It was salty pimp time

Have you been to Big Gay Ice Cream Shop yet? It took me about a year of wanting to go before I actually managed to get there.

I was happy to share the experience with a partner in crime: Kasia.

It took us a solid 10 minutes of debating the finer points of the menu: dulce de leche versus Nutella, apple versus pumpkin, cone versus sundae.

But finally, amidst the rainbows and unicorns, we had our order.

The American Globs Sundae pour elle.

A salty pimp pour moi.

That’s vanilla soft serve with dulce de leche and sea salt, dipped in chocolate.

It's every bit as ridiculous and delicious as you'd expect, and if you haven’t been to Big Gay Ice Cream Shop yet, do not wait a year for this creamy satisfaction.

Last minute but rich and delicious

Vite, vite! Looking for a killer Valentine’s gift today in Manhattan? Here are decadent pick-me-ups from all over town.

• Warm pain au chocolate at Patisserie Claude (there’s still time to serve it in bed!)
• Petit fours from Three Tarts (Chelsea)
• Champagne chocolate chip cookies from Ruby et Violette (Hell’s Kitchen)
• Chocolate skulls from Bond Street Chocolate (East Village)
• Love potion hot chocolate at City Bakery (Flatiron)
• Passion fruit macarons from Bosie Tea Parlor (West Village)
• Red velvet bundt cakes at Make My Cake (Harlem) and cupcakes at Amy’s Bread (Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea, West Village)
• A giant box of assorted bonbons from Kee’s (Soho)

Summer sweets in New York City

I haven’t been posting much lately. I’ve been too busy eating.

Banana bread with chocolate chips and candied ginger from Peels.

Along with bircher museli and pancakes with cherry compote.



A vegan doughnut from Cowgirl Baking.


A blueberry bar at Think Coffee. Berries + oats = super healthy, no??

Chocolate brioche bread pudding at Union Square Café. Sigh.

Giant, crumbly, banana-y s’mores bars from Baked.

The chocolate white chocolate cookie from City Bakery is next.

Ta-dah! Tu-Lu’s gluten-free cupcakes

The last thing I need is another cupcake stop in the neighborhood. But Tu-Lu’s, on 11th Street, has been on my radar for months and I finally stumbled upon the gumdrop-sized spot this weekend. Naturally, cupcakes were consumed.


What makes Tu-Lu’s different is it’s a 100% gluten-free bakery. Thank god I don’t have any wheat allergies, but I’m becoming more and more of a fan of vegan baked goods, which Tu-Lu’s also has.

They have vegan cookies…

And also cookies made with dairy…


Chocolate, vanilla and red velvet cupcakes…



And mini cupcakes…


Seeing as I wanted to sample more than one flavor, but unwilling to spend $6 or $9 for an afternoon sugar fix, I opted for three minis (pretty, no?).

The vanilla on vanilla was good, but my least favorite. It lacked at special umph.

Red velvet, the bakery’s most popular flavor, was moist and creamy. Three quick bites of dreaminess.

My favorite, however, was the chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting. It shared the same perfect balance of moistness and creaminess, but had better contrasting flavors.


I definitely don’t need more sweets on my radar. But three wee cupcakes is like one regular-sized one—pas mal, right??

The magic of Christina Tosi

Thank heaven for little girls. For once in a while, they grow up to be like Christina Tosi.

“Of course, I wanted a bakery when I grew up,” Ms. Tosi said. “It’s the other little-girl dream besides being a princess.”

Momofuku Milk Bar, right in my backyard, is where she dreamed up crack pie and compost cookies.


It’s where you can get towering cakes with sugary frosting and crunchy bits that send you into orbit.


Or, a bit more modest but no less ridiculously delicious, her cake truffles.

Dusty and crumbly on the outside.

Sweet and doughy on the inside.

And rainbow sprinkles that, to a girl like me, are part of the better-than-a-princess dream.

Cupcake break

As I wax poetic about the gateaux, macarons and viennoiserie of Paris, I mustn't forget the beauty of New York sweets. Especially when they bear Pichet Ong's stamp. Look at these lovelies from The Spot...

Vanilla almond coconut cupcakes...

Berry berry chocolate cupcakes...

Chocolate green tea with fruit jam...

Mocha with caramel and malden sea salt...

... and vanilla yuzu lemon...

Oui, gorgeous.

Banana cupcakes with peanut butter buttercream frosting

Here’s something different. I baked.
I actually made cupcakes from scratch and they were actually edible!

I give credit to Marguerite, who adapted her recipe from The Craft of Baking. The combination of banana cake and peanut butter buttercream frosting was too irresistible to deny, n’est-ce pas?

But I was making the cupcakes for a party; a dinner party that I knew would be chic because my girlfriend who was throwing it is chic. So my secret weapon…

Bespoke Chocolates.

Each moist, flavorful cupcake got topped with a divine bonbon.

A 70% Columbian dark chocolate truffle. A peanut butter honey square.

A hazelnut praliné. And the famous pretzel-covered sea-salted caramel.

They were chic and delicious.

And if Cowgirl and Butter Lane and The Spot and Tulu's weren't all so close, I might even do it again.