Hansen's Cakes - Los Angeles

I don't know much about this place, but they have photos of celebrities cutting their cakes. 

Their cupcakes are only $1.50, and impossible to resist in these days of massive inflation. 

They have so many flavors; apple pie is fun, sprinkles are a classic, and the blue velvet is whatever. I'd love for the cake part to not be the color of a swamp. All the cake parts are a little dry, but a better buttercream has never been. It's super sweet, but also so creamy, a great flavor that I'm wholeheartedly for. 

The inside isn't glamorous but it's what's inside the inside that counts. The cupcakes are cheap but they're tasty treats and fun, perfect for a post-Ethiopian dinner delight. 

SusieCakes - Woodland Hills

Cute, adorable, oh-so-pretty, but SO, SO sweet. Concentrated sugar, and a texture that's a little bit like Playdoh.

Here's an 8-pack for $38.50, they're tiny little cupcakes at nearly $5 each. The Strawberry Lemonade is seasonal, and I do love the chunks of roasted strawberry inside. The other flavors are standard flavors, and their copious use of food coloring doesn't make them any less full. Chocolate is chocolate, Chocolate Vanilla is that, and Vanilla is vanilla. Vanilla has the doughiest texture and taste, and dyeing the icing pink or blue doesn't change a thing. 

You can do worse in cupcakes, but these are nothing special and so overpriced! I could have made something better at home, and I only got them because Sprinkles couldn't deliver. Won't be making that mistake again. 

Smoky Hollow Baking - El Segundo

Dangerous. Very dangerous. A bakery of gourmet cupcakes calls to me across the street from my gym. They waft their delicious flavors across the way, and their colorful little cakes are just staring at me through the glass case, waiting for me to buy them all.

The Island is one of my favorites, thought they're all my faves. This one is sweet vanilla with a lighter buttercream and a single polka dot delivers a splash of lemon curd.

The Candy Bar is so much chocolate, peanut butter is icing on the cake, and the caramel ribbons channel a moist and fluffy Twix.

WTF Smoky Hollow? I finally find a workout I can stick to and don't hate and you build a bakery across the street to negate it. I'll get you, Smoky Hollow...and your little cupcakes too. 

Sprinkles Cupcakes ATM – Beverly Hills

Usually when you put your debit card into an ATM you get cash. When you put your debit card into the Sprinkles ATM, you get the perfect cupcake…with no sprinkles.

Unlike the random not-your-bank ATMs you’ve used, while Sprinkles does come with a 4-dollar ATM fee, you get a cupcake for your trouble. Most ATMs charge at least $2 anyway. Believe me, you want to double down for the picture-perfect Red Velvet Cupcake with the cute-as-a-button cream cheese icing on top.

Be careful about venturing to Sprinkles late at night. The only gunshots you’ll hear in Beverly Hills may be movie props, but that ATM is downright dangerous. All that sugar will get you high as a kite, and if you don’t crash soon enough, you’ll probably go back for seconds. And they’re open late. And if you go too many times you won’t have any money left to take out next time you go to your real ATM.