Valerie Confections

This place is kind of hard to find. The streets cross in such weird ways over here.
Anyhow, the place makes chocolate from scratch, need I say more.
Oh, they let you try stuff before you buy it. Awesomeness.

Their petit four keeps getting yummier and yummier! :) Popped in on Monday and got four more petits, and their sample of the day treats. Luckily, I was able to get the ones they had left before the owner had to shutdown the place that day — something about a kitchen /​staff issue. Either way, I hope whatever it was got fixed.
Here’s what I got:
Samples of the Day: Champagne Truffle and Salty Caramel with Sunflower Seeds
Dig the Salty Caramel with Sunflower Seeds — right amount of saltiness and crunchiness. Caramel was also soft and sweet, and so easy to bite, chew and swallow.
Champagne Truffle: It was alright — not as good as Teuscher’s. Better to get the Champagne Petit instead.
Cassis: Butter cake layered with black currant ganache, coated with white chocolate, and topped with a candied organic pansy. Surprisingly, this one was actually very good. It wasn’t so overpowered by black currant flavor. Usually, I’m not a fan of cassis in macarons, but I dig it in this!
Lemon Pansy: Lemon cake layered with lemon ganache, finished with white chocolate, and topped with a candied organic pansy. Just love the taste of lemon, and the white chocolate compliments it nicely.
Lemon Petit: Lemon Cake layered with lemon ganache, finished with bittersweet chocolate. The bittersweet chocolate really brought out the lemon flavor in this one.
Green Matcha: Matcha cake layered with lemon verbena ganache, coated with white chocolate. Didn’t like this one as much — the matcha green tea was very weak. Needs more match green tea in it.

A great spot for delicious, quality confections. I had a variety of items:
-«Super Food» Chocolate Bars
–Petits Fours (Matcha, Rose Petal and Chocolate)
–38% Milk Chocolate Bar
The quality and flavor for almost everything was incredible. The Super Food Bar was a huge «darkened» milk chocolate bar filled with a variety of dried fruit and nuts and I thought it had great balance with all the flavors and textures. The Petits Fours were great, overall — the Matcha and Rose Petal were definitely the best with very good flavor and texture… the chocolate flavored one lacked a bit in the chocolate intensity for me, but all the others were amazing. The Milk Chocolate Bar was very good too — straight-​forward, quality chocolate that wasn’t overly sweet.
I’ll definitely come back to visit this spot — I really enjoyed it and the customer service was excellent!

A good petit four for is hard to find… Yet here they are. Delicious, moist, and nice selection of flavors. The chocolates here are also superior. The staff has always been friendly. We got their Coffee Crunch Cake last time and it was perfection.

I visited Valerie and purchased the Durango Bark. The flavor was okay… The texture of the bittersweet chocolate was waxy. Overall I thought the chocolates were nothing to write home about.

I am critical about my chocolate. Food I am randomly picky but with chocolate I am selective.
PRICE — I got a chocolate box as a gift so price for me is unknown
TASTE — Some were good some where really bad. I would love to tell which one taste the best but there was no guide line. (Which is which?!) In some they got too creative… I had to spit it out.
Appearance — It’s not a Godiva box but it was cute. Good for gift. It won’t be the typical chocolate box that you can get anywhere. I feels a little special.
Try it… and you judge… not all chocolate are fabulous but it’s still good to try and be different!

I haven’t eaten all the chocolates from my box from Valerie yet, but I can tell you just from the couple that I’ve had that they are delicious. It’s hard to tell what’s going on when you pull up outside the shop and walk in the unassuming front door, and I was a bit more skeptical when I saw the individual pieces only in boxes and not out for display as I see at a lot of chocolate shops. Almost all the employees were on the other side of the store where the chocolate gets made, so I had to ask for help, but it wasn’t a big deal. I wasn’t really huge on the missing boxes either — there was a purely tea-​infused box that sounded amazing that was out of stock. That said, I got their basic assortment, and I was able to sample one of the dark (72% cacao, I believe) chocolate truffles at the front — very creamy and full of intense chocolate flavor. The tea-​infused ones are really good as well — very strong hints of the tea without losing the rich chocolate-​y goodness.
That said, you CANNOT skip out on the cookies here. I’m usually a chocolate chip guy, but I went with a bag of the sugar cookies that were speckled with vanilla bean. Does that make all of the difference or what — the flavor is on an absolutely different level than your regular sugar cookie; it’s what I would imagine the equivalent of upping the amount of vanilla extract mixed into the cookie would be like, but with the same purity of flavor sprinkled on the outside of the cookie. These are by far the best sugar cookies I’ve experienced anywhere, and at 12 for $ 12, it’s a better deal than you’ll get at a Mrs. Fields or most any other cookie purveyor.
I only stopped here because some friends emailed me a list of best chocolate shops in the US, and Valerie came up on the list when I happened to be in town. Definitely get a box of chocolates, but the cookies are the unforgettable stars of this place, IMHO.

Lavender petit fours!!! I had been to the location in Grand Central Market, but am so glad I visited this more authentic location. It really gave me a feel of the quality of Valerie products.
Valerie is clearly known for their petit fours. I HIGHLY recommend the lavender ones. They are such a unique and delicious sweet treat!

We had an apple pie taste-​off at work and Valerie’s was the favorite of many. I called on Monday to order a pie for Thursday afternoon. They said they only bake pies on Thursday and the earliest I could pick it up was 1:00 pm. That worked out fine for us because it was freshly baked, smelled amazing, full of fresh apple, and absolutely beautiful for $ 30.
The only thing was that I ordered an apple salted caramel pie, but it tasted like regular apple. So either the caramel was very subtle or they made a mistake.

Delicious little cakes in delightful packaging. I got a 4 pack of orange, lemon, earl grey and rose. Rose was good but I wasn’t WILD about it. Orange was INCREDIBLE. Lemon and earl grey were both good but the orange… That was the real stand out.
I would definitely come back to find a gift for an important client or something. I really like petit fours too, but right now I’m craving those xmas ones from the Wisconsin Cheeseman catalog…

Every since my BFF got me the Blum’s Coffee Crunch cake for my bday years ago, I’ve fallen in love with it and nothing has topped it!
A few other things I’ve tried and also love:
–Rose Petal Cake– amazingly dense & sweet!
–Rose Petal Petite Fours– similar or same (?) mini versions of the cake so yes i love it!
–Brown Derby Grapefruit Cake– my least fave from here, but well made and still pretty good to my tastebuds, especially considering I’m not a huge fan of grapefruit.
Wish the prices weren’t so high though. Then again. it keeps me from indulging as much as I’m tempted to.

I stopped by this store since I was nearby & was in need of a sugar kick… I’ve already tried Valerie’s at Grand Central Market so I knew there were yummy sweets awaiting me.
This location has mainly petit fours, chocolates & packaged candies/​granola/​etc. I think this is where all their products are made since you can check out the background action of them making their sweets.
Honestly I feel that the petit fours are overpriced ($ 4!!!) but who I am to say? The rose flavor is yummy like everyone mentions but I like it mainly for the passionfruit crème that’s in it. Other yummy flavors are the Matcha green tea, bittersweet chocolate, earl grey, & probably my favorite the blood orange.
In the end my favorite product by them are their Durango cookies when they’re fresh & not overcooked (which happens sometimes) but I would just go for that… yum!

I was still quite hungry after eating the slut at Eggslut and had been eyeing some of the pastries at Valerie Confections when I was checking out the whole market area. So I popped by and ordered a citrus-​y pound cake (I forget the name eek!) and cauliflower couscous. The pound cake was delicious! And I am itching to make a recipe similar to the cauliflower couscous which was really tasty! The BF was skeptical when I ordered it because of how healthy it looked, but it was so flavorful! It had a bit of curry flavoring and had golden raisins, cauliflower, cilantro, couscous and almond slivers in it.
It made a great snack and I’m slightly regretful that I didn’t order the petit fours which looked delicious. Will definitely have to make a stop here the next time I visit!

To be completely honest I was ready to give Valerie three stars after biting into their undercooked crème fraîche scone with lemon zest. In theory, a crème fraîche scone sounds phenomenal to this sconehead, but I wasn’t having it.
Discouraged, I kept chewing my scone as I made my way to G&B for a capp to eat with Valerie’s Coffee Crunch Cake. Suddenly, Valerie had tossed a firecracker of flavor in my mouth. My bestito and I were staring at each other in shock. Valerie had redeemed herself! The two layers of pillows, er, sponge cake were so airy and soft. In the middle was a light, creamy coffee frosting, but the winner of it all were the crunchy coffee brittles on the outside. It not only was a gorgeous coffee colored cake with mismatched brittles all over, but it was a heavenly confection. And the generous slice was only six bucks! An entire cake would set me back a reasonable forty-​five.
I think I just found out where I’m buying my birthday cake from.

The first thing I noticed when I stepped into the cute little store was the big tray of stout truffle samples at the front. I snuck two before someone came to help me out. They were tasty, but there wasn’t much of a stout flavor. That’s good for someone like me, who doesn’t like alcohol flavors, but not if you’re looking for a strong taste of alcohol.
I picked out 5 petit fours, at $ 4 for each little 2″ cube. I liked 4 out of the 5 flavors I tried, hence 4 out of 5 stars :)
–Rose petal: delicious! This tasted really complex, but in a good way. I usually hate floral flavors, but the rose petal was not overpowering at all. The strongest flavor in this petit four was from the layers of vanilla bean cake. It was so delicious, and almost tasted of bourbon, but not to the extent of being bitter. I really liked it, and I polished this one off while navigating my way to the CA-​2.
–Mint: this one had a really strong, fresh mint flavor. That sounds good, but I didn’t like it. I actually really like the mild/​artificial mint flavor, and I can’t really stand the strong, herbal taste of actual mint leaves… This was my least favorite of the 5 petit fours I tried.
–Bittersweet Chocolate: the man helping me told me this was one of his favorites, and I definitely see why! It’s so rich and decadent, exactly how chocolate should be. I just want to take a spoon and scoop out the delicious cake and ganache.
–Lemon: I love the combination of lemon and white chocolate, so this was definitely a winner in my book. The lemon flavor is strong, but not overly sweet or sour due to the creaminess of the white chocolate and the cake.
–Cassis (black currant): my absolute FAVORITE out of all the delicious little treats. This one had layers of butter cake and black currant ganache covered in white chocolate. The currant is slightly fruity and tastes faintly of vanilla, while the butter cake is so rich and wonderful. I was so sad when I finished this one. It doesn’t have a very strong flavor, but it just tastes so yummy.
The man helping me was very friendly and let me take another stout truffle for the road. I would definitely come back for that delicious Cassis truffle, and to try other flavors. This would be a great place to get gifts, especially since L’Artisan du Chocolat is right next door too!

i’ve only tried the petits four, which are four layers of cake that as dipped in chocolate and they are a delicious delicate dessert! One star off for being so darn expensive!
$ 16 for four petits four, $ 2 additional to get a cute box and ribbon, which is a great idea to give it as a gift
I recommend the following flavors:
— rose petal
— earl’s grey tea
Its easy to find parking on the street in front of the store.

Honestly trying to figure out why there’s so many great reviews.
Maybe petit fours aren’t for me.
Whenever I see something with cake inside, I imagine it to be fluffy and moist but usually petit fours are dense and not fluffy.
chocolate: just ok.
champagne: can taste a hint of champagne. good but not amazing.
lavender: tastes like lemon cake covered in white chocolate. this was better than the chocolate covered ones.
earl grey: probably one of the better ones.
rose: nice flavor.
matcha: not a fan. I’ve realized, I am not a fan of matcha flavored things, though.
Their 72% chocolate truffle sample was delicious.

Valerie Gordon’s cookbook «Sweet» was nominated for a James Beard Foundation award the day after I visited. This is high praise for someone who studied drama/​acting but turned into a self taught baker and confectioner. I noticed this book sitting on the counter and was surprised at its heft. Valerie is a perfectionist and an enthusiast. She is passionate about resuscitating old recipes, cakes and confections. Valerie says «the thing about food, in order to keep it prescient, you just have to make it-​unlike architecture, or other things that can deteriorate with time.» Thank-​you Valerie for taking on the project of reviving recipes and serving some long forgotten creations to the public.
Valerie’s well known petite fours is what drew me into her shop. They are meticulously crafted bites of delicately layered cake. $ 4 will buy you one petite four. I had the cassis on my visit which was white chocolate over a cassis current flavored filling and topped with a pretty sugared flower petal. You appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into each petite four and although the tiny things indicate that you should savor each bite I couldn’t help but inhale the delicate treat.

There I was, Unilocal.
Laid up in bed at Cedars Sinai, recovering post surgery
Looking like a cartoon with X’s for eyeballs,
staples and bandages across my stomach.
Appetite? Fuggedaboutit.
In walks Sam P with a box of chocolates… sea salt toffee from Valerie’s. Oh, what the hell… may as well try to eat something thru this stinkin’ pain.
Eyes wide open, I smiled! These toffee squares were so dainty and delicious! Smooth dark chocolate (topped with a dust of sea salt) encasing a buttery, crunchy, nutty, sweet and salty toffee…
That toffee square was Michael Jackson BADD.
Hee! Hee!
And the only reason I’m giving it 4 stars is because obviously most of you haven’t tasted toffee made down south in Texas and Louisiana. Super duper buttery, rich and nutty. However, Valerie’s gave a valiant effort. Close enough.
Thanks, Sam P for my first «meal» post surgery. You are going to Heaven.

Fine. Yes. It was a moment of weakness, but who wouldn’t stop for something called an Apple and Caramel Handpie?!? I did, and I’m glad that I did.
Star 1: How was the service and atmosphere?
I can’t really speak to the atmosphere of Valerie Confections in that I was merely stopping at their booth at the Santa Monica Saturday Market, but the staff were extremely friendly and had a deep knowledge of everything they were serving. Well done indeed. Star Granted.
Star 2: How were the portions relative to the cost?
Hmm… I understand that this is LA, and that as a result I’ll be giving up my first born’s tuition for a simple night out, but I was a bit caught off guard when I racked up a $ 9 tab for a ham and cheese croissant and a smaller than average apple handpie:
They can get away with it, so they do it, but it doesn’t make it right! No Star Granted.
While $ 5.50 was maybe a little bit steep for my Salted Caramel Milkshake:
…
In all? the burger is really what counts here, and $ 8.00 was a great price. Star Granted.
Stars 3 and 4: How was the food?
Was it expensive? Yes, but hot damn it was good. My Ham and Swiss Croissant, even while cool, was brilliant, with a flaky exterior and just the right balance of ham and cheese. The handpie? A perfect blend of apple and caramel that got the point across without having to be stuffed to the brim with fake filling toaster-​strudel style. Yum. Dual Stars Granted.
Star 5: Would you eat here every day if you could?
The selection that they do have is marvelous, but outside of being ever so slightly limited, it’s pricey. I wouldn’t with the competition in the area, but that’s not to say that you shouldn’t check it out. No Star Granted.