Spread's Spreads / Crumbs's Cupcakes

She may not be much of a dessert person herself, but my ever-gorgeous girlfriend Debbie definitely knows how to make me and my daughters happy. Case in point: last Saturday night, when she came over to our place and provided all the makings for a sweet-treat tasting spree.

First came the chocolaty, nutty spreads from Spread, an organic restaurant in San Diego that sells a seemingly endless number of varieties of the stuff online. The four of us sampled three different flavors, eaten straight from the jar or spooned onto shortbread and some excellent chocolate cookies from Grandaisy. By far the best—or, at least, by far the most deliciously desserty—was the White Chocolate Espresso almond spread: sweet, thick, the flavors deep and rich, the espresso beans adding a pleasant, bitter crunch. The Dark Chocolate Chile peanut spread was as good as this sort of thing gets, but we all had a hard time getting past the whole sweet-spicy trend/gimmick (I have the same problem with the wasabi truffles, et al, at Vosges....). Yes, it sets off an interesting little party in your mouth, but it doesn't really satisfy as a dessert.

Speaking of not dessert, the Cinnamon peanut spread turned out to be nothing more than unsweetened, roasted ground peanuts, liberally infused with the aromatic spice. A disappointment after dinner... superb with raspberry jam on my raisin english muffin this morning.

Then it was time for Dessert: Part 2. Now, Crumbs may be second tier when it comes to cupcakes in this town, but it certainly knows how to put on a good show. Plenty sugary and often filled with some sort of creamy surprise, the assorted mini-cakes in this lively 12-pack were as much to fun eat as they look like they would be.

You can find more information about Spread's spreads here. There are a half-dozen Crumbs Bakeshops in the City; I believe the cakes we ate came from the one on 8th Street between University Place and Broadway.

Beard Papa's

Though far from a new idea—these cream-puff parlors have been around for a few years now, and my daughters and I definitely enjoy wolfing a couple of their creations every now and again—popping by Beard Papa's for a sweet treat potentially got more interesting with the recent addition of the Cookie Crunch puff. Also new, available this winter only: the Mont Blanc puff, featuring a dollop of French Chestnut cream atop a regular vanilla custard puff.

Unfortunately, neither of Beard Papa's new species adds much to the admittedly already quite satisfying sugarbomb experience. In fact, in a rigorous side-by-side taste test conducted late last Saturday night in my kitchen, I can confidently say that there is absolutely no difference between the Beard Papa's regular and the Beard Papa's Cookie Crunch puff (at right and in back, above). No difference in flavor. No difference in texture. Nada.

Not that either puff was bad—in fact the special Caramel custard that filled my puffs was pleasantly rich, sweet, and butterscotchy—but they really need to rethink how to crunch these babies up, if that's the direction they're going in (maybe add cookie bits to filling?). As for the Mont Blanc, the unapologetically unsophisticated take on chestnut cream did add a certain amount of new flavoring to the puff, but mostly it just doubled up the gloppiness factor.

There are several Beard Papa's locations in the City. On this night, I got my puffs on Broadway between 76th and 77th streets.

The Ottimo™ Ciao Bella® Ice Cream Sandwich at Eleni's®

It was Debbie and her daughters who first discovered these beauties, tucked away inside the Chelsea Market, and later she brought a bagfull over to my place for me, Bo, and Co. Since then I've gone out of my way twice for more, a sure sign that, even in a town packed with excellent on-the-go treats, these sweets—basically, intense Ciao Bella gelato sandwiched between soft Eleni's cookies—will remain in our steady dessert rotation for some time to come.

The multi-branded Ottimos come in four flavors, the best a toss up between the refreshing Strawberry—the fruity filling an unexpectedly perfect pairing for the cinnamony Snickerdoodles—and the rich, aromatic Espresso, nicely complemented by Chocolate "Neat" Cookies, which I guess means "studded with cakey bits and white chocolate chunks." Really, both of these are pretty much ice-cream-sandwich heaven; choose to suit your mood.

Also good, if much less crave-able, are the super-sweet Chocolate/Chocolate Chip, and the somewhat blandly sophisticated Lemon/Lemon Poppy. These will do in a pinch, but are definitely second tier.

Eleni's is located in the Chelsea Market, which can be entered on either Ninth or Tenth Avenues, between 15th and 16th streets. Eleni's is probably best known for its impressive selection of creatively, temptingly decorated cookies and cupcakes, though I've found these to be only serviceable.

Despaña

My daughters and I may have found the perfect spot for a wintertime snack. Not that this tiny Spanish delicacies/sandwich/tapas shop on the eastern edge of Soho is anything new... in fact Despaña has been slicing serrano and such for almost two years now. But after our first visit last week, there's no way we're waiting that long to stop in again.

First up? Tons of free samples of things we really like to eat: several hams, lots of olives, four different kinds of balsamic vinegar, y muchos quesos ricos. Anyway, when we finally made it to the cramped cafe area in back, we went straight for the bocadillos, Spanish-style heros served on crusty, chewy ciabatta. Any one of the ten or so choices sounded good, but we decided to split the Gallego, pressed and served warm, the serrano ham, chorizón and melted arúa ulloa cheese delivering an intensely flavored, perfectly balanced sandwich experience.

For dessert we opted for a double order of churros and hot chocolate, the doughnutty sticks moist and covered in sugar; the sweet cocoa beverage refreshingly liquid, rather than the trendy (though admittedly delicious) sludge most places seem to be serving these days. All in all, this was a totally satisfying snacking adventure.

Despaña is located on Broome Street between Lafayette and Centre. It was pretty empty when we were there, around 3:00 on a Friday afternoon, but I can imagine on weekends having to wait for one of the six stools in the back. The counter workers are all extremely helpful and friendly.

ChikaLicious Puddin'

In case you needed yet another reason to pop in somewhere and enjoy a tasty treat, enter ChikaLicious Puddin'. Located right across the street from ChikaLicious proper, this new, mod-looking spot with an impressively focused menu—there's pudding, and beverages that go with pudding—provides just the thing to tide you over from one moment of your life to the next.


My freezing daughters and I tried all three varieties the other night, liked one a lot, liked another even more, totally loved a third. The Adult Chocolate doesn't have booze; rather it's a very dark, almost bitter scoop of creamy pudding placed atop a mound of crispy chocolate soil. This is very good, unless you're really craving something sugary. Then it would probably only be just regular good.

Even better? Brioche Bread Puddin', a dense, generous slab of the stuff nearly drowned in a creamy pool of something sweet and anglaise-y and delicious. This hit the dessert spot in all ways. Best of all, however, was the Vanilla Custard Steamed Puddin', a sublime, warmed-up, cakey delight... intense, gooey, beautifully satisfying.


ChikaLicious Puddin' is located on 10th Street, just east of Second Avenue. There are no seats, but the center island makes for a convenient communal table on which to wolf your dessert. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays for now; open from 11:00 until midnight the rest of the week.

Red Mango

The first of a promised horde of invading outlets from the Korea-based chain, the new Red Mango on Bleecker Street is not only now serving first-rate frozen yogurt—as good, or better, than its obvious (and copycatting?) rival Pinkberry—but is doing so in a surprisingly comfortable, unsurprising designy setting, with a definite coffee-house, lounge-all-you-like atmosphere.

The place was pretty empty when I stopped in yesterday, but it was mid-afternoon on a weekday, so maybe it gets as unpleasantly hectic as Pinkberry can during peak hours. Either way, this is a large, well-considered space—a fair number of seating options, plus plenty of standing room while you order, plus an alluring-come-spring outdoor patio in the back—that seems suited to handle a crowd.

Most important, Red Mango's fro-yo is terrific, with that deep tang we've come to demand since Pinkberry came to town last year. I sampled the Green Tea, and it was good, but ordered a small Original with two toppings, chewy, sour dried cranberries and intense Ghirardelli dark chocolate mini-chips. I could have gone for the Bear Naked granola, or the fresh raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries, or even the Captain Crunch, or graham crackers, but I didn't. I admit that, as I watched my exceptionally (but not irritatingly) friendly server construct my treat, I was thinking she was a tad stingy with the toppings, but I needn't have worried: every bite had plenty of everything, and I gleefully devoured my dessert in about 90 seconds. Next time I'm trying a Blender: yogurt plus toppings in a smoothie format.

Red Mango is located on Bleecker Street between MacDougal and Sullivan. Coming soon, supposedly: 14th Street and Sixth Avenue; Eighth Avenue and 45th Street.

Papabubble

Debbie nailed it the other day when she said that what Papabubble's really selling in their sleek new New York City outpost is just "old-lady candy repackaged to look cool and mod. And it works." Indeed it does. If you're at all susceptible to the lure of good design, just try to walk out of there without plunking down an absurd amount of money for a bag or five of hard candy. Especially, I imagine, if you catch them cooking and stretching and shaping and slicing up their taffy-like wads right there in the store behind the counter.

Of course, it helps that, for the most part, Papabubble delivers on the promise of their packaging, using natural flavors and essential oils to turn the standard recipe of sugar, water and glucose into something... not transcendent, for sure, but certainly a sweet treat that's several cuts above any sucking candy I can remember ever eating before. Anyway, my eager-to-volunteer younger daughter Co and I sampled a number of flavors over this past week, and here's what we think.

A solid selection for newbies like us was the Morris Mix, which seemed to have a little bit everything in the fruit and mint category. The flavors here really are quite extraordinary in some cases—it actually tastes like, say, strawberry, or lemon, and not like "red", or "yellow"—and because they're so intense, you really only need (or want) two or three small pieces to satisfy whatever craving led you here in the first place.

The best bag we tried, however, was filled with Acid Drops, which had all the pleasures of the fruit suckers above with the added bonus of actually being sour enough to provoke puckering throughout. Less eye-opening were the Peppermint Pebbles, which are softer and chalkier than the regular candies. No question, these are top-of-the-line after dinner mints, but there's no getting around the fact that they are, well... after dinner mints.

Finally, I dove in solo to the Chocolate Mix bag (though I have a confirming report from a trusty field correspondent), which ranged from the strong, very good coffee, to the strong, very gross spearmint.

Papabubble is located on Broome Street between Mulberry and Mott. This is the company's first U.S. store, joining the Barcelona flagship as well as branches in Tokyo and Amsterdam. They make candy behind the counter throughout the day, but apparently I was unlucky and arrived during a break.

Grandaisy Bakery on West 72nd

I've gone out of my way more times than I care to admit these past couple of weeks to sample the serious baked goodness they're serving at the new Grandaisy, an offshoot of the Soho original and a delicious new addition to what's fast becoming a major treat zone in the West 70s (think also: Grom, the just-opened Jacques Torres, Beard Papa, and, if you're so inclined, Crumbs).

So far, these baking wizards can do wrong. Three times already I've been back for their Ossi di Morte, beautiful crackly meringues studded with almonds. Get a couple on-the-go with, say, a cup of coffee, and you've just made your day so much better. Or share the love and bring someone gorgeous a dozen in one of their pre-packaged bags.

Last night I polished off a Tortino di Cioccolato, which is basically just your dream brownie come true: crunchy on the outside, rich and fudgy in the middle, with a distinct cocoa flavor AND a hint of almond, probably from the crushed up biscotti they use for texture. I had half right after dinner, solo; the other half at around 12:30 topped with coconut ice cream. Yes, it was totally worth it. Even more incredible, however, is the Tortino di Ciliegie, a chewy, buttery cake infused with frangipane (basically marzipan), topped with sour cherries, all sitting in a shell of chocolate. Seriously, it may look pretty innocent, but this is amazing.

Grandaisy is located on 72nd Street, just east of Broadway. They also serve several kinds of paninis, which sound great but I haven't tried, as well as a large variety of rolls and loaves of bread. I had an green olive roll yesterday for lunch and it was excellent.

Dessert Truck

If there's a better place to live in this world than New York City, then... well, there isn't. And now, in addition to all of the other incredible things we have in this town, enter Dessert Truck. It's like an ice cream truck, or the Treats Truck, but instead of dispensing mobile frozen delights or baked goodies, this spanking new vehicle serves fully-realized, home-made-with-love, totally scrumptious, sit-down-fancy- restaurant-quality desserts, right there on the street!

A. Frikken. Mazing.

I waded through the costumed masses tonight to see if the story of Dessert Truck could really be true, and let me assure you my friends: it is. First I ordered the warm Chocolate Bread Pudding, its rich, sweet and full-cocoa-flavored sponginess lurking beneath a sticky pool of creme anglaise. This was a beautiful thing.

Did I mention that I purchased this on the street?! No waiting for a table, or a waiter... no dinner necessary... just me and my treat.

That would have been plenty on most nights, but seeing how it was Halloween and all, I bought a second dessert, this time going seasonal with an excellent Pumpkin Custard, creamy and autumnal, made even more delicious by the inclusion of gingerbread crumble, all surrounded by a bounty of crunchy, caramelized pecans, and topped with a gooey meringue. I was tempted to order a third dessert—Vanilla Creme Brulee? Molten Chocolate Cake?—but, you know... that would be kind of piggy.

Dessert Truck is parked on University Place between 9th and 8th Streets. Chef Jerome Chang (formerly of Le Cirque, says the website) and business partner Chris Chen were friendly, charming, and looked like there were having a great time. Dessert Truck will be open on weeknights starting at 6pm, weekends at noon, and will stay open until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Babycakes

If the idea of vegan and/or gluten-free cupcakes doesn't immediately sound all that appealing... well, I'm with you all the way. But given the choice between vegan baked goodies and no baked goodies at all—as happened to us the other night on the Lower East Side, ten minutes before showtime—clearly the former will win out every time. And I must say, though Co was decidedly NOT a fan, I enjoyed these Babycakes treats a lot more than those served at plenty of other animal-product venues (ahem, Crumbs).

Not being celiacs, my daughters and I went with the spelt line of cupcakes, sampling a vanilla with chocolate icing, a chocolate with the same, and a chocolate topped with vanilla. The secret here is the agave nectar, derived from cacti, which handles all the sweetening responsibilities in a subtle, yet eminently satisfying, manner.

The cake itself was moist and firm, the icing thick and creamy and, because Co was such a grump about it, I got to eat two of them! Also very good were the chocolate chip cookies which, again, I thought much better than those I've had in countless other non-vegan spots (ahem, Grey Dog's).

Babycakes is located on Broome Street between Ludlow and Orchard. In addition to a full array of single-serving treats, they also bake cakes to order. For lots more information about what goes (and does not go) into their goodies, check out babycakesnyc.com

Ronnybrook Milk Bar

Call it, not haute barnyard, but wholesome barnyard food... what the farmer's wife would have served her hungry field workers in some never-existent idyll, and entirely fitting for a company whose signature product is, after all, milk.

Bo, Co and I answered the clang of Ma's triangle yesterday and went to the Chelsea Market for a farmhand's feast at the new Ronnybrook Milk Bar. And while the overall experience was a bit mixed—loved the decor and desserts; loved the lunch a good deal less—the large menu of savories and sweets will definitely have us coming back for more.

What impressed us most about the interior is how they resisted the cliché "general store" look (think Good Enough to Eat on the Upper West Side, or Grey Dog in the Village) and instead nicely combined the rustic and rough-hewn with a contemporary cleverness (the hidden door in the back, the milk-crate walls with embedded refrigerators, the milk-bottle glasses) as well as a sleek island kitchen and wrap-around counter.

As for the food, the best savory dish we ordered was a Golden Beet Salad, which came with fennel, radishes and some first-rate Sprout Creek goat cheese. It was all very bright and refreshing, and the proportions within the salad were heavy with goodies, but you should know that this $7.50 plate is very much a side dish. Also good—juicy and full-flavored—was Bo's Berkshire County Ham and Gruyere on Pressed Rye, a solid entry into the grilled cheese genre.

Less successful was my Free Range Roast Chicken Sandwich, with Grafton cheddar, avocado and bacon: far too dry, and, especially considering all the ingredients, sadly flavorless. Co's Baked Country Mac and 3 Cheeses was even more dry and bland... so much so that she couldn't even bring herself to finish the small crock.

But if the meal was inconsistent (and, I must say, overpriced) the desserts sent us out the door with a sugar-induced stagger and a smile. They were out of Doughnut Bowls in which to serve their ice cream, so Bo went for the Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich, opting for a huge scoop of lively mint chocolate chip between two sweet and crunchy chocolate chip cookies. This was excellent, easily split-able (had we been so inclined) and, at $3, a real sweet-treat bargain.

I had a Sundae, hot fudge over two scoops of coconut ice cream with a generous dollop of thick, homemade cream.... all of which made for a total sugar bomb, and a ridiculous, though admittedly delicious, thing to eat at 1:30 in the afternoon. The biggest dessert winner was Co's vanilla and strawberry shake, light and fresh and frothy with a wonderfully intense berryness at its core.

Ronnybrook Milk Bar is located within the Chelsea Market, which has entrances on both Ninth and Tenth Avenues, between 15th and 16th Streets. Hours are 8:30am to 7pm during the week; 10:00 to 6:00 on Saturday and Sunday. We were disappointed to discover that they stop serving their egg dishes (read: breakfast) at 11:45 on weekdays.