I spent time...having the sweet-iest day of my life

one day, 9 pastries

I can’t say I woke up on saturday thinking I’d be doing a baked goods crawl through the city but that’s how it turned out and I’m not mad about it. sometimes the sweet smells of a bakery just beg for you to listen and believe me, I did.

3 bakeries and 9 treats later, here are my rankings.

the bakeries

• poppy’s

  • a cute bakery with a location in cobble hill and a (newly opened) space In brooklyn heights. I have been coming to poppy’s for a few years and it all started from seeing a picture of their lemon poppy loaf which is knock your socks off good. this female-founded bakery also has a full-scale catering business, grab and go options and a mini market. I prefer their cobble hill location because it has a bit more charm but the brooklyn heights opening has been great when I’m shorter on time and need something closer to my apartment. they make a great golden milk latte as well (try it with pistachio milk).

it's a 'can't go wrong' type of establishment

• nick + sons

  • it may have been my first time going here but it is definitely not my last. the unassuming east williamburg is not much more than an ordering window but that’s really all a bakery needs to be if the goods are good-ing. this is more of a bakery for purists than others and that’s the way it should be. the menu features a rotation of goods and is freshly written on a board outside for you to debate before placing your order. start the day right and get there before 10 to snag some of their freshest.

goods on deck

• librae

  • I kind of forgot about this place and was recently reminded of it when a friend sent me a mouth watering video of one of their decadent pastries. when I happened to be nearby this noho/east village spot over the weekend I figured i’d add flame to the pastry fire and pop myself in there to see what they were offering that day. I would say out of each of these bakeries, librae has the most decadent offering. nothing they make is so overdone that you want to enter a sugar comatose, but I do say proceed with caution. to me, this is a great place to pick up an afternoon treat.

the pastries (in order of ranking)

1. cardamom bun from nick + sons

   • ever since traveling to copenhagen this fall, I have been on a cardamom bun kick. if you’ve never had one before, do yourself a favor and track one down, asap. I would describe this delicious treat as cinnamon buns’ rich aunt. for what cinnamon buns have in sweetness, cardamom buns have in flavor. plus the intricate folds of the dough give way to flavor throughout and a beautiful crispy-ness to the top while leaving the insides to remain nice and doughy. if you’re in new york some of my favorite places to pick one up are fabrique, la cabra and nick + sons

     

2. fig & cardamom morning bun from poppy’s

   • a cross between a croissant and a cardamom bun. flakey, delicious and not too sweet

     

3. halva croissant from librae

   • very much an ‘oh my god’ pastry. for those who don’t know what halva is, it is a sesame-like nougat and it is delicious. the halva and chocolate in this croissant melt in your mouth and though it is gooey the croissant holds its own. I can’t think about this one without my brain exclaiming ‘YUM’

4. chocolate croissant from nick + sons

   • it’s a classic and from here it’s a classic done right

5. everything croissant from nick + sons

   • throw a good everything seasoning on anything and it’s probably going to taste delicious. this was the only ‘savory’ thing I ingested into my body that day

6. carrot cake from poppy’s 

   • if you don’t think carrot cake is the best kind of cake then you are wrong. this one had a nice level of spice, not too much sweetness and the frosting had a little pistachio and kumquat folded in there to make it extra special. poppy’s rotates their cake flavors daily (weekly? idk but they are always changing), some other ones that have cause my eye were a pumpkin chai cake, a strawberry frosting vanilla and a decadent lemon lavender bundt

7. flourless chocolate cookie from librae 

   • flakey exterior and a decadent interior, a nice little chocolate bomb of a bite

8. chocolate chip & tahini cookie from librae

   • neither the chocolate or the tahini came through in a meaningful way here. the cookie was still delicious don’t get me wrong but just doesn’t stack up to everything else. they sometimes have a black and white tahini shortbread cookie at librae and that is one to write home about

9. loomi babka from librae 

   • think we just got this one too late in the day so it was a bit dry and didn’t have a lot of flavor in comparison to the others

all in a days work

bonus:

• petit céréale from l’apartment 4f

  • on a morning walk around brooklyn heights on sunday my friend and I walked past the well-known l’appartement 4f and figured we’d top our weekend of sugar off with one more stop. we were early enough that they still had their petit céréale in stock ($50 for a box, $25 for a mini). I’ve seen and heard about this cereal as I’m sure many of us have and of course my curiosity was piqued. each lil croissant is hand rolled in the same fashion as your typical sized morning treat and then baked to crunchy perfection. novelty aside, I thought this was really good. I will not be adding this to my weekly grocery list but I am sure I will enjoy it again sometime soon.

hope everybody is feeling extra sweet today, I know I am

xx

e