't want you handling the treats. But floorplan is bad and should probably be built more like Sprinkles or a chocolate shop.
BEST THING THERE: Scones, cookies, biscuits. The scones are the moistest scones you'll ever have and remain that way, even after reheated in the oven. They also give you very generous samples of a bunch of stuff lying around, sometimes an entire cookie jar filled with whole cookies.
Great idea. Just very little substance to back it up. If I return, I'll be fetching the scones. Ginger and cranberry ones were pretty awesome.
Also amused and pleased to see the Vegan option. So, that's very cool.
Wow! I just had what has to be the best vegan birthday cake ever!
My boyfriend surprised me with a vegan vanilla coconut birthday cake, and it was delicious! It looked so good sitting there in the box in my fridge, I had to restrain myself to wait all night to taste it.
Even cut thin, the servings were so big because the cake was 3 beautiful layers of yummy.
I can't wait for an excuse to get another vegan cake!
Strolling along... la la la. Hey, what's this? OOO, let's go inside.
Walked in, saw the dainty little cakes so preciously presented. We ordered 1 for each of us.
chocolate, chocolate, chocolate
dulce de leche
espresso
carrot
The really nice and friendly girl gave us instructions to wait about 5 minutes before eating because it just came out of the refrigerated case.
INSTRUCTIONS IGNORED!
INHALED.
GONE.
Mine anyway. (Espresso) I shoved the whole thing in my mouth. So good. Perfectly sweet. Not sugarly.
my daughter: "mom, I think this is real buttercream!"
me: "rrapajr ffkhgj wrwehffnww, snort"
my daughter: : "moommm, did you already eat your cupcake?"
me: giant grin...
So good, we came back about an hour later to buy more.
It wasn't Ralphs 1 dozen for $2.99. But, it was so worth it.
Nice touch: they had lots of samples that you could help yourself with!
I'm not vegan. Let's start with that.
Yet, my coworkers and I go here every Friday to stuff ourselves silly with all the samples, cupcakes, brownies and cookies.
They're only really open on the weekends, which is a shame although I'm sure it keeps my gut from growing.
We asked how many calories are in one of the mini-cupcakes and the nice lady behind the counter said, "A lot."
I don't care. Tr the vegan chocolate chip cookie, brownie with walnuts and the dulce de leche cupcake.
Mini cupcakes are perfect for splitting with friends, because you can get half a dozen. And we sure did...and brought some home, too. I'd happily go again.
Kid's choc/choc: very rich
Passion fruit: tart buttercream, tart filling, buttery cake that's not too heavy or oily.
Lemon: lemon curd and lemony frosting?! Soooo good. Lighter flavor than the passion fruit.
Chocolate cupcake/raspberry frosting and curd injection: real chunks of berry in the frosting! Soft taste overall, both my friend and I immediately went "ooh" upon our first bite.
Dulce de leche: too sweet, weird aftertaste.
Thanks to Amy K. for bring these cute petite cupcakes to Linden's birthday party at NBC Seafood Restaurant!
I can live with or without these unlike Kristina Crack-cakes. Haven't had the latter but they are in mint condition and rare like her comic book collection.
http://www.flickr.com/...
My advice? At $1.50/ petite cupcake, bake your own w/ http://www.cupcakeblog...
First the cupcake craze, and then the fro-yo fanaticism. wut's next? i've been to sprinkles and i thought it was very good. however there is 141 reviews for it, so somebody probably already said the same thing i did.
i decided to go to leda's bake shop after reading about it on a foodblog. these cupcakes did not look real to me. i hate using this word, but they look ADORABLE...i needed to try it. so after school (pepperdine, the greatest university in the world), i drove through malibu canyon, and down ventura. i know calabasas to sherman oaks on ventura blvd. is a long way, but it was a friday and i know the 101 is killer at 3pm. so once i found parking (took 20 minutes by the way), i head into the store to see that those cupcakes i saw on the food blog were weenie sized cupcakes. :(
however, the chocolate and vanilla cupcakes were available in regular size. thank god. then i look into the cooling unit with the mini cupcakes, and nearly 3/4 of the flavors were gone!!!! never coming that late in the afternoon again. so i got mini sized carrot and strawberry, and regular sized chocolate and vanilla. quite good. i am no expert on what a great cupcake is... i just know i will love it as long as it tastes good to me.
continued (see joe peep's review)
Best cupcakes I've ever had....and they have delicious vegan options. Only drawback is that they usually only have mini cupcakes.
Edit: Leda's has changed hours and is no longer open to the public Tues-Thurs....Sucks!
Yummmm! These cupcakes are tiny, and they are DELICIOUS.
One of my friends has a theory that girls like anything that's a miniature version of something else, and I must admit, liberal feminist as I am, that this is fairly accurate. What is it about miniature stuff? SO adorable.
So therefore, these tiny cupcakes make me so very happy. Also you can eat two and still consume less than your average cupcake anywhere else, which is awesome when you're trying out flavors. I also like that all cupcakes have some kind of, um, injection, whether it's some kind of dulce de leche sauce or a marscapone, which really livens up the flavor.
So flavorful, adorably-sized, and less-guilt-when-you-eat-more-than-one. What more do you want?
I gave 2 stars for presentation
I really.. really... really.... wanted to like this place. But, before anyone starts casting the cupcakes, let me share.
I recently planned a baby shower for my sister. Instead of the other **inkle cupcake place. I'd thought I'd give this place a try based on all the positive reviews (and price). Again, they are closed but only open for catering. Mini cupcakes were 24pcs minimum per flavor - that was the first bummer. I couldn't get a better variety. So, I got 3 yelper favorites - Passion Fruit, Lemon and Red Velvet. I gave her my color theme and decoration idea and they took care of the rest.. so the ordering process was a breeze. Pick up time!! Obviously, this was not the same person that took my order.. from perky to downer.. she barked instructions on how to handle them and I paid ($140) and left. I was confused.. no hello, no thank you.. nothing.. just rude. The cupcakes look great! Different colored cream and decorations... it was awesome. But, here's the problem.. we couldn't tell what was what.. They were all LEMON... no Passion Fruit and a few Red Velvet (not 24) - some brown yucky tasteless thing.. It was disappointing to have such great looking cakes and be just okay tasting. Most of the women at the party were self proclaimed cupcake connoisseurs and all agreed that they've tasted better. I've never had them before so I wouldn't know if they tasted better when they were open.
For the amount of $ I paid I should have stuck to my guns and ordered a custom made cake..
Adorable cupcakes...disappointing that they "specialize" in minis (i.e., more money, less cake). The cupcakes were all moist and delicious (velvet, chocolate, kid's chocolate, lemon, espresso). I just wouldn't trek all the way here (from Westside/South Bay) for the $1.50 minis. In fact, the one regular sized cucpake I got (at $3) was way smaller than those elsewhere.
So.... 4 stars for appearance and taste. 3 stars for value!!!
Amazing cupcakes. A little expensive but a worthly occasional indulgence. Since the cupcakes are small and pricey, it helps in limiting one's portions! The best part (that many forgot to mention) is that their cupcakes have FILLING. Not so much filling, but rather a topping on the cupcake below the frosting. For the lemon mini cupcake - for example- the topping is a zesty lemon curd.
These little goodies are a treat for the eyes, like mini works of pastel, fondant, swirled, mounded art. Overall, compared to other cupcake places, their frosting is light, airy ( IF you can wait for it to defrost!), creamy, and NOT too sweet. Like a mousse. The cupcakes are buttery and firm, and the flavor is like gelato compared to ice cream - more intense and all-naturally, fruitily flavorful. The taste really seems to explode in your mouth.
They have many other delectable baked goods and usually lots of free samples. The service is understated but friendly and professional. I just wish they were open later than 6pm! My favorites included coconut-lime, dulce de leche, and the vegan flavors.
Leda is the queen of buttercream, the grand dame of fondant.
Her cupcake palace may be situated in Sherman Oaks but LA is her rightful dominion. (Sprinkles is the overblown bishop of sweet nothings. His fans are merely the loudest of the chattering classes, blinded by easy proximity.)
My first trip to Leda's, I called ahead, reserving an assortment of mini-cupcakes. When my car overheated en route, I was more upset about calling in to cancel my order, than driving to the mechanic's in 100 degree weather with the heater cranked.
Weeks later, Leda worked with me on a special order. She came up with a witty fondant design and flavor combinations that delighted one of my favorite birthday boys: the Duke of Dragees.
UPDATE 4/26/08
Yes, it's true their hours have changed. Leda's is no longer open to walk ins during the week, as they are focusing on their catering business. They'll still be open on Fridays and Saturdays to pop in. Btw, if you have large orders, and you call 24 hours in advance you can still get cupcakes mid week.
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Lawd have mercy, I've died and gone to cupcake heaven! My search for cupcake perfection led me Leda's which is tucked away between Senor Fred's and a barbershop on Ventura. Sigh, the mini cupcakes...
They are the perfect balance of moist cake, decadent cream fillings, and subtly sweet, rich buttercream frosting. The decorative fondant toppings transform them from mini cupcakes to mini delicacies guaranteed to satisfy a sugar craving.
The worst part about Leda's is deciding what to get, they have so many flavors. Good thing they're mini, cause you could try all of them if you wanted to (Uhem, what? No, I didn't try ALL of them, but so what if I did? No New Year's diet resolutions here!)
My favorite was the Chocolate Peanut Butter ; this tasted like a forkfull of chocolate cake dipped into a jar of creamy peanut butter. Yes, it was THAT good. There's nothing "Red" about the 'Velvet", which was strange, but made sense because they don't use artificial ingredients, and the cream cheese frosting was on point. The passion fruit was very light and not too sweet. Of course the chocolate chocolate was a delight.
I'm a sucker for presentation, and Leda's takes the cake (sorry for the pun) with their decor, attentive service and presentation. They place the cupcakes on a round cardboard plate on top of piped dots of white chocolate to hold them onto the plate.
Clearly I could go on an on, but I'll spare you. Go to Leda's and sample their other pastries too, they're divine!
the Valley vs. Manhattan
Yes: it's in the valley
the cupcakes are smaller
you must eat 'em at room temp
they're pricier than crack
LEDA'S BEATS THE SHIT OUTTA MAGNOLIA'S
My friend was ragging about this place for quite sometime, so we went to buy some cupcakes. I bought like 10 because a) it looked soo good, b) it was nicely decorated, and c) I trusted my friends taste. Well as I took a bite into this scrumptious delicious looking cupcake within 2 seconds I spit out the frosting. Oh gosh, the frosing is horrible here!!! The cake is not bad, they actually have pretty interesting cake flavors, like passion, carrot, white chocolate, and more...if it wasn't for the frosting this place wouldnt be so bad... Whats a cupcake without good frosting??Too bad that I had to let go of those beautiful creative cupcakes.. oh well..
Overall rating = 3 because the cake itself is good...
I drive over the hill for these guys.
Leda's cupcakes are truly scruptious - that's for sure. Aside from indulging in them myself, I've been the bell of the ball when taking them to clients, showers and dinner parties, etc. It never fails that they are a conversation piece at a dinner table. I couldn't help but notice that one reviewer said she didn't like the frosting. Leda's frosting is a different frosting than your average cupcake frosting as it is a buttercream frosting. I prefer it to most b/c of it's creamier texture and I don't feel that I'm eating sugar granuals. I honestly find it difficult to decide which flavor is my favorite, but the carrot, lemon, and chocolate peanut butter run a close race.
While I like the cupcakes A LOT, I have to say that my favorite items at Leda's are the scones. Pick any flavor and you can't go wrong. I'm personally a currant scone fan, but Leda's has a Ginger scone that is unique and really good with tea. This is how a scone is supposed to be made - moist and buttery with fresh ingredients. I'm serious. If you haven't tried them, you are missing out. AND if you think "you're not a scone person", think again. This is like no other scone I've had outside of London. Makes me want to have a Tea Party. Perhaps the scones are under rated because the cupcakes are so darn cute.
There's more. (Yes, I think this officially makes me a Leda's addict.)
One time (okay, this happens every time I go in, but...) I went to Leda's and indulged in one of the generously piled samples that they have out. This time is was some amazing coffee cake. I haven't had it since, but I think about it from time to time. I know it's wierd, I mean how good can a coffee cake be? Well, the fact that I think about it at night before I go to sleep might give you an idea. ;) I exaggerate (slightly) to make a point.
Other favorites: Blondies, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
Leda's has the whole package. Friendly staff and atmosphere, great baked goods, and the ability to suck you in with heaps of samples.
Now, if only they had the same on the other side of the hill. Until then, I'll keep finding an excuse to go to the Valley. ;)
Limited Time Offer!
Neighborhood: Mid-City West
Cupcake Happy Hour 2.50 each
Neighborhood: North Hollywood
Van Nuys, CA
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