Back to Lisbon for pastéis de natas

Although the Pastéis de Belém Café was a haul from our hotel in Lisbon, it was essential that we visit. This 171-year-old bakery claims to have invented pastéis de natas—those deliciously sweet custard tarts that we had been inhaling all week. Were they worth the hype?

When we arrived, the café was blissfully crowd-free, giving us the opportunity to admire the old time-y charm and the pastries in the display.



Of course we were there for the pastéis de natas, but, as good tourists, it was our duty to sample the other treats too.

We settled on a simple but delightful corn muffin, sweet bread and coffee and juice to wash it down. A beautiful breakfast spread.

The muffin was light, moist and sweet.

And the pastéis de natas were everything promised—sweet, light, creamy and totally indulgent (though we thought the ones from Doce Real a wee bit better).

Still, that didn’t stop us from cleaning our plates.

Just in the nick of time. As we left the bakery and make our way to Sintra, the rest of the tourists were clogging the sidewalk, hungry for their turn.

Autumn is pear season

This I know because I went to Maison Baron-Lefèvre in Nantes and had pear crumble for dessert.

Crumbles are one of my favorite things to eat. (But for the record, what is the difference is between a “crumble” and a “crisp”?). This French version had the added bonus of a thick eggy custard in addition to the delicious pear morsels, the sweet crumbles and the light vanilla bean ice cream.

With every bite, I kept promising myself that I wouldn’t finish (this dessert was the third course of a very decadent meal, after all). But, what can I say? It was too delicious. It being pear season and all.

5 best (boo!) pumpkin treats

If you don't want to stuff your gullet with candy corn and mini Snickers this Halloween, get in on these rich, spiced baked goods.

Pumpkin cupcakes at Amai and Batch:
You can't go wrong with either Kelli or Pichet's elegant recipes.

Pumpkin scone at Alice's Tea Cup:
The sisters usher in autumn with their caramel-glazed moistest scone.

Pumpkin pie at City Bakery:
A rich and spiced slice from a man who knows his pies and tarts.

Pumpkin cheesecake bar at Baked:
Creamy, savory, heavenly.

Pumpkin custard at Dessert Truck:
Topped with maple syrup, marshmallows and caramelized pecans. Enough said.

Sweet on Shake Shack

With all the hoopla over new Van Leeuwen ice cream truck, Tribeca cart wars and frozen yogurt taking over the city, it's like Shake Shack's frozen custard has melted from memory. Not for me.

I blew by all the chumps waiting in line for burgers and went straight to the B line — custard express — and got the flavor of the day: Plum crumb.

Creamy texture + tart and tangy aftertaste + bits of crumb (strange little blonde pellets) = the perfect treat for another hot summer day.

Second helpings

There's nothing like prolonging dessert. Here are Brownie's 5 Favorite NYC Sweets:


1) Chocolate Fondue from The Chocolate Room in Park Slope — I love the Chocolate Room. It's my go-to romantic dessert place. Everything on their menu is chock-full o' chocolate-y goodness and their chocolate fondue is absolutely terrific. You get a plate of fresh fruit usually strawberries, pineapple and bananas, little pieces of light and buttery pound cake, a couple homemade marshmallows and a nice sized pot of fondue made from 60% Belgian chocolate. At $14, it's the priciest thing on the menu, but it's ample to share with a date.



2) Liege Wafel with Belgian Chocolate Sauce and Whipped Cream from Wafels and Dinges — I've always loved waffles but Wafels and Dinges introduced me to what a real Belgian waffle could be. Slightly dense and chewy with little bursts of crystallized sugar in every bite their Liege Wafels are a must for me. And what goes better on a Liege Wafel than a generous helping of dark Belgian chocolate fudge and whipped cream?

3) Plain Fro-yo from Forty Carrots at Bloomingdales — I like my fro-yo to be tart and fresh, not overly sweet or processed tasting. I've tried all the heavy hitters and not so heavy hitters in the fro-yo leagues and plain Frogurt reins supreme. Once confined only to Bloomies and Café Lalo on the Upper West Side, Frogurt is beginning to pop up in more places throughout the city. But if you have a Frogurt problem like, um…me, you might want to join the Forty Carrots Yogurt Club. After 7 fro-yos, you get a free one with one topping.

4) Lemon Lemon Lemon Cupcake from Batch — I love all sorts of cupcakes from the low end fresh from the box Funfetti to the higher end confections you get now get at some of New York's most chichi restaurants. Pichet Ong's new bakery, Batch, makes a Lemon Lemon Lemon cupcake that's I've recently become very fond of. The cupcake itself is moist and almost as light as an angel food cake. The frosting was sweet and the lemon filling was nice and tangy. The Lemon Lemon Lemon Cupcake is a bit smaller and pricier than its neighbors at Magnolia, but in terms of quality it's worlds apart and well worth it.

5) Red Velvet Custard from Shake Shack — I've been a big fan of the Shack for a long time. I used to tend to get their concretes (shakes with lots of delicious mix-ins), but lately their special custards have been too good to pass up. Last month they made a Red Velvet Custard that was to die for. Oh man, the custard was a tangy vanilla base reminiscent of traditional Red Velvet cream cheese frosting and it didn't just have little Red Velvet crumbles, oh no, there were serious chunks of Red Velvet cake. I don't know when it will return to the custard rotation, but I'm hoping it will be soon.

My Milkshake Is Better Than Yours

Danny Meyer proves that all shakes are not created equal.

Since opening in 2004, Shake Shack, the “roadside” eatery in Madison Square Park has developed a cult following — which means crazy-long lines. Luckily, most people are waiting for burgers, which have been declared among the city’s best. For milkshakes, there’s a separate queue that moves quicker.

What makes these shakes worth waiting in any line for is the quality and simplicity of their ingredients — think: Gramercy Tavern, not Carvel. Flavors are limited to chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, caramel, coffee, and black & white. Each is made with frozen custard — as opposed to ice cream or soft serve — milk and one other ingredient. The black & white, the most popular choice, for example, is vanilla custard, milk and hot fudge. The strawberry shake, made with pureed berries, is perfectly sweet and the caramel, which uses caramel sauce, tastes as decadent as an entire sundae.

Even sweeter? A portion of Shake Shack’s proceeds goes to the Madison Square Park Conservancy, which keeps the park in tip-top shape.

Shake Shack
Southeast corner of Madison Square Park
212.889.6600