2014 Year in Review of NYC's Dessert Offerings

The new year is in full swing and so my bakery reviews of local confections is due as well. I have to say in looking it over I hadn't ventured to as many places. Maybe I was eating "healthier" or maybe I was baking at home more. But that doesn't mean that sweets weren't had and I wouldn't take the time to tell you the good, bad, and the unfortunate.

Here goes...

Ivy Bakery - Formally a storefront in SoHo Daniellan now offers her wonderful desserts in Brooklyn at Root Hill Cafe.

Highlights: Everything gooie! The red velvet gooie has a blood red color and good texture just like a bar. The butter gooie is still my fave of the batch. The green tea pie is quite good as Daniellan's crusts are fantastically flaky and tasty. Dunno if she uses high-class butter or lard but whatever it is keep doing it Daniellan!

Dominique Ansel - I tried Ansel's stuff before the whole rat debacle happened. So I feel somewhat comfortable noting what I did enjoy.

Highlights: The magic souffle. The orange in the brioche "shell" had a nice tang but the chocolate mousse inside is the star of the show. The mousse was wet like an undercooked bread pudding it holds semi-firm and is dense and delicious and not too chocolatey or dark chocolate flavored. However it's pretty costly (and small) at $7. Also finally tried the Cronut (Milk & Honey edition)! The FauxNuts have NOTHING on this one. Perfect consistency with the interior being very much like a nice chewy croissant and the exterior perfectly fried like a doughnut so it has a nice crunch. And the cream inside was tasty, sweet, and drizzly through the flaky layers. The inside of the cream was a bit oily so it ran, but it was good. However, I dunno if this is wait in line for hours good.

Red Rooster - Marcus Samuelsson's restaurant was a place I visited on several occasions this year for restaurant week and press dinners. Usually the desserts do not blow me away, however...

Highlights: ... the sweet potato filled doughnuts were perfection. Screw munchkins, get these light and lightly sugared tasty rounds coupled with a nice frothy sweet potato cream that oozes out when squishing your doughnut so it fills your mouth with tastiness. A sweet cream was served as a dollop on the side.

Silk Cakes - Ever since Silk Cakes opened up in Forest Hills (not far from my place in Queens) I have made a point to go on walks with a friend just to stop by their bakery and reward myself post-walk with milk cakes and/or cupcakes!

Highlights: Yuzu cake (kind of citrusy with lemony/limey) with green tea buttercream and green tea truffle in the middle. The cake was solid texture, nice subtle green tea flavors in the truffle and frosting. And the frosting was perfect, super smooth, best when room temperature (not when cold) and is like velvety perfection but filling (hence the name Silk Cakes). Can I say it again? I LOVE the frosting. I also tried the chocolate cupcake with semi-sweet chocolate truffle inside and green tea icing on top. I am addicted to this icing. So good and smooth.

Another addiction? Their milk cakes! The cinnamon milk cake which was reminiscent of a cinnamon roll. It's on the light and airy inside with the right amount of a sweet brown sugar/cinnamon swirl. Much better than a dense Cinnabon roll I tell you. By years end I had tried ALL the milk cakes from the cinnamon to banana, to green tea w/ blueberries and adore them all fantastic with tea. And again, a nice post-walk treat for yourself.

Trois Pommes - This patisserie is now closed.

Lowlights: A friend said she enjoyed their red velvet twinkie and it was fine. It had a solidred velvet balance and taste and the filling is nice, not too much could actually use more on the chocolate/red velvet side since there's so much cake and is light in cream cheese taste.

Cafe Glechik - The owners have Ukranian ancestry and displayed some of their hometown food at Village Voice's annual Choice Eats event last year.

Highlights: I pretty much repeatedly passed this booth for their Napoleon Cake. It was one of those eyes are bigger than your stomach scenarios. I wish I could've eaten more of that massive phyllo & vanilla cream layered goodness. Light, yet filling. Sweet yet not overwhelming. Fantastic.

Hill Country BBQ - I go for the brisket and the green bean casserole but Hill Country is known for their award-winning desserts.

Highlights: A friend shared some banana pudding and chocolate nut pudding. When having the pudding you must have it with the cookies that goes with them. The chocolate comes with chocolate wafers and the banana with Nilla wafers. If you're a fan of banana then the banana chunks in the pudding will be nice and creamy. However, this has to be eaten relatively quickly as the banana tends to lose water and this makes the overall pudding consistency a bit less solid so that you'll be dealing with chunky bits versus watery surroundings. The chocolate was HEAVY but delicious with the nuts, milk chocolate pudding and the cookies inside. Would recommend sharing the chocolate, the banana I could eat alone.

Old Fashioned Doughnuts - While their storefront has closed down this place popped up at the LIC and/or Astoria Fleas over the summer.

Highlights: Joining in on the FauxNut craze OFD's version was the Cream Croughnut. To me it was one of the better fake Cronuts I have had. It's more croissant like on the interior and is baked not fried. It's not dry like the Crumbnut and not too hard yet sweet unlike Trois Pommes version. It is quite soft and there's a lot of cream so it can get messy with the powdered sugar on top. But a very good find if you don't want something fried.

Sweet Muse - This is a new pop up available for purchase online. They specialize in brownies and I got to partake at LIC Flea last summer.

Highlights: I tried their cashew and caramel fudge brownie. It's a large brownie and the caramel had hardened but was still gooey and worked well with the overall brownie. You know I am all about the texture for brownies/blondies and this one had that dense quality I enjoy. Owner Laura Siner offers a wide range of flavors to choose from. There are also inspirational messages packed with the brownie in a mini ziplock.

Two Little Red Hens - This place may be known for their pies but their cupcakes are also very, very good.

Highlights: The chocolate and peanut butter cupcake, chocolate cake that was perfectly moist reminding me of a homemade Duncan Hines texture with peanut butter inside as filling and a fantastically smooth and creamy icing of chocolate and PB swirl.

That is not to be out shined by the pumpkin spice cupcake with pumpkin apricot spice frosting. Wonderful! Red Hens cupcakes can give Sugar Sweet Sunshine a run for the money in terms of the quality of the cake. The frosting was nice, not too thick or buttercream like and I like the added sweetness alternative from the apricot in the spice frosting. Well done. Large size, wish they had a more "regular sized cupcake." But very good.

Kicky's Kitchen - Is the cupcake dead? Not in NYC apparently. New pop up I tried at Madison Square Eats last summer.

Highlights: The pina colada caketail (cupcake with alcohol). Kicky's thing is making cupcakes out of cocktails! And this entails a cake with pineapple and coconut liquer (and some shredded coconut), and buttercream with a rum floater. It is not heavily alcoholic and you'll enjoy the tropical taste. It was fluffy and a reasonable sized cupcake. The cake itself was springy and the buttercream thick and sweet. I tried a taste of the car bomb (had chocolate stout in the cake) which tasted way more alcoholic than the pina colada.

Macaron Parlour - This place is one of my favorite bakeries and makes the best range of French macarons that I've had as far as I'm concerned. But I am open for others trying to persuade me otherwise.

Highlights: I retasted the Giggity macaron, which is a chocolate macaron with chocolate, caramel and peanut filling. Kinda reminiscent of a Snickers in macaron form. Fan-tastic. But would I expect anything less from Macaron Parlour? I think not.

Molly's Cupcakes & Milk & Cookies Bakery - See my May 26th cupcake crawl post for info on these. They were by far the best things on the crawl.

Chloe Doughy - While this isn't a bakery Chloe Doughy does warrant noting. I won a sample of this dough from the NYC Bake Sale raffle. Basically you sign up for Chloe Doughy and get two doughs (one new flavor for the month and the staple of chocolate chip). I'd recommend this as a cool gift to someone who enjoys baking. Like moi!

Highlights: The chocolate chip was divine. While the process of making it is reminiscent of Duncan Hines it is also distinct in the taste, quality of chocolate, and the fantastic smell. It's a standard chocolate chip that stands out as well and the dough held up well after 2 weeks in the fridge.

The lemon lavendar seemed to dry out a bit after two weeks and this may be because it's more a shortbread type cookie. Instructions say to add sparkling sugar and whipped lemon icing. The dough is fragrant like sorbet and the lemon in the cookie is quite light which is why the lemon icing may be necessary for taste. And to me the subtlety of the shortbread alone was enough to have me wanting more.

Sprinkles - You may know them as the place where you can get cupcakes via ATM. They have branched out form California to the fancy areas of Manhattan.

Highlights: Had the mini lemon cupcake with lemon icing and an unnecessary candy disk on top of the cupcake. The lemon flavor comes through mainly in the whipped icing, nice and frothy, and is subtle in the cake itself but definitely there. I'd get again, but a bit pricey for the mini size at $2. Would prefer it to be $1.50 at most, but then again I was in the UES.

La Toulousaine - I don't have a lot in terms of bakeries in Morningside Heights. I had stumbled upon this place and decided, what the heck?

Lowlights: I tried the pistachio and regular "madeleine's." (Notice the quotes.) They were massive and taste less like a traditional madeleine than a kind of pound cake in madeleine form. Mind you madeleine's are buttery cake but this was not the same. The pistachio was not that pistachio. Not bad but not like the formal madeleine. This is definitely not your typical patisserie. For that I'd suggest going elsewhere.

Le Maison du Macaron - I've been here before and being in the Chelsea area they don't only have French macarons but many freshly made goodies available every day.

Highlights: The key Lime Pie macaron definitely has the essence of key lime pie down. Key lime in the filling, green cookie with graham cracker crumble sprinkled on it. Good stuff. Had it twice. 

Vendome Macaron Bar - I'll admit to being a bit biased because the second time I went to their booth (or tent) at Smorgasburg the vendor got a bit testy. Could've been the heat but still...customer service.

Highlights/Lowlights: Their Reese's peanut butter macaron does taste like a Reese's peanut butter cup. Win! The claim to fame for Vendome is dying their macarons and the orange cookie captures the peanut butter and the chocolate ganache filling is tasty. I later had the salted caramel (light blue cookie) good but this one was not memorable. Their nutella macaron was okay as well. I had to freeze it after it was melting so may not have gotten the best of it as the nutella overwhelmed in the chilled/hardened filling.

Treat House - This place is known for varied rice krispy treats. And that's pretty much it.

Lowlights: For me a rice krispy treat is pretty darn simple to make. Add some more bits into it and it may not be spectacular but fine. I had a chocolate pretzel rice krispy treat that was very chocolatey with a chocolate frosting and flavorless pretzel. Chocolate chips were included in the rice krispy and it was aight. I also had the salted caramel which was fine but I'm also a rice krispy purist. And for $2 each they are small for what you get (and could easily make at home) but service is nice and they keep well.

Levain Bakery - This is the big a** cookie place. Cookies the size of your head I tell you!

Highlights: On a splurge I got the pumpkin loaf, deliciously cinnamony, moist. The perfect quality for bread with a nice crisp crust. I am also quite happy because they gave me the "butt" of the loaf so I got a hefty piece. :-)

Kitchenette Uptown - I used to go here more since it's near my job but the lack of scones in the morning (they make 6 a day) and the increasing prices for watered down cider have me going less and less.

Lowlights: Their cakes and desserts are said to be made fresh everyday. I had their red velvet cupcake and I am sorry to say people that it is not true red velvet! While it's a moist cake with creamy icing (that is also not cream cheese). The red velvet has no chocolate flavor, is closer to pink than red in color. So save your pennies if you have a red velvet fix and get something else. Now their big-as-your-hand cookies, namely PB was very good.

Epicerie Boulud - The director of my company brought two pies in from this fancy place. That means she loves us.

Highlights/Lowlights: The chocolate pecan pie was dense, super sweet, and very good. It's definitely a sinful and good dessert. The dark chocolate is so rich and wonderful...

The apple crumb pie however was dry. If you want some good apple crumb I suggest Little Pie Company's sour cream apple. Boulud's apple crumbs were a bit on the dry side and apple inside is fine and cinnamony but nothing overly special.

A Celebration of "Fried & True" at Ginny's Supperclub

On June 24th, a tinted and lavish Ginny's Supper Club, under the often bustling Red Rooster in Harlem, hosted a launch to the public and local press for Fried & True: 50 Recipes for America's Best Fried Chicken and Sides compiled by Lee Brian Schrager (with Adeena Sussman). Fried & True features about 100 recipes from chefs/restaurateurs/cooks around the country offering their take on fried chicken in addition to side pairings reflecting the variations of what people of different backgrounds think of when it comes to a historic dish that is steadily becoming part of the "new wave" of food trends.

Fried & True's origins stem from Lee's complete and utter love of fried chicken. Growing up on Long Island it was a staple meal in his home and also a treat purchased and delivered when his parents went out. In the Introduction Lee states that he often orders fried chicken whenever he's out rather than making it himself to taste what others have to offer and how they reflect a change in the perceived tried and true way to make this American classic. Lee's involvement and background in so many aspects of the culinary world, including being the founder of the NY Food & Wine Festival and Food Network South Beach Wine & Food festival, make him a huge name in the industry and someone with an enviable palate.

Fried & True now out from Clarkson Potter

Three NYC based chefs were featured at the Fried & True celebration, as were their contributions to the book for the evening's menu. Marcus Samuelsson (owner and chef of Red Rooster) who not only greeted attendees but was also working, Elizabeth Karmel of Hill Country BBQ & Hill Country Chicken, and Harlem native with Southern roots Charles Gabriel whose restaurant Charles' Country Pan Fried Chicken was lauded by Lee and Marcus as being the best fried chicken in Harlem, let alone New York City.

Guests received a copy of the book along with tote bags from sponsor Mastercard. But the only way to get a real sense of Fried & True was in the food itself. Attendees got to try recipes from Samuelsson including his coconut fried chicken on a bed of shredded bok choy claw with toasted peanuts, pickled jalapeno, and fried chickpeas; in addition to Elizabeth Karmel's garlic cheese grits with candied country ham and Charles Gabriel's candied yams.

Each dish was brought out family style and there were mutterings/requests for more. Karmel, mouth full, complimented Gabriel on his candied yams (simple with only a handful of ingredients; "a staple to real Southern cooking," he insisted). And Gabriel became a fan of Karmel's garlic cheese grits with ham bits sweetened with a crust of granulated and dark brown sugar. Samuelsson's chicken had a kick as did the bok choy slaw that reflected his signature style of a twist on an American classic while adding in bits of Samuelsson's African and European roots.

Brooklyn ice cream shop Ample Hills Creamery provided scoops of their popular flavors salted crack caramel and sweet as honey ice cream with toppings for dessert while guests enjoyed music from local artist Farrah Burns and her band.

Fried & True is split up into four sections: Southern Inspiration; American Originals; Pacific Rim Flavors; and Sandwiches, Wings, L'il Bites, and Special Diets. Some of the more heavily reflected regions for the recipes featured include the East coast (New York City has prominent coverage), the South(east), California, parts of the Midwest such as Chicago, and even Portland, OR.

Charles Gabriel being of South Carolina roots and having cooked with his mother at a very young age brings his wisdom and flavors to Harlem not just at his own shop but having been a chef at Copeland's in Harlem for a couple decades. He may be one of the few, if only, true Southern contemporaries bringing good ole down home fried chicken in a big ole cast iron (yes, you will need a cast iron as Fried & True notes in Fried Chicken 101) to make his chicken oh so crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Karmel's recipes also fit into Southern Inspiration and Samuelsson's contributions land in the American Originals section.

While Marcus Samuelsson may be considered the hot name and grand orator, Gabriel received the spotlight that evening and was someone anyone who hadn't know him before wanted to know. Lee said he absolutely had to have Gabriel's recipes in this book. Marcus echoed that when he first visited Harlem in preparation for his own restaurant that he was informed that he had to go to Charles' Country Pan Fried Chicken on 150th and Frederick Douglass, get some chicken, and then head to Marcus Garvey Park to watch the residents play ball. To him, the combination of watching local ballers and eating Gabriel's chicken culminated in the perfect Sunday.

Gabriel is a tall, shy man with dark skin and a great smile. Once he talks about chicken, about cooking, he opens up, more extroverted and more animated in his talk about enjoying what he does and waking up early and going to bed late. Even after this event he was going straight to his restaurant to prep for the next day and was very much looking forward to closing up for a week to enjoy a vacation and cruise with his family. Gabriel was stopped, repeatedly, during conversation by those wanting his autograph, wanting to know where his shop was exactly, and saying that they'd be back to Harlem going further north this time around and, even with full bellies, were excited to try his food. This made Gabriel grin even wider, surprised and humbled by the celebrity thrust upon him that evening.

Fried & True brings attention to the hot spots and the smaller spots. It even brought "low-key fried chicken lovers out of the woodwork" where the unifier is good, comfort food that is recognizable to many from their childhood. Like Lee says, fried chicken is becoming part of the American "culinary canon" and this celebration of Fried & True's release may be just the resurgence fried chicken and the places that serve it needed.

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!

#CookieSwapNYC 2012 (Supporting WhyHunger's Campaign)

Walking into Hill Country BBQ in Chelsea one is welcomed by the woody aroma of meat being smoked. Pass by the friendly hostess and the bar, don't get sidetracked by the dessert station, and head downstairs to be greeted by representatives of WhyHunger and Bloggers without Borders. Beyond was an array of goodies and food bloggers I've connected with at local functions and via the Twitterverse. For me being part of the food blogger/foodie community is home and the best way to spend a weekend, especially a chilly and windy Sunday. Baking for them and enjoying food with them is a highlight, but to also do so for charity gets the warm fuzzy feelings going.

Cookie Swap NYC was organized by bloggers around the country with Bloggers without Borders. Bloggers without Borders has partnered with WhyHunger to promote an end to poverty and hunger throughout the nation by connecting people to affordable and nutritious foods. Fellow food blogger Lillian Huang kept many of us updated on the upcoming event. In the end forty food bloggers and food enthusiasts from the tri-state area came out to bake, talk, and share in WhyHunger and Bloggers without Borders mission.

The purpose of the Cookie Swap is, yes to swap cookies, but mainly to join people with common interest for a larger purpose. Tickets cost $40, half of which went to WhyHunger. Beyond purchase of a ticket all you had to do was bake cookies. Any kind you like! And what you get is the generosity of Hill Country BBQ's executive chef Elizabeth Karmel in providing you a tasty barbecue along with samples of their breakfast pastries and award winning cupcake! And again...the warm fuzzies!

Since I figured (and saw via many tweets) that chocolate was a popular theme I went with a recipe I'd made before. Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing. A pillowy cookie that's not too sweet but add on the brown butter icing and you  are in sugar country!

It's always great to catch up with the food blogger community and participate in not just eating but helping a greater cause. Jackie did gluten free pinenut cookies, Elizabeth (Brooklyn Supper) made a gorgeous satsuma cranberry shortbread, Angela (Mind Over Batter) made chocolate peanut butter cookies and gingerbread, Hazel (Tasty Pursuits) made Gianduja cookies, Betty Ann (Mango Queen) made purple yam ube shortbread, Abby Dodge did a deliciously ooey gooey bar, and there was more, more, and more.

It was great meeting Gail (THE Tough Cookie), Sweet & Simple's Michelle Jaffee, and Kelly (KellyBakes) in person and everyone just chatting it up and relaxing.

Hill Country BBQ, and Elizabeth, were super generous in providing the venue two years in a row, this great food spread of their succulent meats and sides, as well as a nice breakfast spread of savory and sweet items and honey butter (HONEY BUTTER!). Attendees were also provided the Hill Country NYC Food & Wine Festival (Godiva) award winning PB&J cupcake! Are there words to describe how much I loved this cupcake? Moist cake, perfect balance of jelly in said cake, a whipped peanut butter icing that did not overwhelm, and salted peanuts on top! Goodness...

Let me be honest. After all that dining and chatting and picture taking I didn't want to go home because (1) it was hard to move and (2) I wanted to take advantage of everyone's generosity and report back accordingly to the world! I only took a handful of cookies after having splurged on Hill Country (been there before and enjoyed it and certainly will be back again) so I tasted gluten free Milanos from Our Gluten Free Family (chewy and, dare I say, even better than the original), Angela's chocolate PB cookie (as always a knock out), Abby's ooey gooey bar (Abby does no wrong as far as I'm concerned), and Betty Ann's chocolate sandwich cookie (sinfully wonderful). Then there's regret at not being able to try more but my Zumba class barely worked off what I had eaten.

During events like these you realize how lucky you are to be able to indulge in great food and make it for others. So to come together for a cause to aid others less fortunate to become more educated about food and have it at their disposal is a great thing to do and promote, year-round not just during the holidays.

Bloggers without Borders has done some great fundraisers including the NYC Blogger Bake Sale that Lillian and Ken spearheaded earlier this year to also provide relief to hungry children.

To stay updated with WhyHunger's mission check out their website and connect. If you're a blogger check out and sign up for Bloggers without Borders and perhaps I'll see you at a function in the very near future.

Thanks again to all who participated and donated and organized and again huge thanks to Hill Country BBQ for the great spread and generosity.

Warm fuzzies people...