Peanut butter & jelly pop-tarts

Both beautiful and genius.

Sweets I am thankful for

Orange-kissed cinnamon rolls from The Smile to Go—vegan, no less.

Teuscher champagne truffles. Perfection.

One Girl Cookies, in general.

Receiving the gift of Levain cookies.

Breakfast club with Bennie. Especially one that includes almond croissants at Lafayette.

Or gluttony at Doughnut Plant.

Peanut butter cookies from City Bakery. Sigh.

Butter Lane cupcakes. Take your pick.

And from Paris...

The untouchable praluline

Les escargot from Du Pain et des Idées.

Anything from Jean-Paul Hévin.

A light and lovely Gerard Mulot croissant.

And the Ispahan croissant from Pierre Hermé.

So, so much to thankful for.

Gooey (and Delicious) on the Inside

When I lived in Paris, one of the things I missed about American sweets was the utter absurdity. Twinkies. Magnolia cupcakes. Cornflake marshmallow chocolate chip cookies. As lovely and divine as a macaron or chocolate éclair is, sometimes you just want to sink your teeth into something over-the-top decadent.

Enter Gooey on the Inside. These cookies are like the chubby, eccentric love child of Levain and Momofuku: hefty, chockablock, slightly mad, but all kinds of delicious.

And, as you’ll soon see, their mad creator, Kafi Dublin, has just the personality to make these over-the-top cookies absolutely irresistible.

Q: Give us the skinny on Gooey on the Inside!

A: There are two things that I'm innately good at: baking and fashion. I had enough of working in the private sector around idiots with no common sense, so I said it's time to follow my passion. It was the best decision I ever made! As I am fanatical, obsessive compulsive and detailed oriented, I relentlessly worked on perfecting my recipes because failure was not option and I know how brutal NYC foodies and critics can be. And I was not going to fall prey to such criticism.

Q: Let's play a quick game of association. What's the first word that comes to mind when you hear...

Red Velvet= addicted

Peanut Butter=sticky

Birthday Cake= comforting

Honeycomb=unique

Creme Brulée= sophisticated

Chocolate Chip=childhood

Q: You clearly have a penchant for over-the-top flavors. Where do you get your inspiration?

A: Have you seen my closet?! People who know me, know that I am not "normal.” I embrace my eccentricities! I have never been one to follow the crowd and so there was no way due to my DNA that I could create "simple" cookies. Impossible!

Q: How often do you introduce new flavors?

A: Whenever I get inspired. Whenever I eat something that impresses my taste buds, I always think, “How can I take this item's flavor profile and convert it into a cookie?" Buffalo jerky didn't really work out; foie on the other hand... brilliant!

Q: Are there any flavors that you thought would be delicious but just didn't make the cut?  

A: Buffalo jerky, grilled cheese and green tea. Yucky!

Q: Who are some of your baking heroes? 

A: I don't really have any except for my mother. All my memories of " the best things I've ever eaten" come from my mother.

Q:  Where can people find you and your madly delicious cookies? 

A: Currently, they can be purchased on my website: www.gooeyontheinside.com
Starting May 25, until October, I will be at the Hester Street Fair. I'm hoping to open a little dessert "nook" in NYC in the near future.

Paris-Brest, Paris-New York, Always Divine

Phew. I got to indulge in Jacques Genin's glorious Paris-Brest just a month before he put the kibosh on making pastries. So enamored was I, I also went for Philippe Conticini’s award-winning Brest. Both were divine: rings of choux pastry, piped full of rich hazelnut pastry cream. Classically French, undeniably indulgent.

So why stop now? It may be a new year and a different city, but that’s no reason not to indulge in the French classic when the opportunity presents itself.

Not that the Paris-Brest readily presents itself in New York. Macarons are ubiquitous. Baba Rhum is creeping onto menus around town. The Paris-Brest is more elusive.

But when Dominique Ansel opened his Soho bakery a little over a year ago, this was the pastry that garnered him a lot of attention. (That and his oh-so-sweet-sticky-buttery-perfect Kouign Amann).

Ansel, inspired by his go-to snack when he first came to the city—none other than a Snickers bar—replaced the hazelnut cream with rich dark chocolate and savory peanut butter that meld beautifully between the softly crunchy rings of pastry.

He also miniaturized it—perhaps the only dessert that is smaller here in America than in France.

And showing the French flair for artistry, dots of peanut butter and candied nuts decorate the salted caramel glacage on top. 

It's reassuring to know this French beauty is so close here in New York.

Breakfast at Cookshop

When two fellow Sweet Freaks invite you to meet for a pastry breakfast at which the talented pastry chef will be present, what do you do?

Duh.

 

Needless to say, I was all too thrilled to join Niko and Kathy recently for a casual breakfast at Cookshop, at which Chef Amanda Cook talked to us about the development of the restaurant’s breakfast and pastry services. Since April, they’ve been serving up fresh baked muffins, scones, cakes and other pastries—including the most divine pain au chocolat I’ve had since Paris.

Much more chocolaty than anything you’d find là-bas, but with about the same amount of butter (that is, a lot), it was nothing short of heavenly. And Chef Cook graciously offered to start serving them with Kleenex as I told her it made me want to weep.

On the American front, she’s just as adept. A butternut squash chocolate chip muffin?? Genius.

Deliciously moist and spongy, it’s her favorite baked good with good reason.

And though I too loved it, and the blueberry muffin and Have a Nice Day muffin...

... I was especially crazy for the cookies.

Chocolate chip cookies that are gritty with sugar and butter and wonderfully laden with boulders of chocolate. And the peanut butter cookies: also magically moist, both savory and sugary.

The daily offerings, which come out of the oven right before the restaurant opens at 7:30 and are served supremely fresh until 11, change daily. So I think Niko, Kathy and I are going to have to return to sample some more.

Cookshop
156 10th Avenue

Breakast Club at Doughnut Plant

When was the last time you had a doughnut for breakfast? 

Or... five?

For me, it had been much too long. So I was very happy when Ben agreed to meet at Doughnut Plant, the newer Chelsea location, for Breakfast Club.

Even though they just do doughnuts, the choices are not easy.

But we did well.

Peanut butter and jam.

Vanilla bean.

Tres leches.

 Oatmeal.

And, for good measure, a wee creme brulée doughnut.

So good. So gluttonous. If I had to do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat.