3 Decadent Desserts To Try in NYC

1.      Lemon Curd Tart from Three Tarts 

Three Tarts in Chelsea screams cute from the moment you enter the door. The boutique and bakery sells delightful petit tarts that lets you indulge your sweet tooth without feeling too guilty. You can sample three tarts for $4.50USD. I shared the lemon curd, pine nut and cinnamon 'apple-crumble' tart. Each featured a crust both crisp and light. The lemon curd tart was a standout with smooth lemon filling with a hint of zest and a dolloped meringue top.

2.       Magnolia Bakery Cupcakes

Famed for its cupcakes that were edible extras in an episode of Sex and the City, Magnolia Bakery now has an organized but chaotic location near Rockefeller Centre. The standard varieties are $2.75 with a generous lashing of pastel buttercream icing. Seasonal cupcakes include the Rockette Red Velvet and a one off 2011 New Year cupcake with gold flakes. Rather than eating on the street at the takeaway bakery, my friends and I took a moment to appreciate the sugary wonders by sitting down by Rockefeller Centre. This caused more than one tourist to ask, “Where can I get one of those cupcakes?”

3.       The Best Chocolate Cake in the World

This Spring Street café makes a big statement in its name – but can it deliver? I’ve tasted lots of chocolate cake, homemade and store-bought, and this cake does rate highly. It has a rich mousse top layer and a lighter, meringue bottom layer and is topped off by chocolate glaze. It’s sweet without being overpowering and is best accompanied by a cup of coffee. Is it the best in the world? As I have yet to travel the entire world, I’d safely say it’s the best chocolate cake I've tried so far in NYC.  

Secret London Cafes - d'Orange Cafe, Westbourne Grove

I'm searching for cozy cafes in London

It’s hard to find independent cafes in Central London where every street corner has a coffee franchise. I’m making it a goal to discover great London cafes with atmosphere, affordable and quality food and drink with a bit of an edge.

D’Orange café in Westbourne Grove is a charming café with mismatched tables and chairs with a few leather couches and coffee tables for good measure. This unassuming café serves up no fuss fare. It attracts a mixed clientele of tourists, locals on work breaks and the odd model-actress type looking to avoid the paparazzi.

The blackboard menu changes with daily soups, muffins and sandwiches. We went directly for the best value meal which was the English breakfast which also comes with a selection of cereals and toast.

The breakfast covers a full plate with sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, mushroom and onions, baked beans and potatoes. You can help yourself to toast from the “buffet”. For £5.95 it was good value although any tea or coffee was an additional charge. I had a latte for £2.45 which was quite frothy.

The service is prompt and the waitress was very helpful and accommodating, as when my friend asked to swap her sausages and bacon for porridge she was only charged an extra pound.

On weekends a full brunch buffet is offered, which I have yet to try out. In this frosty London weather, a café with good breakfast and free wifi makes venturing outdoors worthwhile.  

80 Westbourne Grove, Bayswater

W25RT

A Sunday Afternoon Tea in London - Bea's of Bloomsbury

There are some quintessentially British traditions that you have to do in London. Indulging in afternoon tea is one of them. Also known as high tea, afternoon tea is usually served from 2 pm till 5 pm. I like to imagine that the Queen has afternoon tea every day and drinks Twinings.

In my case, afternoon tea is reserved for the weekend when you skip lunch and try not to feel too guilty about eating a lot of sweets.

Bea's of Bloomsbury recently opened a tearoom at One New Change opposite St Paul's Cathedral. The two-level eatery is bright with a warm atmosphere, the antique style chairs and unique interiors create an Alice in Wonderland feeling particularly with the hanging teapot lights and other small touches.

We ordered one afternoon tea set - which comes with savoury baguettes, a proper scone (plain), clotted cream and raspberry jam, a signature cupcakes, petit fours, a mini Valrhona brownie, a mini Belgian Blondie, and a mini meringue and a pot of Jing tea - White jasmine herbal for Chiara. Unfortunately they had run out of petit fours so we compensated with more brownies. 


Rather than being greedy and ordering another afternoon tea, though we did briefly consider this, we opted for the Jam Tea - two plain scones with clotted cream and jam and a pot of Darjeeling Jing tea.

This high tea lady has fallen victim to clotted cream

Rustic looking scones

We look awfully excited and hungry at the same time!

Tea

The Darjeeling was light and refreshing however the teapots were small and we ran out of tea before we finished our last brownie. We ordered a pot of Earl Grey which was just what we needed to cleanse our palette of sugar. The tiny little Jug of milk runs out pretty quickly.

Sweets

The scones were buttery and melted in your mouth with the heavenly clotted cream and runny raspberry jam. I liked the consistency of the jam as it spread easily. The little brownie needed a tad more chocolate in it. However the Belgian Blondie - a moist yellow cake - was divine. The jam-smeared meringue was just the right size and not overtly sweet.

We were a bit disappointed by the velvet cupcake as it had cream, not icing, on the top and in the middle was a giant hole when we sliced it open which was meant to be a layer of chocolate icing. I like solid cupcakes and it didn't taste like a normal red velvet. We ordered the double chocolate cupcake to test another - yet this was incredibly rich. A very wicked cupcake indeed.

Savouries

I've never had baguettes with high  tea as you're usually served finger sandwiches. This was a nice surprise although they weren't cut very evenly - or spread out on the bottom plate. As there were only 3 baguettes, it looked like something was missing on the empty side of the plate! The filling was made up of ham, pesto, salad and cream cheese. The bread was a bit tough but complimented the sweets well.

The verdict - 3.5 out of 5

Service was a bit slow to begin with and we had to flag the waitstaff a few times. For 15 pounds this afternoon tea price is on par with similar sets served at some of London's galleries though cheaper than most hotels. It is a decent serving size though I would've liked to have sampled some of the petit fours. On a second visit I would probably just stick to the tea and scones for 6 pounds. 

We have an agenda of trying out as many afternoon teas as possible in London...so stay tuned.

A Breakfast of Crepes and Eggs at Toast, East Perth

Toast was recently lauded by the STM as Perth's best breakfast spot. Always eager to try out a new breakfast menu, I visited Toast on a bright and sunny Thursday morning.


Toast is opposite the Royal Braisserie and has views over Claisebrook Cove. East Perth is a quiet nook, wall to wall with townhouses and apartment buildings and a small strip of shops and restaurants. 


Many patrons were enjoying the sunshine and seated at the outside tables. Funnily enough no one had nabbed the two sundeck lounges nearby the entrance! 


Toast's menu features the usual breakfast options such as big bacon and egg breakfasts, french toast, pancakes but it also specialises in crepes and unique "toasts". 


We sat al fresco and ordered lattes, the corn fritters with poached egg, avocado and hollandaise sauce and the rhubarb and raspberry crepes with almonds. 


Inside the cafe has a distinct retro feel. It's bright and airy with full length windows letting in the light. The counter is choc full of biscuits, cakes and slices - all very tempting and distracting you from what you had decided to order! The waitress accidentally overcharged me $2 but was apologetic enough when I queried this. 


At one of the nearby tables a beagle kept barking at its owner, obviously yearning for his own breakfast dish. Patrons were a mix of business people, tourists and people who had the luxury of having a leisurely breakfast...

The poached eggs were well done with just the right amount of yolk oozing from the centre. There was too much hollandaise sauce on the plate which was a bit overpowering. The fritters also had too much corn inside. Next time I would go for poached eggs on toast, easier to mop up the yolk with.

The crepes though were absolutely divine. They were thin and rolled up and mixed well with the raspberry and rhubarb compote. A dash of greek yoghurt or ice-cream would have complemented the crepes nicely.


Overall I would definitely come back for the crepes at Toast. Attention to detail could be improved but it makes for a nice breakfast spot in an area of Perth that's often under-visited.