By Crystal Duan
Signal Staff Writer
Gone are the days when Santa Claritans might have to trek all the way south to Los Angeles for quality dessert. The SCV has more than enough sweet faire to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Not every delicious treat in the SCV has to be from a chain, either. There’s plenty of local places to get a wide variety:
The key lime pie at the Pie Tin is a standout among the already-extensive selection of great pies. There are a variety of flavors at the Pie Tin, but you can’t go wrong with Key Lime, said co-owner Laura Jardine.
The graham cracker crusts, key lime juice, and soft texture mean customers can easily finish a slice, or two.
The business has consistently rotated flavors every three weeks to a month since it opened in August 2017 — but key lime is a mainstay on the list.
“This one is one of our bestsellers,” Jardine said. “Every time we bring in a different flavor and take a break, we have customers coming in and going, ‘Where is the Key Lime?’ So we haven’t kept it off the list for more than a month.”
Slices of the key lime pie are so popular that the Jardines can sell two to four a day, without pre-orders, she said.
The Pie Tin flavors are aplenty: the banana cream pie is also a year-round favorite, Jardine said. And just in time for the holidays, the pecan pie is also another seasonally sweet option.
The flaun al cioccolato at Piccola Trattoria, a flourless chocolate cake, is also a must-try.
With a melted chocolate pool center adding a dash of richness, this cake is only dense in texture — not in taste.
This cake has less of the consistency of cake and is more fudgy in texture, with a light flaky airiness from the infused egg whites, as well.
The Blueberry Bread Pudding at Newhall Refinery is a custard-based dessert that combines bread with a dose of milk, cream, butter and eggs to make a solid sweet.
Its consistency does not qualify as a classic pudding, which is a bit thicker and more liquidy, and the added blueberries give it a fresh mild flavor.
Scott Ervin, who co-chairs a local nonprofit called feedSCV, said the flaun al cioccolato and Blueberry Bread Pudding reign as his personal favorites.
“Both are custard-based desserts,” he said. “And custard is the gold standard by which all other desserts are measured.
“Cake? Meh,” he said. “Ice cream? Pie? A sentimental favorite of mine and close… but no. It has to be a custard dessert, and those two are simply custard at it’s finest. Fresh ingredients that add to, but not distract too much, from the experience that only the combination of cream and eggs can deliver.”
‘The Liz’ cookies at the D.W. Cookie Company also won’t let you down.
The classic chocolate chips are just as fresh as the dough they’re baked in, said Todd Wilson, president of nonprofit feedSCV. They’re the best in Canyon Country.
And customers can even get big cookies at the D.W. for special occasions.
The Canyon Country business has been around the area since 2013. It’s open Monday through Friday, and the cookie selection changes daily, but many people have had yet to “have a bad cookie,” Wilson said.
The Santa Domingo chocolate flavor at Paradis Ice Cream is one of the store’s signature flavors year-round, said owner Tess Zaidi.
The business has been known to offer as many as 50 flavors in circulation. Seven flavors rotate every week, and seasonal ones include pumpkin pie, spicy orange sorbel and cucumber lime. year-round unique ones are “avocado lime,” plant-based horchata, muscovado sugar and coffee coconut.
The most popular remain the sea salt caramel and vanilla bean, while there are also vegan flavors, such as strawberry sorbet and amarina chip.
No preservatives are used, Zaidi said, and all ice cream and waffle cones are made fresh daily.
The one thing you can say is that we have 50 flavors in circulation to choose from, and our chef decides which flavors to offer. We request every evening what flavors we like and we prepare them.
“Our unique selling point is we make everything fresh daily, and you can taste the difference,” Zaidi said. “If we do not sell something the same day, the next day we sample it or give it away.
“We’re also always looking for organizations to give away our regular leftover ice cream from the day before, because it’s good for months while frozen,” she said.
