Bon Voyage, Kirby!

This week, we prepare to send our Owner and Pastry Chef Kirby off to Italy!

One of the many gorgeous views -- pic from Culture Discovery

Wow, Italy? That's right, our very own Kirby will be getting back to her Italian roots as she heads to Soriano to be a guest chef at Culture Discovery Vacations. She will be teaching guests how to create sweet culinary delights at the gorgeous 18th century villa in Soriano. Culture Discovery is an amazing life experience for all who attend. Founded in 2006, they offer cooking vacations that steep the attendee in the lush culinary culture of Italy including Tuscany, Umbria, and Sicily. Now they add the Kirby touch--lucky vacationers! (And not too bad of a gig for Kirby, right?)

All they need is Kirby! (pic from Culture Discovery)

Kirby is no stranger to teaching. She has done numerous classes at Whole Foods, showing customers how to create delicous tarts, bars, and more. Whenever she does a class at Whole Foods, the space is packed with customers eager to learn her tricks and tips.

Time for a class on tarts!

So that's all for this week. We're so excited to send our Kirby off to Italy! Hopefully she'll bring us back some Limoncello. Have a great time, Kirby! We'll miss you, hurry home!

*What pastry classes would you like to see Kirby teach? Sound off on our Facebook page or tweet us!



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The Oviatt Penthouse

This past weekend we had the pleasure of providing desserts for two weddings at one of our favorite venues, The Oviatt Penthouse in Downtown Los Angeles.

Dessert Table at the Oviatt Penthouse

The Oviatt Penthouse is atop the James Oviatt Building, an Art Deco highrise in Downtown Los Angeles. Built in 1927 on Olive Street, the Oviatt Building is designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.   The Penthouse, once the private residence of James Oviatt, is an amazing place to have an event. It boasts details like Lalique light fixtures, arched hallway ceilings, the art deco bar in the dining room...even the elevator is a work of art. From the moment you step inside the lobby on the first floor it's like going back to the 1930s.

The Penthouse at Night (Photo by Roxy A @ Truly Yours Catering)

Outside, the terrace is equally inviting with a tiled fountain and wrought iron arabesques. The atmosphere is magical during the day and even more so at night with the 360-degree views of Los Angeles.

Pies round out the table --everyone loves pie!

The exclusive caterer for the Oviatt is Truly Yours Catering, a company we are so grateful to have worked with over the past couple of years. For information and to see some amazing pictures check out the Oviatt's website. We often run specials for brides in conjunction with Truly Yours' bridal mixers. (Keep updated on our Facebook page!)

A simple yet elegant tower of cake, cakepops and cupcakes

Dessert tables have a special place in our hearts. They are the ultimate in custom wedding desserts. A bride can have something for everyone and have something different at the same time. Guest can enjoy cake, pie, cupcakes, and it's all their choice. Partygoers love going to the dessert table to pick out their favorite treat.

A plate of  nostalgia: Mini Kirbycakes!

A dessert table can be made for any kind of event and works with many budgets. Check out more of our sweet displays at our Facebook page and while you're there, tell us what is on YOUR dream dessert table!

Tempting Ruffle Cake flanked by exquisite macarons and decadent brownies

Until next week--stay sweet!



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What's a Kirbycake?

We have been busier than ever this week (thank you wonderful customers!) preparing for weddings and event orders, but let's take a break from the hustle and bustle to take a look at our favorite new sweet treat.

Last week I promised some words about the fabulous Kirbycake, so here we go. We have a love for nostalgic desserts here at Friandise. Many of you have had our "Classic Lunchbox" cupcake at the Farmer's Market. It is a throwback to the 2-pack of cupcakes from Hostess we used to enjoy as kids.

So Kirby decided to make another classic treat, but Kirbystyle. Remember Ding Dongs? So do we! Kirby used Red Velvet cake to sandwich cream cheese frosting with a bit of boysenberry jam inside. Then she dipped it in yummy imported dark chocolate and voila! A star was born, namely the Red Kirby. The snack we all loved as kids was reborn as a red velvet masterpiece. And since they're made so well by Kirby, we decided to call them Kirbycakes.

Dipped Kirbycakes awaiting their foil wrappers

We also decided to make it Classic style. Chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream in the middle, enrobed in chocolate. There's nothing boring about the Classic Kirby--it's amazing.

A tray of Kirbycakes at a show--these sold out quickly!

Since one of our housemade specialties is salted caramel, you know we had to do this as well. For the Salty Kirby, under that smooth chocolate coating you'll find vanilla cake sandwiching salted caramel and caramel buttercream.

A Salty Kirby being devoured

The Kirbycake has quickly become one of our most popular items. Brides have ordered mini Kirbycakes for dessert displays. Coffee house around town** sell dozens to their their clientele. Jennifer sells dozens every Thursday at the Farmer's Market in Century City. And when we sell at events--guess what the crowd favorite is? Yes, Kirbycakes! We're also happy to say that Kirbycakes can be special ordered ($3 for each foil-wrapped delight) along with all of the amazing other goodies on our menu. Just shoot us an email!

We're always dreaming up new flavors for Kirbycakes--what's your dream Kirbycake flavor? Let us know on our Facebook wall or send us a Tweet!

That's all for now. Have a sweet week!

**[UPDATE 11/16]: Kirbycakes are available at Say Cheese, Jumpcut Cafe, Echo Lake Coffee Co., Marie et Cie, and The Shack at Bel Air Bar & Grill(Moraga & Sepulveda). You can also order a big Kirbycake as a dessert at The Federal Bar!

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Summer is coming, are you ready to get your sweet on?

Summer is upon us once again. For bakeries this can be a very busy time as we enter what they call "high wedding season". At Friandise, that certainly fits the bill. Kirby has been booking weddings left and right. (Don't worry brides, she still has some room on the calender!)

Last month we had the pleasure to do some weddings at one of our favorite venues, The Oviatt Penthouse. It is a very unique venue in Downtown Los Angeles and we've gotten to create some equally unique cakes for it. Here are a couple we enjoyed working on recently:

 Wedding cake at the Oviatt Penthouse

 Wedding cake with streetlamp accent at Oviatt Penthouse

Ah summer...it's a great time for any outdoor celebration. We had the pleasure of making some wonderful cakes and sweets for parties and gifts.

 Custom-decorated birthday cake

Custom-decorated baseball cakepops for Eastbound & Down

In closing, we'd like to share some good news:

We also had the joy of incorporating a move into our busy schedule. That's right, Friandise has a new home in La Crescenta, CA. We are now at the in-store bakery at Cordon's Ranch Market on Honolulu Avenue. In the coming weeks we'll be offering our petite sweets at Cordon's. You'll soon be able to stop in and shop for the best treats in town. In the meantime, we are taking special orders for cakes, cupcakes, macarons, cakepops, Kirbycakes* and more! Our menu is right here.


*What's a Kirbycake, you ask? Check back next week!

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Victorian Gothic Wedding Dessert Table

Oftentimes, when someone tells you she's getting married, thoughts turn to white dresses, ethereal decorations, and string quartets at a country club. But since we're so close to All Hallows' Eve, let's take a departure from the well-traveled path. Our resident Lady of the Dark, Cheryl, created this macabre dessert table for the bride who wishes to wear black lace (or leather!) to her nuptials. She combined traditional goodies with elegant decor that will bring even the pickiest vampire out of the shadows for a petite sweet.

Victorian Gothic Wedding Dessert Table

Exquisite treats like macarons and a gorgeous lace-flower detailed cake are laid out with irresistible goodies that take us back to our teenage nights of watching scary movies and making popcorn. The dark side has a sweet side and yes, it's hard to decide on just one--so try it all!

Macabre Macarons

Popcorn Balls

Spiderwebbed Rice Krispie Treats

Caramel Apples and Dipped Pretzels

A cake for the most beautiful corpse bride...

This table was such a delight to create--Victorian, Gothic, Baroque..all of these styles hold so much elegance and beauty, but also a sense of drama and dreaminess that we just can't resist. It was such a treat to gather our darker decorations to bring this wedding dessert table together.

Until next time, stay your sweet selves!


Photo credit: Aaron Lucy www.aaronlucyphoto.com

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Vintage Woodland Wedding Dessert Display

Here at Friandise, we think there's nothing quite like a brilliant dessert display to bring a wonderful event together. We've decided it's our favorite way to express the joy at any celebration. We like to use our senses of space and style to lay out Kirby's  gorgeous delectable petite sweets to bring together displays that are really more of a multi-sensory adventure than just a plate of sweets. For this wedding display we wanted to take you to a different time and place when you walk up to the table-- in this case somewhere like a party at a Swiss chalet--woodsy, a little sweet, and elegant all the way.

Vintage Woodland Wedding Dessert Display

Desserts are hand-selected with taste and theme in mind. For the Vintage Woodland Wedding display, Kirby crafted old-school favorites like chocolate chip cookies and apple pie (in a jar!), offered alongside trendier selections like custom-tinted cakepops and Parisian macarons--which by the way, are one of her specialties. Holding court amidst the well-appointed table is a selection of mini-cupcakes and a ruffle-iced cake.

Did I mention we love putting together displays?--we get the fun of customizing a table to the party to create a special occasion for all as well as the opportunity to delight everyone with a variety of Kirby's mouthwatering creation!. We love getting creative and giving a wedding or party that "wow" factor.

Delicately sweet and chewy macarons tempt us all...

A jar of classic chocolate chip cookies tempts kids young and old...

Time-honored apple pie--in jars!

All-the-rage cakepops

And they lived happily ever after ...

We're so proud of this Vintage Woodland Wedding dessert table! It's refreshing, tempting, and just fun to stand and admire before you reach out for the perfect treat.

Next up, Gothic Victoria shows her sweet side!

Photo Credit: Aaron Lucy www.aaronlucyphoto.com

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Friandise Pastries gets starstruck--in a good way!

We have had a very exciting month here at Friandise Pastries!

On Friday June 3 and Saturday June 4 we had the privilege of  being invited to share our petite sweets with the guests of Platinum Publicity's 2011 Hollywood Platinum Lounge. Platinum Publicity puts on great events to gift celebs and this lounge was in honor of The Red Cross and the MTV Movie Awards which were held on Sunday June 5. Also at the event, The Red Cross filmed a new PSA, "Prepare LA".

Kirby at the Friandise Pastries table!

What an amazing time we had! We had the pleasure of gifting the stars and Hollywood VIPS with our Cupcakes, Parisian Macarons, Cake Pops, and Top-Shelf Cookies.

We gave out plenty of Red Velvet and Vanilla Salted Caramel Cupcakes, but the biggest buzz was over our new Tequila Sunrise Cupcake--orange cake soaked in tequila liqueur topped with a grenadine buttercream--wow! There were many oohs and aahs over our Parisian Macarons, which are notoriously difficult to make. (Unless you're Kirby--we call her the Mac Master!) Cake Pops were an instant favorite--who can resist our Kirby's cake on a stick?

 Leslie David Baker from "The Office" stopping by to enjoy our treats!

You've heard of the bacon buzz currently going around..well, we kept that buzz going at the Trend Lounge with our Maple Bacon Pecan Cookies! Seems like EVERYONE had to try one- and everyone loved the blend of savory bacon and maple--just like eating breakfast in a rich cookie.

 Frankie Muniz ("Malcolm in the Middle") enjoying our Red Velvet Cupcake!

All in all, the 2011 MTV Movie Awards Platinum Lounge was a huge hit and we had a great time being there! More pics to follow...

Last week, we had a promotion go live on Bloomspot.com. In case you haven't checked out Bloomspot, it's an amazing site that brings you killer local deals on  a daily basis. Our promotion has closed, but you can see see the write-up here: http://www.bloomspot.com/los-angeles/friandise-pastries/ . We had a tremendous reponse! Thanks to all those who took advantage of the amazing deals offered. If you missed it, not to worry--we will have more to come. Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Like our Facebook page to be kept updated!

That's all for now--we have a very special wedding to prepare for this week. Check back soon for more updates!

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