In May, 1988, Jane Lockhart opened her bakery in Los Angeles. Years before, she started experimenting at home with desserts, finding the store bought cakes and pies too sweet and too commercial. With lots of support from friends and family, Jane opened Sweet Lady Jane, and has been there for 25 years. In all the years I lived in LA I must have driven by the bakery 100 times, yet I never stopped in. Her cakes are known all over Southern California. Wedding cakes, in particular, are works of art.
Well, I finally stopped in at Sweet Lady Jane in Santa Monica. It's on Montana, around 14th Street, and is great for morning coffee, lunch or dessert. I was in LA with my mom in December and as part of our eatathon afternoon, we went to Sweet Lady Jane for dessert. Why did I wait 25 years to try it? It's somewhere you want to try if you're anywhere in the vicinity.
Sweet Lady Jane offers cakes, pies, cupcakes, bread puddings, cheese cakes, tarts, bars, cookies and many specialty items. Portions are enormous. Each serving feeds about three people generously. Mom ordered a fantastic looking, and tasting blueberry pie. I ordered an individual lemon meringue pie that must have been about six inches high. At the table next to us, the three people ordered the most decadent chocolate layer cake you ever saw and a flan cake. They took most of it home, as did we.
Prices are steep. A 6 inch round cake is $37, and a 1/4 sheet layer cake is $115 and a 10 inch pie is $50. Our desserts were $7.50 each, but they were huge portions.
I would stop there for lunch anytime. Their sandwiches, soups and salads are so fresh and delicious looking, and it's a nice, cozy environment. Next time I will split dessert with mom, but the problem will be deciding what to get. They must have over 100 varieties of pies, cakes and tarts available at any one time. Decisions, decisions, but there's nothing to think about, because if you're in the area (Santa Monica or West Hollywood) you must go to Sweet Lady Jane.
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