[Photographs: Carrie Vasios]

With their delicious ability to combine sweet and tart, I crave lemon sweets all year round. But they're especially welcome in the spring, when my taste buds are craving light, refreshing treats after a winter of heavy eating.

The bakeries of Los Angeles are in tune with my thinking. Everywhere from cupcakeries to pie shops have lemony sweets on their menu. Here are 7 that we love.

About the author: Carrie Vasios is the editor of Serious Eats: Sweets. She likes to peruse her large collection of cookbooks while eating jam from the jar. You can follow her on Twitter @carrievasios