Sweet somethings

Can’t wait for next weekend’s strawberry festival in Oxnard to get your fix? No problem.

Providence

Pastry chef Adrian Vasquez loves the Moroccan spice blend ras el hanout, traditionally used to flavor savory dishes such as lamb. But Vasquez thinks it goes equally well with strawberries. So he accents a chilled saffron rice pudding made with arborio rice and topped with Gaviota berries from Harry’s Berries with a drizzle of ras el hanout syrup. He adds a scoop of fresh strawberry sorbet and a few pistachios for color and texture.

* Pudding, $12. 5955 Melrose Ave., L.A., (323) 460-4170.

Leaf Cuisine

Raw-food desserts don’t always work, but Leaf’s strawberry mousse torte is an exception. A crumbly crust -- made with dates, almonds and brazil nuts, and seasoned with cinnamon -- is filled with strawberry cashew cream and topped with strawberry sauce. The torte is served chilled and is available at the original Leaf location and its other two spots.

* Torte, $4.99. 11938 W. Washington Blvd., L.A., (310) 390-6005.

Sage on the Coast

Pastry chef Robert LeSage’s dreamy strawberry shortcake, made with a flaky, split buttermilk biscuit overflowing with sweet cream and macerated farmers market berries, is paired with a bowl of cool strawberry rhubarb soup. It’s the taste of summer, a little bit early.

* Shortcake and soup, $9. 7862 East Coast Highway, Newport Beach, (949) 715-7243.

Sweet Lady Jane

The most popular cake at this small bakery is the triple berry shortcake: a moist, light yellow cake layered with fresh whipped cream and heaps of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. You need not order an entire cake to partake; you can swing by for a slice, day or night. Jane also serves a small selection of sandwiches at lunchtime.

* Slice of cake, $6.75. 8360 Melrose Ave., L.A. (323) 653-7145.

The Lobster

David James, the new pastry chef at this seaside seafood specialist, is doing a number of appealing finales. Among them: a suave buttermilk panna cotta topped with a thin later of berry gelee and a salad of diced berries flavored with vanilla and mint. Next comes a scoop of strawberry sorbet. Strawberry times three, in other words. Lemon sandwich cookies are served alongside.

* Panna cotta, $9. 1602 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 458-9294.