In 2013, the media was saturated with coverage about New York’s most unique treat: The Cronut. However, just because a baked good is lesser-known doesn’t mean it isn’t innovative. In fact, there are a number of interesting pastries and desserts in NYC that many consider more ingenious — and more delicious — than the croissant-doughnut-combo.
Take for example Bomboloni in NYC’s Upper West Side, which serves an authentic Italian bomboloni — a round doughnut pastry filled with assorted jams, creams and fillings — made in-house from scratch daily before being dipped in melted chocolate and topped with anything from powdered sugar to peanut butter cups. Or for something NYC-inspired, a Big Apple from Spot Dessert Bar is a decadent raspberry puree-coated soft cheesecake with walnut and orange salad that’s disguised as a big shiny red apple.
Big Apple. Photo courtesy of the Sweet Spot.
VIPs should head to The Baconery for their lavish 23k Gold Bacon, made with a thick slice of Nueske’s Cherrywood Bacon and dipped in dark semi-sweet chocolate before sprinkling 23k edible gold bacon on it. Craving more sweet meat? Milk and Cookies Bakery serves a hearty Bacon Smack!, which combines maple syrup, dried cranberries, toffee, graham cracker, 72% dark chocolate chunks and candied Neuskes cherry wood smoked bacon into one single cookie.
While you’ve heard the buzz about Chef Dominique Ansel’s modern take on the croissant with the Cronut, Bien Cuit serves up their own unique variety through their breakfast croissants — twice baked and dipped in brandy — in almond and chocolate almond flavors. Other interesting items on the menu include a Maple Yam Danish with crème fraîche, a Roobios Fig Tart, and a Milk & Honey Petit Pain made using 24-hour milk-based fermentation and enriched with honey.
Macarella. Photo courtesy of Sweetery.
Like the Cronut, the Macarella from Sweetery NYC is the union of two delicious treats: macaroons and nutella. A coconut macaroon is flattered out, baked and sandwiched with Nutella between for a mix of flavor, crunch and creamy all wrapped in one bite.
Looking for something a bit more hearty? Brooklyn’s Four & Twenty Blackbirds makes sweet and savory pies using mainly local and organic ingredients as well as natural sweeteners to make flavors like Chili Chocolate; Mint Julep (mint, chocolate and bourbon); Sweet Potato Apple Crumble; and Bourbon Pear Crumble.
What NYC pastry do you think is better than the Cronut?
Jessica Festa is the editor of the travel sites Jessie on a Journey (http://jessieonajourney.com) and Epicure & Culture (http://epicureandculture.com). Along with blogging at We Blog The World, her byline has appeared in publications like Huffington Post, Gadling, Fodor’s, Travel + Escape, Matador, Viator, The Culture-Ist and many others. After getting her BA/MA in Communication from the State University of New York at Albany, she realized she wasn’t really to stop backpacking and made travel her full time job. Some of her most memorable experiences include studying abroad in Sydney, teaching English in Thailand, doing orphanage work in Ghana, hiking her way through South America and traveling solo through Europe. She has a passion for backpacking, adventure, hiking, wine and getting off the beaten path.
