Bathazar tartlettes

I'm not sure there's anything better than the warm chocolate cake at my all-time favorite restaurant, Balthazar...

Except maybe the strawberry rhubarb tartlette: the jammiest, sweetest, warmest tart, served with creme fraiche ice cream. It's served only as a special, so get it while you can.

Beholden to Balthazar

Take your pretty eggshell blue and fiery red boxes and the sparkling jewels inside.

I’ll take this sunny yellow box that contains something equally exquisite.

The Balthazar Apricot Frangipane Tart.

Moist. Nutty. Fruity.

Pitch perfect balance and pure pleasure.

Paris-Brest, Paris-New York, Always Divine

Phew. I got to indulge in Jacques Genin's glorious Paris-Brest just a month before he put the kibosh on making pastries. So enamored was I, I also went for Philippe Conticini’s award-winning Brest. Both were divine: rings of choux pastry, piped full of rich hazelnut pastry cream. Classically French, undeniably indulgent.

So why stop now? It may be a new year and a different city, but that’s no reason not to indulge in the French classic when the opportunity presents itself.

Not that the Paris-Brest readily presents itself in New York. Macarons are ubiquitous. Baba Rhum is creeping onto menus around town. The Paris-Brest is more elusive.

But when Dominique Ansel opened his Soho bakery a little over a year ago, this was the pastry that garnered him a lot of attention. (That and his oh-so-sweet-sticky-buttery-perfect Kouign Amann).

Ansel, inspired by his go-to snack when he first came to the city—none other than a Snickers bar—replaced the hazelnut cream with rich dark chocolate and savory peanut butter that meld beautifully between the softly crunchy rings of pastry.

He also miniaturized it—perhaps the only dessert that is smaller here in America than in France.

And showing the French flair for artistry, dots of peanut butter and candied nuts decorate the salted caramel glacage on top. 

It's reassuring to know this French beauty is so close here in New York.

The best brests in Paris

It is said that Philippe Conticini makes the best Paris-Brest in Paris. Indeed, a visit to La Patisserie des Reves reveals a master has been at work.

But what about Jacques Genin? His Brests are nothing to sneeze at.

It was essential to plunge into this delicious debate. A Paris-Brest is a rare treat. I've had only a handful in my life. Having two in one week was pure hedonism.

Conticini's creation is six petite pieces of choux pastry strong together like an exquisite necklace of pearls. Except inside each puff is a thick and rich, decadent crème pralinèe. In other words: heaven.

Jacques Genin takes a little more liberty with his crème pralinèe (for some, bigger is better, n'est-ce pas?) His pastry is a more traditional ring, dusted with hazelnuts.

Everyone has their own preferences and predilections. I would go for either man's brest. Conticini's is compact, refined, densely powerful. Genin's is light and airy, over the top wonderful. Both are wonderful specimens.

Wee & sweet finale at Lincoln

Saturday was one of those "I love New York" days. Unseasonably warm. The Union Square greenmarket was filled with pumpkins, sunflowers, and bees buzzing around the sweet-smelling Concord grapes. I had a date with a good friend to see the Palm d'Or-winning French film, Amour, at the New York Film Festival. And we met for a pre-matinee brunch at Lincoln.

  

Elegant but leisurely, it was one of the best restaurant experiences I've had in a long time. The glass walls brought the energy from Lincoln Center inside, though it remained impossibly serene. Every detail, from the pour of the olive oil to the shape of the sugar spoon to the shavings of ricotta, was exquisite. And the petit plate of treats—caramels, truffles, biscotti and butter cookies—that came at the end of the meal was all I needed to make me a very happy girl.

Lincoln

142 West 65th Street

Sugar (& Sugar) & Plumm

New York just keeps giving. Candy. Chocolate. Pastries. Ice cream masterpieces. What do you want? What are you waiting for? Whatever it is, get yourself to Sugar & Plumm and dig in!

Pick up some baked goods (those cupcakes have pastry chef Pichet Ong’s signature all over them—yum!)…

… or take some divine desserts to go (have you ever seen such a seductive carrot cake?).

 Or you can opt for chocolates, from French chocolatier Thierry Atlan…

… and packaged bits and candy by the ounce (c’est dangeroux!).

The boutique-restaurant has a fun vibe. The David Rockwell interior is peppy and informal, and moms can walk around with wine while the rugrats annihilate gummies and sundaes.

It’s the kind of place you have to revisit again and again to sample all the delicious chocolaty, creamy, sugary offerings.

Sugar & Plumm 

377 Amsterdam Avenue 

 

Super tarte tatin

Because I really do love Buvette so, so much, I thought it worth double-blogging about it. Especially the tarte tatin.

It's a feat, really. So dense, a titch gooey, and yet seemingly healthy.

Balanced between sweet and savory just so.

Created on the lighted bed of pastry dough. And topped with a dollop of fresh crème anglaise.

I mean, really, what's not to love??

Dessert tasting with Johnny Iuzzini

It’s not every day you’re invited to a dessert tasting. Much less a gum tasting. So when the folks from Extra gum invited me to test-sample three new flavors—root beer float, lemon square and bananas foster—I opened wide.

For it wasn’t just chewing some gum that was on the menu. Johnny Iuzzini was too.

And before sticking a new flavor of gum in our mouths, we sampled the actual desserts that inspired them.




The idea is to pick a favorite of the three, and the winning flavor goes to market. You can weigh in by going to their Facebook page.

Their whole line of Dessert Delights launched last year. Already on the menu are strawberry shortcake, mint chocolate chip, apple pie, orange crème popand key lime pie. And, yes, we got to sample those inspiring desserts, too.

So. Eight desserts in one afternoon.

My personal favorites? Well, I wouldn’t want to sway the voting. But anything with bananas gets my vote.