Take the Cake: Bite-sized Inspiration for the Savvy Baker
 

New York’s Best: Chocolate

At Red Velvet NYC, we believe that death by chocolate is never a bad way to go.

That’s why we’ve chosen to focus on all things chocolate for our latest NYC food tour. We’ve gathered up an assortment of tasty treats from five different NYC sweet shops, all for your viewing pleasure. Take a look below and let the mouth watering begin!

 

Where We Went: Spreadhouse Cafe (Lower East Side)

What We Ate: Caramel Fleur, Praline, Creme Brûlée, & Raspberry Truffles

Why We Love It: Each truffle is packed with its own unique flavor.

Voila Chocolat is best known for its fun DIY chocolate lessons by trained chocolatiers; even though we chose to get pre made truffles, it’s definitely worth a mention! The Caramel Fleur has a chocolatey caramel center that just melts in your mouth! Plus it has a touch of sea salt sprinkled on top, giving it an almost nautical feel. The Praline truffle has a layer of silky smooth milk chocolate that surrounds a creamy caramelized hazelnut filling. The Creme Brûlée is a white chocolate masterpiece that looks heavy, but is actually light and modest. Lastly, the Raspberry truffle has a rich dark chocolate shell with a perfectly infused milk chocolate and raspberry ganache. The best part of this chocolate experience was by far the incredibly friendly and well-informed chocolatiers ready to answer any and all of our questions!

voila chocolat

Top: Creme Brûlée, Caramel Fleur Bottom: Praline, Raspberry

Where we went: Sugar & Plumm (Upper West Side)

What We Ate: Jasmine Tea chocolate, Passion Fruit chocolate, Lime Truffle, Brownie Macaron, & Chocolate Caramel Cupcake

Why we love it: The ambience! 

Where can you find Willy Wonka meets Disney World meets Candyland? That’s right: Sugar & Plumm! With a cute and inviting feel, we were almost overwhelmed by all the sweet treats this candy shop had! After our longest decision-making process yet, we first tried the Jasmine Tea chocolate, which is a dark chocolate infused with a very subtle flowery jasmine taste. Then, we tried the Passion Fruit chocolate, a milk chocolate with a very flavorful passion fruit center. Next, we tried the Brownie Macaron, which is exactly what it sounds like: all the decadence of a brownie with the surprising lightness of a macaron. Next up was the Lime Truffle, a thin dark chocolate outer shell with a strong citrus flavor and aroma. Lastly, we bit into the Chocolate Caramel Cupcake, a light and airy chocolate base with an even more subtle caramel flavored icing.

IMG_6301

Where we went: Max Brenner (Union Square)

What We Ate: Dark Chocolate Truffles with Espresso Ganache & Dark Chocolate Raspberry Truffles

Why we love itThe quality of chocolate!

Max Brenner is what we like to call the chocolate version of The Cheesecake Factory. When we first walked in, we were already overwhelmed by the extensive display of truffles. Not to mention the containers and packages full of other magical chocolate items on the surrounding shelves, and the restaurant’s own homemade chocolate bars! There were also two machines in the corner churning melted milk chocolate and white chocolate, respectively. It was so mesmerizing we stared at it for about five minutes before we realized we hadn’t even gotten to their menu yet. We decided to keep it simple to two decadent truffles. The Dark Chocolate Truffle with Espresso Ganache melted in our mouths and had notes of espresso that were just strong enough to maximize the flavor of the chocolate. The Dark Chocolate Raspberry Truffle tasted like actual raspberries! It also contained raspberry seeds which gave the treat an unexpected yet satisfying crunch.

 

Max Brenners

 

Where we went: Stick With Me Sweets (Nolita)

What we ate: Birthday Cake, Toasted Coconut, Black & White Bonbons

Why we love it: The artistry!

Walk into the small shop of treats and you’re greeted with white brick, beautiful natural light, and glass casing surrounding – you guessed it – charming chocolates! Stick With Me Sweets specializes in homemade bonbons and chocolate bars, featuring creative flavors and premium ingredients, all of which are made in-house (there’s even a viewing window right in the shop, where you can watch the magic happen). We decided to sample a few of their classic bonbons, which come in 25 flavors. The first flavor we tried was Toasted Coconut, made with toasted brown sugar and caramel in a dark chocolate shell. Then we tasted Birthday Cake, made from a white chocolate shell with chocolate birthday cake inside. The last bonbon we tried was Black & White, featuring vanilla custard and a dark chocolate cookie in a dark chocolate shell. All three flavors were delicious and we honestly couldn’t pick a favorite. We’ll definitely be back to try the rest!

swmsweets

Where we went: François Payard Bakery (West Houston)

What we ate: Chocolate Éclair & Tout Chocolat Mousse Cake

Why we love it: Authentic French flavors in the heart of NYC!

At François Payard Bakery on West Houston, you can indulge in delicious pastries all while feeling like you’ve been transported to a rustic French bakery. While there were several options for us to choose from, we went with the two most chocolatey pastries on the menu – their chocolate éclair, and their Tout Chocolat mousse cake! The éclair featured a flaky choux dough topped with chocolate icing, but instead of having the traditional vanilla custard inside, it was stuffed with a decadent chocolate cream. YUM. The Tout Chocolat mousse cake definitely lived up to its name – “Tout Chocolat” means “all chocolate” in French! This dome-shaped “cake”, which was really more of a dense mousse, was rich and silky, with the right amount of chocolate flavor, and we even detected a bit of hazelnut as we took each bite.

francois

So now that we’ve shown you some of the best places in NYC to satisfy your chocolate fix, where will you be stopping first?

Visit Red Velvet NYC

Share Post
Written by
No comments

LEAVE A COMMENT