Bakeries & Sweet Shops
cupcakes, cookies, pastries, pies, ice cream…. yep, i like them all. my no nonsense guide for sweet treats all over the world.
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Proprietor: Fany Gerson
Category: Ice Cream
Neighborhood: Chelsea
The Highline Park @ 20th St and 10th Ave
Mood: fresh & cold…without the heavy feel.
Tastes Like: fresh fruit pureed to these wonderful Mexican paletas, “ice pops” with an array of interesting flavors and combination.. Please note the bottle of salt chili on top of the ice cream carts. Yes, it’s for the ice pops. Very similar to South East Asians, we put chili salt on our fruit. Guava, mangos, pineapple and even watermelon. Naturally it makes sense to put it on our frozen fruit pops too. It’s absolutely delicious.
Must Haves: My personal favorites: Mango-Chile & Guava
Stay Away: Hibiscus (there are seeds which make it annoying to eat)
Ambiance: No brick & mortars available… you can find a cart at the Hester St. Fair every Saturdays, at the Highline Park and lastly at La Esquina.
Service: gotta love the person who hands you over these delicious treats
Rating: 5 stars
Caveat: Beware of the hot & humid days…these pops don’t freeze well and adding salt to them will make them melt even faster. Ah, even still, I can’t give them up.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Doughnut Plant
Proprietor/Chef: Mark Israel
Category: Donuts
Neighborhood: Chelsea
220 West 23rd St, New York, NY
(718)797-5026
Tastes Like: cakey, moist donuts. not dried at all, and the frosting was glazed thinly with key fresh ingredients. it didn’t taste like it was crusting on the counter for days, rather glazed and consumed within the same day. i picked up a pistachio and strawberry cake “mini” donuts. bits of pistachio nuts and strawberries are evident on the outside glaze. the inside is pretty much the same. The glazes here are amazing, depending on your choice of flavor. They have featured flavors all the time, or you can stick to the basics of creme brulee and tres leches, which seem to be a mass favorite.
Ambiance: Funky, retro, explicit for the love of donuts. It’s tiny with a handful of tables and towers of donuts waiting to be consumed.
Service: Lines are extremely lengthy … order your doughnuts they will ask for your initials where you can pick them up in the next station.
Caveat: I always go for the cake donuts here versus the yeasty ones…they are square and a bullishly large to me.
Rating: 4 stars
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Almondine Bakery
Proprietor/Chef ?
Category: French Bakery
Neighborhood: DUMBO
85 Water St, New York, NY
(718)797-5026
Tastes Like: pastries so amazing, you’ll have a hard time choosing just one. my favorite is the over-sized chocolate macaron. gooey centered chocolate, lightly dusted with powder, it’s like a soft version of a chocolate oreo that is simply unforgettable. Not too rich either…. Everything here is made with extra love & butter. Other notables are the apple tartine and eclairs.
Ambiance: Too close for comfort. Take it to go and walk up the street by the seaport/pier. Better view and plenty of sunshine.
Service: Friendly as they quickly try to take your order… lines are long so you have to be patient
Caveat: NA
Rating: 4 stars
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La Maison du Macaron
Proprietor/Chef: ?
Category: French Bakery / Macarons
Neighborhood: Chelsea
132 West 23rd St, New York, NY
(212) 243-2757
[pics up soon]
Tastes Like: macaron delight. probably the best salted caramel macarons i have ever had. soft, chewy, salty, sweet all around lovely textures. i would consider coming here for breakfast every morning as they have a killer almond croissant, (the sticky kinds that really do stick to your teeth) and a ham & cheese croissant that is to die for. but… it’s hard not to notice the additional lbs from here. extremely dangerous.
Ambiance: cozy, all too charming, indoor seating only…they have a select few couches, tables & chairs where you can relax and sip your coffee/tea while enjoying your baked goods and morning newspaper.
Service: pleasant for the most part
Caveat: Formerly known as Madeleine’s Patisserie back in Sept 2009. Don’t let the name change fool you… nothing’s changed ‘cept the name.
Rating: 5 stars
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Lulu Cake Boutique
Proprietor/Chef:
Category: Bakery/Customized Cakes / Cupcakes
Neighborhood: Chelsea
112 8th Ave New York, NY
(212) 242-5858
Tastes Like: milk and sugar so sweet and loaded….the calories gained here are not wasted at all. we heard somebody rave about red velvet Twinkies here and we had to rush and check out what all the fuss was about. 6pm on a Friday and they were sold out. i stopped by the next morning around 12…. picked up 2 Twinkies for 3 bucks a pop. SCORE. Taste? Magical. Frosting appeared to be white chocolate, with a light cream cheese filling. Cake was moist as a Twinkies should be. So amazing, it was hard to share. Are you over cupcakes? They have other fun flavors as well as interesting concoctions of past favorites: snowballs, whoopie pies, yodels…and cookies of all sizes.
Ambiance: so pretty and dainty…and SUPER clean. it never appealed to me that this pretentious facade would be miraculously delicious. the thought just never crossed my mind to enter this store…
Service: cheery & helpful
Caveat: this dainty little place serves more than just cakes…and price points are a little steep. Well worth the “once in a blue moon” treat for yourself.
Rating: 5 stars
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Proprietor: David Chang
Category: Soft serve Ice Cream, Buns, Pies, Cookies, Cakes Breads baked daily
Neighborhood: East Village
207 Second Ave, New York, NY
(212) 254-3500
Tastes Like: Big, round, thin, chewy, but still slightly hard cookies, with a wonderful texture. My favorite cookies are the compost (chocolate chips, pretzel, chips, butterscotch, coffee, oats) and the blueberry cream, which as the name implies is soft baked, creamy and stuffed with sweet, tangy blueberries. I haven’t tried anything else on the menu, but would like to try the banana cake and their ice cream. Lots of flavors going on, but they all seem to mesh together really well. Sweet, salty, crunchy, complete!
Ambiance: The menu is written in chalk boards… two, long rectangular tables. Each dessert, neatly tucked in a row. A slight commercialized edge… (think grocery store waiting in line at a deli market)… but I am tempted and delighted by all the sweets that much more.
Service: They get pretty busy and can turnaround the service rather quickly.
Rating: 4 stars
Caveat: Cookies run around $2 each, but if you buy 3, you can save a buck. Yet another gimmick to get you to buy more! And what’s not to love?
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Proprietor: Jacques Torres
Category: Fine Chocolate, cookies, hot cocoa, ice cream
Neighborhood: Hudson Square
350 Hudson St. New York, NY
(212) 414 – 2462
Tastes Like: Chocolaty, gooey centered with an outer crisp shell. I prefer the chocolate chip over the double chocolate, regular not toasted please. Even though the outer shell is a bit hard for my taste, the overall bite and texture is still soft and hearty for me to enjoy. Their ice cream is ok here too, but noteworthy are their sorbets (I adore the cantaloupe one). Have yet to try their infamous hot chocolate which I would imagine to be as rich in chocolate as their cookies…
Ambiance: Exquisite chocolatier exuded in little, perfect, fun print, plastic packages. They are absolutely ready for ANY holiday season.
Service: I’ve met Mr. Torres himself, and he is the kindest, most gentle soul I have ever met. It clearly shows in the product and level of service established here.
Rating: 4 stars
Caveat: NA
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PATISSERIE CLAUDE
Proprietor: Pablo Valdez
Category: French pastries
Neighborhood: West Village
187 West 4th St. New York, NY
(212) 255-5911
Tastes Like: delicious, crisp, buttery coffee eclair. it is so out of this world… the one thing i crave here. macarons are tiny and delectable with no variations of flavors to choose from. still they are mighty delicious
Ambiance: Quaint & cozy with very little room to move… very tiny, with limited selection of french pastries each weekend.
Service: Very friendly
Rating: 4 stars
Caveat: Chef Claude has since retired his baking days since 2009
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Proprietor: Philip Seid
Category: Ice Cream
Neighborhood: Chinatown
65 Bayard St, New York, NY 10013
(212) 608-4170
Tastes Like: hands down, simply the best black sesame ice cream in the city. They don’t grind their seeds here… it’s in the purist form, which I personally love. It gives the bite of the ice cream, more texture, more of the roasted nuttiness you have come to expect and love from black sesame. Second best is zen butter, with white sesame seeds. Ironically the traditional American flavored ice creams are considered exotic here. Well, we are in Chinatown afterall… nonetheless, I guess chocolate and strawberry would be considered exotic.
Must Haves: Black sesame & zen butter! On a sugar cone!!
Stay Away: not a fan of ginger or red bean
Ambiance: Tiny & no frills. You’re in and then you’re out.
Service: this place is a mad house, but they manage to scoop in and out, quickly & efficiently.
Rating: 5 stars
Caveat: You get two samples only before they start giving you the evil eye, which in part leads up to the look of death if you decide to be indecisive and take more than 10 seconds to order. Oh & cash only
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Proprietor/Chef: ?
Category: Ice Cream
Neighborhood: East Village
95 E. 10th St, New York, NY 10003
(212) 979-9398
Tastes Like: creamy richness churned close to perfection. They grind their black sesames into the ice cream, hence, the purplish tint. To offset the nutty flavor and lack thereof of crunchiness, the ice cream is now full-bodied, thick & rich. Not too shabby, but I miss my nutty excitement. This place is awesome. If you are looking for something else, they have low fat, no sugar added and have you seen the decorative ice cream cakes here? Talent.
Must Haves: black sesame & tiramisu
Stay Away: not a big fan of ginger
Ambiance: it’s spacious, clean and certainly inviting. A handful of tables outside for your dining in pleasure.
Service: Nice without being overtly pushy. Feeling all fuzzy on the inside
Rating: 4 stars
Caveat: none yet…
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Proprietor/Chef: Don Tillman/Chika Tillman
Neighborhood: East Village
204 E. 10th St New York, NY
(212) 475-0929
Tastes Like: One of–the perfect, moist, petite sized cupcake. Hands down the best triple chocolate cupcake I have tasted to date in NYC. My second pick was the s’mores, equally impressive in taste, lightly toasted marshmallow top (think of the sugar crust on top of a creme brulee), with an awesome chocolate ganache center to pair. The cupcake itself had a nice graham cinnamon taste to it, combining the perfect s’more bite. The best part is of course the frosting; whipped smooth & shiny, the cupcakes looked of plastic, so belonging on top of a bare table like a piece of art. Seriously, it’s the prettiest cupcake I have ever seen…. got me hooked immediately to buying some. Their petite sized cupcakes are $1.75 & their premium (same sized, but with fillings) are $2.50. Other flavors include: black & white, red velvet, lemon, smores, caramel, mocha & coconut. Other non-cupcake desserts include molten chocolate lava cake, macaroon cookies, cookies, brioche bread pudding etc. Haven’t tried it yet…. but overall, can we please say yummy??
Ambiance: A few tables where you can sit down and enjoy mini desserts. It’s pleasantly cutesy and my new favorite sweet spot (for the time being). Absolutely loved it.
Service: We ordered to go… Fueled by efficiency and bustling satisified customers!
Rating: 5 stars. Holds the #1 spot in my book for best cupcakes!
Caveat: I really enjoyed Dessert Club, albeit less sophisticated much much more than Dessert Bar!
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Proprietors: Marc & Wayne
Neighborhood: Chelsea
184 9th Ave New York, NY
(212) 647-9958
(second location located in Tribeca on 75 Franklin St)
Tastes Like: Overall, densely, moist cupcake. Strange combo but it works well. The price is right around $2.50 a pop, certainly not the cheapest I have found, but decent enough to make a killing. I am not fond of the chocolate cupcakes here, the frosting here is not too noticeably sugary. I kinda quite like it. Although eating all that creamed butter and sugar makes me feel guilty inside. My one & only favorite is the pumpkin cupcake. I can get my chocolate fix elsewhere. The red velvet cake was also a little disappointing, a bit on the dry, heavy side. Another noteworthy, stellar dessert here is the banana crème pie. The crème was fluffy, delightful and not sweetly empowering.
Ambiance: They’ve got their signature color skew pat down, ivory and sea green. Colors, may I add that are very homey & pleasant. It’s a cupcake shop, with a few, generous tables . What else can I say?
Service: Even though the lines may be long at times, they are generally quick and quick.
Rating: 4 stars. Holds the #1 spot for pumpkin cupcakes. Holds #3 for chocolate cupcakes.
Caveat: Out of the two locations they have, Chelsea is the more likely to get a high volume of traffic… and I mean a line out the door……Luckily, the wait is never too crazy.
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Proprietors: Peggie & Debbie
Neighborhood: Lower East Side
126 Rivington St New York, NY
(212) 995-1960
Tastes Like: Over hyped and overrated cupcakes to me. The chocolate and vanilla were most disappointing. Loved the pistachio… next time, I’d like to come back and try their pumpkin. I will agree with the masses though, the cupcake is super moist and frosting is not too sweet… which is often the culprit of a bad cupcake. The frosting is whipped a little bit too buttery for my taste, so I have a hard time trying to swallow & digest it. It was borderline too fluffy, and not enough thick frosty texture. For a buck and 75 in change, it’s one of the cheapest, better tasting cupcake you can get at this price. Quite the steal… yet I’m not so quick to be jumping on the bandwagon as everybody else. Sure they taste good, but they’re amateur looking cupcakes to me. I kinda don’t get it.
Ambiance: No charm or appeal for me…but I do love the name. It’s quite fitting in the eccentric heart of LES.
Service: Hustling even when there was no need to be efficient.
Rating: 3 stars. Holds #2 for chocolate cupcakes, although I don’t really like their frosting.
Caveat: Cash only
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Proprietors Mia & Jason Bauer
Neighborhood: Midtown East 42nd
43 W 42nd St. New York, NY 10009
(212) -221-5100
Tastes Like: Fantastic…until you’ve had one too many. Then it becomes ehhhh….. flatline. Crumbs is considered the masses of a giant chain in NYC with so many different daily varieties. If you’re a newbie, you’ll surely find something special in Crumbs too. I still like it though, but only the chocolate cupcakes (my favorite are the brownies). Chocolate is chocolate, it can never be too sweet. The regular or fruit jam flavors (raspberry swirl) are OK. The cupcakes can sometimes be on the dry side, which is a big no no, so I tend to stay away from the vanillas. Your choice of 3 sizes: taste, classic or ginormous signature sized cupcakes… a bit overpriced. But so are half the cupcake specialty stores in Manhattan.
Ambiance: Fun & colorful. I love seeing over at least 15-20 varieties of cupcakes. That’s what truly makes Crumbs so special.
Service: Efficient.
Rating: 2.5 stars. Holds # 2 for chocolate cupcakes…
Caveat: People often complain that the frosting is sweet… which is true, depending on what you choose. But if you have a serious sweet tooth, are you seriously going to complain that it’s too sweet?
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Proprietor: Marlo Scott
Neighborhood: West Village
62 Carmine St New York, NY 10014
(212) 242-2240
Tastes Like: Way too sugary for my taste. From the crimson (red velvet), mango coconut, dirty chocolate & pumpkin spice. The chocolate cupcake was the only decent one I semi-enjoyed out of all the 3 flavors. The pumpkin spice isn’t too bad, the frosting is just a tad bit sweet and the cupcake was a bit mushy. If I were to come back, I’d try the peanut butter one, but from the name of it, it’s probably going to taste super sweet.
Ambiance: Cute & trendy. They have happy hour specials, definitely worth the sit down experience. Even the package and cupcakes look super cute.
Service: Friendly.
Rating: 2 stars. This is by far sitting at the bottom of my cupcake list.
Caveat: I really wanted to like this place….I really really did
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Proprietors/Chef: Amber Joy / Vander Vilet
Neighborhood: 2971 Grand Ave
Los Olivos, CA 3441
(805) 451-0284
Tastes Like: A flight of cupcakes with wine parings for each. I stood there and scratched my head for a second as I thought… how the hell is that going to work out? I actually became ecstatic because there’s nothing I adore more in the world than cupcakes and fine wine. The mini cupcakes were dense and the frosting was pretty darn good. My top faves were the chocolate blackberry syrah, chocolate pecan and strawberry vanilla. Check out their listing of cupcakes, they vary daily and they’ve got some interesting salty and sweet flavors infused. *think bacon and the sorts…. The cupcakes were a great pairing to the wine.
Ambiance: At a winery tasting shop. It doesn’t get any cuter and intimate than this!
Service: Spectacular. After trying to close up shop, I insisted that the owner give us some cupcakes instead of wasting them by throwing them away. A sweetheart that he was, he gave us two strawberry vanilla cupcakes. In return, I promised to blog about it.
Rating: 4 stars
Caveat: A flight of cupcakes is a total of 6 each. Each flight can be shared with 2-3 people. Be warned after the 4th cupcake, you’ll be pleasantly full!
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