Oh the places you’ll go! (And the desserts you’ll eat!) Week 31: Dessert excerpts from my East Coast trip so far – Manhattan, upstate New York, and Boston.

 

I’ve been without a kitchen for the past week and a half while I adventure around the eastern seaboard. To make up for my lack of homemade sweets, I’ve tracked down some delicious treats along my roadtrip. I thought I’d chat about them here in lieu of a 31st bake (I’ll be back next week with something homemade, I promise!)

 

 

I was a little skeptical of the concept of rolled ice cream – how is it different from normal ice cream and why am I paying more for it? The Saturday food market in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn answered my query: the presentation, duh. It just looks so spectacular and delicate in rolls instead of scoops!

They used small-batch gelato, poured it on to a frozen work surface and spread it around, smoothing it out as it re-froze. Once solid and flat, they took chisels (I can only assume these were special ice cream chisels since there are so many unnecessary kitchen tools out there in the world) and slowly scraped the ice cream into little rolls. After arranging the rolls snugly in a tub, they were covered in toppings and handed to the drooling person at the counter (me).

 

Passing over the blurriness of this picture, does the pineapple float remind you of anywhere? It was the closest thing to a dole whip float that I’ve found outside of Disneyland – thank you Chelsea Market in Manhattan! They took handmade soft serve, and floated it in a combination of pineapple juice and coconut La Croix. So refreshing. Especially for this Bay Area girl who can’t handle temps over 85 degrees, whew!

 

 

Did I mention that it’s been super warm out during this trip? Well, I’m sure you can tell from all the ice cream treats so far. This was a Sweet’n’Salty “crazy milkshake” from Black Tap Burgers and Beer in Midtown (Manhattan). Chocolate ice cream blended, topped with whip cream, peanut butter cups, pretzel sticks, a sugar daddy candy and peanut butter and chocolate drizzles. The glass was rimmed with M&Ms, which were stuck on with an ingenious combination of chocolate frosting and peanut butter (we debated for a while about the mysterious and delicious substance and had to settle it by asking the waitress.) It was over the top and awesome to behold. Though the line to get in was insane considering that it was 10:30 PM on a Sunday night . . .

 

 

This doughnut shop was aptly named Dough. Just in case you were confused on what they use to make their doughnuts. Nutella-filled, blood orange, passion fruit with cocoa nibs and mocha crunch. There was no way we needed all four, look at the size of em! They were lovely and ridiculously filling. They have a bunch of locations, but we hit up their stall at the food hall across the street from our hotel in Midtown.

 

 

On to Boston! Holy cannoli, it was so good. I have to admit, I have never been one to seek out a cannoli. They are crunchy and ooze filling everywhere are generally hard to eat. However, on my sister’s recommendation, we hit up Mike’s Pastry in Boston’s Little Italy and upon entering, I felt obligated to try one of their 15 flavors of cannolis instead of any of their other countless pastries. Wonderful decision – best one I’ve ever had! Crisp and flaky dough for the shell, and rich creamy ricotta filling with tiny chocolate chips clinging to the edges. 10/10 would recommend. Go to Boston just for this. Just do it.

 

 

Also from Mike’s Pastry (I’m tellin ya, it’s worth the trip) was this lovely little rainbow cookie. “Cookie” is a loose term. This was essentially a mini Swedish Princess Cake without the cream and coated in chocolate. It was a triple layer slice of cake with jam and marzipan filling. Definitely a hit!

 

Though I sadly don’t have a picture, we also got delicious perogies at the Broadway show, The Great Comet of 1812. Based on a section of War and Peace by Tolstoy, they began the show by chucking little take-out boxes at us with hot perogies in them. My kind of show! I think mine had a sort of potato filling with chives? Super good.

 

This trip has definitely added to my list of bakes to try during the rest of the year – stay tuned! And get thee self to Mike’s Pastry in Boston. Nuff said.