Ann Reardon

DIY Sweet Tooth Tour of New York

If you’re in New York and you want to check out some of the sweet bakeries and patisseries, then keep reading. Here are some of the best as well as what attractions there are around them to enjoy.

1. Dominique Ansel Bakery in Soho

DIY sweet tooth tour of NYC howtocookthat

Pastry Chef Domonique Ansel’s creations are truly beautiful. The chocolate offerings all tasted of very intense dark chocolate so if you are a milk chocolate fan try the pistachio macarons or crunch on some of his mini meringues.

DIY sweet tooth tour NYC howtocookthat

Where is it? 189 Spring Street, New York, NY

What is it nearby? Soho – Shopping

Website: Dominique Ansel Bakery

2. Momofuku Milk Bar
Milk Bars pastry chef Christina Tosi was recently awarded as one of Americas top 10 Pastry Chefs in America by Dessert Professional Magazine. The other winning competitors plated up intricate desserts with too many elements to count, while Tosi served comparatively ugly looking cake truffles. If something that ordinary could win I assumed they must taste amazing, so we walked 16 blocks to the nearest milk bar.
DIY sweet tooth tour of NYC howtocookthat
The one we visited was tiny. If we had not been specifically looking for it we would have walked straight past. As we each tasted a birthday cake truffle my eldest son remarked “It’s nice, but I’ve had better tasting things at McDonalds”.  Personally I found them a bit cloying. Imagine white chocolate ganache mixed with uncooked cookie dough and sprinkles rolled in cake crumbs – that’s what it tasted like. The cookies however were chewy, interesting and delicious. The compost cookies were definitely salty with pretzels, potato crisps, white chocolate and coffee in the mixture. If that sounds too much for you then try the confetti cookies, cookies with sprinkles in them. The stand out for me though was the gooey ‘crack pie’ pictured below.

DIY sweet tooth tour NYC howtocookthat ann reardon

Where is is? There are several of these spread around Manhattan so check their website to find the one closest to you.

Website: Momofuku Milk Bar New York

3. Smush the New York Deli of Desserts

Smush recently opened in NY as a gourmet ice cream sandwich deli. You choose your rectangular shaped cookies (the bread of the sandwich), then your sauce, shaved slice of fudge (cheese), fresh fruit (salad), top it of with another cookie and SMUSH it together.

So good! I must admit I split it into quarters and shared it with my kids, had I eaten a whole one it would have been too much to enjoy.

DIY sweet tooth tour NYC howtocookthat smush

What else is near by? Bryant Park is right across the road with an cute outdoor little library, a carousel, chess, table tennis tables and plenty more.

Where is it: 40th St. btw. 5th + 6th

Website: Smush NYC

4. Dylan’s Candy Bar

For every kid visiting the world’s biggest candy bar is a must. It has several floors with everything from pumpkin fudge to sixlets and jelly beans in individual colours. I am sure that the photos we took here captured the biggest smiles on the kids faces.

DIY sweet tooth tour NYC howtocookthat candy

Where is it: 1011 3rd Avenue, New York, NY

website: Dylans Candy Bar NYC

What is near by? A few blocks walk will get you to FAO toy store & The Apple Store where you can let the kids play games on the ipads.

5. Baked by Melissa

Look for the tie-died cupcake to find one of the many Baked by Melissa cupcake stalls. Be warned the cupcakes are tiny, but that means that you can try more than one of the many creative flavours.

DIY sweet tooth tour NYC cupcake shop

Where is it: check their website for locations

Website: Baked by Melissa NYC

6. Magnolia Bakery

The traditional place to get yourself a cupcake when visiting NYC would have to be Magnolias Bakery. With it’s beautifully set out stores and cupcake displays you might be tempted. The only options on sale when I was there were red velvet, carrot cake and vanilla none of which inspired me to spend any money.

DIY sweet tooth our NYC

Where is it: There are 5 locations across NYC check out their website for more info

website: Magnolia Bakery NYC

6. Francios Payard

This is one that I intended on going to but ended up visiting NYU hospital instead. After 12 hours standing next to the bed of my son I actually got a chair to sit on and after 16 hours we were transferred to the children’s ward. If you are ever in NYC with sick kids dont go to NYU hospital, take them to the peadiatric emergency at Bellevue Hospital Center 462 First Ave., at 27th St. Or even better, don’t get sick and go to Francios Payard Pattiserie.

Where is it: 3 Columbus Circle Cnr of 58th and Broadway, 1775 Broadway NYC

What else is near by – you are not far from central park, head to the boat house, hire a bike ride around central park and burn off the calories you’ve just consumed or stroll around the central park zoo.

website: Francios Payard

My Cookbook

ann reardon crazy sweet creations cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country: http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.

7 Comments View Comments

  1. cook some peppa pig cake

  2. That’s amazing, i can’t believe you know so many bakery’s, I have to go to NYC some day

  3. Hey Ann, is american pie the same as pecan pie? Thank youu

  4. Hold it !
    You can’t, just can’t leave Cafe Lalo out of this list.
    http://cafelalo.com/cafe/about-us

    (no, I don’t work for them nor do I own the place, I’m just a fan)

    • Hi Paolo, Next time you are there can you take a photo of their sweet offerings and upload it with a comment here. Thanks.

  5. I’m headed to NYC in April, and I can’t wait to try all of these lovely bakeries! Thanks for the list =)

  6. Thanks Ann for thinking of your fans during your holiday, much appreciated. I hope to see the sites for myself – one day.

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