Essential Chocolate Desserts will make all of your ding dong fantasies come to life as they did with mine a few weeks back at their WestSide Pavillion retail location. Simply advertised as “A Ding Dong Tasting” to gourmands who follow Essential Chocolate Desserts, this particular monthly tasting event “sold-out” like its predecessors.





A modern version of the classic snack cake takes ding dongs to the upper echelon of the gourmet hand-held pastry world. With today bakeries and patisseries finding it difficult to fill the demand for innovative cakes and decadent treats as America’s sweet tooth aches for the next best thing; E-C-D is constantly evolving and this local Los Angeles company strives to be steps ahead of its confectionery competition and dessert trends here in Los Angeles.



Intro:

So you may be asking yourself, what exactly is a ding dong?
Simply put, to summarize Wikipedia, a A Ding Dong is a a 3 inch round chocolate cream filled moist snack cake encased in a chocolate glaze and commonly packaged in shinny foil.

The first Dong Dongs date back as far as the 1930’s and the original mass produced cakes were distributed by hostess in the 1960s.’

Now that you know the basis and understand the ding dong as a vehicle for confectionery consumption you will appreciate how Essential Chocolate Desserts puts their touch on this classic treat. Their hand-held cake now takes a S-Q-U-A-R-E form and is available in assorted flavors.



Location:

Essential Chocolate Desserts boasts two great locations here in Los Angeles
The Westside Pavilion location & Culver City Bakeshop are central to Angelinos looking for local socially conscious sweets and treats. Mail and internet ordering is also available if you don’t want to leave the house, but a visit to the shop will give you the entire Wonka experience.



About ECD:

Melissa Sanders and team from E-C-D have been making waves amongst the pastry community with their signature Gourmet Ding Dongs, Moon Pies, Cupcakes, and Brownies just to name a few. From catering weddings and LA events they also offer local retail and internet orders. Stay connected to their facebook events page for upcoming summer tasting events at both stores.



Menu:

Ding Dong Flavors. From Basic to Extreme! Listed below in order of consumption:



-Traditional Chocolate and Vanilla(Throwback to the OG ding dong)
-Espresso
-Orange poppy
-Coconut
-Tropical



With so many flavors in my mouth all flavors deserve applause with my favorites being the classic ding dong and the tropical pineapple upside down cake version(a perfect summer flavor).

Recap:



Keep informed to hear about more great tasting events from ECD. Reserve online or show up in person because you will not want to miss out. Essential Chocolate Desserts is the ultimate pastry boutique for Angelinos seeking a little something different than your average cupcake.



Contact:



Essential Chocolate Desserts at the Westside Pavilion
10800 Pico Blvd., Suite 167 (1st floor, across from Forever 21)
Los Angeles, CA
310-446-2181

Essential Chocolate Desserts at the Culver City
10868 West Washington Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 287-0699

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Welcome to Trivial Pursuit “Cheese and Sake” edition or at least that is how I felt last-week when I attended a round table tasting put on by none other than herself, Barrie Lynn, “The Cheese Impresario. So in the theme of this great American board-game, I will recount my sensory experience one category at a time.






Entertainment, Staring: The Cheese Impresario



Barrie Lynn, The Cheese Impresario, is a self proclaimed cheese entertainer that has been spreading her cheese knowledge one nibble at a time and has been educating and entertianing foodies for years via her monthly “Cheese Matters” column in The Beverly Hills Times, as well as many special event appearances nationwide. We met almost a year ago at Los Angeles Magazine’s From the Vine ’09 and have been talking cheese ever since.



When I got the invite to attend this cheese class I couldn’t say no. The premise for the class was to pair sake flavors with cheese with one goal in mind; to bring out Unami sensations with each bite.



History of Sake(background)



There is more to Sake than meets the eye. With a history that dates back over 2,000 years this fermented rice wine was once dubbed, “the drink of the gods” and continues to become a part of the beverage mainstream thanks to the creative folks behind Banzai Beverage Corporation. Our Sake insider, K. Inoue made us feel like we were in a Japanese Sake distillery with his factual spirit knowledge and he brought us up to date with all Sake happenings past-present and future. Each of the evenings pours embodied these elements. With far too much Sake knowledge to drop in one post, I will leave you with a few facts.

-Chinese characters are still on Japanese sake bottles as an homage to communication among the Japanese aristocracy.

-”Junmai” in Japanese referrs to premium

-Sake has 400 flavor points vs 200 flavor points for wine

A few Sake’s from Banzai’s extensive catalog that made guests appearances at the table were:

Yuzu Sake-Freshly Squeezed
Euphoria(Junmai Ginjo)
Plum Nectar Sake



What’s Sake without Cheese? They actually have more similarities than you think.



Science(of Cheese)



According to Barrie Lynn, Cheese is best if left out 1 to 1.5 hrs prior to consumption because the microbes in cheese are alive and these are the ideal conditions for maximum flavors. Both cheese and sake originate from similar types of Mold or Koji so it is only fitting to pair the two.

Geography (of featured cheeses),



There are many micro cheese purveyors located throughout Wisconsin. Not too far from where Trivial Pursuit originated behind the walls of Northern Plastics of Elroy, Wisconsin, lie a slew of independent family operated cheese purveyors such as “Hook “ and “Cook”.



Tony and Julie Hook run Hook’s cheese company and they run the operation themselves. Now that’s micro-production; but you wouldn’t tell from their robust 4 and 10 year Cheddar’s.

Sid Cook from Carr Valley Cheese Company brings a rock-star approach to his cheese making. Local milk and a great product has earned him the title “The Jimi Hendrix of Cheese.” Try “Airco” made with cow, sheep, and goat milk. You wont be disappointed by this award winning hickory-smoked Artisan cheese.



Its amazing how two unlikely foods and beverages can pair together so well. In fact, the entire evening was a perfect pairing in itself. Besides seeing some familiar faces and having a foodie experience with some great people in the industry, we learned new facts and consumption methods for cheese and sake and expanded our knowledge of both in a fun and relaxing atmosphere. We owe this all to the skills of Barrie Lynn and her team; Pauli Orchon from “Friends in High Places” and K. Inoue from Banzai Beverage Corporation for putting on this great event. I am already looking forward to Barrie Lynn’s next class.



*Photography by Lisa Robinson from Stone Orchard Pictures for providing these amazing smell-e-vision shots. Now that’s food for thought!


Schedule you next private cheese class today with Barrie Lynn, The Cheese Impresario

Comments Off | In: Tasty Treat | tags: banzai beverage company, cheese and sake pairing, friends in high places, the cheese impresario, trivial pursuit. | #

Yesterday I was at the Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax and had to take care of some errands and worked up a quite a sweet tooth. In the distance I saw the giant ice cream cone above Bennett’s Ice Cream and a sign with the heading of “Pumpkin Ice-Cream.” The sound of Pumpkin Ice Cream was too good to pass up so I ordered myself a cup of the tasty afternoon delight. The flavor has a nice hit of Pumpkin and is not too overpowering. It is a seasonal flavor so I am not sure how long it will be around. I urge you to get over to the Farmers Market at taste it for yourself this winter. Hopefully it stays around all winter long.



Bennett’s Ice Cream at the Farmers Market
6333 W. Third St.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 939-6786

No Comments | In: Tasty Treat | tags: Farmers Market LA, Halloween, Ice Cream at the Farmers Market at 3rd and Fairfax, Pumpkin, Winter Treat. | #