Porto’s Bakery

Unfortunately, I’ll be leaving for Northwestern Tuesday (my summer is officially over), so this will be my last post on the SFVguide…for now.  I hope you enjoyed reading my reviews and checking out these restaurants.  I’ve got to say that it’s been a lot of fun discovering new places to eat and things to do, and it definitely made my summer more exciting.

This is one of the posts I am MOST excited for. Why? Because it brings back such good memories of a delightful brunch I had.  And looking at these pictures just gets me hungry again.

Porto’s Bakery has two locations: Burbank and Glendale.   I went to the famous bakery in Burbank and it was a LOT bigger than I imagined it to be. Inside the Spanish-style of the building, there is a snake of a line leading up to glass cases filled with the most delicious-looking pastries.  There was also a dining area that was filled with people carrying their bakery boxes to sit down and eat with a cup of coffee.

Porto’s is a Cuban-style bakery that has been in Glendale for over 35 years serving specialty cakes, pastries, desserts and even sandwiches.

The long line moved quickly and before I knew it, we reached the glass cases before I could decide what I wanted.  Oh my goodness. The choices were overwhelming…cakes, red velvet cupcakes, fruit tarts, rolls, creme brulee, cookies, and all different types of pastries!  However, my research and the advice from friends was to head straight for the potato balls and cheese rolls because they were Porto’s best.

Potato Balls

The Potato Balls were different than I expected – they were fried potatoes with a savory meat interior.  They are delicious to eat piping hot and the flavors juiced out with each bite.  I soon realized that ordering one potato ball per person was definitely not a good idea, I wanted more after I finished.

Refugiado - guava and cheese pastry

We also orderd the refugiado, which is a guava and cheese pastery.  It might seem a little strange because guava’s not a fruit you typically see in a fruit pastry, but this little number proves that it should be.  It’s the perfect mix of tart sweet (guava), creamy sweet (sweet cheese) and flaky sweet (the pastry).

cheese roll

The cheese rolls from Porto’s are made to perfection with delicate flaky pastry coated with a sugared glazed and filled with sweet cheese, sort of like a Danish.  It leaves your fingers all sticky, but the constancy of the thin pastry combined with a smooth sweet cheese creates a wonderful texture.

Pear Danish

I also loved the Pear Danish, which actually had half of a peeled pear in the center of the pastry, surrounded by sweet cheese.  All this made me wish we had ordered more savory pastries, but hey, you live and you learn right?

I really want to go back and try all the different goodies that I wasn’t able to try the first time, because everything looked so, SO delicious.  Porto’s, you have a new biggest fan.

Locations:  Glendale – 315 North Brand Blvd, Glendale, CA 91203

Burbank – 3614 W Magnolia Blvd, Burbank, CA 91505

Hello, cupcake!

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while, I’ve started teaching summer English classes (to pay for all the meals I’ve been buying).  I know, I know, that’s no excuse, but to make up for the lack of posts, I present to you a very delicious post.

Ever since Sprinkles cupcakes became the new big thing in LA, these bite-size desserts have been all the craze.  The cupcake phenomenon is similar to the fro-yo trend I posted about last month… after Sprinkles, it seems like cupcake shops are becoming a more and more frequent sight.  And here in the Valley, we have our own old-fashion bakery: SusieCakes in Calabasas.

Located across the Commons in the Courtyard at the Commons, SusieCakes (one word) calls itself “An All-American Bake Shop.” Take a step inside, and you’ll be greeted by the warm smells of freshly-baked cakes and pies.  The small bakery holds a few tables and a window into the kitchen, however it’s hard to take notice anything but the rows of decadent cupcakes, pies, and layer cakes tempting you from under the glass display case.

SusieCakes first opened in the summer of 2006 in Brentwood and the Calabasas shop opened at the end of 2007.  It is reminiscent of a 50′s-era bakery with desserts baked fresh everyday created in the old-fashion way – everything baked on site in small batches from scratch and no artificial preservatives, said general manager Becca Coffman.

I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside the bakery, so this was taken back at home, and yes, the Red Velvet pictured is half-eaten, I couldn't wait.

Their most famous cupcake is their award-winning Red Velvet cupcake, pictured above.  After buying the cupcake, I was planning on saving it to share with my parents, but on the whole car ride home, I couldn’t help but scrape off the AMAZING cream cheese frosting.  Maybe I lack discipline, but more likely, the frosting is just simply irresistible.  I’ve talked to friends who tell me their Red Velvet is better than the one at Sprinkles (I’ll be honest, I’ve never been) and I don’t doubt them.  Although at first $3 seemed a lot to pay for such a small cake,  the quality definitely made up for the quantity.  This was an amazing experience.

A half-melted Strawberry-filled cupcake

The summer special is a cupcake with strawberries baked into the cupcake and topped with its smooth frosting.  It’s funny because since I was in kindergarten, I’ve always hated frosting – it just seemed to always get in the way of the good stuff.  But with SusieCakes, the frosting IS the good stuff.  The above picture really doesn’t give the cupcakes justice because it was taken on a hot hot day, so the frosting was melting in my hand.  For real mouth-watering pictures, check out SusieCakes’s site.

Cupcakes cost $3 each while 6″ layer cakes come in at $33 and 9″ at $46.  They also make custom layer cakes that can be designed to your liking (think Ace of Cakes..)

Location: 23653 Calabasas Rd. Calabasas, CA