This is the story of a husband and wife with a wicked sweet tooth. Together they go on an adventure to discover the delectable goodness of two famous bakeries, square pb&j donuts and unobtainable cupcakes.
By far the best double chocolate cookies I've had were found at Levain Bakery, a tiny little shop in Harlem. Levain was new to me, and so ordinary from the outside that I never would have tried it if it weren't for my new friend Megan, an NYC local for six years now. She knew all about the bakery, including a woman who worked the register so not only did we pick up a box of assorted cookies, but we also scored a sweet deal with a hushed employee discount.
From the register we watched them plop hearty mounds of dough onto spacious sheets from a gigantic pile of chocolate chipped goodness, soon ready for the ovens. Oprah loves this place too, I learned as I perused awards and reviews on their wall. The cinnamon buns at Levain Bakery had earned a place on Oprah's favorite things, an honor I would be proud of.
So you know Cake Boss, the amazing cake decorator featured on TLC? I've watched his show over and over, marveling at each detailed, beautiful cake he creates, but I never realized his whereabouts until my friend Marie pointed out that Carlos' Bake Shop is in New Jersey. Little did I know, that Cake Boss is located just 15 minutes away from our humble abode in East Rutherford.
We rushed off one morning to track down Buddy's bakery, only to find a huge line sneaking down the street. Camera men wandered around the front, likely gathering shots for the show.
We had no time though, with Jason's meeting approaching and me nowhere near the doors, we left with a promise to return later, next time with lots of time, and much more patience.
So Sunday, with the sky gloomy and threatening rain, we decided a sweet treat tour of NY and NJ bakeries was in order. First stop: Carlos'.
We figure we waited an hour before we were let into the tiny shop, a clusterbomb of people squeezing their way around each other to see the treats through the glass.
With dozens of cakes, pastries, breads and pies, I had no idea what to try so I asked one of the young girls at the register what the most popular items were and went with that: A lobster tail, large cannoli and my own pick, a pastry with whipped chocolate and a dainty raspberry on top.
I've been cooking lately, and Sunday morning I happened to make chocolate pastries- the inspiration for our sweet tour of NY and NJ. Anyway, I was surprised to see the exact pastry at Carlos', complete with powdered sugar and all. Not surprisingly, his were much prettier than mine, and better I'm sure.
The next stop on our tour was Doughnut Plant at Jason's request. He had seen it featured on Food Network months ago, and had been dying to try their pb&j donut ever since. I'm not so crazy about jelly filled donuts, but we compromise, and parallel-parked ourselves into a miracle spot right near the shop.
Located at the Chelsea Hotel, Doughnut Plant was busy, but nowhere near as nuts as Carlos' was. I snapped pictures outside with Ollie, and Jason was out in no time with his beloved treat.
He loved it. I barely got a picture before he wolfed it down.
The wall art was just too cute. And each fabric donut as big as my head!
With cookies, cakes, pastries and doughnuts, we needed a stop for cupcakes to complete our 'tour.' Jason wasn't the only one, lusting after a particular bake shop. I heard about Sprinkles soon after my trip to the Big Apple last summer. It was supposedly the first shop to start the cupcake craze in America, originating in L.A. I believe, then to NYC and then all over the country. Sprinkles was featured on GMA, Regis and Kelly, Oprah... everyone was suckered into Sprinkles, and so was I... am I. Whatever.
So we set off to sample their cupcakes, the last of our sweet treat tour. The traffic was awful though, people merging everywhere to avoid the blocked off streets officials were directing. We figured they were doing construction, but with no orange cones, hard hats, or mess, that couldn't be it. Maybe a bomb threat? NYPD was everywhere, but there were still a few people walking up and down the sidewalks. Finally, we concluded they must be filming a movie, what with the proximity to Central Park and everything. I don't know. But one thing was sure, it just wasn't a day for Sprinkles. Little puppy was getting carsick and we were all getting hungry, so we went to Madison Square Park instead, a favorite of ours lately.
We'll go to Sprinkles some other time, I told Jace. We've had plenty of sugar for one day. :)
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