I spent the day attempting my first ombre rose cake. It looks a bit intimidating to recreate at first, but it turned out out to be fairly simple.

I started by making three layers of cake - all in different shades of pink, of course. I found it helpful to let the cake cool off so that the icing would stay firm.

I stacked the layers of cake - darkest on the bottom - and filled in the gaps with icing to act as a base. 

The last step (the one I found most exciting) was piping roses on the cake. I used a 1M piping tip to create the roses.

This cute and easy-to-make washi tape banner takes less than 10 minutes to make, but can add that much-needed punch of color to an otherwise minimalistic or plain room.

Step One: The Supplies. Various rolls of washi tape, white thread, and a pair of scissors are all you need. A good selection of washi tape can be found and purchased here.

Step Two: Cut strips of washi tape 3-4 inches long and fold them in half on the thread. Then, snip off triangles at the bottom of each piece of tape.

   Caffé Bene is just one of many cafe-style eateries in LA’s Koreatown — patbingsu, waffles, SHINee playing in the background.

Disappointingly enough, its ambience (brick walls, wood panelings, drip coffee makers on display — basically a Korean Blue Bottle/Intelligentsia love child) wasn’t enough to compensate for the underwhelming service and menu options.

Caffé Bene is definitely geared toward those with a sweet tooth. Looking at the menu, there seemed to be a lack of savory dishes (with the exception of a bacon waffle).

We tried the green tea latte and caramel cinnamon honey bread. Both were pretty standard and nothing noteworthy.

Prices were decent to a little above average for an LA cafe. While the lattes were around $4 each, the honey toast, enough to serve 2-3 people, was $7. Standard of any caffe looking to sell latte art with a side of youth culture and street cred.

Don't be fooled by the humble exterior of Cafe Maji — its location on the second floor of a fitness center may be unconventional and a bit off-putting, but all that aside the Instagrammable ambience and interior design goes un-marred.

Everything from the “카페마지” on the to-go cups to the glass pitcher of lemonades were exceptionally well-curated and cohesive in terms of theme. For a few bucks, you pay for food and an experience. Here are some thoughts:

The most notable thing here would be the latte art. Baristas here will sometimes do the traditional rosetta or fern that you'll find at most overpriced ‘caffes’ (see: Urth) but what's special is that they can also pour out cute animals in your drink (on request nonetheless, talk about good customer service).

The drinks were perfect for our palates. We opted for the a taro and a green tea latte. Both are good alternatives for non-coffee drinkers — plus you still get the latte art.

Our non-coffee lattes were around $5 each, while the bulgogi quesadilla came with four small slices and amounted to $6.