On a tear in New York City

It was a gluttonous return to New York, that’s for sure. Lucky for me and my ass, it was also brief. Sadly, for my psyche, it was not oh-my-god gluttony.

But I tried.

There was the red velvet cupcake from Amy’s Bread. So moist (and pretty, dontcha think?), the cake crumbled into pieces beneath the light and sweet whipped buttercream. Good but messy.

And put to shame by Sugar Sweet Sunshine’s “sassy” version. Why so sassy? The red velvet cake was topped with chocolate almond buttercream frosting.


And if you’ve ever had, say, the Ooey Gooey cupcake from Sugar Sweet Sunshine you know sass = heaven.

Speaking of sassy, I watched the froster at Billy’s top off the little morsels of cake with vanilla buttercream.

But I didn’t succumb to a cupcake there. Two new treats caught the eyes of Amee and me. The cookie sandwich…

Beautiful in theory, but just not the right balance of cookie to cream. Nor was the vanilla cream thick or distinctive enough to heed the call of satisfaction.

The peanut butter chocolate bar, on the other hand, did.

Weighing in at about eight ounces, the layers of chocolate cookie crust, dark chocolate and peanut butter were sinful and hit the spot.

There were, of course, the chocolate chunk banana bread at Arlo & Esme and Clinton Street Baking Co’s banana chocolate chip muffin.


That was a power breakfast if I ever had one.

And the cherry scone, olive oil muffin, pain au chocolat and glazed croissant from Maialino.

Yep. I put all four of those down in one sitting. There’s no shame in that.

I boycotted Momofuku Milk Bar. Not because I wanted to. God knows, I live for their cornflake marshmallow chocolate chip cookies. But can you imagine how much cellophane they go through daily to individually wrap every cookie and dessert?? Totally unnecessary and gross.

But since I love a good cookie, and had to walk by this sign every day on my way into my apartment, I finally succumbed to trying Milk & Cookies at their espresso bar inside Kiehl’s.

I wanted to try the S’mores cookie. What’s not to love about chocolate and marshmallow and graham crackers, all inside a single cookie, right?

But the barista said it was a “kid’s cookie”; he didn’t recommend it. Instead, he lobbied for the chocolate chip, the peanut butter chocolate chip or snickerdoodle.

So I got the peanut butter chocolate chip: a nicely chewy texture, gritty with butter and sugar and punctuated with peanuts and chocolate chips. Another good, not great, grade. Sigh.

But happily, there was one spot in the city that made my heart twitter and my knees shake. Stay tuned.

More, more, more!

There can never be enough chocolate in the world. Nor too many cupcakes.

Chocolate Bar is now open (again) in the West Village.

Billy’s Bakery is sending its banana cake goodness downtown to Tribeca.

And stay tuned for even more truffles with Roni-Sue’s expansion in the Essex Street Market next month.

5 sweets I’m craving now

We’re on the doorstep of fall and I’m trying really hard not to be sad. I’m a summer girl. I understand everyone’s love of thick sweaters, crisp apples and crackling fireplaces. But I find it really hard to let go of long days of sunshine, lazy picnics in the park and bare feet.

That said, the change in light and temperature is getting under my skin, making my sweets cravings turn toward more fruity, savory and autumnal desserts:

Apricot danish from Petrossian:
Thanks to my conversation with Edward at Café Cluny, where they serve these wonderful creations.

Banana cupcake from Billy’s:
The cream cheese frosting reminds me of last weekend’s wedding cake.

Croissant from Claude’s:
Just do it, Amy.

Slow-baked apples & cinnamon from Dessert Truck:
It’s one of the last remaining treats to be sampled from the truck (the molten chocolate cake is the other).

Chocolate banana bread from Once Upon a Tart:
It’s just been way too long.

Obsession of the week

This week clearly was all about cupcakes.

It started with the Buttercup / Billy’s Smackdown. Continued with a stop at Out of the Kitchen. Then today, I had a couple of the most heavenly flavors yet.

I visited Keavy at Brooklyn’s Brownstoners Flea Market and had a Kumquat strawberries and cream mini cupcake. Two bites of strawberry-wow flavor. And then onto Batch in the West Village. At Mr. Ong’s suggestion, I tried the carrot and salted caramel cupcake, which was, yes, divine. But the new strawberry frosting/rhubarb filling is even better. Such vibrant, fruity flavors. And the cake and frosting have that beautiful home-baked texture and density.

Instead of being cupcaked out, I’m dying for more Kumquat and Batch.