Cracked cookies served at Red Bread. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Like most of Rose Lawrence’s breads and pastries, her loaves of rye are leavened with her sourdough mother, which makes them tangy and robust. $7. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Detail of bread display at Red Bread. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Pastry display at the Sycamore Kitchen. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Salted caramel pecan babka roll is a swirled dome of sweet yeast dough rolled up with toasted pecans and crème fraîche and brown sugar that becomes a sticky caramel. $3.50. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Bread Lounge in downtown Los Angeles. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Bradley Davis makes brownies at Bread Lounge in downtown Los Angeles. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Frederic Laski, owner of Chaumont Bakery & Cafe in Beverly Hills, helps customers with eclairs and tarts at Chaumont. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
A fig tart on display at Chaumont Bakery & Cafe in Beverly Hills. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Chocolate tarts on display at Chaumont Bakery & Cafe in Beverly Hills. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
At Chaumont, Frederic Laski’s Paris-inspired Beverly Hills patisserie, the eclairs are bountiful, filled with lush chocolate, pistachio, vanilla, coffee or raspberry custards. $3.80. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Pastry display at Euro Pane Bakery & Cafe in Pasadena. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Country bead at Euro Pane Bakery & Cafe in Pasadena. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Euro Pane has a perfectly balanced lemon bar -- not too tart, not too sweet, not too eggy, with the just-right ratio of filling to crust. $2.35. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Oh My Pan in San Gabriel. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Green tea with black sesame cupcakes served at Oh My Pan in San Gabriel. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
The simple taro buttercream bun at Oh My Pan, a bustling San Gabriel bakery, is a don’t-miss. $1.40. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Blueberry danishes served at Oh My Pan in San Gabriel. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Pastry case and customer inside McCall’s Meat & Fish in Loz Feliz. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Pastry chef Karen Yoo decorates chocolate macarons with a Halloween motif at McCall’s Meat & Fish. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Lemon tarts on display at McCall’s Meat & Fish. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Chocolate caramel tarts on display at McCall’s Meat & Fish. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Tiramisu on display at McCall’s Meat & Fish. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
The Breton pastry kouign amann at Karen Yoo’s bakery-inside-a-butcher-shop is extra caramelized, over-the-top buttery and super flaky. $4. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Manager Leonardo Momplet, behind the counter, helps a customer at Semi Sweet Bakery in downtown Los Angeles. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Owner Sharlena Fong torching Ding a Lings at Semi Sweet Bakery in downtown L.A. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
A crème brûlée crullant served at Semi Sweet Bakery in downtown Los Angeles. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Blueberry cornbread on display at Semi Sweet Bakery in downtown Los Angeles. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
The Ding A Lings at Semi Sweet Bakery come in flavors such as hazelnut crunch or raspberry. $2.50 to $2.95. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Valerie Gordon preparing a gluten-free chocolate cake at Valerie Confections. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Toffee is cut into squares on the kitchen table at Valerie Confections. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Toffee on the kitchen table at Valerie’s Confections. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
A delicious, gluten-free (not flourless) chocolate layer cake is made with buckwheat flour. In between the layers is a milk chocolate ganache, and covering the whole thing is a bittersweet chocolate glaze. Served with slightly sweetened crème fraîche. $55 for a 9-inch cake. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Pastry case at La Mascota Bakery in Boyle Heights. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
The hand-shaped concha (“seashell”) at La Mascota has a sugary crust with crumbles-in-your-mouth crispiness. The interior is fluffy, soft and sweet. Mini concha, 25 cents; regular, 40 cents. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Pastry display at Milo & Olive. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Seasonal fruit -- at the end of summer it was apricots, and for the next several weeks, pears -- and pastry cream are layered on top of yeasted laminated kouign amann dough. $5.50 per slice. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Peach vanilla tart served at Milo & Olive. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Baklava in a display case at Ara’s Pastry in Hollywood. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Pain au Raisin from Bouchon Bakery in Beverly Hills. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Portrait of Joan McNamara of Joan’s on Third in her cafe/marketplace Joan’s on Third. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
Baker making jelly rolls at Porto’s Bakery in Glendale. (Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)
Customers look at the meat pies and pick out their favorites. (Richard Derk / Los Angeles Times)
The fig oat cake featured at Proof Bakery in the Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
The croissants go fast at this Atwater Village favorite. They smell and taste of creamy butter. Plain croissant, $2.75. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Straus yogurt blueberry muffins from Short Cake at Farmers Market. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
