Sprinkles What? Sprinkles Who?!

Dainties
11058 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA

Ah, yeah! It's all about the cream.

Hidden behind Winchell's, one block east of Sepulveda on Santa Monica, is Dainties with the best cupcakes Delicacheena has ever tasted.....at least for now.

At $3 a pop, most cupcakes would not be worth it--Dainties is. The bakery, which developed from a catering company, sticks to the batter they perfected: moist chocolate. Each cupcake is dipped in ganache and then injected and topped with flavored, fresh whipped cream. There are ten daily flavors. On a Thursday, we used our KCRW certificate for a free half dozen (hey, that's only two per person): banana, tiramisu, strawberry, caramel, vanilla bean, peanut butter.

The dainties are easily transported in a blue and white stripped box with a slot for each cupcake. We decided to tackle the generous-sized desserts in the packed order, alternating delicate and strong flavors.

The banana, oh, the banana, was topped with a banana slice. Yes, there are three bananas in that sentence because the essence of perfectly ripened fruit enveloped our taste buds.

It got better.

UE declared that the tiramisu was even better than the real thing--chocolaty with a jolt of espresso. We found with each cupcake, the ganache gave the tops a nice slightly chewy bite, like the edge pieces from a pan of brownies.

Then we sank our teeth into number three topped with a slice of strawberry and chocolate shavings. Inexplicably even better than the first two. Who needs ice cream when you have whipped cream that tastes like sun-kissed summer?

And caramel is no Kraft brand cubes; it's buttery, homemade melted sugar goodness. We cleared our palette with pure vanilla, flecked with vanilla bean from Madagascar. INK would almost give up ice cream if all whipped cream was like this.

We ended with a peanut butter bang! Topped with chopped peanuts, not waxy candy sprinkles, this cupcake is how chocolate and peanut butter were meant to be together. How can it be this rich and soothing, without being too heavy?

Quite content and quite full, we were planning our next visit in order to indulge in all the other flavors. There's coconut and New York cheesecake, Crème De Menthe and mango, Nutella, green tea. . . Good thing they're closed on Sundays.