Leda's Bake Shop
- Hours:
Tue-Sat 10:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m. - Menu: MenuPages
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: No
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Dessert
- Alcohol: None
14 reviews
Neighborhood: West Los Angeles
"Simply fantastic. Nice atmosphere, good food (completely customizable hot dogs!), friendly staff, free delivery, and a free club card that…" read more »
63 Reviews for Leda's Bake Shop
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/ www.cupcakeblog.com
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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!
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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.
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I miss my Vegan Treats cakes from New York. Moving to LA, I haven't quite found a replacement for truly tasty vegan cakes. Leda's doesn't come close to Vegan Treats, but they offer the best eggless cupcakes I've ever had.. in LA.
Super friendly staff, nice assortment of samples, and their vegan cupcakes are moist and delicious. Oooo, and their cookies are so mouth-worthy.
Okay - I'm probably going to get hate mail for this but honestly - what's the hype about?
I feel that Leda's cupcakes are wayyyyyyy overrated.
I will not conform to the masses.
I had the opportunity to try them today (Thank you Amy K =) in celebration of Linden's Birthday dimsum brunch bash.
The ONLY reason this place got 2 stars is because of the super mini size mini cupcakes & because of the cute little toppings on every single one. But as far as the presentation goes - yeah, they are cute but why yelpers are in awe about it - I just don't understand.
Honestly - as far as taste goes - they taste like muffins - not cupcakes. So it totally threw me off. Good muffins but I wanted a cupcake. The icing is over the top sweet & overpowers the mild muffin-like cake portion of it.
Don't get me wrong - they aren't awful.
But I can take them or leave them.
(keep in mind this coming from the resident sweet tooth herself- is madness.)
Peep the pix.
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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
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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...
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I love Leda's mini-cupcakes! One of the best cupcake places I'ved tried. They have a great selction and the cupcake presentation is very cute.
Passionfruit and espresso are my favorite flavors. The red velvet was the only one that disappointed... But overall most of the flavors were amazing.
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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!
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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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4/3/08 -- Leda's has changed their hours to make it much less convenient to buy individual cupcakes. They are now only open to customers Friday and Saturday from 10:30am - 6:00pm. Tuesday-Thursday you can only pick up pre-orders which must be placed 24 hours in advance and there is a 24 cupcake minimum PER flavor. They are closed Sundays and Mondays.
2/19/08 -- This is my favorite cupcake place on the face of the planet. I know that's saying a lot. Actually, let's take it one step further. Most favorite in the Galaxy. The Universe, even.
My favorite thing about Leda's by far is their mini cupcakes. I love that I can buy 2 or 3 minis instead of 1 large one so I can sample more flavors without feeling like a complete pig. My favorite flavors are red velvet, dolce de leche and espresso. I am a buttercream connoisseur and Leda's knows how to do it right. Not overly sweet and not at all gritty.
The service there is always superb. The staff are friendly and often offer free samples of different pastries or even drinks (one day we got a sample of hot apple cider... delish!!). The shop is small and it's hard to fit a large group in there, but there is also some outdoor seating as well. If you buy a bunch of cupcakes to go, they carefully package them in a box with a small dollop of icing on the bottom of each cupcake to make sure they don't all slide around once you leave.
The cupcakes are pricey ($1.50 for one mini) but I can think of worse things I've paid $1.50 for and enjoyed much much less.
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!
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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!
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These cupcakes were pretty good, but I thought their brownies were the best I've ever tasted BUT *sniff* I hurt myself eating their cupcake!!! I got a cut on my tongue after trying to bit into the cupcake, they use these silver cupcake wrappers instead of the paper ones and it hurt dang it!!! (Ok I just realized how silly that was; I take some of the blame on this one; who the heck hurts themselves while eating an innocuous cupcake; ugh!!)
I've tried about a million different bakeries in LA...but there is no place like Leda's.
I don't feel guilty after eating a few of their tiny cupcakes, whereas at another place like Sprinkles I would feel like a glutton after one regular sized cupcake.
They are not dense. They are fluffy, light, and the frosting is amazing.
I'd like a full sized cake from here from my birthday. I may not be able to control myself.
Not to mention they are beautiful to look at. :)
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tastes better than sprinkles. but then again, i don't think sprinkles cupcakes is THAT great. But i won't pass up an opportunity for any cupcake!
On my birthday last year, i got a variety of cupcakes from a friend of mine who had gotten them from Leda's. She decided to substitute a cake that year with cupcakes and oh my, they were so delicious. Every single flavor! Go to Leda's, its worth the high gas prices.
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!
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i went here over a year ago and i feel like it took me forever to get there...BUT it was worth the cuteness. not so sure if it's worth it now that gas is just a monstrosity, but if it's in your hood, it's a definite go.
i admit, i didn't even eat all the cupcakes i purchased, but everyone else who ate them loved them. so maybe for that special someone, you can spend a bit more for cuteness.
I love the cupcakes here.... the bite size is just right. The taste is amazing... not too sweet and not too creamy...Good selection in terms of flavors and the cake is very moist. If you are not in a mood in cupcake, the cookies there are awsome.
Amazing Cupcakes. I don't really know what else to say or if there even is anything to say. Dulce de Leche cupcake, Amazing. Chocolate Raspberry, Amazing. There are so many different flavors and they are all amazing. Oh and did I mention that the are tiny cute little things. They are like bite size. You just pop the little bugger in your mouth and experience the explosion of sweet delicateness.
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Leda's bake shop almost killed me. Well, actually, let me rephrase that. It was actually my fault. I almost killed myself today because of Leda's amazingly delicious baked delicacies. I'll explain...
I had been waiting for an excuse to stop by ever since I'd read about their vegan offerings in VegNews and on Yelp. Finally, I had a work event in the valley this morning. Normally, the thought of driving there sends chills down my spine, but Leda's provided me with enough divine motivation to make the trek. I easily found some street parking, and walked in. I say "I'm a vegan. I've heard great things", and the nice woman behind the counter immediately hooks me up with some samples of the vegan brownies, almond cookies and snickerdoodles. I was originally only going to buy a few mini Vanilla Coconut cupcakes (AMAZING, btw), but the snickerdoodles are cruelty-free baked good crack, so I bought a bag, too.
I hop back in my car, and get on the 101 at Woodman Ave. As I'm merging on, I hear a small voice calling out to me from my passenger's seat, "Jenn...eat us. Just one more! We're deeeeelicous!". "Oh, snickerdoodles...you're so right", I think. As I'm grabbing the bag and trying to open them, I look up and notice I'm about to miss the exit for the 405 S. Chaos ensues as I attempt to make it to the exit in time. I'm really sorry to all of those drivers that I cut off, and thank you for not slamming into me. But I'm sure if you try some Leda's baked heaven, you'll forgive me.
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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!
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had a biz mtg in universal city ...as i'm driving there i start to realize, little traffic i'm gonna be early...what do i do....oh yeah...buy cupcakes at leda's !!!! i've been to leda's 3 times ...it's such a cool place - i honestly can't say whether or not they are the best cupcakes - i've been to auntie em's, dots, dainties, violet's, sprinkles etc etc ( and in vegas - cupcakery, mad hatter and another place who;s the name escapes me ) and for the most part they are all good but for me leda's and violet's are my fav because the service is great, they have great attitudes ...you want them to succeed ( it appears they are !! )
i give leda's a slight nod because they have other options and of course...THEY HAVE ALOT OF SAMPLES...YUMMY !!!
on this trip actually focused on buying cupcakes for my sis - she did a few favs for me last week so i bought about a dozen - i love the concept of a bite sized cupcake ...a lil pricey but hey ...she deserves it !!
great place
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I've followed up on this bakery for over a year until I actually made the drive over there. It was well worth the drive and traffic for 2 dozen cupcakes + chocolate chip cookie + lemon bar.
Leda's really hit the spot for me since their cupcakes weren't as sweet as I thought. The balance between the cake and the frosting was terrific. The cupcake literally melts in your mouth, and you can't help but grab another one. It took so much patience to wait until after dinner to try the cute cakes.
My all time favs were the strawberry, red velvet, & Passion fruit.
This is a must try!!
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!!!
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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.
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Leda's is spectacular! I always get an assortment of mini cupcakes to go, but their cookies and bread are fantastic too! I am a carb addict so I can only indulge once in a while, but the drive to the valley is worth the yummy treats you can get there.
my own personal heaven. why? vegan cupcakes oh my!
so why not 5 stars? cause they are tiny!
I ate 4 quarter size cupcakes and felt myself wanting more. Leda, be honest with yourself...vegans don't get stuff like this all the time so when we do, we want to keep eating! make bigger cupcakes.
oh kira said the non-vegan cupcakes were good. she liked the frosting on the regular and kids versions. kids version = no buttercream.
YUM. I want to get cupcakes for breakfast tomorrow. i will marry the man who brings me these cupcakes for breakfast in bed.
Can we say cupcake Holy Grail? Because that's what Leda's Bake Shop is to me. I was let down by my last cupcake foray at another place in Studio City, so I was willing to make a farther trek down Ventura to test out Leda's. I'm glad I did-- my Velvet cupcake was sooo moist and fresh, just the right amount of chocolate and hint of vanilla. The frosting was cream cheese! The minute I walked in I was greeted by a genuinely friendly clerk who asked what I needed today. I was impressed by the display of nummy baked goods (oh, why can't my metabolism be super forgiving to me?) and how they all had sample bites readily available to try. My $3 cupcake was nicely packed up in a little box with a sticker and I went home happy. They even have some inviting seating out front and a couple seats inside. I will definitely return!
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We popped into the vegan bakery after consulting Yelp for places to find snacks in the Valley.
The best part of the cutesy store are the samples of scones, cookies, and other baked goods for your enjoyment. Across-the-board, the scones ranked highest with flavors such as ginger, cranberry-orange, and black currant. They were crumbly and not too dry. The vegan brownies also seemed to be a hot item and I could see why, given that vegan chocolates tend to be very rich (if that's your style).
We couldn't resist the cupcakes, which were displayed as the tour de force of the store. We ordered both the Velvet and the Strawberry (vegan), though both were a bit sugary for being so tiny. The Strawberry vegan cupcake was a bit denser than the Velvet and we were disappointed that the latter wasn't a red velvet cupcake. Also, you have to let them sit for about five minutes, since the icing hardens in the refrigerated case. Five minutes is 300 seconds too long for instant gratification.
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This place is great. The service was super friendly, the cupcakes are beautiful and adorably decorated, there are little samples of all sorts of things for you to try.
I can't believe the velvet cupcake I tried was actually vegan - they managed to get the frosting to taste quite cream-cheesy without actually using any dairy at all!!!!!! Blows my mind.
I got a half dozen to take home for me and my boy --- we'll be eating them later. This place definitely tries for some unique flavors, too, which I definitely appreciate- my friend loved the passionfruit cupcake, and I'm sure my boy will love the coconut lime!
BONUS: b-list celeb Seth Green was eating next door, so we got to watch him load his date and dad? into his prius. hahaha. Ohhh, the valley.
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?
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After 9 cupcakes in NYC, I'm branching out to other cities. I have a list of cupcake bakeries to try in LA but Leda's happened to be on the way home from another function while out with the fam. I am all about the mini cupcakes. They taste delicious and you don't have to feel as guilty. Leda's also has presentation down. I loved the display case with all the little cute cupcakes. Perfectly iced, with a touch of flare on top. Also a fan of the variety of flavors. Coconut lime, vegan velvet, dulce de leche, and chocolate peanut butter are 4 I remember. And the buttercream frosting was the perfect consistency and flavor.
However, even better than their cupcakes, are Leda's cookies. The shop had several out as samples and I tried the snickerdoodle and ginger cookies. Moist and delicious. Sorry Grandma, Leda's has you beat.
My mom was looking through their cake photo book and though their cakes looked like they were covered in fondant, the owner informed us that actually they are only covered in a perfect layer of buttercream with fondant accents. As good as fondant cakes look, fondant itself isn't all that tasty, so it's nice to see a bakery that takes a different route.
I'm only taking off a star b/c Leda's is on the expensive side. $1.50 is OK for a cupcake but these are SMALL cupcakes. I've paid everywhere from $1.50 - $3.50 for cupcakes and consider $3 too much for a normal size cupcake. Also $4.75 for a dozen very mini cookies is also a bit steep. That being said, I'm going back for more!
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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)
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I just went to this cute little cupcake shop today. The cupcakes were moist and had good flavor. The velvet (most commonly referred to as red velvet) was the best there that I tasted. The cream cheese frosting was very good and the flavoring on the cupcake was excellent. I also got mini cupcakes of the vanilla, triple chocolate and lemon. On those flavors, I was a little disappointed in the frosting, seeing how the frosting is the best part. Not as dense as I like my buttercream, but still very flavorful. The vanilla was my second favorite.
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When you're vegan and get the cupcake crazies, what's a girl to do?
Most places don't carry vegan cupcakes, or you can order ahead: minimum 2 dozen(they're so cheap why not/or who needs 24 cupcakes?); but Leda's has three vegan flavors...everyday! Yay! Yay! Yay! (insert cute and crazy cupcake dance here)
I love the mini sizes because I can have all three flavors and no guilt. However, my husband was admittedly dismayed and felt even the regular sizes seemed like minis. Men.
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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...
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I went to Leda's on Saturday morning to scrounge up some of the famous vegan baked goods.
We took home 6 cupcakes (strawberry/vanilla, chocolate/chocolate & velvet), one large snickerdoodle, and one large brownie for a total of $14. While that price sounds good at first glance, those cupcakes are wee! Super good, yes -- but tiny! And not so cheap!
The women behind the counter were very friendly. They pulled one of the flavors of cupcakes out from the back for us since they hadn't yet been placed on display. They gave us helpful instructions for how to properly store the cupcakes in case we wanted to save a few for later.
The vegan stuff here is definitely delicious. I'd give Leda's 5 stars except for the price point.
Oh Leda's you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, hey Leda's!
When my aunt brought out her homemade honey cake on the first evening of Rosh Hashana I asked if it had been made with eggs. My uncle replied that of course she had used eggs, or else it wouldn't taste good, that no cake could taste good without eggs. I took that as a challenge to prove him wrong.
For the second night of Rosh Hashana I busted out with 2 dozen mini vegan cupcakes from Leda's Bake Shop and proceeded to rock my egg eating family's world. I got two flavors, the velvet cake (their version of red velvet cake without the artificial red) and peanut butter-vanilla. Both were fabulous and moist and rich and delicious. I like the tiny little size, about two hearty bites worth each, which allows you to try out a couple of flavors without filling up or pigging out. Unless of course you keep all 24 of them for yourself. I had read all the raving reviews about Leda's and am very pleased to report back that it's definitely all that, and then some. They also have vegan scones, brownies and cookies. Quite an indulgence.
Note: the bakery is not entirely vegan, but the vegan stuff is clearly marked.
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.