So here, in two parts, are
reviews of all the dessert places I tried while I was in Philly and New York - all in my
quest to be a better baker - ahem, that is my story and I'm sticking to it! I
hope you guys appreciate how many hours I'm going to have to spend in the gym
and how many egg white omelettes I'll have to consume to make up for this – it’s
a hard job, but somebody’s got to do it. *Sigh* just call me Miss Committed.
1st stop - Laduree, Charles de Gaulle Airport
Bonjour! Ummm, that's about
the extent of my French. I'd heard about Laduree Macaroons and wasn't too
fussed to try them because while I do like macaroons, I can pretty much take
them or leave them y'know? But Doyin kept talking about them and when we saw
the shop at the airport, it seemed like fate and totally rude not to. However,
at €1.50 per tiny macaroon and a severe lack of Euros on our person, we could
only afford two macaroons between us; one pistachio and one salted caramel.
Making a decision of two from about fifteen flavours – from coconut and
liquorish to vanilla and Madagascan chocolate - was excruciating! Doyin; judge
number 1, had nothing more to contribute to this review other than
"Divine. I want more".
As for my review, first of all, I have to say, the difference between
these and other macaroons I have had (mainly from Paul) was very clear - these
were sooooo fresh. You could tell that they'd been made just hours ago. They were
soft, melt-in-your-mouth and yet still crisp. The pistachio flavour was exquisite,
and the salted caramel whilst also great, was more … interesting. It had a
lovely burnt sugar taste but if I was to go to Laduree again, I'd literally
empty my purse on the table and ask for “as many pistachio macaroons as this
will buy me!”
The lovely ladies from whom I
borrowed this idea were kind enough to recommend places to try in the Philly
area and this was one of them. It's nice and bright inside and they have more
chocolate than they do cake and other deserts. They had about 6 cupcake
flavours; nothing too wild or crazy - chocolate, vanilla, chocolate with peanut
butter frosting; you get the gist. They also had some amazing looking desserts
like an Oreo mousse but as I was by myself on this leg of the tour, I only
tried one thing; the vanilla cupcake with strawberry frosting. I decided on
this one after I asked for, and refused the personal recommendation of the lady
behind the counter (choc/peanut butter if you’re interested). I decided to go
with the most popular choice. The cake was pretty average, quite dense and
didn't taste particularly fresh. The frosting made up for it though; it was
obviously made with real strawberries and wasn't too sweet. To be honest, I'm
not the biggest strawberry fan in the world so this stop left me a bit
disappointed!
3rd Stop - Brown Betty Boutique, 1030 North 2nd Street
I had back-up on this part of
the crawl, which meant we could try more stuff ... yay!! The idea was that Lara
and I would have one cupcake/cookie/dessert at each place and then share but we
turned out to be total light weights! After Brown Betty; which was our first
stop, Lara was more or less out, muttering something about big breakfast, can't
stomach more cake **shaking my head**. But I must admit, I couldn't completely
enjoy the rest of the desserts that day as I just felt caked-out! I know, I
know, I didn’t think caked-out was a non-word that would ever have to be a part
of my vocabulary either!
Back to Brown Betty – I loved
it! First of all, their cupcakes were huge and while they were very pretty,
theirs weren't the dainty, perfectly decorated cupcakes that some bakeries
specialise in. They also had some interesting flavours like sweet potato. And
sour cream. And all their cakes are pound cakes! For those of you who don't
know what pound cakes are (which was me till my friend explained it to me),
pound cakes are denser than sponge cake so wedding cakes are pound cakes so that
they can hold the icing and all the numerous tiers! If you know me, you know
that dense cake is not something I am a fan of, but these were amazing!
First things first. Lara
chose the chocolate cupcake with coconut frosting and I had the fruit-filled
sour cream and lemon cupcake. The cake in both was dense and yet still moist,
soft and fresh! The chocolate cupcake was great but the sour cream and lemon
was amazing! The cake was lovely, the filling (like a very light lemon curd)
not too sweet and not overpowering and the icing ... oh the icing, It was like a
vanilla buttercream but fluffier, creamier and not as sweet - it was lurrrvely!
If anyone has their recipe for that frosting, I'll love you forever ;p
The Boutique, which is where
I went, is where they baked the cupcakes and cakes for all three of their
stores and that in itself was inspiring because it was a pretty small kitchen
area with a much smaller oven than I'd expect. If they can run three successful
shops from such a small base, it's something to aim for :D
Darn my nerves at the wedding
that made me turn down the Brown Betty wedding cake at my
friend's wedding! I
had a tiny bite of the red velvet which was lovely but there was also almond
cake and another cake which I didn't get to try ... I'm still harbouring
regrets.
You're sharing all these pictures (& info) because you're going to make your version of all of them... right?
ReplyDeleteI hope so too! A taster event maybe even?
ReplyDeleteGreat post, sounds like it was a delicious holiday!
@ Adura Ummm of course :D Actually, I do want to give macaroons a go and I aim to have explored every flavour of cupcake by the time I'm done so ... watch this space :D
ReplyDelete@Ms Afropolitan A taster event is a great idea and something I do intend to do at some point, I hope you'll both attend! It was a delicious holiday thank you :D
Looks like you get to go to some great places too! I like the look of those laduree macarons.
ReplyDeletehope you have gotten over not trying the almond cake!!lol
ReplyDeleteYes BB's is my absolute fave out of the cupcake selections in Philly. Reminds me of the cake I grew up on when we would have bake sales or someone's auntie or grandma would bake. I have been hoping that they will add another southern favorite to their menu : 7-up cake. But until then will have to keep stuffing my face with their sour cream pound and red velvet.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the 7-up cake it has that lemon-lime flavor of the soda. I don't have a family recipe but instead have a couple of variations I got off the web through Google :)
ReplyDeleteIt is on my to do list to perfect.
Hahahahahaahhaha love this post. Yummy, I want to these trips!
ReplyDeleteThanks great blog poost
ReplyDelete