2013 Year in Review of NYC’s Dessert Offerings (1 of 2)

Another year, more bakeries, patisseries, restaurants, etc. More bakeries to try. More bakeries pop up. Just, more sugar in general. And the cycle continues. Note that not all of the confections I list may be located in NYC but for the most part, this was a good year in desserts, y'all.

City Bakery: I'd been meaning to partake in City Bakery's Hot chocolate month (every February), so when I was in Manhattan one Sunday I had the caramel which was light on the caramel but their hot chocolate is THICK. The homemade marshmallow totally makes it though and amps up the sweetness. Did I mention it was rich as hell? And you know what else they have? Gargantuan cookies! The chocolate chip is worth sharing. This cookie was sweet and rich and the center had a doughy like taste to it that was additionally sweet. This is a cookie where you'd need milk or something not sweet liquid-wise to tone down the sugar. Everything was good, but, and maybe I didn't say this, rich. Keep in mind when going to City Bakery all their sweets are large in size, so go in ready to eat hard or go with friends.

Zugar Haus: I don't normally win things but I did win Shay's Valentine's Day pack! Which amped me up to do an interview with Shay for my site. Everything Shay makes is made with care and you can taste it in her chocolate Cassis Sables w/ Raspberry Jam, the perfect cookie for chocolate lovers as the chocolate is dark and intense! The raspberry jam has some seeds and is tart working well with the semi-sweetness of the chocolate cassis sable (the sable has creme de cassis, orange zest & orange blossom water which you taste hints of for the added tart factor). This cookie was fudgy like a bar not so much chewy which was a nice surprise. Because of the flavorfulness of this cookie eating half may be satisfactory (again, sharing means caring) and I'd highly recommend with some tea. On to Shay's chocolate dipped lavender sables hearts--my a fave. This crumbly cookie was light on the orange essence because of the orange blossom water and zest that complimented the lavender blossom. Add in the dark chocolate edge with sea salted orange peels on the side as a lovely touch and interesting contrast taste-wise for the citrus, floral, and butter.

Coolhaus: It was summer. The truck was near my office. So that could only lead to me purchasing something. I tried their strawberry mojito sorbet...wonderfully refreshing. This sorbet had bits of mint in it that are signature to the mojito cocktail and a wonderfully fruity flavor to it sans alcohol. It was sweet and had the right texture for sorbet. An excellent treat for a warm day.

Cannelle Patisserie: New French patisseries seem to be popping up all over NYC. This one is in Jackson Heights. It's a small pastry shop that offers the whole shebang,  savory quiches, sweets, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Their range of cakes are fabulously light and moist and small. The red velvet was a bit dense for cake, but not too much so that the balance of the slightly heavier cream cheese icing was in every bite of cake. Cannelle's prices were very reasonable, especially if you compare getting the same dessert in Manhattan or Brooklyn would've been twice the price. I got a mini red velvet cake for $3 and it filled me up.

Dauphin Bakery: Dauphin Bakery is known for making gluten-free, soy-free, egg free, peanut free, and dairy free cookies. I tried their salted chocolate chunk and though it was moist (the reason I purchased it) I'm sorry to say that the taste was all kinds of wrong. Not good as a cookie and especially as a gluten-free cookie. There was a chalky taste that made me think paper/cardboard and it stays with you. And an overly grainy texture to this cookie is not pleasant.  Perhaps it's the hemp milk or buckwheat, tapioca, rice flour mix or cane juice and such but I have made gluten free cookies and tried some that have been SUPERIOR. Perhaps it was just a bad day for a cookie.

Whimsy & Spice: When at Smorgasburg I try LOTS of sweets I'm unable to get since they may not have storefronts yet. And thus, I tasted Whimsy & Spice's espresso dulce de leche brownie. Delicious! Moist and almost fudgy, perfect for a brownie. The brownie had chunks of dulce de leche inside and the espresso flavor is hinted at but does not overwhelm, which is great for coffee haters like myself. This was a great find. I also tried their honey lavender shortbread, which was quite good as well with the perfect shortbread texture. I hope to try much more from Whimsy & Spice, soon.

Butter & Scotch: Sooo, I may have invested a good amount of income into desserts from Butter & Scotch (Alison Kave & Keavy Blueher's joint venture) this summer. No regrets on that, people. In order, I had:

• Strawberry/Darryl Pie Shake! A new confection that includes Alison's (First Prize Pies) strawberry basil pie (which in itself is an amazingly deliciously tangy summer pie) in a strawberry/vanilla milkshake with crust on top. This jammy is huge. Great big chunks of pie inside make it like a liquid pie a la mode. Love it, love it, love it, want more OF it. When I returned to Smorgaburg for the 2nd time no pie shakes to be had. But I remember. Oh, I remember.
• Apricot poppyseed mini cupcake that I liked because y'alls know I enjoy my citrus. which I liked. Subtle apricot taste in the icing which was on point! Icings are hard and Keavy does them well. And the poppyseeds worked outside of the standard lemon poppyseed items we may see.
• Lemon lavender cupcake where the lavender is in the frosting and the lemon was also very light in the cake itself.
• Sticky toffee trifle was a bit warm by the time I had it at Smorgasburg but still ridiculously sweet. One of the sweetest trifles I've had with nuts and all kinds of sticky goodness. Be warned this is a very filling dessert with cream, toffee date cake that includes candied pecans/walnuts, so make sure to have room left in your tummy or refrigerate soon after consuming.
• Maple bacon cupcake at Grub Street which is a treat if you love your maple because you get it and then some in this cupcake.

Itizy Ice Cream Truck: Congrats to Itizy for their 2013 Vendy Award for Best Dessert! Itizy regularly comes to my neck of the woods so I tried two of their frozen treats. I was not a huge fan of their strawberry balsamic sorbet which was quite icy in texture and not too sweet. The balsamic was indiscernible in this treat and I couldn't get past the icy texture for the sorbet. I ventured for their ice cream the next time I passed them by and had the hazelnut special. While the texture was fine for ice cream I have to say I wasn't too enthused and couldn't recall the taste several minutes after eating it. The hazelnuts were chewy but quite soft due to being in ice cream, and they were also not pralined or sweetened in any way. While there was a lack of sweetness I can say there was also a lack of taste of preservatives which was very nice. It did taste more natural but not very filling.

People's Pops:  Had the strawberry balsamic pop at Smorgasburg DUMBO which was very good and very red! I tasted balsamic in this and along with the strawberries reminded me of those frozen ices on sticks I'd get as a kid. Sidenote: I found it funny people on line at Smorgasburg  thought these guys shaving ice was "so cool" and new. Have they not seen the Latino ladies on street corners in summer shaving ice?

Empire Cake NYC: Otherwise known as the other place you can get homemade twinkies in lieu of the Hostess shortage. I had the mini red/white cookie which is really cake with white icing on it that is chewy and tasty. It won't make you think red velvet immediately but is a solid red cake with chocolate essence. But it may not hold up for red velvet traditionalists. To pair up I had the black/white cookie which is the same deal as the red velvet but with a yellow cake and chocolate icing. Very nice in mini/tiny doses. I also liked the Homemade Empire Cake Twix with dark chocolate. Again, cookie was more like a thin cake so it was soft and easy to eat with a crapload of caramel. A nice confection to have with milk but melts super fast so do not eat on a humid day. You've been warned. Also got their sandwich peanut butter cookie with icing inside which was fine. The cookie was super chewy/flaky and crumbled in my mouth but the icing was meh. In this case the peanut butter cookie may have been good simply as is. Marble shortbread cookie is also fine. It didn't have the greatest flavors in the marble/chocolate resulting in a more bland cookie yet it had a somewhat solid, not flaky, shortbread texture.

Red Rooster: As part of my dessert for Restaurant Week I indulged in the banana cupcake. The cake was fine, not overly ripe with banana flavors, somewhat moist and all, but the icing, the cream cheese icing was fluffy/creamy perfection! Loved it especially with the pralined walnut on top. I could eat a bowl of that stuff on it's own. Mesa Grill: Again with the Restaurant Week! My dessert of choice was the chocolate bread pudding with chocolate ganache and passion fruit. It was good, and chocolatey as heck, but it was not solid like bread pudding should be. In fact it was a gooey chocolate mess. Great for chocolate overload but will not travel well.

Insomnia Cookies: My one gripe with Insomnia is that they show the calorie count for each cookie. Who wants to know how many calories they are consuming while enjoying a cookie?! Be it the size of your palm or the size of your face?!? For me, Insomnia is still one of the top cookie places around for it being good, basic, comforting, and warm, just like Mom (or grandmom or even grandpa [no gender roles here]) makes. Their newest location is at Columbia and that means good and bad things for my willpower for cookies. On my first of several visits I got the ginormous peanut butter chocolate butter cup cookie which was perfection. All kinds of moist and chewy with the big melted chocolate bits on top of PB cups. And what we love about Insomnia is that the cookies are slightly undercooked so that they maintain a good chewiness to them since they come out of an oven/heater! And during winter that means all kinds of comfort. One of my go-to cookies there is the (smaller) peanut butter cookie. Your mouth is filled with all kinds of sweet, melty PB flavors.

Doughnut Plant: I realized I really enjoy DP's doughseeds. These are like mini filled donuts that they vary up during the seasons. Particularly I  liked the coconut lime doughseed available last summer. Fluffy yeast doughnut covered in glaze and shredded coconut with a tangy lime custard inside. And then in fall there was the pumpkin doughseed...good lord! So fantastic. Perfection. I love the doughseeds now. The pumpkin custard inside was deliciously light, the doughnut was yeast, and the pumpkin seeds on top were crispy and toasted to perfection so they had a great crunch. This was SUPERIOR to the pumpkin pie doughnut at Dunkin Donuts. Doughnut Plant continues to impress.

Breads Bakery: At Super Duper Market I had a sample of their chocolate rugelach, which was like a chocolate croissant! Other samples of their bread were crusty and delishly flaky. This means I have to try more buttery goods from here.

Jack's ChedBread: ChedBread's staple is cornbread, a variety of it both savory and more like the sweet type you may be used to. Me being me I went straight for the plain with the buttery honey crumble on top that was reminiscent of down home cornbread.

Sweet & Simple: Michelle has a storefront in CT and I went partaking in her lemon scone. It reminded me more of a muffin in texture than a scone but the flavors and glaze were really good and not too citrusy. A great lightness to the lemon that stays with you in terms of the sugar and citrus balance.

Lady M Confections: Mille crepe cake means hello pricey! But it was lovely! And I felt very fancy eating it at Lady M across from Bryant Park. The mille crepe cake is a couple dozen layers of crepes with light creme filling resulting in a decadent and light dessert. So delicious and nice to walk off on a sunny day in Manhattan. You will not feel like a glutton after eating this but you will spend some ca$h. I also purchased the apple galette with apricot glaze. The galette is basically an apple tart with a kind of cinnamony dough under the sliced apples and above the crispy flaky crust. A fantastic mix and familiar flavors with apple and cinnamon rarely ever going wrong together. Lady M may be a nice place to splurge or take someone you really, really like on a date. Hint, hint, dudes.

Meryienda Gluten Free Bakeshop: I met Meryienda's founder Elvira via Cookie Swap NYC and when I had some shortbread I needed to bake and give away she was up for 'em. And kindly gave me some of her gluten free items in return. Thanks, Elvira! Unfortunately, or fortunately, it being holiday season you know sugary treats are in full effect so I shared with my co-workers. But I did save the coconut dream bars for myself. And Dream is right! A kind of crumbly cookie crust (akin to that from key lime pies and such) and atop that a mass of shredded coconut, chocolate chips, and other hearty goodness and you will enjoy it. Gluten free means sans gluten but it doesn't mean no taste and Elvira's coconut dream bar was on par with the coconut dream bar I've had at Amy's Bread back in 2010 (yeah, I remember that far back).

2012 Year in Review of NYC's Baked Good Offerings

Y'alls knew it was coming! The annual review of baked good offerings in NYC (and sometimes elsewhere). I traveled, I ate, I ate, and I had (for the most part) no regrets. But of course there are hits and misses, more hits than anything else though.

First Prize Pies: I had the pleasure of interviewing Allison earlier this year and have visited First Prize Pies at Smorgasburg and later on at Grub Street Food Fest. Gotta love Alison's pies! At my pie-themed birthday party we tried her hot chocolate pie. Seriously spicy! Cayenne everywhere with a dark chocolate ganache. If you're like me and have a low tolerance for spicy stuff than have it in small doses. Of course I had my fave pie, s'mores' at Super Duper Market. And then my friend Ric and I tried the people's choice candy apple pie at Grub Street and enjoyed it. This pie reminded me of a good old fashion apple pie with a candied topping that was a mild red hot.

Allison has had a big year. She's currently writing a cookbook and will have a new storefront called Butter & Scotch that will be a cocktail and dessert bar in Brooklyn opening in 2013. Congrats Allison!

Two Little Red Hens: My first venture here since I wanted to get a variety of pies for my birthday pie party. I purchased the pecan pie w/ chocolate chunks. The filling was good but probably a bit cold and better warmer/room temperature. The crust was flaky yet didn't have too much of a buttery or lard taste, so the flavor was all in the filling.

Little Pie Company: Since I love the sour cream apple crumb pie I decided to vary it up and get their pear apple crumb pie. It is very cinnamony, which tended to overpower the subtly of the pear apple filling, but the crumb topping and crust were as excellent as the one on the sour cream pie.

Momofuku Milk Bar: The crack pie is ridiculously sweet, even for me! I'm unsure what's in it besides brown sugar and a heap of butter. Overall it's a hard taste to pin down but the brown sugar comes through in all points and the filling has the consistency of blondie dough (or really the point where brown sugar and butter are melted together. The crust is very thin as is the filling which is a good thing, so it's not too thick.

I also had their candy bar pie and it was also too sugary for me. It has a chocolate cookie crust. The caramel was all over it, there was a peanut butter nougat as the filling, and the dense chocolate coating made it hard to enjoy the balance. There was a lone pretzel in the hardened chocolate top which I would've liked more of to have a sweet and salty mix alas, no. I say less chocolate and caramel and more pretzel. It's too, too sweet. Nicely done but both pies were a bit much. I'll stick with their cookies.

Puddin' NYC: In February (bitterly cold) the Ramen & Friends group went to the newly opened, and teeny tiny Puddin location in the East Village. I enjoyed the banana parfait which was more like banana pudding with crushed cookies (wafers?) atop banana pudding and cream. Their lemon tart was quite good with a marshmellow bruleed topping but was a bit more watery and not as solid nor as lemony as some may have liked. Their pudding is pricey ($7 and up) but I was satisfied.

Financier Patisserie:  I have become a big fan of almond flour since doing gluten free baking last year. I had heard a lot about Financier from friends and finally had the financier -- a small buttery almond cake (made with almond flour) that is reminiscent of a Madeliene  Very tasty, soft, great buttery flavor and the almond flour makes a great contrast in a slightly denser texture. The chocolate financier is really tasty, not overly chocolatey with nuts in and around it. These are great, small treats that are not too sweet with tea, cider. However, their Madeleine is fine. You get the cakey texture based on unbleached flour and theirs has a smidge of lemon in the middle along with vanilla taste. But if I had a choice I'd have the financier and/or chocolate financier.

Konditori: They have a location in Williamsburg and another one in downtown Manhattan. I have to say that the pumpkin ginger cake I had at Konditori is the first vegan baked good I have been very fond of! Although it was a bit pricey for just a corner piece of cake ($2.25) of which I received a small portion that I was given (didn't get to choose). Great texture and taste and while I was worried the ginger may be too overpowering it isn't yet clings in the after taste. There's also a brown sugar topping.

The Rescue Baker: TRB is a site developed to aid people who have baking emergencies and figure out a way to fix them. I tried TRB's goods at IACPNYC this past spring. Her campfire cookie were a take on s'mores with chocolate chips and marshmallow  cookie was a bit hard and too crunchy for my taste. However, the lemon bundt cake was delicious and the perfect cake moisture and lemon flavors. Flourless chocolate cake had too much dark chocolate for me which made it hard to finish. But I look forward to delving into more of The Rescue Baker's recipe ideas and informational posts.

Brownies & Cream: This was a nice little storefront that opened up this year and unfortunately closed in Forest Hills. Ah well, it was nice having a new bakery in Queens. Whenever I visited my friend in Forest Hills we always stopped by (support local businesses!) I had their tiny cupcake. The salted caramel icing was oily and the cake was super dry. On the flip side, their blondie was very good. Nicely dense and fudgy in texture but sugary and sweet like a blondie should be with a good balance of buttery flavor. I also had their red velvet French macaron, very good, a bit crispy on the outside meaning it may have been overbaked a tad but it was still chewy and the flavor for the macaron was definitely red velvet with a good cream cheese filling. Hopefully the owners may be able to open another place in the near future.

Bubby's: I love the food at Bubby's and they are known for their pies. But the last time I visited, too stuffed from their delicious entree, I had their peanut butter jelly cookie. Peanut butter can do no wrong in my mind so the cookie had jelly on top like a thumbprint cookie. Not a fan of the jelly used (it may have been raspberry), but overall a very good cookie.

Robicelli's: I tried various goods from Robicelli's at the Great American Bake Sale this year and then went to Dekalb market (three times) and tried some more stuff. Three words: Apricot pecan scone! Amazing. Wonderful scone, not too crispy inside and out but wonderfully moist and not too sweet. Pecans within and apricot glaze on top. I'm a convert!

At Dekalb market I tasted the Rue McClanahan cupcake which was a peach cake with cream cheese icing and peach topping. Good and moist, lots of great sweet flavors. But I didn't taste much peach in the cake. Had a bit of the lemon blueberry cupcake. Good but it seems the main differentiation is in the topping and not so much the cake unless they do very 'light' touches within the cupcake batter.

Allison Robicelli has done a lot for Sandy Relief in the past few months and helped create Bay Ridge Cares Kitchen (BRiCK) that I had the pleasure of working at a couple times and wished I could have gone more. Great group of people that did great work for those in need during a crisis.

Sweet & Simple: The Great American Bake Sale strikes again in introducing me to great bakers. Michelle Jaffee donated a bunch of her fudgy brownies to the bake sale. She's located in CT and I was so happy that she agreed to an interview! I purchased her deluxe brownie box  thinking I could eat much of it myself, I could not. But I shared! And everyone I shared it with LOVED the brownies. From her traditional brownie to her peanut butter to her raspberry to her walnut brownie every one is made with love, just like her tagline says, and lots of chocolate! High quality chocolate at that! My favorite is the walnut brownie and you must have these with milk. Just don't even argue with me. Order online, wait for a lovely wrapped package, and enjoy chocolate heaven.

Coolhaus: One of the few food trucks that comes uptown to where I now I work I get Coolhaus whenever I can! They have huge portions when it comes to their ice cream sandwich and it is good stuff. Mainly I try their cookies. The potato chip & skor cookie. A solid cookie. I didn't really taste the salt from the potato chips but they did add a good crunch factor to that with the candy bar in the cookie. I've had their ice cream and try not to go too wild though their flavors run the gamut but are always good. Next time you see a Coolhaus truck, just go for it.

The Good Batch: The Good Batch is known for stroopwafels and other dutch items. While they had a presence at Smorgasburg I was introduced to their goods via Robicelli's at Dekalb Market. I purchased the Honey Bears which is a sandwich cookie but the texture makes me think of a small whoopie pie. The Honey Bears are vegan (no dairy or eggs) and has peanut butter and oats cookie (cake like texture) and a honey, sea salt, peanut butter filling. It is peanut butter to the MAX!!! Need milk with it for sure because it's so thick. Cookie is moist but not delicate and has a harder texture, but maintains a great sweetness and peanut butter flavor, especially from the filling. This will make you thirsty with the salty and sweetness. Particularly from the peanut butter and sea salt sprinkled atop the cookies. Didn't get too much honey and think they should change the name so it better captures how intense the peanut butter is in this cookie sandwich/whoopie pie.

Runner & Stone: Another introduction via the Bake Sale! Those at the sale raved about the almond croissant and having tried it at Smorgasburg I can tell you the hype was very much earned. What makes the Runner & Stone croissant stand out from a typical almond croissant is the fact that it is made with almond flour and not necessarily filled with an almond paste. It's not so much flaky as it may be more reminiscent of a scone/cake. Either way it's light and fantastic for those of you who do not like that almond paste/extract taste. I just wish they would open a storefront in Queens so I don't have to travel to Brooklyn to always get the goods.

Dough: During the Bake Sale I had seen many people carrying some huge doughnuts at Brooklyn Flea. It was then I was introduced to the new staple. I would try them when visiting Smorgasburg for the first time this summer with Angela (Mind Over Batter). Angela's son had 2 cinnamon sugar donuts and loved them. I enjoyed the hibiscus with a glaze and a leaf on it. Delicious! Thanks to Angela for snagging it for me. :-) Later on when passing the main location I tried the lemon poppyseed doughnut, unfortunately it was pretty lackluster. The glaze was too lemony (read: tart) even for me! Overpowered the whole thing and the doughnut wasn't as chewy as it should've been but a tad on the dry side. Not good for a huge yeasty doughnut.

Melt Bakery: While I had tried the deep fried pumpkin pie from Melt Bakery a couple of years ago at Grub Street I had yet to try their staple, ice cream sandwiches! Julian (co-owner) was at CookOut NYC on Governor's Island and thankfully his ice cream sandwich helped me during a spicy emergency with some ridiculously hot sauce.

I was bummed to hear that Melt won't be doing deep fried pies anymore but they will be focusing heavily on their sandwiches and I have to say those are perfect. My favorite is the the lovelet (red velvet cookie with cream cheese ice cream). For the most part Melt's cookies have more of a cake like texture so that you can actually get a good balance when biting into it. They have a range of flavors yet some cookies may be hard/chewy like you may be used to (example: Jack = pumpkin ice cream with a molasses cookie). But for the most part they are a nice balance of hard/soft on a hot day.

Culture NY: Congrats to Jenny and Gino Ammirati on the arrival of their new baby this year! And big thanks to Jenny for the interview soon after she had the baby, so kind of her. Culture's staple is the original yogurt with key lime topping (key lime syrup and a type of pudding and graham cracker dusting) delicious! Not too tart and not overly sweet but a great melding of flavors that really make you feel like you're having the perfect frozen yogurt. You will not be able to have anything quite like it and so you better take yourself to Brooklyn to get some Culture.

Macaron Parlour: By now you know I'm going to say I tried their macarons at the Bake Sale this spring. But Macaron Parlour also opened up a storefront this year also. Yay! Macaron Parlour has a never ending array of macarons, some of which include bacon. But my faves are the red velvet and earl grey macarons. The trick to a tea flavored macaron is to capture that essence without overdoing it and the earl grey does just that. The red velvet is one of the best red velvet macarons I have had and trust me I venture out for those. Another new fave of theirs is the salted caramel which also has a nice caramel cream inside. Delicious and light and perfect. Love, love, love.

Ovenly: Super Duper Market this summer was a fun place to go in and get out. I was introduced to Ovenly and got to try their chocolate chip cookie, which was huge and thick and moist and really good. Salt being the thing in baked goods nowadays Ovenly's cookie also had a dash and the chocolate chips were well spread out in the large cookie but tasted bittersweet/dark. I also had some candied maple thyme pecans, a savory sweet mix but the maple comes through mostly and then the herbs. Ovenly just opened a shop in Greenpoint earlier this year.

Miette: Another find at Super Duper Market that is unfortunately not available in NYC, but is a San Francisco based bakery. I went a little overboard and purchased the lemon shortbread cookies (has lemon zest in it that is very light but definitely can taste it in the shortbread). The shortbread is crispy yet not overly dry and has a good moistness to it that makes it chewy as well.

Also snagged the chocolate sable shortbread cookies, very chocolatey. You get more than a dozen tiny cookies (like 16 or so) in a nice sealed clear baggie. The owner has a new cookbook out with Chronicle Books and said she's trying to find an NYC storefront. Hope it works out as I think it'd be a nice addition to NYC.

Jemez Food Shack: While on my conference tour on the west coast my friend Iris stopped by a Native American food shack in Pueblo Jemez. I had an amazingly tasty and freshly made cherry fruit pie. Wonderfully flaky cinnamony crust with a great filling. A big rectangular slice that was so tasty and cheap! I wish there was a way for me to order this online or lead you to it, alas you must go to New Mexico to see for yourself.

PierNYC: This Ramen & Friends outing lead us to PierNYC on Roosevelt Island. What I had read about when searching the menu was the huge red velvet whoopie pie and I was eager to try it. It was a popular item that sold out with our big group. Turns out the whoopie pie is made by Ally Cakes makes the dessert for PierNYC. May I reiterate that the whoopie pie was large. Perhaps this added to the fact that the cake (aka pie) was overcooked and dry. The filling was not cream, it was icing with a stiffer texture than what should be accompanied by a whoopie pie. Pretty disappointing, but I was very happy with the service at PierNYC and the fact that we weren't charged for a lackluster dessert. (See Melt Bakery for red velvet.)

City Baking (gourmet bakery) Corporation: I don't normally review storebought goods so much but this was pretty disappointing. I purchased the blondie from Interchurch cafeteria because it looked moist. It's pretty much cake disguised as a blondie. The taste just didn't meld much with blondie and the brown sugar wasn't there. The website touts it as a chocolate chip cookie but a bar and it's not, brown sugar should be more evident and the texture was too much like a Duncan Hines cake for me to think blondie. The chocolate and nuts within overwhelmed the taste of the cake which is quite forgettable and light.

The Brownie Boy: After having treats from The Brownie Boy repeatedly at Smorgasburg I was glad to do an interview with him. This is a new bakery one man show. Now Mario knows his blondies and brownies. First up is the dulce de leche, great texture a mixture of dense half-baked inside that worked. The sea salt on top was a nice add to the brownie and the dulce de leche wasn't too heavy yet the chocolate is subtle. It all worked really well at a good size and price.

His brownies and blondies are all reminiscent of what you'd want, dense, sweet, with high class flavors. Looking forward to more of what he has to offer.

Schmackary's: Heard about this place thanks to Yoshie (R&F) since it's in midtown West. The hype is worth it. Had the sch'mores cookie and caramel apple crisp. Both chewy/moist and full o' flavor! The s'mores cookie was pretty intense and messy with toasted marshmallow being on top. It had graham cracker base with chocolate and had toasted marshmallow (not in pieces but like a frosting) that was delicious. Another milk warning(!) The apple crisp was like a pie in cookie form with an oat cookie that has white chocolate and chunks of cinnamon apple and caramel on top. Absolutely filling and delicious. These cookies served as my dinner and I have no regrets.

Dominique Ansel Bakery: Stopped by the newly opened bakery and just went crazy. The mini passonfruit chocolate eclair was tasty but nothing too memorable with a passionfruit cream filling and chocolate flakes on top that were a good mix. Admittedly I'm not a huge fan of eclairs because of the rough exterior of the dough.

However, the Madeleine's were amazing! They are made upon ordering and in teeny tiny size you can get ten for $4.50. Warm, light and fluffy not dense like some can be and lemon zest is in there somewhere because you can taste it as soon as you take a bite. The powdered sugar just makes it all come together and they really are best eaten quickly!  Get your own batch because you will not want to share.

Cake Bites: It being the season I had the pumpkin spice gluten free and vegan cake bite which is basically a cake pop without the stick. The texture reminded me of a nice moist, carrot cake with the perfect melding of pumpkin spices to melt in my mouth. The coating was white chocolate with a ginger sprinkling but the true powerhouse is the cake inside. Delicious. Also tried samples of their mocha, which was good but a bit too coffee like for me. I liked the peanut butter yet it was too gel-like.

Fat Witch Bakery: Known as NY's Legendary Brownie they are worth the hype! Pumpkin season brings forth the limited, and popular, pumpkin brownie. a thin chocolate brownie layer than a thick pumpkin layer then a thin graham cracker like layer that is delicious and made fresh every morning! Fat Witch was so nice to hold two for me free of charge after I was unable to get there in time to purchase these delicious confections. I had had their brownies and blondies at my brownie/blondie party in 2010 when Joy purchased them and was already a fan but now I'm a SUPER fan not just for their generosity but for the taste of that amazingly fresh and perfect brownie and pumpkin mix. More please.

Ivy Bakery: A well run, one woman show Ivy Bakery was hit hard after Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy. I had tried Daniellan's trademark Buttermilk Pie and it is creamy goodness with a crust! Try her ooey gooey bar and it'll remind you of the pie in bar form. And the pumpkin cupcake! Another must-try since I love pumpkin anything. Daniellan is going to be offering classes for pie crusts and starting January 8th for truffles! So check out Ivy Bakery on Facebook to learn some baking tips and/or just lounge around and have some sweet goods or savory ones.

Hill Country BBQ: One of the best cupcakes I have had hands down! The cupcake has a whipped peanut butter frosting with Reese's pieces and salted peanuts atop a golden cake (perfectly moist) and inside jelly! Peanut butter will overwhelm no matter what but if you love it and it's light in texture everything balances out. It was delicious and I can see why Godiva Sweetest gave it the award in 2012 as a challenge winner for Best Cupcake at the NYC Food & Wine Festival. Deservedly so, I say.

Brooklyn Treat Shoppe: I got to work with ToniAnn at Bay Ridge Cares Kitchen (BRiCK) a couple times post Sandy. ToniAnn was a regular fixture baking desserts in large quantities for the meals that went out for BRiCK. She also donated some items one of which was a dulce de leche cake. I don't use acronyms often but OMG people that was the BEST yellow cake I have had in a very, very long time. It reminded me of the boxed cakes in texture in that it had a great balance of moisture you can get when adding pudding into the mix but it was NOT boxed cake it was an original. The dulce de leche frosting was perfectly smooth and we were eating that thing with our hands. Yes(!), we went carnal on that cake it was so good. I cannot wait to taste more of ToniAnn's confections in the New Year.

Francois Payard Bakery: And in the last few days of 2012 I had a couple French macarons from FPB. The vanilla bean is a goodie. Vanilla bean cookie and frosting. Passion fruit was good but I couldn't discern what the filling was exactly. After having had many macarons and especially those from Macaron Parlour I have to say FPBs are good but not on the same level. The cookie itself felt a bit tougher than it should as I am used to having the nice crunch/crackle of a French macaron exterior with a delicate softness that makes it easy to break apart and chew. This may have been due to temperature. I'd definitely try the vanilla bean again.

So that was my year in baked goods. Who knows how much weight I have gained from all this experimentation and tasting and whatnot, but for delicious desserts there are never any regrets...ever! Every year it seems new places pop up so I'm eager to try more in 2013 and beyond. Happy eating!

NYC Bake Sale 2012 (The Great American Bake Sale)

On a sunny, yet chilly Saturday in Brooklyn, NY the Great American Bake Sale took place, part of Share Our Strength's mission of ending childhood hunger (No Kid Hungry) by 2015. Bloggers Without Borders joined in to make a call across the nation for food bloggers to organize and join in! The NYC chapter's bake sale was at Brooklyn Flea in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Even though the bake sale ended this past Saturday you can still donate to a great cause via the donation page on the NYC chapter's site.

Bakers, entrepreneurs, and all-around awesome people Lillian Huang and Ken Leung were this year's organizers and they did an amazing job! Seriously, organizing so much food, people, advertising, and such was really a show in great organization. It was smoothly run and the volunteers were super helpful and all on the same page in terms of raising money for a great cause.

There were numerous donations from local bakers and food bloggers that had us in a sweets wonderland! Chocolate double deckers from Abby Dodge, Baked's sweet & salty brownie, and Michelle Jaffe's (Sweet & Simple) brownies were huge sellers as were many sweet and salty items including Ken's chocolate peanut butter pretzel krispies and Jackie's salted chocolate caramel nut bars (both gluten filled and gluten free) that were ooey gooey messes of goodness. Tasting a sample one customer said "I want to buy what I just had in my mouth!" Liddabit Sweet's bourbon pecan cookie with caramel filling was a fast seller upon tasting. One vendor tasted it, ran back and said "What did I just eat? I must buy it!" All in all there was a cornucopia of amazing goods. There were vegan items, gluten-free, different shortbreads and macarons (both American and French), variations on rice krispy treats, pie, scones, almond croissants from Runner & Stone. We had steady sales throughout the day and got a huge surge of customers once 2 or 3 o'clock rolled around for a post-lunch treat!

Brooklyn Flea was a great venue. The staff incredibly helpful and other vendors supportive, the crowd amazing and generous! Being one of the few vendors selling boku sweets and in such extensiveness we got a lot of customers. With Smorgasburg being the site of mainly food vendors it was a good balance to be around those selling mainly savory items, as well as jewelry, patchwork, offering bike tune ups, selling furniture and art and tea and coffee (great compliments to scones and other sweets).

And it was great to see Ken, Lillian, and Jackie (a great saleswoman), as well as Angela (Mind Over Batter) and meet Meghan (Buttercream Blondi) and Emily & Karen (Mainly Gluten Free in NYC), and Elizabeth (Brooklyn Supper), Betty Ann (Asian in America) as well as many other foodies/food bloggers eager to help the cause and perhaps participate next year.

All in all via online donations and what was made at the bake sale we raised about $3,400 to surpass our $2,000 goal! Thanks a bunch to our sponsors Brooklyn Flea for providing us a booth for free, Joe's Crab Shack for the awesome t-shirts, Whole Foods Union Square for the bags, and Fondu for the banner and business cards! Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by the booth and purchased, who tasted, who volunteered, and who donated (especially all the great bakeries for contributing delicious goods) and spread the word! Please keep it up and help us raise more money! You can make online donations here. And when making a donation you can get in on one of many awesome raffles, which means more sweets! How can you resist?