New Orleans, New Desserts

I know, I know. It's been 3 months since my last post. Let's imagine that, in those months, you read about:

• the German chocolate cake I made for Christmas,
• Flour's maple cranberry pecan bread, and
• the 2013 edition of this wintry vacation.

You might still read about them, but for now, you get to read about your blogger's first trip to New Orleans! I traveled there for a conference, which didn't leave much time for Julie-style exploration. What little taste I did get of the city, outside of the mile-long convention center (no joke), came in the form of nightlife and restaurants. I learned a few zydeco dance steps. I listened to live jazz on Frenchmen Street. I walked through the French Quarter on a balmy evening. I had the best pulled pork sandwich. And I discovered Boucherie. 

As soon as my coworkers and I set foot in the restaurant, I had an idea of what the experience was going to be like - and said idea came to be true. Bostonians will understand when I describe Boucherie as "the Craigie of New Orleans". I'm a huge fan of Cambridge's Craigie on Main, and Boucherie has a similar friendly welcome, casual yet refined feel, appreciation of local gastronomic traditions, and pride in its food that made me question for a moment - before the warm night air and accented speech brought me back - whether or not I was back home. Think: smiling staff; simple, modern, yet rustic decor; snout-to-tail menu items; herbal cocktails; wine, wine, and more wine; and a groaning table ready to hold 16 eager eaters. In other words, Boucherie is a slice of restaurant heaven.

My group sampled most of the small plates on the menu, which gave me a wide insight into creative Louisiana cooking. I researched more terms on this menu than any other restaurant's, and as a result I can confidently tell you what boudin is as well as how it tastes! (Pork rice sausage; fantastic. And I don't even like sausage!)

We also split several entrees to maximize our tasting options. Here is the Wagyu beef brisket with parmesan fries. I can't think of another piece of beef, or any gastropub's fries, that are better than this.

We ended the meal with desserts for the table. It was a good decision.

I rarely order bread pudding, since bread's taste and texture is too savory and rough for a satisfying dessert. However, there's an easy way to get around that issue: use a sweeter bread or cake in the pudding. Boucherie implements that workaround with a Southern level of excess by replacing the bread with Krispy Kreme donuts. That's right - this is a Krispy Kreme bread pudding.

It would be hard for me to not love this, considering the ingredients and process - donut pieces, an abundance of sugary glaze, and caramel, all baked into a square of deliciousness. My few forkfuls were very happy ones.

Next up was a type of dessert I had never seen. Wikipedia defines it as a single crust filled with a mixture of eggs, butter, white and brown sugar, vanilla, and cornmeal. I'm sure Boucherie honors those ingredients, but they add hot spice and chocolate to their spin on the Southern classic. Behold the Thai chili chocolate chess pie.

The pie's texture was very strange, somewhere between brownie batter and a (fully baked) buttermilk muffin. The exposed part of the filling had crusted into something resembling a dense, dry brownie; thinking back on it now that I know the ingredients, I wonder if it had a hint of cornbread flavor. The chocolate wasn't as strong as I would have liked, but the Thai chili sure poked through - especially a few seconds after starting to chew a bite! You can see that whipped cream was on hand to help with the heat, and the actual crust provided a nice, mild, buttery base. I'm not sure if I'd order a chess pie again, but I'm glad gave the regional specialty a try.

Who knows when I'll be back at Boucherie, and if they regularly change up their desserts to entice repeat visitors. Perhaps a meal at Craigie will suffice until then?

Several folks suggested I try the cafe au lait and beignets at the French Quarter's famous Cafe du Monde. I had every intention to do so, really - but I didn't get up in time before my departing flight. (The alarm was already set to an unseemly hour!) I'll make them a priority if I'm ever back in town.  

POSTSCRIPT

I connected through Chicago's Midway airport when heading back to Boston. It wasn't until I was looking for lunch that I remembered - I could find Fannie May candy here! As a Chicago-born daughter of Midwestern parents, I grew up on this regional chocolatier's sweets. Heck, it's still such a part of the family candy consciousness that I get a Fannie May chocolate bunny every Easter. So, I had to come back with something. None of Midway's convenience stores had the boxed assortments I was hoping for, but I did find a row of colorfully-wrapped chocolate bars! (Please excuse this promotional image in lieu of a photo taken while hauling luggage.)

A bit later, I got on my plane with a few raspberry dark chocolate bars! My family and I enjoyed the bars the following weekend. Fannie May, at least in this range of bars, does not buy into the irritating "percent cacao" trend. (Phew!) They use a simple, solid, and delicious dark chocolate that has an extremely smooth texture and just a hint of sweetness. A raspberry bar has 6 sections, and each section is filled with chocolate raspberry fudge. This surprised me, as I usually see bars filled with raspberry jam or glaze; the different medium ended up being just as tasty. It had a smooth creamy texture, sans seeds (a definite win over jam!); the raspberry flavor was tart and assertive. It held its own against the similarly strong chocolate, resulting in a satisfying flavor combination.

Each section melted in my mouth, and when I saw the empty wrapper, I wished I had another one to open. Still, I shouldn't get too mopey. Easter's right around the corner!

Cupcakes (and a Berliner Weisse) Take the Cake

This post tells of truly fabulous cupcakes - cupcakes that live up to their name, or have thoroughly earned the hype surrounding them.

I remember when Kickass Cupcakes opened a few years ago. How great for Davis Square to get a cupcakery, I thought - and how fun for a bakery of any sort to project a hip, in-your-face identity in place of the usual saccharine, frilly one! Unfortunately, Kickass' first few weeks of cupcakes did not kick ass. I dismissed them outright after having too many dry, flavorless cakes with stiffened, flavorless frostings. Years passed. I saw no reason to revisit - or retaste? - my opinion.

And then there was Brewberry Fest.

Night Shift Brewing brews an amazing range of Berliner Weisse-style beers. I love that style's refreshing, mouth-puckering tartness, and I love Night Shift's ability to adapt and evolve it in various fruity and spicy directions. Last week's Brewberry Fest commemorated their release of Mainer Weisse, the standard Berliner base brewed with Maine blueberries and cinnamon. Here are two pours of the purple concoction.

Forget about the overdone sweetness one usually finds (and fears) in fruity beers. Mainer Weisse has a subtle, tangy blueberry flavor, and its cinnamon works well with the inherent Berliner flavors. I would go back to this sour over and over again if I could; unfortunately, it was a limited release that sold out in the days following the Fest.

Good beers at good Fests are even better with good food! We enjoyed Mei Mei Street Kitchen's indulgent mac and cheese, made with Vermont Cheddar and Night Shift's Fallen Apple ale, for dinner. Kickass Cupcakes had a table at the other end of the hall, where they were offering four total flavors of miniature and full-sized cupcakes. The mini cupcakes were free. I thought of Kickass' past fails as mentioned above, but I couldn't say no to free dessert. I'm so glad I took that chance, because WOW - they have improved so dramatically that their current cupcakes totally kick ass and then some! The flavors were:

• Spicy Chocolate - this flavor was made especially for Night Shift! (All subsequent flavors are from Kickass' usual repertoire.) A dense, flavorful chocolate cake was injected with peppery chocolate ganache; that ganache had been doctored with Night Shift's Viva Habanera ale! Rich chocolate frosting topped the cake, which itself was drizzled with sweet chili sauce and sprinkled with red pepper flakes. A delightful combination of heat and sweet, I kept on coming back for more of these mini confections.
• Berry Crumbly - sturdy vanilla cake was dotted with mixed berries and topped with Kickass' interpretation of crumble. Imagine oats that were lightly tossed with melted butter and brown sugar, and then toasted; the effect was pleasant, but not nearly as satisfying as a chunky, flour-based crumble. The frosting was a light, refreshing blend of creme fraiche and marscapone cheese, and a random berry crowned each cake's frosting dollop.
• Caramel Mochiatto - the same hearty chocolate cake was filled with an oozy nugget of sweet, translucent caramel. Rich mocha frosting was swirled on top, and chocolate-covered espresso nibs garnished that frosting and added explosive coffee bitterness to the dessert.
• Cookie Dough - the standard vanilla cake had a gooey scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough at its center. There was probably more cookie dough than cake! The cake and cookie doughs' formulations must have been similar, since simultaneously eating both demonstrated a surprising continuity of flavor. The frosting was a simple but solid vanilla buttercream that was drizzled with chocolate sauce for an engaging visual effect.

You can see the Cookie Dough cupcake, and yet another pour of Mainer Weisse, here!

I was so impressed with the moistness and heft of both cakes and frostings, as well as their rich, lingering flavors; I surprised myself by snacking on the free mini cupcakes throughout the night. There were more than enough to go around. Even with all that snacking, there were many cupcakes left when the festival started winding down. So, the Kickass folks let us take boxes of cupcakes to go! The offer even included the full-sized cupcakes we would have had to pay for earlier in the night. Behold my enviable to-go box; you will count 4 Spicy Chocolates and one Caramel Mochiatto, with a dramatic backdrop of the remaining Spicy Chocolates.

These treats kept for days following the event, so the dessert wealth was indeed spread! I must thank Kickass Cupcakes for leaning from their past and churning out incredibly delicious new products, and to Night Shift for being a ray of (sour) light in a world of lagers, IPAs, and stouts. 

Now, let's fast-forward a few days post-Fest. The to-go box had been emptied. What was I going to do for dessert?

Georgetown Cupcake - the DC cupcakery that rose to fame on the Food Network - opened a Newbury Street store this past summer! I walked by during its opening weekend, and was mollified by a line that extended down and around the block; I decided to come back another time. The perfect opportunity arose last weekend. The warm, bright store was a beacon on a sleety, gray afternoon, and I decided a cupcake could commemorate just having finished my Christmas shopping.

As my eyes adjusted to the store's blinding pink and white decor, I noticed the wall of cupcakes.

Countless cupcakes are arranged on tiered display stands, with two or three varieties sharing each stand. Since Georgetown's available flavors change daily, each day's display is unique. I could barely take it all in. Each pert cake is coiffed with a perfect swirl of frosting, which in turn is topped with a decorative garnish or fondant form. Crushed peppermint candies and fondant snowflakes were two particularly festive toppers.

(If you, like me, are curious about the Chocolate Squared, it refers to chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream. The Chocolate Cubed [not pictured] is chocolate cake with chocolate ganache.)

The cupcakes weren't the only cute things I ogled at. Look at this adorable reindeer design on my cup of hot chocolate! The same design was also on stickers that decorated each bakery bag or box to go.

Speaking of the hot chocolate - it was good, but not mind-blowing. The cocoa was nice and sweet, with a hint of mint and a slightly oily texture. That last characteristic reminded me of British chocolate. (I wonder which cocoa Georgetown uses...) I think I'd try a mocha next.

I also got a chocolate peppermint cupcake. Here it is in Instagrammed glory...

...while this cleaner, minimalist image shows it one step from being eaten.

The cake had a great texture! It was super chewy for a non-fudgy baked good. It was also rather sturdy, not sinking under the weight of the dense chocolate mint frosting. Georgetown uses Valrhona chocolate in their baked goods, and the cake had Valrhona's signature bold flavor. It wasn't overwhelming, though, thanks to the cake's relative dryness. The frosting's consistency lay somewhere between buttercream and ganache. Its bold Valrhona flavor was spiked with a hint of mint. The peppermint candy dusting on top added crunch and a shiver of chilliness. Georgetown has a lot of tempting flavors to choose from, but this one would be worth choosing again.

Also, Georgetown's a great deal. My cupcake was only $2.75! (Compare that to any [smaller and less tasty] cupcake from Sweet, a local chain of 4 stores, which costs $3.25.) The hot cocoa was a steal, too, at $1.85. I think Boston has a new place to go for good, affordable treats.

~~~

I hope you have a chance to try some of these excellent cupcakes in the near future! I, too, want to go back for more. What are some good flavors to try?

Of Baked Goods and Beer

Some of you know that I have a little obsession with craft beer. Fortunately for that, the past 2 weeks have been a whirlwind of beer enjoyment and experimentation, with some baked goods on the side!

First up was my favorite BeerAdvocate event, the Belgian Beer Fest's Night of the Funk ! This event showcases extreme Belgian beers, with plenty of sour, funky, creatively flavored, and higher-ABV brews to try. Two-ounce pours ensure you can try a huge variety, and you walk away with improved knowledge of the various styles as well as a significantly longer cellar wish list! I won't go into my favorites here - let's just say that my in-media-Fest tasting notes are not as coherent as this blog - but I will share a stellar food item that helped us power through the night. Meet the Waffle Cabin's Belgian waffle.

Blurriness aside, you can get a sense of the waffle's heft, as well as a glimmer of the sweet glaze that coated it. The waffle itself is a dense, chewy masterpiece, with a pleasant vanilla taste. It's coated in a sticky, sugary glaze that must be freshly made - there's a graininess to it, as if all the sugar used to make it hasn't fully dissolved. (That occasional sweet crunch is so good!) You can really sink your teeth into this treat, and, strictly speaking, it doesn't need tinkering to be satisfying. But I'm me, and Taza Chocolate was also on hand - so, Chocolate had to meet Waffle. It was a happy coincidence that Taza's Fest samples were cut to fit perfectly in the waffle's grooves. The chocolate softened from the waffle's warmth and melted into each little reservoir. The samples were from Taza's aggressive Mexicano line; imagine high percents cacao, sans sweeteners, with a pronounced grainy texture owing to their stone-ground process. Flavors included cinnamon, chipotle, ginger, orange, and salted almond. I grabbed a square of each flavor for the waffle above. Let's hope I have an opportunity to do a more thorough review of Taza at some point; until then, suffice it to say that these items, combined, made for the best possible Fest food! Oh, along with Corey's pretzel necklaces, gummy worms, and...pepperoni.

The fun did not end that night. You may recall a blurb on post-ACBF fun at the Bocoup Loft; we all met up there again for a bit of post-BBF/NotF fun the next week. Corey and Greg brought the beers, I brought the cookies. I've blogged about my Valrhona triple-chocolate cookies previously, so I won't repeat what I've already said. Just know that this third batch of them was the best yet, in terms of both personal satisfaction with the outcome and their rate of disappearance. (The entire batch lasted maybe an hour, max?) However, let's go over a few of the cookie/beer pairings. First up, we have the Alchemist Brewery's famous Heady Topper! It's been vying with Russian River's Plinys (both Elder and Younger) for the best beer on BeerAdvocate's ratings, and that clout has made it difficult to procure. We got lucky with a Vermonter in our midst. This double IPA has multilayered grassy notes and a long-lingering aftertaste. It's surprisingly light on the tongue for a double.

Next is a collaboration between Sierra Nevada and Russian River, the beloved Santa Rosa (CA) brewery whose groundbreaking IPAs and sours are sadly not distributed on the East Coast. I guess it took Sierra Nevada's partnership to get Brux, a wild ale, out to us. This ale smells rather fresh and is vibrantly carbonated, with only a hint of sourness. I would have expected more from a brewery with an impeccable track record in sours, but that's not to say I wouldn't drink it again. Also, it looks like someone has nibbled a cookie...

Later brews included Jolly Pumpkin's Bam Biere and Hill Farmstead Brewery's Arthur (both saisons), plus nightcaps of New England Brewing's 668 (a Belgian strong pale ale) and Elm City Pilsner. All in all, a great night!

But wait - there's more. Non-cookie foods were obtained outside the Loft. After a series of appetizers at Lucky's (and my first Pumpkinhead of the season - I guess it really is fall!), we stopped by Sportello's bakery counter. Sportello makes incredibly good, unique cupcakes. Here are our strawberry cheesecake cupcakes, readied for travel in upside-down cups. That travel config was fortunate, since I took my cupcake home and ate it the following day.

Sportello "translates" cheesecake to cupcake in an interesting way. We have a graham cracker cake in place of crust, cream cheese frosting in place of actual cheesecake, and strawberry filling plus freeze-dried strawberry garnish in place of fruit topping. Here is the partially-consumed treat; look at that filling and the texture of the cake and frosting!

The graham cracker base was really unique. Store-bought graham crackers are more like sawdust than cake, and their taste is forgettable. This cake, full of brown sugar and cinnamon and butter, was moist and dense and flavorful. The strawberry filling, with fruit pieces and jam, added additional moisture and flavor. The cream cheese frosting was simply perfect! It was sweet and slightly tangy, with a dense, smooth, and even texture. If real cheesecake were anything like this frosting, I would be eating it all the time.

Alas, after the beerdulgence (that's beer indulgence) the night before, I did not wash this cupcake down with yet another brew. Even I have my limits!

So, which beer / baked good combination will be next? I'll take requests.

Tips, Taps, Desserts

I've heard a lot about Brian Poe's cooking, thanks to friends who know him and his food. So, Jeff suggested we check out Poe's newest venture, The Tip Tap Room. What's in a name like that, you ask? Basically, meat (offered as tips from animals both everyday and exotic) and beer (flowing from the taps). As if meat and beer weren't enough, I was told they had good desserts. Never one to shirk dessert duty, we went. And an epic meal happened!

(Disclaimer: This is going to sound like a lot of food, but even the main portions were all appetizer-size or slightly smaller. So, we got little tastes of lots of things!)

The appetizers kicked things off right. Here is rock shrimp fried in kataifi and nori noodles, served with cucumber salad in a sweet chili ginger sauce.

Rock shrimp are small, sweet, and crisp. Their sweetness was a nice complement to the umami of the noodles wrapped around them. Those noodles were also crisp, but the sauce had softened them in places; so, there were a variety of textures in play. The sweet chili ginger sauce, with its fiery, tangy, and sugary notes, also played into the depth of the dish. I must confess, I forgot about the cucumber salad when I saw our next appetizer. Poe's take on grilled figs, stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped in pancetta, was another burst of varied but complementary flavors.

Sweet figs, tangy cheese, and salty pancetta were all soft delights. Burnt balsamic butter gave extra flavor to those pieces of pancetta that fell onto the plate! I liked having the balsamic flavor, often too vinegary for my taste, incorporated into something creamier. I could enjoy its unique taste without being overwhelmed.

The main course (meat course?) came next. The item at left is a yak burger with beer cheese and bacon. The little bit of beer cheese I had - most of it ran off the burger - was tasty, and the bacon was distinctive thanks to Poe's "Beacon Hill" curing process. I'm glad I tried yak, but I don't think I'll get it again. Yak is really lean, and it had none of the moisture that I usually enjoy in medium-rare meat. It was still tender, though, and the burger nearly fell apart as I ate it. The flavor was earthier, grassier, and more natural than beef.

The burgundy (!!!) meat at right is an ostrich tip. I hope its extraordinary appearance suggests how extraordinary it was to eat. The tip had marinated for a day prior, and was therefore succulent and tender. Ostrich is tougher than other birds, but the marinating softened it considerably. Some enjoyable chewiness remained, though! The flavor is unlike any other meat's. It's deep, and gamey, and doesn't need any salt or spices. Wow! I'd eat this again, and again, and...again.

An epic meal, right? Just wait. Things were about to get crazy, which apparently happens when your friend knows the chef and you advertise your love of desserts to said chef. We had planned to share the bread pudding. That apparently wasn't enough for Chef Poe. He surprised us with...

3 DESSERTS.

My eyes grew wide as the staff brought them all out at once. Let's go through them in as much detail as I can muster; please excuse my spotty recall from this taste-bud overload!

I don't normally like this type of dessert, but the bread pudding was to die for! It was made of brioche pieces that had been mixed with blackberries and white chocolate.

The bread was soft and chewy, but not too dry or soggy. (Most bread puddings I've had are one extreme or the other.) The brioche's pleasant vanilla flavor wasn't overwhelmed by the pudding's other parts. There were only a few berries throughout, which makes me think that berry juice or jam contributed most of the fruit flavor and color. The white chocolate worked well with the vanilla notes in the bread, and added a creamy consistency to the dessert that would have been missing otherwise. A dollop of whipped cream and a mint leaf served as garnishes. Then, the whole thing was drizzled in whiskey caramel. I love caramel, but dislike whiskey; fortunately, this sauce had much more of the former. It was a great sugary topper to a surprisingly complex dessert.

Next up was a lemon souffle with raspberry sauce!

I loved the pure fruit flavors in this dessert. Nothing was unnecessarily sweetened, so every bite was full of vibrant tang. The souffle was light as air, with so much flavor relative to its density. The raspberry sauce was a substantive anchor to the dish. A glaze reminiscent of thinned lemon curd was drizzled over it all, and a mint leaf plus streusel-like crumb topping were the finishing touches.

I've saved the best for last. This dessert wasn't on the menu, but I hope it gets there someday so everyone can try it! Behold a unique take on the brownie sundae, with brownies in port sauce in the foreground and a chocolate pudding cup in the background.

The brownies were your average dense, chocolatey baked goods, cut into small squares and positioned beautifully around the plate. They sat on small pools of a really strong port sauce, with aggressive raisin and alcohol notes, and were covered in stripes of chocolate frosting. Some strawberries added a fruity twist. I liked how many flavors there were in that small space, but the piece de resistance was hiding in the pudding cup. Here's a closeup of the treats within.

First of all, what do we see here? Deliciously creamy Valrhona milk chocolate feves and white chocolate batons, whose virtues I have previously extolled in these pages. Smaller chocolate shavings across the percent-cacao spectrum. Light-as-air whipped cream. Crunchy caramelized sugar. So many different kinds of sweet! And secondly, what's hiding beneath? The chocolate pudding, mixed with some creamy alcohol - Kahlua, or Baileys. This is how I like my desserts turned "adult", with something that itself is a liquid dessert. I absolutely loved this "desserts within desserts WITHIN DESSERTS" approach.

I think I've hit on something the Tip Tap Room does well, in both the sweet and savory realms - multifaceted gastronomic delights that give you as much as possible in every bite.

Jeff and I got through most of what was before us. I felt guilty leaving some delicious bites behind, but I know I'll be back for more. Thanks, Chef Poe and the Tip Tap Room, for a really unique dining experience!

A Whirlwind of NYC Food

I still owe you the details on London's Afternoon Tea, but let's momentarily divert our attention to a closer metropolis and its plentiful food offerings!

Several of my college friends converged upon New York City this past weekend! Carr and I came from Boston; Linda traveled up from Philadelphia, and Mary and Steph already lived as close as you can get in Hoboken. This happy mini-reunion involved catching up, urban exploration, and - surprise, surprise - delicious food. Let's go through the many and varied eats of Saturday, July 14!

Stop 1: Sugar Sweet Sunshine

We had 30 minutes to kill before our lunch table would be ready. We were near a renowned cupcakery. We all like cupcakes. What did we do? Stop by Sugar Sweet Sunshine, of course, and get cupcakes to go! Ok, those reasons may not qualify for SSS' top ten, but we felt they were more than valid.

I really enjoyed my last visit to SSS, so I was glad to return and introduce others to their delights. I left with the Goodie Goodie (dark chocolate cake with whipped peanut butter buttercream) and carried it back to lunch, then to the High Line, down the length of said park, and around Chelsea Market, until (a) it was a warm mess of a dessert with frosting smeared and melted all over the wax paper bag, and (b) I thought I might have room for it. Talk about a well-traveled dessert! Fortunately, it tasted much better than it looked at that point. The frosting was extremely light, like a whisper of what frosting usually is, with a very subtle and sweet peanut flavor. The chocolate cake had a stronger cocoa flavor, though it was a bit dry. I blame the heat!

Stop 2: The Meatball Shop

Lunch at The Meatball Shop was one of the best meals I've had year-to-date. The shop's premise is simple enough: take meatballs, drench them in sauce, and serve them with or over a side. What's astounding is how impressively good each component is, and how much you get! Take it all in with your eyes, and then imagine me taking it all in with my eyes and stomach..

I ordered the classic beef meatballs with parmesan cream sauce over freshly-milled polenta. The meatballs were hearty and flavorful, consisting of all-natural beef mixed with prosciutto, ricotta cheese, and oregano. The sauce was thick and fragrant with tangy Parmesan cheese, much better than the average alfredo or cheese sauce. The polenta, a true food of the gods with its mashed-potato-meets-cornbread quality, was an ideal consistency - smooth and creamy, with occasional distinct cornmeal grains that gave it texture. As if that weren't enough, shaved cheese was sprinkled over the top of it all. Each bite was the very height of savory decadence.

The deliciousness didn't end there! The presence of the aforementioned cupcakes-to-go did not prevent us from ordering the Shop's signature dessert. They offered customizable ice cream sandwiches, made from store-made ice cream and cookies. They even let you choose two different cookies for the "bread" of the sandwich! So, here is my espresso ice cream with chocolate chip and brownie walnut cookies.

The ice cream was light, more like frozen milk than cream. I appreciated that after the heavy lunch, and it also let the bright espresso flavor assert itself rather than be overwhelmed by the cream. The brownie walnut cookie was moist, chewy, and chocolatey, with (fortunately) fewer nuts than expected; the chocolate chip cookie, though, was dry and forgettable. Now that I've tried the ice cream sandwich, I don't feel the need to repeat it; however, I would gladly re-indulge in a meatball lunch/dinner at the earliest opportunity!

Stop 3: Blue Bottle Coffee

We were quite thirsty after walking the length of The High Line, so we found refreshment at Blue Bottle Coffee. Their cold-brew single origin iced coffee was positively bursting with flavor! I detected the usual cocoa and caramel notes, as well as something fruitier and tangier that I couldn't quite place. Could it have something to do with bean terroir and roasting protocol? (Why didn't I ask the former barista among us?!)

Stop 4: Chelsea Market

Chelsea Market is in a vast building under The High Line, right across the street from Blue Bottle. We naturally moved toward it. It's an indoor labyrinth filled with miniature shops (in store form, not stalls or carts) selling everything from pastries to lobster. Look at the pretty main hall, with its colorful lanterns!

We were still full from the Lower East Side's ballstravaganza; otherwise, I'm sure we would have indulged in a Market treat while there. Instead, I got a brownie to go from the Fat Witch Bakery!

Yes, I bought a brownie advertising an overrated musical. But it was the mint chocolate brownie! And it proved its worth when I snacked on it two days later. As you can see, it's sprinkled with green sugar crystals. They added a nice, sweet crunch. Less visible are the equally green mint chips mixed throughout the brownie, but clustered more toward its bottom.They were soft and creamy, and their mint flavor thoroughly imbued the surrounding batter. The brownie reminded me of a cake bite, having the same fudgy texture as those little treats, but its chocolate wasn't as strong or mouth-coating as fudge. Even though my preferred chocolate threshold was unmet, I'd recommend this Witch for its texture and assertive, sweet mintiness.

At this point, we washed our cupcakes down with whatever coffee was left, and headed back to the East Village.

Stop 5: Maharlika

Believe it or not, it was nearly dinnertime! We chilled at Yuca, sipping on sangria for an hour or so...

...before moving on to Maharlika, a modern Filipino restaurant. I was SO excited to try Flilipino cuisine after learning about the culture in college. We split appetizers of chicharron and lechon kawali, flavorful pork rinds and belly, respectively. (To quote one thread of conversation: "You gotta love a culture that knows what to do with pork!") We also sipped on calamansi juice, a refreshing beverage made from a citrus fruit native to the Philippines. Imagine a delicate juice subtly tasting of lime, lemon, and orange, with just a hint of tartness and sweetness, and none of the usual citrus bitterness. It was the perfect summer drink! Then, I had the tender and flavorful chicken adobo for dinner.

Plump pieces of chicken marinate in soy-based abodo sauce before being simmered in the same sauce and browned afterward. The chicken is served in more sauce, with steamed rice on the side. I enjoyed the soft, moist meat; the peppery, garlicky adobo flavor; and the fragrant white rice's soaking up the sauce. I got busog rather quickly, to use the restaurant's Tagalog word of the day. If only I could have taken leftovers home for the following night!

Stop 6: Momofuku Milk Bar

Our walk toward nighttime birthday festivities took us past the East Village outpost of Momofuku Milk Bar. I've been kind of obsessed with this bakery since I browsed their cookbook in a bookstore a while back, and wanted to bake or try most things from it. How did I satisfy a dessert dream while being too full for dessert? By getting something for later, of course. I enjoyed their birthday cake truffles the following day during the trip back to Boston. The truffles got smushed in transit, losing all photographic potential - so, here's a bakery shot from their press kit.

The truffles were really cute. Imagine small, round cake bites, made from yellowy-brown cake and crushed rainbow sprinkles. Their exterior was coated in drier crumbs of the same cake, plus some intact sprinkles. Adorable! All other characteristics matched their cheerful appearance, bringing any number of childhood treats and moods to mind. The cake was moist and chewy, much denser than, say, a Funfetti cake. The sprinkles added another kind of chewy texture to the mix. Then, they were flavored to the max with vanilla - and sugar. They were almost too sweet, which I could not have handled in a larger amount of truffles or an actual cake slice. Still, I loved that Milk Bar was able to pack so much dessert into a tiny package. It gave me enough of a taste of their wares that I wanted more! Maybe a Cereal Milk latte and candy bar pie from their Brooklyn flagship bakery...or, something I make when I finally buy that cookbook?

*cue unprecedented food coma here*

I hope you enjoyed that New York day in the life of a Boston foodie. Here's to my next trip - and whatever I sample next at any of the above establishments!

London's So Sweet

I recently spent 9 days in London, my favorite place in the world! The vacation - or "holiday", if I'm being a proper wannabe Brit - included numerous architectural and historical wonders, museums, gardens, and parks. But I'm here to tell you about the food.

Snacking Bars

Marks & Spencer's Simply Food stores are ubiquitous, but that doesn't mean they sacrifice quality in their quantity. Far from it, in fact. These convenient stores sell surprisingly fresh grab-n-go eats, making them a favorite of lunch-eating professionals and tourists looking to nosh on the move. I'd get their apple beverage as part of breakfast every morning - imagine a drink somewhere between juice and cider, made from the island's sweet, refreshing Pink Lady apples - and a snacking bar whenever the hunger so moved me.

One bar was the flapjack with Belgian chocolate. In America, a flapjack is a pancake. In Britain, it's an oat-based bar, with a texture somewhere between a granola bar and an oatmeal cookie, that's sweetened with honey or golden syrup. M&S' flapjack seemed a tad too soggy with fluid sweetener, and the flavor was...bland, at best. I missed the presence of cinnamon, and brown sugar's molasses notes; I guess the Brits don't really spice their oats. The chocolate chunks mixed throughout were tasty, but they didn't really blend with the oat mixture. Overall, I'd say the flapjack was forgettable. Maybe I would have had a different opinion if I weren't so set in my comparatively spicy American ways?

Millionaire Shortbread, however, is a dream!

This king of bar cookies has 4 layers: a shortbread base, milk caramel, milk chocolate, and white chocolate drizzle. All textures and flavors are spot-on, and mix so well together that I can't really think of a better snack. The shortbread is buttery and flaky; the caramel tastes of sugar and salt; the milk chocolate bursts with cocoa and cream; and the white chocolate is smooth, essential vanilla. One bite gives you all those flavors, as well as crumbs, some crunch, and some melting in your mouth. It even looks beautiful!

This is one Oxford bakery's take on the bar. Taylors' Luxury Shortbread differed from the M&S standard in two ways - the shortbread cookie was packed with brown sugar, and the caramel was more of a sugary, milky peanut butter. I also plan to mirror Taylor's ingenuity and make my own, though my ideal end product will more closely resemble M&S'! Until that happens, I have three Millionaire bars to tide me over.

Chocolate Bars

British chocolate is formulated differently. Americans can't use vegetable oil in the product and legally label it chocolate; in Britain, that oil routinely replaces some fraction of cocoa butter. The resulting "chocolate" feels unusually smooth, if not a tad slippery, and has a slightly tangier taste. Another difference is how the chocolate is processed. Our candy bars primarily use solid chocolate, while our friends across the Pond enjoy aerating and rippling the confection into all sorts of unusual configurations. I have Wispa and Ripple bars on reserve for future enjoyment; I'm sure they'll be discussed in these pages soon!

Regional Pastries

England's many "shires" have retained distinct accents over the centuries; it's no surprise that their cuisines are similarly resistant and unique. I was fortunate enough to sample a regional pastry at the London Bridge neighborhood's Borough Market! Here is one vendor's assortment of such treats. (And no, I don't think their name, The Flour Station, is mere coincidence. My theory, that any bakery named "Flour"-something has to be excellent, remains uncontested.)

This Eccles cake was significantly tastier than last trip's Chelsea bun. The top of the cake was crusted with turbinado sugar. The dough was flaky like a croissant at the edge, but it became fluffier and cake-like toward the center. The cake's sizable interior was filled with a mincemeat-style assortment of currants and candied citrus bits, all tossed in a buttery, spicy sauce. The overall effect was a very pleasant combination of sweet, spicy, and butter flavors, cased in that chewy and crunchy dough and sugar.

Also, in case you can't tell - these things are huge, approximately a palm's width across! One cake became my lunch, and kept me full well past the half-life of the average Pret a Manger boxed sandwich.

Jubilee Pastries

The 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's reign inspired many things across this happy land, including food items. Take Harrods' food halls, for example. I didn't plan to enter Harrods, but their fanciful storefront displays drew me in. Not only had various couturiers designed elaborate crowns commemorating the Jubilee, letting one walk down Brompton Street in line with royal razzle-dazzle, but their food and party people had created festive, elaborate spreads, recalling everything from formal banquets to exuberant street parties, all in the space of a few shop windows. Oh, sure, I thought, why not go inside and see these items up close? I should have known I'd be leaving with a sweet treat! Behold, a donut from Harrods' bake shop.

This is no ordinary donut, though. It is a chocolate raspberry Jubilee donut! The dough was sweet and chewy; the filling was syrupy, tasting of raspberries and cream. The donut was coated in a sugary vanilla glaze, topped with a dollop of hardened chocolate raspberry sauce, and dusted with edible red glitter! I'm assuming that last touch is what made it a Jubilee treat; the country as a whole seemed decked out in sparkles for the occasion. :-)

Lastly, I will leave you with some eye candy - or rather, eye cake? - from Oxford's Cake Shop. Not only do we have the Radcliffe Camera rendered in cake and fondant...

...but several festive Jubilee desserts as well!

This last dessert depicts a traditional British street party. I love the miniature fondant cakes decorating the larger cake! I now know where to get a cake in Oxford, should I ever have such a need in such a place.

Are you sugared out yet? I hope not; there is plenty still to come. This sweets-focused post is one of three total London posts I have planned; stay tuned for articles on savory delights and the ultimate dessert indulgence, afternoon tea!

Choco-Nutty Pies

(Don't hate on the made-up word!)

My recent dessert orders have involved chocolate and nuts. My love of the chocolate / peanut butter combination is nothing new, but I tolerated actual nuts among sweeter ingredients, and in several desserts at that! I have my friends to thank for encouragement and like-minded ordering.

I started with Not Your Average Joe's Peanut Butter Thing!

Long a temptation when I've been there for lunch, but too hard to justify at noon, I was glad to visit Joe's for dinner with some sweet-toothed friends and indulge in this monumental dessert. After all, it's impossible not to indulge at Joe's. You start with ample helpings of their chewy bread and cheesy, peppery dipping oil, and before you know it, there are multiple Peanut Butter Things for the table following a tasty main course. This ice cream pie is an immense hunk of peanut butter ice cream, with chocolate chunks and peanuts mixed in. An Oreo crust supports the base and side of the pie, and scattered Oreo crumbs dust its top. The pie is served with a squirt of whipped cream, as well as ramekins of hot fudge and caramel sauce for you to drizzle over the cake or dunk bites at will. Here is a thoroughly drizzled slice.

The ice cream tasted subtly of peanut butter, like a lightly-flavored vanilla. Good, but I prefer a more aggressive flavor a la JP Lick's. The chocolate chunks were a welcome addition - though there could have been more! - and I wouldn't have added peanuts to the ice cream, since frozen nuts acquire a strange texture. These points became irrelevant when eating at the pie as a whole. I loved the generous supply of rich fudge and sugary caramel. Both tasted like the best classic ice cream toppings - simple, perfect flavors, sans pretense of any kind. They coated the pie and softened the frozen edges. Soon, there was a host of textures in play: thick sauce, crumbly Oreos, crunchy chocolate and nuts, and soupy and solid ice cream. Delightful! The overall effect, of simple things combined into a greater whole, was extremely satisfying. Be prepared to share!

I was at Fleming's later that week, surprisingly eager for dessert after noshing on their delicious bar burger. We all decided to split a Walnut Turtle Pie. It's easily one of 2012's best dessert discoveries!

The pie's base is a chocolate crust. Imagine the standard buttery pie crust, with cocoa powder added; this crust had both butter and chocolate flavors. The main filling is gooey, chocolatey bliss that reminded me of an undercooked brownie. I think it had caramel mixed in, since there was something warmer, sweeter, and slightly creamy to complement the delectably rich chocolate. That filling is then topped with roasted candied walnuts, caramel, and a scattering of milk chocolate shavings. When nuts are prepared as these were, I can almost forget they're nuts; I actually liked the savory-sweet crunch they added, which paired marvelously with the sticky, flowing caramel. The chocolate bits, then, were the icing on the cake! Or the shaving on the pie, if that were an acceptable idiom.

I've been at Fleming's fairly regularly in the past few months, so here's hoping there will be another trip soon. Dessert mandatory, of course. And Joe's? Well, I'll push a little harder for a lunchtime Peanut Butter Thing if the opportunity presents itself.