Bathazar for Breakfast

There's no better sight, walking into the office, than seeing a stack of pastry boxes from Balthazar.

What lies inside? Pain au chocolat.

 Plain croissants.

And, le mieux, almond croissants.

Admittedly not my favorites in the city. But a little taste of Paris goes a long way.

80 Spring St, NYC
212.965.1413

A couple reasons to love The Smile To Go

Scones that actually taste good.

Bread. Moist, chocolaty bread.

22 Howard Street, NYC
646.683.3893

Bathazar tartlettes

I'm not sure there's anything better than the warm chocolate cake at my all-time favorite restaurant, Balthazar...

Except maybe the strawberry rhubarb tartlette: the jammiest, sweetest, warmest tart, served with creme fraiche ice cream. It's served only as a special, so get it while you can.

Beholden to Balthazar

Take your pretty eggshell blue and fiery red boxes and the sparkling jewels inside.

I’ll take this sunny yellow box that contains something equally exquisite.

The Balthazar Apricot Frangipane Tart.

Moist. Nutty. Fruity.

Pitch perfect balance and pure pleasure.

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.

Georgetown Cupcakes

Ahh, cupcakes.

Get a little closer.

Ten years into the mad trend, and it's still not old. Not to me.

Chocolate and vanilla. Vanilla and chocolate. Plus Georgetown's decadent flavors like honey banana, cinnamon and chocolate mint.

Mom and I got red velvet and toffee crunch.

One better than the other.

Georgetown Cupcakes
111 Mercer Street

Oh my sorely neglected sweets

You’d think that I’ve given up sugar. Lost my appetite for cake. Am shying away from all things fudgy, crunchy, creamy, chocolaty, gooey and otherwise so sublimely satisfying.

Trust me. Nothing is further from the truth.

While I haven’t had any good hauls at new bakeries, I have been stuffing my maw with morning pastries…

… cookies…

....cakes…

...decadent breakfasts…

....and, especially, ice cream…

More important, I am planning on getting out in the field more these upcoming weeks to give my sweet tooth some proper exercise.

From top to bottom: pastries at The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, CO; almond croissant from Ceci-Cela; walnut chocolate chip cookie from Levain; salted chocolate chip cookie from Ovenly, BK; wedding cake from Lot 2, BK; homemade three-layer strawberry cake; french toast from Homemade, BK; peach ice cream from Old Lyme Ice Cream Shop, Old Lyme, CT; Dairy Queen goodness from Old Saybrook, CT; homemade gelato sampler from Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria.

Salted chocolate chip cookie at The Smile To Go

A crunchy cookie + nickel-sized melty chunks of chocolate, dusted with coarse sea salt. Salty, sweet, chocolaty, crunchiness...

Get one now.

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)

Georgetown Cupcake Takes Manhattan

I’ve been waiting for this…

…and so, apparently, has half of Manhattan!

Two-hour-long waits. TV cameras and balloons. And we’re inside Georgetown Cupcake!

The line was slow, giving me plen-ty of time to consider my ordering strategy…

… and ogle the perfectly frosted cupcakes.







Mommy!

She was glowing. And her daughters?

Katherine and Sophie, and their whole crew, were fast at work. (Everyone was ridiculously nice.)

Most people were ordering cupcakes by the dozen. Ever the study of modesty, I ordered two (actually, I only ordered one, but you got one free in celebration of the grand opening and who would ever turn down a free cupcake??).

I knew I wanted the strawberry lava fudge. I have a thing for strawberry cake…and combined with chocolate? It was a no-brainer.

On a whim (or, more like trying to make an important decision quickly, under pressure) I got the red velvet for my freebie as it’s their best seller.

Although there area handful of tables in the big, bright bakery, I brought the cupcakes home with me so I could savor them in private.

The strawberry lava fudge was, as anticipated, ridiculous.

The strawberry frosting was sweet and the fudge oozed from the middle into a chocolaty puddle. Ridiculous.

The red velvet, however, is what blew me away. Pitch-perfect cream cheese frosting—neither too sweet nor tart, spread generously atop the moist cake.

It was fun, it was delicious, and it was totally worth the madness.