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Taste of the Upper West Side will feature many DessertBuzz Favorites
Fantastic seasonal fare by Jean-Georges Vongerichten is expected for Saturday's "Best of the West"
Don’t miss the Sixth annual Whole Foods Market new Taste of the Upper West Side featuring many DessertBuzz Favorites such as Jean-Georges, Dovetail, Sugar and Plumm, Sarabeth’s and Momofuku Milk Bark. (more…)
Junoon desserts: Quince tarte tatin by Jenny Lee
Here’s a look at some of the great desserts and pastry chefs from New York’s Michelin starred restaurants. I also included some notes about the desserts, the restaurant’s location and a link to their website. (more…)
Dovetail's baked chocolate tart with pretzels, caramel and beer ice cream
On Sunday we were in the mood for a fine dining experience, but, like many New Yorkers, we can’t just drop $100 per-person whenever we please. That’s where this recession thing comes in handy. Even some of the best restaurants in town have special deals to lure more diners when things are slow.
Dovetail's banana bread with spiced walnuts
Honey carrot cake
I have always been suspicious of carrot cake. A dessert that’s made from one of the healthiest vegetables just seems to go against the very spirit of what dessert is all about. That said, I never met a dessert I didn’t like, even one that’s made from beta carotene-infused pulp. So it was with an open mind that I approached pastry chef Michal Shelkowitz’s honey carrot cake from Dovetail. The waiter called it “very special”. (more…)
Like muffins, New York City scones are a great excuse to eat cake for breakfast. Or, depending on where you get them, to eat cookies in the morning. Or, basically, to have dessert any damn time of day you want. We have an especially wide array of different types here in the city as New York is truly the Madagascar of scones. Anywho, here is my list of 12 recommended scones.
I’ll start with my favorite scone, the raisin scone from Payard. [Payard is closed, try Francois Chocolate Bar for pastry- no scones or bread to date 3-1-2010] A very thin crisp shell with a sweet soft Challah-like inside. The aroma of the center of this scone is one of the great food pleasures for $1.50. Notes: Go early or they won’t have any left. More on Payard.
The Maple scones from Blue Ribbon Bakery are almost like shortbread cookies. They are very small, sweet and flavorful with a thin layer of frosting. Perfect if you are not in the mood for a full-on bread bomb. More desserts from Blue Ribbon.
The goat cheese and herb savory scone from Clinton Street Baking Company has a thick, crunchy, textured crust and a very salty and flavorful inside. This is a big scone that is fun to eat in the same way ripping off pieces of French bread is. More Clinton Street Desserts.
Perhaps I should not have included the tiny savory biscuit-like scone from Dovetail since it’s only available with their delicious brunch. However, it left an impression on me so I felt it deserved a spot. Chewy on the edges like a buttery chocolate chip cookie but 100% savory almost like a cornmeal grain, butter rich biscuit that’s been cooked on a griddle. More from DessertBuzz 5-star Dovetail.
The savory bacon cheddar scone from Bouchon is a highly textured and flavorful creation worthy of the Bouchon name. More like a small specialty bread, this scone is not at all crumbly or buttery. Notes: You must go early to get these as they can be dry if you get them in the afternoon. Check with the staff if you go after 12:00 to see when it was baked. Also for god sakes, get a pastry here if you go.
The chocolate strawberry scone from Alice’s Tea Cup packs tons of delicious dark chocolate and fresh strawberries. Their crust is thick and the inside reminds me of buttermilk pancakes with starwberries and chocolate. They are the biggest scones and most filling in this feature. Perfect for fueling up for a long walk around Central Park. Notes: ask for a hot one. It simply DESTROYS! More from Alice’s Tea Cup.
The chocolate scone from E.A.T. definitely has some croissant in its bloodlines. Very buttery, light and flaky (um, like the inside of a good croissant?). This is the opposite of the dense Clinton St. or Alice’s Tea Cup scones. Notes: The dark chocolate in this scone is simply outstanding. More from E.A.T.
The organic cranberry scone from Le Pain Quotidien is like a muffin but with an interesting glazed soft exterior that makes it stand out. The tart cranberries and low sugar content also keep this from becoming too sweet. Notes: if you like your scones to be very distinctive from muffins you might not like this scone. More dessert from Le Pain Quotidien.
Forget the name of the scone I am going to describe here and just go buy one and enjoy it. The vegan (yes vegan) chocolate chip scone from Whole Foods is really just a big thick less dense chocolate chip cookie that you can eat for breakfast. It has coconut inside and some other great textures to go along with excellent dark chocolate chips and a crunchy crust, all for $1.79. Notes: I said forget it’s vegan! More Whole Foods here.
The currant scone from Bouley Bakery is a work of baking and culinary art. The cookie-like exterior is not buttery but is perfectly browned. The inside is crumbly and not too sweet. Like a less-sweet, less buttery slightly more dense shortbread cookie. Notes: Try some other items while you are down there – almost everything is superb.
No review on New York City scones would be complete without the monster offering from the Levain Bakery. A thin but crispy exterior layer and a super buttery smooth interior. When hot, these scones are hard to beat in the more traditional category. Notes: Monster size means you won’t need more food for hours. Pair it with one of their world famous cookies and you could feed the entire Army Core of Engineers. More Levain.
Honorable mention goes to the Street Sweets Truck oat currant scone. Very textured, flavorful and extremely fresh, this is a perfect morning scone to go with your coffee. Cake-like although not particularly scone-like in texture, you couldn’tt eat it as a stand alone dessert. One to try if you can figure out where the truck is parked. Try Midtown Lunch to see where their spot is.
[This post was originally published in June 2009]
After success in a certain bike race, the DessertBuzz editorial team decided to head to one of their absolute favorite restaurants for dessert: Dovetail, on the upper west side. One of the best things about Dovetail is that they constantly change their dessert menu. Dovetail’s pastry chef, Vera Tong, seems to like to mix classic options with a few experimental desserts. I still regret not trying the grape soup that I saw last winter, but I did eat the peanut butter pretzel with sea salt and beer ice cream. Edgy, but not as hectic as Wd-50. . .
On Sunday’s Mother’s Day menu there were a couple intriguing choices but I had it narrowed down to either the pain perdu or the chocolate hazelnut fondant. Normally, I always go with the chocolate option – that’s DessertBuzz Law #1: when in doubt, go with the dessert that contains dark chocolate. However, in this case, I knew I still had 5 artisanal dark chocolate bars waiting at home that were going to be eaten this week so I went with the pain perdu. Truth be told, I had to ask what pain perdu was. But now, after reading all about it on the internets, I am of course an expert. Pain perdu means “lost bread” and it was a way for people to reclaim stale bread by soaking it in eggs and milk and then frying it. Which takes us to DessertBuzz law #2: when you can’t apply rule #1 go with the fried dessert option. Of course DessertBuzz law #3 is: If you ever see a dessert that is both fried and contains dark chocolate you must order 2 servings and take one home to photograph it for a feature on Dessertbuzz.
Anywho- the pain perdu was like a light, evenly fried, French toast saturated with a flavorful egg and milk mixture. It looks like it was finished off with a blow torch too (but that is just speculation on my part). The pool of caramel below the bread was even tastier than if it was made with real maple syrup. The berries were 5-star as was the vanilla bean ice cream. The picture really says it all. The also gave us 2 mini-red velvet cupcakes and 2 small tea cakes to take home. Damn I love this place. I plan to talk some teammates into going back this week for more.
