The alfajore

 

It's a traditional pastry in Buenos Aires.

Two crunchy pastry shells, sandwiching dulce de leche.

The macaron of Argentina, if you will.

The sweets of Buenos Aires

I've been good, actually. There hasn't been an insane amount of indulging here in Buenos Aires. But plenty of looking...

Everything is big, sugary and pretty. And it's no surprise that cupcakes have made their way here, too.

Many of the confiterias are quite Americanized. Nucha would give any New York bakery a run for its money, with their exquisite cakes and tarts...

...chocolates and traditional pastries...

  And, hey, what do you know? Cupcakes/muffins!

I brought a couple of them home just so see how they compare. In a word, they were asombrosa.

Amazingly moist and flavorful.

 

To die for.

There had to be some sampling...

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.

Banana cream tart at Tartine Bakery

Flaky pastry coated in dark chocolate and caramel, sweet pastry cream, and sheafs of dark chocolate.

Can you stand it?

Strawberry cupcake at Firefly

Sugary sweet, creatively packaged, East Aurora has some cupcake power.

Macarons are taking over the world

Just another spot of evidence...



(Or should we say "spots"?)


Chantal Guillon
Hayes Valley, San Francisco