Publick House Desserts

No, craft beer drinkers, not that Publick House. I'm talking about the colonial-style inn and restaurant in Sturbridge, MA. My family had our Thanksgiving dinner there this year, and the sumptuous 4-course meal plus the general holiday cheer of the place were really worth the 3-hour round trip. The dessert course involved a liberal slice of pumpkin pie topped with an even more liberal dollop of fresh whipped cream. The pie was smooth, pumpkin-y, and  thoroughly spiced.

The restaurant kept on giving after the meal, too…and not just with turkey leftovers. We stopped by their top-notch bakery and chose 6 treats to bring home! We stretched them out over multiple days by cutting each dessert in threes for all to try. Here they are in their bakery box; please excuse the occasional wax paper obstruction.

I really enjoyed the majority of the desserts! The reviews are below, starting with the bottom right of the picture and moving counterclockwise.

• Oreo roll cake – The first treat I tried ended up being my favorite. Here we have a slice of a fudgy chocolate cake log that had been rolled with a layer of sugary vanilla buttercream. That refrigerated filler frosting made for a particularly smooth, creamy, and refreshing eating experience. (Perhaps it was PH’s approximation of Oreo filling?) Said glorious slice was placed on its side, and coated all around with a lighter, more whipped vanilla frosting. The “side” of the cake was then rolled in Oreo crumbs, which stayed dry and crunchy despite their moist environment. Then, its “top” was finished off with a large dollop of Oreo buttercream! It had an occasional crunch from the cookie crumbs tossed on top, but overall it was like eating an Oreo…in frosting form. Seriously, the perfect cookies ‘n’ cream confection.
• Turtle cheesecake – What a delicious miniature dessert! Its base was a thin graham cracker crust, topped with a slightly thicker layer of bittersweet chocolate fudge. The cheesecake itself had a good, creamy consistency, and a lot of subtle flavor; it was sweet and a tad tangy, with caramel notes. The whole thing was then topped with chopped walnuts and a pool of gooey caramel. Of course, the best forkfuls incorporated crust, fudge, cake, and caramel! Mmm, so many distinct yet complementary flavors in one bite.
• Key lime pie – This little pie had a very sweet custard filling with a hint of lime flavor. It wasn’t nearly as strong as I like citrus desserts to be. You can see that it had a squirt of airy whipped cream on top, with a small piece of lime candy. The crust was made of (flavorless) sugar dough – sturdy, yes, but oh so boring to eat.
• Spice roll cake – This dessert had so much promise! – but I was disappointed. It consisted of dry, crumbly spice cake rolled the thickest cream cheese frosting I have ever encountered. The cake was barely spiced, with no lingering flavor, and the frosting was barely distinguishable from actual cream cheese! Hardly any sugar or milk must have been added. The cake’s exterior was a bit better; we had whipped vanilla frosting coating the entire slice, which in turn was dusted with graham cracker crumbs.
• Carrot cake – This cake showed me that PH can get cream cheese frosting right! The frosting here was much lighter and sweeter, without sacrificing cream cheese’s pleasant tang. The cake was moist and robustly flavorful, with lots of spices, visible nut crumbles, and plenty of tender carrot gratings. No raisins, huzzah!
• Gingerbread bar – I was most excited to try this, since it looked and smelled so unique! I didn’t like it at first, but each bite grew on me to the point that I’d rate it a close second behind the Oreo roll.  Three layers of dry, spicy gingerbread were separated by moister, slightly sweeter fillings, and topped with cream cheese frosting dotted with cranberries and drizzled in white chocolate. Fillings included sweet, chewy caramel; tart, juicy cranberries; finely-chopped nuts; and gooey molasses. This hearty dessert’s flavor range was one of the greatest I’ve experienced, straddling from the very sweet to the nearly savory. Textures were similarly varied. A distinct offering worth eating again.

So, if you’re ever passing through south-central Massachusetts, I’d recommend a diversion to this bakery. (The restaurant, too, for hearty American fare.) Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Pre-Thanksgiving Feasts

Sometimes I'll digress from this blog's dessert focus and talk generally about awesome food. What better time to post such digressions than around Thanksgiving, when nearly every day involves epic eats?

Friendsgiving!

This is one of my favorite college traditions, which many of us BC alums still in the Boston area have kept alive in the years since. It all started our sophomore year, when we were living in suites and had access to our own kitchens for the first time. What could be better than a friendly potluck the weekend before we all went home for Thanksgiving? Mary offered to do the turkey and stuffing if the rest of us contributed sides…and as a result of these efforts, the common areas of Edmonds 333 were filled with feasting and fun.

8 years later, we still gather at someone’s apartment for Friendsgiving; Pat and Alyssa were kind enough to host this year. Here is my dinner plate!

As you can see, my portions were in no way moderate. (How can they be, when there is so much deliciousness to be had?) This made eating dessert difficult, as I had hardly any room for it. However, I managed to fit in a slice of my apple spice cake, a chocolate peanut butter cookie, and some chocolate pudding pie with an interesting cookie and nut crust. The only thing missing? One of Lena's "drunk pies". For the record, I would have had the chocolate-Frangelico pie!

*Burp.* I did not eat for 16 hours following that meal. I then broke the fast the following day with…

Sausagefest!

Dante regularly hosts spectacular food events. I had a blast at their Al Fresco Fiasco, so when Laura suggested we attend another event on November 20, I obviously said yes. Their yearly pre-Thanksgiving events have focused on a particular type of food – for example, a Ravioli Rumble or Soup Slurpdown – and this year’s sausage-themed event was…the Sausagefest. Chefs from area restaurants served bite-size portions of sausages and accompaniments throughout Dante’s restaurant space and patio.

I’m not traditionally a fan of sausage. I could rattle off a list of why: its composite nature, fashioned from what I consider the reject parts of its source animal(s); nausea-inspiring collegiate encounters with “street meat”; its (gross) best friends Onion and Pepper, and so on. However, I ate well at this event. I think the variety of meats presented – like wild boar! – and creative accompaniments – like cranberry jalapeno salsa! – piqued my interest. Also, Dante!

My favorites were:

• ArtBar’s wild boar sausage in a miniature hot dog bun,
• Stella’s pork sausage with pickled onion, citrus aioli, and crispy potatoes, and
• Prezza’s mild fennel sausage with polenta, tomato sauce, and grated Parmesan.

Many attendees also liked these; Stella’s Evan Deluty was crowned “Sausage King” at the end of the event!

I then moved on to Brighton for…

Short Ribs and Dreamy Apple Pie!

Greg is an impressive cook! I knew this as soon he made me steak over the summer…and I was actually happy to eat it. (Believe it or not, your foodie blogger had never enjoyed a steak until then.) There have been many more delicious meals since that first cooking adventure. All the while, though, he has said that his short ribs are one of his best dishes. I got to see, and taste, that for myself this weekend...after quite the cooking process. The ribs were prepped with some oil, salt, and pepper, and then stewed in a savory sauce of red wine, tomato juice, onions, and shallots, all in a stock pot in the oven, for nearly 4 hours. The pieces of meat had fallen off their bones by the end of that time, and the sauce had taken on a deep, complex flavor. 

Imagine tender, flaky, flavorful beef, with creamy mashed potatoes and the sauce the ribs had cooked in. If it’s possible for meat to very nearly melt in your mouth, I think that’s what happened here. I enjoyed mixing everything together for the best of all meal components in every bite!

Dessert, courtesy of yours truly, was supposed to happen after dinner. We ended up being too full to enjoy it then, but fortunately the next day – today! –  has restored my appetite. One slice in, I know this is a go-to recipe. What is this dessert, you ask?

I came across this Dreamy Apple Pie recipe online, and was instantly intrigued by the creamy sauce used to coat the apples, as well as the pie’s substantial crumble topping. I followed the Pioneer Woman's guidance exactly, with these exceptions:

• Trader Joe’s pie crust instead of homemade – I know, she who prides herself on from-scratch baking really needs to suck it up and just make a crust already. However, I thought the premade version would be easier to work with.
• Cortland apples instead of Granny Smiths – would you have expected anything else?
• Moar cinnamon. Obv.

A few comments on the making of the pie:

• The heavy-cream-based filling, oh my! A nectar of the gods. This syrupy sauce smelled warmly of vanilla and sugar; my extra cinnamon was not enough to overwhelm the more subtle flavors in the mixture.
• I assembled the crumble topping in the food processor as instructed. Wow, that thing can make perfect crumble topping…in less than 10 seconds! I actually over-processed the ingredients and ended up with larger, sticky chunks of topping; I manually broke them apart to achieve a more typical crumble appearance.
•  The premade crust was a tad too thin. I tore it in several places as I tried to get it in the pie dish. I can see homemade crust having an advantage here, since I could roll it to an acceptable thickness.
• The pie baked for 1 hour, and was gently covered in foil up to the last 10 minutes. Those last, uncovered 10 minutes were all we needed to pleasantly brown the pie’s surfaces.

And now, thoughts on the finished pie! The crust was fairly typical and pleasingly buttery. The apples softened an appreciable amount but did not turn to mush, and some of their juice merged with the sugar-cream mixture. In fact, the Londonderry Cortlands' slight tang provided a pleasant and necessary contrast to that sauce. The sauce added a creamy heaviness to the pie, which wasn't a problem in a small slice - no ice cream topping needed! - but would have been overwhelming in a larger one. Still, it was very smooth and sweet, and just apple-y enough. The crumble topping was the best part. Of course, the crumble layer being nearly as thick as the apple layer immediately won me over. There was more to appreciate than just quantity, though. The chopped pecans added a nice nutty depth in both flavor and texture, and I'm still so impressed with the topping's consistency as achieved with the food processor. Overall, I love what this recipe does in terms of taking standard pie ingredients, doing something slightly different to them or adding new twists to the old favorites, and finishing with a really unique and memorable pie.

My only complaint? There is absolutely no way to serve a clean slice of this stuff. Instead, you may expect a plate of pie...slop. It's all good slop, I promise!

~~~

After all that indulgence, I'm going to give my stomach a break - until Thanksgiving, that is. Stay tuned for more on that holiday in these pages!

A Sunday of Old Favorites

Or rather, new things sampled at old favorites!

I love spending time in the South End, with its cobbled streets, quaint brownstones, and amazing restaurants. An unexpectedly warm Sunday gave me the perfect excuse to head down there and wander around. I stopped in for a snack at the South End Buttery, one of my favorite bakery-cafes. A rare window seat overlooking Shawmut Avenue opened up as I arrived, so I settled in for an hour or so of eating, reading, and people-watching.

The baked good is a "cinnapuff" muffin. What an adorable name! It looked, and tasted like, a puff of cinnamon. Imagine an airy, fluffy cinnamon coffee cake, in muffin form, brushed with a thin glaze and dusted in cinnamon sugar. A hearty crumb, just enough sweetness, and faint spice flavor made for satisfying eating. This was the most unique muffin SEB had that day; the others – blueberry, walnut, corn – just weren’t as inspiring. The beverage, predictably enough, is a mocha. SEB’s espresso is not the strongest, so while I wouldn’t rely on it to power me up in the morning, it provided just enough caffeine for a midafternoon perk. They use quality chocolate in the drink, too!

I hope I’m in more of a dessert mood whenever I’m next at the Buttery, because they have significantly expanded their cupcake range since my last visit…

I was in more of a dessert mood as the day went on. Post-dinner dessert happened at Athan’s, where I got to eat the (very last!) Bolero dessert. In it, we have milk chocolate mousse set on top of a sheet of chocolate genoise. The mousse is covered with layer of slivered almonds, and the whole thing is then drenched in milk chocolate ganache. A dollop of chocolate buttercream frosting with a piece of bittersweet chocolate garnishes the top. The mousse was a delight, fluffy and flavorful. The cake was forgettable; Athan’s genoise is always so boring compared to what’s around it. The slivered almonds added a nice depth of flavor, but they were slightly soggy from their proximity to the mousse. I would have preferred crisper, crunchier nuts – if there had to be nuts at all. All outer chocolates were great!

At right is a semifreddo. My partner in desserting described it as “bland-ish, light, milky ice cream.” Semifreddos are meant to be that way – traditionally, they are a mixture of gelato and whipped cream, partially frozen and set atop a cake. Apparently the syrup-soaked cake at the bottom was the best part – Athan’s has some great sugar/brandy syrups, most frequently drizzled on their breakfast breads, and one of those was most likely used here. The cake, of course, was their typical (vanilla) genoise. Far too many almonds were used as toppings.

One thing I love about Athan’s is their chocolate selection. They're the best desserts to go! I left with a piece each of dark chocolate mint and milk chocolate with crisped rice.

If The Bakery Has 'Flour' in Its Name...

...I'm going to love it.

Greg has now recommended two establishments with this fortuitous word in their name. First came the Flour, over 2.5 years ago; this blog is pretty much a testament to how that introduction went! Then, just a few weekends ago, came Clear Flour Bread on the Brookline/Allston line, a happy discovery from his recent move to that area. I knew as soon as I smelled the buttery, doughy aroma of the block surrounding the bakery that we would have a memorably delicious breakfast!

The bakery itself has a tiny corner storefront, so tiny that there is room for maybe only 6 patrons inside. We lined up in an orderly fashion along the sidewalk with the rest of the to-be-patrons, and awaited our turn to be granted access. Such lines are a test of my patience, particularly when I can smell the delights I'm waiting for - but, we got there early enough that the line wasn't too long, and we had a box of four pastries ready to go in less time than I've waited in many lines at the other Flour. That Saturday morning was unusually bright and warm for October, so we repaired to a nearby park to share the spoils. Here they are, with their backdrop of Brookline grass.

This sampling of pastries really illustrates Clear Flour's versatility...and excellence. From the upper left, moving clockwise:

• Currant donut - this is easily the most substantive donut I've ever seen. It was breadier than most donuts, too, forsaking all cake-like elements for a more rustic, natural taste. The currants were plump and moist, a far cry from the raisin-like items you usually see in scones. I don't know if they absorbed the batter's moisture, or if this bakery simply uses fresher fruit? Either way, this item was unique. My one bite was more than enough.
• Gruyere croissant - I must wax rhapsodic about this. The croissant was the epitome of flaky, buttery, crisp yet chewy, melt-in-your-mouth pastry goodness. Imagine butter being spun into thin filaments or films, and then made solid, with so many warm, creamy flavors in each delicate flake. And then, to think - they filled that already-perfect baked item with cheese! Gooey, subtle, savory cheese! My tastebuds are whimpering for more as I write this. I challenge anyone to mention a better Bostonian croissant in the comments!
• Chocolate croissant - the same buttery glory of the above, filled with bittersweet pastry chocolate. The chocolate was evenly distributed throughout the croissant's base, leading me to enjoy pastry and filling in most bites. A rare treat.
• Plum tart - this rustic fruit tart was really exemplary, and it puts all daintier fruit pastries/danishes to shame. Heavy puff pastry dough formed the base and sides of the tart, which was then filled with plum slices, the occasional puff pastry dollop, some crumble topping, and a dusting of powdered sugar. Overall, the pastry was sweet, but no one component was overwhelmingly sugary. The puff pastry dough had an almost-sconelike taste, even. The dough touching the plums, and the plums themselves, were pleasantly gooey. I eat plums so rarely that their flavor and texture were an enjoyable surprise. Then, the topping crumbled nicely upon eating. I felt well sated, yet refreshed, after eating the tart.

Here is a close-up of the plum tart. Mmm!

There are few things for which I would gladly hop the T at 9:00AM on a Saturday morning, and honestly, with a Flour location within walking distance of my apartment, I didn't think another bakery 45 minutes away would be one of them. However, Clear Flour has now won that distinction. (As if there were any doubt, with a name like that!) I can't wait to go back.

New North End Eats

Alrighty, readers - it's catch-up time! I'm presently writing about desserts you should have heard about weeks ago. But hey, delayed "real" posts are better than another Dessert Dump, right?

I've known of Modern Pastry, in the North End, for years - after all, what college eating excursion didn't end on Hanover Street, happily clasping a box of cannolis to go? Some friends really liked Modern's filled-to-order cannolis and their custard-like cream; I've never been a "traditional" cannoli, let alone custard, person, so I always chose Mike's chocolate-mousse-filled cannoli and passed over Modern entirely. I never considered the other treats within Modern's pastry case...until fairly recently, thanks to Adam! Take a look at this tempting box of treats.

Here they are again, cut for eating.

• Carrot cake - talk about a classic, Julie-style carrot cake. There were no nuts or raisins in the actual cake! It was robustly flavored with carrots, spices, and that necessary hint of pineapple or citrus zing; it was also quite moist, most likely due to fresh carrots and fruit juice rather than overly-abundant oil. The whipped cream cheese frosting had the right amount of tangy flavor, and was not so heavy that I felt sick afterward. I hardly noticed the walnuts adorning the cake's exterior, the rest of it was so good.
• Chocolate cake - This bakery version of the Hostess cupcake was a winner. Moist, crumbly dark chocolate cake; I'm guessing some pudding mix factored into it. A puff of vanilla cream filling at its center. A thin layer of bittersweet chocolate ganache enrobing it all. Wow!
• Hazelnut torrone - The. Standout. Of. The. Bunch. (...which is saying something, based on the above comments!) We thought it was biscotti at first, but there was nothing dry or cookie-like about it. Torrone, it turns out, is an Italian dessert of nuts mixed in nougat. This particular version had three layers of nougat - semisweet, milk, and white chocolate - with the occasional hazelnut mixed in the top nougat layer. This nougat was not whipped to the airy, sticky point of an American nougat; I thought I was eating smooth, multi-flavored fudge instead! It melted in my mouth...and on my fingers...and disappeared all too quickly. The hazelnuts were almost forgettable because the nougat was so exceptional. It drastically expanded my understanding of nougat as a dessert...and made me realize that a nut-based dessert could be enjoyable.

Also consumed, but not pictured, were:

• White and milk chocolate peanut butter cups - these massive candies were overwhelmingly sweet...and delicious! The half-inch-thick chocolate casing was extremely creamy and soft, so that it approximated fudge, and the dollop of peanut butter at the center was so gooey and sweet that it could have been a nutty caramel. The white chocolate PBC also had a garnish of maybe 6 peanut butter chips. Too cute!
• Espresso and marzipan torrones - the above-mentioned torrone experience made me eager to try Modern's other torrones. The densely-nutted appearance of said other torrones should have given me pause, but no - we chose them and were promptly displeased with their overwhelming almond content and sparse, dry nougat. No amount of water-swishing could clear the sense of dry almond shards in my mouth for some time afterward...and the brittle nougat was suggestive of dry paste. Then, I don't think any leftover dessert has sat untouched in my fridge as long as those torrones. (For the record, they remained untouched until they were moved to the garbage.) Still, I can't fault Modern for a dessert that clearly isn't my thing.

So, I give 5 stars to this bakery, and will stay away from their blatantly non-Julie products if I'm ever back!

While on the subject of North End desserts, this blog needs a post on what I droolingly refer to as "THAT THING" from Bova's, the chocolate/oreo/PBC mash-up at Salem Street's 24-hour bakery which has been the goal of many a late-night pilgrimage over the years. It's funny, all the dessert stories that could come out of that neighborhood...