Desserts

Like a Hollywood ingenue, cupcakes have been exposed every which way -- high-end and low, fancy and down-home. But unlike those pretty young things, the cupcake's time in the sun goes on and on. Cupcakes may seem so 2004, but these little paper-clad stars just keep soaking in the love. "They're even more popular. I think it's just going to continue," says Nichelle Stephens, who with two friends runs a blog called Cupcakes Take the Cake.

Let's face it, cupcakes are fun. Familiar, colorful and oh-so-cute, these whimsical little cakes are famous for full-on flavor and mile-high frosting. And don't forget the decorations. Best of all? They're small enough that you don't have to share. It's no wonder that cupcakes seem to turn up at everything from backyard barbecues to formal weddings.

Think about homemade ice cream, creamy and cold and full of fresh fruit flavor. Think about ice cream so light it seems to float off the spoon. Think about ice cream that comes to the table not in cute little scoops, but a good 5 inches deep, so tall it towers above the dish. You're not thinking about ice cream at all; you're thinking about a frozen souffle. Now you're never going to catch me saying anything bad about ice cream, particularly the homemade kind.

Rivera restaurant: The Early Bird column in Monday's Calendar section about the restaurant Rivera in downtown Los Angeles gave the wrong menu and pricing information. The correct information is: Tidbits and snacks, $3 to $5; appetizers and tapas, $9 to $36; larger plates, $19 to $35; sides, $4; desserts, $7.

TASTING trips to Vienna, Tokyo and London. Late-night chats over homemade sourdough doughnuts and coffee ice cream with Julia Child. Red carpet snapshots with Hollywood stars toting a perfectly coiffed edible Oscar in one hand, a real one in the other. This is the life of pastry chef Sherry Yard. In her latest book, "Desserts by the Yard," the Los Angeles-based executive pastry chef for Wolfgang Puck Worldwide tells the story of her career through desserts.

SOFT and billowy or sweet and crisp, meringue is a chameleon in the kitchen: Use it as a dessert topping, a magic mix-in that gives rise to dense cakes, even as cookie-like crumbles that lend crunch to all sorts of pastry-chef creations. It's made of modest ingredients -- stiffly beaten egg whites and sugar at its most basic -- and with seemingly endless variations it changes shape, volume and texture, bending to the will of its maker.

EVERYTHING seems to taste exponentially better when seasoned with fresh air and stars -- and smoke -- and maybe because it's unexpected, this is especially true of dessert. So after the grilled burgers or lamb, the chicken or ribs, why not keep those coals glowing a little longer? Grilling deliciously caramelizes spears of juicy pineapple that have been brushed with a sweet and creamy rum glaze.

It's frozen. It's sour yet sweet. It's dispensed in a twist. But is Pinkberry \o7really \f7yogurt? That's the uncomfortable question swirling this week around the uber-trendy, Los Angeles-based chain that has attracted legions of calorie-counting, yoga mat-toting devotees and spawned a spate of imitators. "Crackberry" addicts, prepare for your favorite dessert to take a licking from California Department of Food and Agriculture officials. Their answer: Nogurt.

Laura Reisert of Calabasas was figuring out how she could save money on her wedding. When she got to the part about the wedding cake--which could easily cost her a thousand dollars--she hit on the salvation of every mom who's faced the challenge of feeding a mob: cupcakes. Besides, says the 22-year-old, the three tiers of cupcakes from Sprinkles in Beverly Hills will let her put her stamp on her July wedding in Malibu. "Having cupcakes is fun, quirky, unique," says Reisert.