Since moving from San Francisco down the Peninsula few years ago, I have made it my mission to ferret out the tastiest, choicest victuals within a reasonable distance of my mouth. In the past, I've brought you my salivations on Howie's Artisan Pizza, Evvia Estiatorio, Tootsie's, and Shokolaat (since closed), but today we take a walk on the sweeter side.
This list was not undertaken lightly, and you can rest assured that during the course of research, a lot of thought and consideration went into my belly.
Top Five Desserts in Palo Alto/Menlo Park
1. Triple Coconut Cream Cake from Palo Alto Creamery: This coconut cake -- doled out in mammoth pieces that look like plated glaciers -- has been directly responsible for getting me through one-and-a-half pregnancies, and I am still not tired of it. The coconut buttercream frosting is completely snowed-over with drifts of shredded coconut, and between the sections of moist, sugar syrup-soaked white cake, you'll unearth yellow strata of firm coconut custard. It's a piece of cake a coconut fiend would dearly love to rub all over their body.
2. Calafia Cake from Calafia Cafe: Made to look like a Hostess cupcake with white "laces" drizzled in frosting across the top, Calafia's single-serving cake has layers of moist chocolate cake encased in a pliable chocolate shell with a thick strip of cream running through the middle. It's excellent way to console oneself in the wake of the Hostess bankruptcy.