Category Archives: Sweets

Angela’s Ice Cream

Posted on by

Instagram Post 7/24/2019

(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)

Angela’s Ice Cream at 151 Allen Street on the Lower East Side has brought freshly made, small batch, Filipino ice cream flavors to New York City and each one is delicious. The story behind the story is that Angela had been making these at home for her husband who has a passion for the stuff – so much so that they decided she should share her talents with the rest of us, hence, her first business venture which opened on June 15, 2019. Lucky us!

Dense and creamy, hand crafted with no artificial flavors (in others words, jackfruit is jackfruit, not a concentrate), it’s the first Filipino ice cream actually produced here in NYC. It’s currently available in mango, langka (jackfruit), ube (purple yam), choc-nut, vanilla, avocado (yes, and it’s the real deal), pandan, and buko-macapuno (the short but less than perfectly accurate definition is that it’s a variant of coconut). Slushies to come, calamansi flavor ice cream if we ask her real nice 😉!

Masarap! 😋
 
 

Paradise Sweets

Posted on by

Instagram Post 7/23/2019

While doing reconnaissance for potential venues to visit on my Little Levant food tour in Bay Ridge, I checked out one of the newer kids on the block, Paradise Sweets at 6739 5th Ave in Brooklyn. It takes a certain amount of intestinal fortitude to launch a new Middle Eastern bakery along that strip considering the number of existing well-entrenched similar establishments but they seem to have a handle on serving the standards and coming up with some innovations as well.

(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)

Case in point, this Nutella Kunafa (no, I won’t provide alternate spellings you might see since this was originally an Instagram post and Instagram only affords us 2200 characters per post). It’s a flat foundation of noodle-ish knafeh pastry suffocated by an ocean of Nutella topped with a thicker layer of vermicelloid kanafeh; a final fillip of adroitly squirted Nutella along with a trio of cherries and some ground pistachios grace the top gratuitously.


A cross section of this awe-inspiring architectural wonder so excessive as to give even my prodigious sweet tooth a run for its honey.

Problem is, I liked it.


As for the canonical litany of Middle Eastern sweets, along with an authentically cheesy, Kunafeh Nabulsiah, they do an acceptable rendition of Halawet el Jibn (sweet cheese rolls), cheesy dough stuffed with cheesy cream shown here, as yet unanointed by the accompanying supply of sugar syrup.
 
 

Paleteria Los Michoacanos

Posted on by

Instagram Post 7/18/2019

(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)

Every now and then, I write about something or someplace that I fervently want you to try because it’s Just That Good. Paleteria Los Michoacanos at 101-06 43rd Ave in Corona, Queens specializes in the most amazing, intensely flavorful paletas (Mexican ice pops on a stick) that I have ever encountered. Ever.

[1] They offer twenty-eight outstanding milk based flavors like arroz (rice pudding), rompope (eggnog), mamey, strawberry cream, pine nut, chocolate, chongos zamoranos (a Mexican dessert made from curdled milk and rennet), and queso con zarzamora (cheese and blackberry, shown here – which I highly recommend). And of course, you’ll find peach, raspberry, vanilla, pistachio and other familiar favorites.

Or choose from among twenty-two water ices like chamoy (tamarind with chili), guanabana (soursop), cactus pear, and grosella (currant) along with the customary orange, lemon, watermelon, raspberry, mango and the usual suspects.

[2] A peek inside just one of the freezer cases. (BTW, they have ice cream, batidos and more.)

There’s actually some confusion about locations with similar names and branding. There’s a Paleteria La Michoacana in Yonkers (my introduction to these stores) with a comparable product line. I learned from Wikipedia that “La Michoacana” is an informal group (not franchises) of family-run ice cream parlors, comprising thousands of venues in Mexico and the US. Three Mexican brands claim ownership of the name, “Paleterias La Michoacana”, “La Nueva Michoacana”, and “Helados La Michoacana”. But ¡No importa! The only one you need to drop everything and rush off to immediately is this one in Corona. Prepare to be blown away.

🍨 🍦 🍨 🍦 🍨 🍦 🍨 🍦 🍨 🍦
July is National Ice Cream Month, and every year I update my epic post about ethnic pops (with a little storytelling thrown in for good measure). It’s everything you always wanted to know about international ice cream all in one place. Please check it out here!
🍨 🍦 🍨 🍦 🍨 🍦 🍨 🍦 🍨 🍦
 
 

Omonia Café

Posted on by

Instagram Post 7/15/2019

(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)

The venerable (established in 1977) Omonia Café, longtime fixture for Greek and Italian cookies and pastries, is still going strong offering a more wide-reaching menu than its original mission – but for me, it’s still the OG (original Greek) bakery in the neighborhood. Three classic cookies followed me home from 76-12 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn; clockwise from the top:

Tulumba, deep fried until golden then drenched in sweet syrup, these are spongy in texture despite an appearance that promises a touch of crackle.

Melomakarona are made from flour, sugar, walnuts, honey and the usual suspects lurking in a Greek Christmas cookie; they’re distinguished by the addition of olive oil to the dough. This cookie must surely be healthy because olive oil is good for you, right?

Kourambiedes (you might see kourabiedes) are Greece’s entry in the international wedding cookie competition vying with Mexican, Italian, Danish, and Russian contenders. All are fragile shortbread cookies and rather similar to each other (shhhh!). Off topic: Why is it that all the wedding cookies I’ve encountered crumble and fall apart? Just sayin’.
 
 

Khanom Thai – Sweets

Posted on by

Instagram Post 7/11/2019

When I approach Khanom Thai’s stall (number 10) with ethnojunket guests in tow and they ask, “What’s good here?” I can honestly answer, “Everything.” With a focus on sweets but not to the exclusion of savories (that’s another post), Khanom Thai obviates the need to seek out another venue for dessert after eating our way though Elmhurst’s HK Food Court (82-02 45th Ave in Queens).

(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)

These are Bean Cakes with Salted Egg. Soft, flaky, swirly layers of creamy, tissuey dough swathe a confection of mung bean paste surrounding a heart of salted egg yolk. But don’t deconstruct it: just take a bite and taste why it’s remarkable. When you look closely and stop to think about it, these are really a sweet metaphor for the egg reimagined, its white shell protecting its two-tone sunny contents.


Coconut Pancakes, griddled fresh, right before your hungry eyes, warm and chewy. The color difference isn’t chocolate vs something else; it’s merely two different types of ground rice batter.


Obscenely decadent dessert: rich vanilla ice cream, sliced bananas and chocolate sauce oozing onto a warm roti, rainbow nonpareils for a bit of crunch. ’Nuff said.
 
 

Antepli Baklava

Posted on by

Instagram Post 6/27/2019

(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)

A favorite stop along my Middle Eastern Bay Ridge food tour is Antepli Baklava at 7216 5th Ave, Brooklyn. They offer an assortment of savory Turkish dishes as well as desserts including baklava, künefe, and dondurma, the dense, chewy ice cream crafted from cream, salep, mastic, and sugar; you may have seen my past post about booza, a similar treat that hails from Syria. But lately, I just can’t get past the chocolate baklava.

Now, despite my sweet tooth, I’ve never been a fan of standard issue, regulation, honey drenched baklava, but this chocolate version is a cut above. Sweet but not cloying, chocolate forward, the upper flaky layers provide the crunch while the compressed substratum is the repository for restrained syrupy goodness, the two interspaced by a thin barrier of finely chopped nuts. Droolworthy.

When I was told it’s imported from Turkey, then baked on the premises, I remembered a post (and a sample too 😋) from my Instagram friend @gustasian not long ago about the same item with the same appearance and the same taste and the same story that she found in Sunnyside. I’m willing to bet they came from the same distributor too.
 
 

Sellou

Posted on by

Instagram Post 6/21/2019

(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)

Since food tour season is in full flower and there are some new businesses in the neighborhood, I decided to revamp my Middle Eastern Bay Ridge ethnojunket. Did you know that Bay Ridge and Beirut are cognates? Just kidding.

One of the treats along the route is sellou (سلّو, aka sfouf or zmita), a unique unbaked Moroccan sweet made from toasted flour and ground almonds, sesame seeds, sugar or honey, cinnamon, and anise; as you’d expect, recipes vary from family to family. At Nablus Sweets, 6812 5th Ave, Brooklyn, I spotted a huge brown mountain of it and purchased a small knoll, broken here into two little hillocks. It’s soft in texture, somewhere along the cookie<–>brownie continuum but drier, crumbly but crunchy from nuts – just break off a chunk and enjoy, perhaps with a cup of tea. If your knowledge of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean sweets is informed primarily by honey drenched baklava and kanafeh, give this one a try (available particularly around Ramadan); I highly recommend it.
 
 

Nishallo

Posted on by

Instagram Post 6/7/2019

(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)

On a recent ethnojunket through Brooklyn’s Little Odessa, we visited one of my favorite venues, Tashkent Market at 713 Brighton Beach Ave. One of my goals on these food tours is to introduce guests to tasty food they’ve never sampled before, but this item was new to me as well and like everything else in their extensive array of prepared foods, it was home-made. Needless to say, I was compelled to buy it, take it home, and research the heck out of it.

Nishallo (aka nisholda) is an exceedingly sweet dessert that’s native to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and prepared exclusively during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Made primarily from sugar, whipped egg whites, and water, it’s a dead-on ringer for Marshmallow Fluff (as you’d expect from the ingredients) if perhaps a bit classier because of a touch of star anise and/or licorice root. It makes its appearance as part of iftar, the evening meal that breaks the daily fast. Frequently used as a dip for the flatbread naan, it’s particularly appropriate after 17 hours of abstention from eating because its high sugar content jumpstarts the metabolism.

Are you interested in tasting something new and delicious from another part of the world too? Check out my ethnic neighborhood food tours! Click here to learn more.
 
 

Black Label Donuts

Posted on by

Instagram Post 6/1/2019

(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)

Winner Winner, Donut Dinner! Okay, maybe not dinner, but deliciously filling and definitely a winner. More specifically, the winner of the “Best in Show: Sweet” category at the recent World’s Fare 2019.
🍩
There are two elements that make Black Label Donuts so special. The champions (IMHO) start with a 24 hour cold fermented brioche dough (Richard Eng, the culinary master behind these creations, knows his carbs) and the ever-changing gourmet flavors that are uniquely creative like matcha crème brûlée, rosemary lemon/olive oil curd, lavender blueberry, azuki ichigo (red bean/strawberry) and sake kasu cherry. Shown here are the Japanese Elvis – banana brioche, torched bananas, and smoked bacon with a peanut butter-miso glaze – and the Kalamansi Buttermilk Lime. Both were outstanding.
🍩
Currently, they’re only available in pop-up format, so follow them on Instagram @blacklabeldonuts and on facebook.com/BlackLabelDonuts. And wherever they are, get there early, because they sell out fast!
 
 

Janie’s Pie Crust Cookies

Posted on by

Instagram Post 5/31/2019

(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)

Every now and then, some genius comes up with a brilliant idea for combining two beloved baked goods into a single treat, a portmanteau of pastry if you will. The cronut comes to mind. That marriage often begets lesser, more commercialized offspring which will remain nameless here. But sometimes a star is born unto this hallowed union and it is this miracle of which I bring good tidings.
🍪
Okay, so I got a little carried away. But that’s what happened at the press event for 2019’s Queens Night Market when I tasted Janie’s Pie Crust Cookies. Resting on a foundation of flaky pie crust, topped with buttery, crumbly, caramelized streusel and filled with just the right amount of gooey pecan magic to balance it off (cherry and chocolate pecan are available too), Janie’s cookies comprise the best parts of the pie and they’re heavenly. (Oops, there I go again.)
🍪
Janie’s personal story is the stuff of which legends are made; visit her website janiebakes.com to learn more or follow her on Instagram @janiedbakes, but even better – taste for yourself. You can find her and her life-changing cookies (there’s a poignant reason they’re called that) at the Queens Night Market: head to the New York Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Saturdays from 5pm to midnight until August 17 and again from September 28 to October 26.
🍪
Say Hallelujah! 😇