I heart NY, too

I don’t know which is cuter: this darling mobile truck named Pearl, or the driver named Max.

Yet another mobile concept, this one feels really fresh and fun. Amee and I were too stuffed from lunch at Balthazar and dessert from Baked by Melissa, so we didn’t sample the ice cream and candy treats from around the world.


But everything about Hearts Challenger is too cute to pass up a second time.

Manhattan's best 5 cups of cocoa

Because it's snowing in New York. Because it's the holiday season. And because it's one of the silver linings of winter: these are the hot chocolates you don't want to miss.

Jacques Torres
When you walk into Chocolate Haven Soho, the heavenly scent of chocolate is all around you. Belly up to bar and order my personal favorite: the peanut butter hot cocoa.

Vosges
That their cocoa is called "drinking chocolate" and served in elegant glassware is telling. I like to change it up at Vosges and get the Bianca Cocoa: white chocolate with vanilla, lemon myrtle and lavender.

Dessert Truck
Insanely thick. Made with Valrhona and Guittard chocolates. Don't expect to drink the whole thing. Even I can't.

City Bakery
If hot chocolate could be landmarked, City Bakery's would be the first to receive the designation. Start training for February's Hot Cocoa Festival by sipping their small portions now. It's habit-forming.

MarieBelle
I was going to give the fifth spot to La Maison du Chocolat. But since this blog is all (or mostly) about NYC, MarieBelle—with a proper cacoa salon, six varieties, and the option for European (made with water) or American (milk) style—gets the nod.

So pretty, so kind

Now through the weekend, scoop up three of these lovelies.



At this wonderful truck.



And help keep more of these trucks cruising New York, picking up food donations for the hungry.



These are the last few days to score Dessert Truck's pomegranate macaroons.

The deal? It's the high season for pomegranates, and always the season for macaroons.

So Dessert Truck and PAMA Pomegranate Liquor teamed up to offer these limited-edition treats, with a portion of the proceeds ($3 for three) going to City Harvest.

They're a little bit sweet, a little bit tart, a little bit boozy, and such a good feeling.

5 best (boo!) pumpkin treats

If you don't want to stuff your gullet with candy corn and mini Snickers this Halloween, get in on these rich, spiced baked goods.

Pumpkin cupcakes at Amai and Batch:
You can't go wrong with either Kelli or Pichet's elegant recipes.

Pumpkin scone at Alice's Tea Cup:
The sisters usher in autumn with their caramel-glazed moistest scone.

Pumpkin pie at City Bakery:
A rich and spiced slice from a man who knows his pies and tarts.

Pumpkin cheesecake bar at Baked:
Creamy, savory, heavenly.

Pumpkin custard at Dessert Truck:
Topped with maple syrup, marshmallows and caramelized pecans. Enough said.

The Mixing Bowl: Jerome Chang

Most Sweet Freaks know the Dessert Truck makes a mercilessly rich and deliciously spongy chocolate bread pudding. But here, Jerome Chang tips us off to a new mobile must-eat—figs with lavender syrup and marscarpone (omg!)—and shares his tools for making the magic happen.

Growing up, my favorite sweet was:
Trix cereal. They were round when I was growing up, and they bummed me out when they switched to the fruit shapes. But I think they’re round again.

My favorite sweet now is:
The figs from our chef Bill’s yard in New Jersey, with lavender syrup and mascarpone.

My personal Dessert Truck favorite:
See above

What I love about being mobile is:
Driving the truck on the wide, open highway with everything rumbling around inside… just like a video game.

Truffles or pralines:
Truffles for long conversations. Pralines for quick snacking.

White, milk or dark:
I won’t choose. Milk and dark chocolate can work amazingly in concert. White chocolate can be awesome with certain fruit flavors.

Caramel, ganache or cream:
Cream can be essential to both.

I'd love to create a flavor for:
My girlfriend

Kitchen essentials:
Immersion blender, Vitamix blender, scales.

Style essentials:
Shower daily.

Pastry chefs I admire:
Any whose egos don’t get in the way of putting good flavors on the plate.

I'm most inspired when:
Autumn rolls around.

How much is too much?
When you start getting an ulcer.

Favorite movie snack:
Junior Mints

Guilty pleasure:
Eating a boatload of soup dumplings.

Other favorites:
I love Philly & most of Spain.

Peanut butter. And some jelly.

I was pretty sure that Violette & Ruby made a pb & j cookie and that Baked had a pb & j brownie. Either one of those would have kicked Hill Country's pb & j cupcake. (Oh my, remember that??)


But, sadly, I was mistaken. Still, I can't get pb&j off the brain. At least there are other rich, savory snack situations. To wit…

Peanut butter sandwich cookies from the Treats Truck and Bouchon Bakery.

Peanut butter brownies at Baked, and peanut butter hot cocoa at Jacques Torres (um, since apparently it's winter already).

Peanut butter cupcake (with a chocolate ganache center) from Sweet Revenge.

And the best ever: City Bakery's peanut butter cookie.

To tart up the nuttiness, there are even jammie treats. Like Chocolate Bar's raspberry jam Retro Bar. And the raspberry brownie from the Treats Truck.

And for the truly gluttonous: fried pb & j at Mama's Mudsliders.

Treats Truck on top

Congratulations, Sugar and Kim!



Treats Truck won the Best Dessert Vendor at the '08 Vendy Awards. If I were a betting girl, I'd say it was those oatmeal jammies…

Warmly, waffles

Wafels & Dinges is nice sidewalk fare. But it’s an irrefutable pleasure to walk into a café and be smacked in the face with the smell of warm Belgian waffles.

When Amee suggested that Julie and I meet her at Petit Abeille for brunch, I knew I could count on my two dear friends to help me get my daily sweet fix. We split a classic liege waffle.

So dense and springy, the texture was lovely and saturated with a sweet vanilla flavor. The syrup on the side was totally unnecessary, with crunchy bits of granular sugar inside, and a soft shake of confectioner’s sugar on top.

44 West 17th between 5th & 6th Aves
212.727.2989

The mixing bowl: Benjamin Van Leeuwen

Let's hear it for principles! The only thing that makes sweets better is when smart, compassionate people that you actually want to sit around the kitchen table with create them. Like Ben Van Leeuwen—who sometimes caves in to Heinz ketchup, but is otherwise devoted to purely unmolested products.


Growing up, my favorite sweet was:
Chocolate croissant

My favorite sweet now is:
Hot fudge sundae

My personal Van Leeuwen flavor:
Chocolate

What I love about being mobile is:
Not paying rent and being able to put the savings into the best ingredients and earth-friendly packaging.

Truffles or pralines:
Truffles

White, milk or dark:
Milk, actually.

Caramel, ganache or cream:
Caramel

The perfect pairing:
Espresso ice cream, fudge and cocoa nibs.

Kitchen essentials:
Real balsamic vinegar, grape-seed oil, shallots, 2-3 artisan cloth bound cheddars, 1 English cheddar for grilled cheese, mushrooms, ginger.

Pastry chefs I admire:
Not exactly a pastry chef, but Michael London, from Saratoga Springs.

I'm most inspired when:
I taste incredible food.

Favorite movie snack:
Popcorn

Guilty pleasure:
Enjoying Heinz ketchup with french fries, even though it has high fructose corn syrup.

5 sweets I’m craving now

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jammies and chippers

Seriously. What did we do before these mobile bakeries rolled into town? They dispense childish thrills (like playing Wii or watching Step Brothers) as keenly as heavenly snacks.

Kim Ima’s Treats Truck (named Sugar) is no exception. The shiny silver bullet is a beacon of happiness in midtown’s choked streets, serving up freshly baked cookies, brownies, bars and rice crispy treats. I stood in a line that was at least 15 deep (only two men, but who’s counting?) for my share of sugar.

I tried three sweets from the arsenal, an apricot oatmeal jammy being my favorite. It was chewy, and the oatmeal cookie had a nice nutty flavor that was perfectly complemented by the beautiful, zingy apricot preserves spread on top. Nicely sized, too.

The raspberry brownie was another excellent flavor pairing. (Is there anyone who doesn’t love that combo?) The raspberry jam was a little strong and sweet, but the brownie part was stellar: rich, chewy and chocolaty.


The chocolate chip cookie, “chocolate chipper” in Treats Truck Speak, was solid. It’s tough to beat some of Manhattan’s heavyweights, but this is a good cookie. Or, as the Treats Truck itself proclaims, “Not too fancy, always delicious.”

Two scoops, please

How often do you meet an enterprising 24-year-old who's adorable, gracious and a talented ice cream maker?

Meet Ben Van Leeuwen. He used to drive a Good Humor truck, but this summer got his own wheels. Now he has two creamy-colored trucks from which to peddle his creamy-rich ice cream.

He talks in a singsong voice, with a smile, and believes in quality and sustainability as much as making you flip over dessert. His custard base is made with hormone- and antibiotic-free milk and organic eggs and sugar. The cups and spoons are made from sugar cane husk and corn husk, respectively. Perfect.

And then there are the ingredients. Most ice cream makers wouldn't invest the time to research and source the freshest, most flavorful ingredients, nor would they pay for them. But Van Leeuwen uses stuff like Michel Cluizel chocolate, Piedmont hazelnuts, fair trade Columbian coffee, and oak barrel aged vanilla.


It makes all the difference. The ice cream is dense, the flavors are pure, and the quality is unmistakable.

Dear New York,

I love you. You know I do. But I’m running off to Paris to see some old friends… Pierre Marcolini, Jean-Paul Hevin, Christian Constant…

But I will be back. For your chocolate studded cookies, Levain, and your dreamy peanut butter ones, City Bakery. For cupcakes—strawberry rhubarb from Batch, banana from Billy’s and even a good, old sugar rush from Magnolia. I will look forward to your toasted almond glaze, Doughnut Plant, and for, mon dieu, your chocolate bread pudding, Dessert Truck.

A bientot…

Second helpings

There's nothing like prolonging dessert. Here are Brownie's 5 Favorite NYC Sweets:


1) Chocolate Fondue from The Chocolate Room in Park Slope — I love the Chocolate Room. It's my go-to romantic dessert place. Everything on their menu is chock-full o' chocolate-y goodness and their chocolate fondue is absolutely terrific. You get a plate of fresh fruit usually strawberries, pineapple and bananas, little pieces of light and buttery pound cake, a couple homemade marshmallows and a nice sized pot of fondue made from 60% Belgian chocolate. At $14, it's the priciest thing on the menu, but it's ample to share with a date.



2) Liege Wafel with Belgian Chocolate Sauce and Whipped Cream from Wafels and Dinges — I've always loved waffles but Wafels and Dinges introduced me to what a real Belgian waffle could be. Slightly dense and chewy with little bursts of crystallized sugar in every bite their Liege Wafels are a must for me. And what goes better on a Liege Wafel than a generous helping of dark Belgian chocolate fudge and whipped cream?

3) Plain Fro-yo from Forty Carrots at Bloomingdales — I like my fro-yo to be tart and fresh, not overly sweet or processed tasting. I've tried all the heavy hitters and not so heavy hitters in the fro-yo leagues and plain Frogurt reins supreme. Once confined only to Bloomies and Café Lalo on the Upper West Side, Frogurt is beginning to pop up in more places throughout the city. But if you have a Frogurt problem like, um…me, you might want to join the Forty Carrots Yogurt Club. After 7 fro-yos, you get a free one with one topping.

4) Lemon Lemon Lemon Cupcake from Batch — I love all sorts of cupcakes from the low end fresh from the box Funfetti to the higher end confections you get now get at some of New York's most chichi restaurants. Pichet Ong's new bakery, Batch, makes a Lemon Lemon Lemon cupcake that's I've recently become very fond of. The cupcake itself is moist and almost as light as an angel food cake. The frosting was sweet and the lemon filling was nice and tangy. The Lemon Lemon Lemon Cupcake is a bit smaller and pricier than its neighbors at Magnolia, but in terms of quality it's worlds apart and well worth it.

5) Red Velvet Custard from Shake Shack — I've been a big fan of the Shack for a long time. I used to tend to get their concretes (shakes with lots of delicious mix-ins), but lately their special custards have been too good to pass up. Last month they made a Red Velvet Custard that was to die for. Oh man, the custard was a tangy vanilla base reminiscent of traditional Red Velvet cream cheese frosting and it didn't just have little Red Velvet crumbles, oh no, there were serious chunks of Red Velvet cake. I don't know when it will return to the custard rotation, but I'm hoping it will be soon.

Kindred spirits

Anyone who loves food and booze and caffeine and sweets is ace in my book. And anyone devoted enough to photograph burgers on dates and wax poetic about the versatility of Nutella is soooper ace.

I'm talking about Blondie and Brownie.

Here, Blondie's 5 favorite NYC sweets:

1) Glaser's Black and White Cookies - This is the apex of black and white cookies, in my opinion. The cakey cookie is golden, airy, and moist, while the frosting has a thin skin on the top, but is moist and creamy underneath. The cookies are, of course, baked on site and are incredibly fresh.

2) Sugar Sweet Sunshine's Cupcakes - All of them. I think I've tried every regular flavor combination (we've had a lot of SSS deliveries to the office) and each is moist and delicious. I tend to find buttercreams too greasy and buttery, but their frosting is perhaps the only buttercream in the city that I like and enjoy.



3) Sugar Sweet Sunshine's Banana Pudding - Every time I'd gone to SSS, I've immediately headed for the cupcakes, disregarding the other items on the menu, but recently, I was tipped off to try their puddings. I love bananas (eat one every morning) and 'Nilla wafers, and this is the perfect marriage of the two. There are chunks of bananas, the pudding is thick and creamy, and filling. I hope to one day try the other puddings, but that means passing on the banana and cupcakes.

4) Mexican Chocolate Brownie from Treats Truck - This was the very first item I ever had from the Treats Truck, and it's still my absolute favorite. It's moist and fudgey without being greasy or oily, and I still haven't figured out how Kim bakes the cinnamon flavor into the crust.



5) Nutella Turnover at La Dolce Italia (Astoria) - Yes, there is a turnover with Nutella baked into the middle. I have a severe addiction to Nutella. The dough is a little thick, but the ample amount of Nutella deliciousness baked into the middle more than makes up for it. It's even better warmed up a bit.

No, we didn't forget about Brownie. She dishes soon...

Fun with friends

It's so nice to eat vicariously through a friend with an appreciation for great chocolate.

After sending my friend Alex into diabetic shock from pain au chocolat (Penelope's), peanut butter cookies and cocoa with marshmallows (City Bakery), and doughnuts (Doughnut Plant), it seemed only appropriate to bring her to the Dessert Truck. She and her husband Nick live in San Francisco and introduced me to the salted caramel ice cream at Bi-Rite Creamery, after all. Tit for tat and all that.

So after a divine dinner at Centro Vinoteca (where, omg, we passed on hazelnut cake with nutella mousse?!), we walked over to University and 8th. Unlike my first visit when I felt gluttonous just ordering hot chocolate with my chocolate bread pudding, this time I was able to sample three whole desserts.

The chocolate bread pudding, which I snitched a taste of from Alex, is still shamefully rich and deliciously spongy. The goat cheese cheesecake was a little too hoof-y for me, but Nick seemed to enjoy it plenty. Me, I got to sample the weekly special: chocolate truffle cake with praline crunch, and the praline crunch made the dessert.

So that leaves the slow-baked apple, chocolate and peanut butter mousse, and vanilla crème brulee as unexplored menu items. Alex, when are you coming back to NYC?

University & 8th
Every night except Monday

Waffling over dessert?

Walking home from dinner at Fatty Crab tonight, my mind turned to the trucks: the Dessert Truck, Treats Truck, Mud Truck, et al. I wondered if that waffle guy might be outside Trader Joe’s like he sometimes is.

Then, weaving in and out of the throngs of 14th Street shoppers, I saw red lights on the curb up ahead. Could it be? ‘Twas: the Wafels & Dinges Truck.

It’s a common story by now: guy enters mid-life and is unfulfilled with corporate career. Chucks six figures and launches absurd dream: food on wheels. There you have it, a truck peddling Belgian waffles on a night when you’ve slurped down curry soup.

It boils down to two choices: the Brussels Wafel or the Liege Wafel. The former is the traditional option, “Crunchy, light and yum yum.” The latter, the one I went for, is “Chewy, rich and flavorful.” (The chewier the sweet, the better.) Sparkling with sugar crystals, spongy and served warm, this is a quiet dessert. Simple in flavor, satisfying in texture, and subtle in size.

Unless you dip in to the Dinges: strawberries, whipped cream, nutella, dulce de leche, maple syrup and Belgium chocolate fudge can all be added to your Wafel to create a gluttonous dessert, or a “Wafel of Massive Deliciousness.” If only I hadn’t already eaten a gut-bomb of a dinner…

Keep truckin'

It’s like the Loch Ness monster, Superman, dust fairies, the perfect brown boots: it doesn’t exist. This Dessert Truck that New York magazine and Eater.com rave about… where is it? I’d like a helping of bread pudding for god’s sake.

The concept alone makes me happy: a mobile bakery. Just walk right up for a serving of molten chocolate cake, crème brulee or hot (Valrhona & Guittard) chocolate. If I could only find it, that is.

After weeks of being the crazy stalker girl who takes the long way home to see if “he’s” there, I gave up trying to play it cool. There were only so many times I could skulk around University and 8th, trying for that chance encounter with the Dessert Truck. So I Googled him. Natch. Turns out my folly was the hour of the day — he only comes out at night.

So now I know, and now I am among the blessed to have had the chocolate bread pudding. And the hot cocoa.

All I can say is the rave reviews are deserving. Both treats are over-the-top rich, and sent me immediately into orbit. Chocolate oozed and rolled around my mouth in unimaginable ways. The cocoa is thick and chocolaty-sludgy. The bread pudding is both smooth and mildly textured, dense chocolate at the spongy edges and denser chocolate in the molten middle. It was an experience so decadent, even I could barely tolerate it.

But tolerate I did, and tolerate it I will again. Like that crazy stalker girl who just can’t leave well enough alone, I’ll be going back. Oh yes, I will be going back.

University & 8th
Every evening except Monday

Hot in the City

Mister Softee's soft ice cream, still a hit.

Picture this (not too difficult this time of the year): it's hot, hazy and humid. You can see heat waves rippling from the asphalt, feel sweat trickling down your back. You're parched. Dying for something to revive you. And then you see him: Mister Softee.

Though the ubiquitous ice cream trucks can no longer play that nostalgic jingle (a citywide noise ordinance went into effect earlier this summer), the trucks, parked on corners in every neighborhood, and ice cream are much the same. For most New Yorkers, they are beacons of happiness and relief on sweltering summer days.

With not much more than chocolate or vanilla soft serve, you can choose from an impressive menu of cones, sundaes and shakes. "Everybody gets a chocolate dip," claims one Mister parked in Union Square, though other toppings include sprinkles, crunchies and peanuts.

While traditionalists are satisfied with strawberry shakes and butterscotch sundaes, many of the trucks show a little flair with their offerings. Try the Red Merlin, for example—a cone that's partly covered with rainbow sprinkles, partly with cherry dip. Or the Chocolate X-Mas with chocolate dip and whipped cream. It's no LA fro-yo or Italian gelato. But, yeah, that's sort of the point.