I don’t know what exactly drove me to eat this much sugar, butter and flour in one morning…as I’m writing this, I getting worried that I’m going to get diabetes and suffer a heart attack eating that many pastries in one day. This is not a good sign. This morning, I went to Georgia’s Bake Shop just because I wanted to scope out the potential macarons that Robyn and I are planning to do for our macaron hunt on April Fool’s Day (that’s Sunday, April 1; anyone who can and will be in NYC, is welcome to join!).
The strange thing is that I passed this place several times whenever I walk from Silver Moon Bakery (trying to burn off a couple of calories) down to my campus (on 58th Street) and I never realized that this was a bakery. Hmmm… Strange.
Anyways, this bakery is quite small but their pastries, cakes, and breads look gorgeous! Take a look…
Oooh…pretty
I’ll get them next time…
That’s just a few things they sell. Too bad the macarons were not available yet. Just to note, this is 8 AM so it is within reason that the macarons aren’t ready, even though I wanted one. Since the macarons aren’t there, I opted for their pan au chocolat (chocolate croissant; $2) and a chocolate cupcake ($2.50). Yeah, I know…strange breakfast.
Bitten
The croissant was actually pretty good. It’s golden brown, flaky, deceptively light, buttery, and not greasy. The chocolate is still in the gooey, melted stage so it’s a good indication that the croissant is fresh. It would’ve been better if it had that shatter that I always wanted. If I rated it like I’m writing my “best croissants” post again (I hope not or I’ll die from clogged arteries = heart attack), I would give it a 3.2. It’s not flaky and crisp enough to be a 3.5. But it’s worth eating.
Innards!
The cupcake was fine. Not mind blowing greatness but it was okay. The cupcake was moist with a hint of chocolate flavor in the cake, topped with chocolate ganache and a pink buttercream flower. My issues are that it’s too one-dimensional in flavor that it tastes a bit boring and it’s not sweet enough.
After I finished eating, I got up and took more photos of the place and waddled myself down to campus. For some reason, I just wanted to go to Bouchon Bakery and get more pastries. I think I’m suffering some kind of psychological disorder that makes me want to eat a lot of sugar and fat today… I ended up ordering a Sticky Bun ($2.75), a Chocolate Bouchon ($1.75) and a small coffee ($1.80; I needed the caffeine).
Bitten
The Chocolate Bouchon was delicious! (Bouchon in French means cork, hence the name of this cork-shaped pastry). To describe this bouchon correctly, think of it as a super dense, just moist, brownie. It’s not too sweet and it’s rich in (tasting Valhrona?) chocolate. I want need their recipe so I could make some myself!
The Sticky bun…
Cross Section view of Sticky Bun
I don’t know why I haven’t eaten this before?! What the hell was I thinking of not liking this gooey, sticky, nutty bun of love? Well, actually I had a couple of bad ones in previous experiences (not from Bouchon though)…but this wipes out all the bad! The bun is made of a rich brioche dough, swirled in with brown sugar and cinnamon, topped with a lot of pecans that could actually make a personal size pecan tart. Yup, this is one rich, gooey, filling, delicious bun… Don’t believe me? Just look at another view of this bun after I cut it.
See the gooey stains on the napkin?
I went into a sugar/butter coma for a while that I had to sit back on my chair and slowly sip my coffee to let it settle. As I came back to reality, it’s about 20 minutes before classes are starting; I got up, grabbed my stuff and walked out in a sloth-like pace to my building. I kept thinking to myself, “What the heck was I thinking of eating all of that crap?!” And even when I’m typing this out for you to read, I still don’t know yet…but what I do know is that if I keep up with this rate of eating from Bouchon, I probably eat at least every single baked good produced by them and maybe half of their savory foods (that’s if I ever wanted to) before my semester’s over. Tasty but not good for me.
Addresses:
Georgia’s Bake Shop
2418 Broadway
New York, NY
Bouchon Bakery
10 Columbus Circle, 3rd Floor
New York, NY
