So much more than a s'more

S'mores Cookie from Posh Pop Bakery

Hello, Friendly Reader. For the sake of continuity, let me say that "I'm back!" after an insidiously long hiatus because of work obstacles and computer issues.

It's been a long road, my friends, a merciless trek through the netherworld known as employment. A stultifying existence under the abject florescence of office lighting. And of course, nothing marks the passage of wasted time like the refilling of a stapler. Need I say more? No thanks.

Need I say s'more?

Today I bring you a new dessert discovery, from a new bakery. For those with a rapacious appetite for desserts, for those of you who crave conspicuous consumption of the most conspicuous and consumable kind, this is the place for you. Pop Shop Bakeshop on 192 Bleecker St. is a veritable crack den of better-than-homemade pies and cakes and cookies and brownies, and more.

For weeks I've passed by this dessert shop, rolling my eyes in annoyance at the small white space with pink neon signs. Why? Because it appeared to be yet another pink-and-white themed, overly sweet dessert place in this sprawling dessert land known as Greenwich Village.

And yet, on one recent bright, sunny weekday in June, as I passed by this very same contemptibly trendy bake shop, I saw a tray of large chocolate-chip cookies oozing with marshmallow. “Interesting,” I thought to myself. There was a lot of marshmallow in that giant cookie and it looked freshly baked. I continued walking, but my mind lingered on that vision of gooey marshmallow erupting from the desert-colored surface of cookie like titanium white magma. Would they still be there tomorrow?

Before I knew it I was inside the dessert shop ordering a s'mores cookie and asking the man behind the counter how long the bakery had been here. He said they'd been open for two months and were already known for their cinnamon rolls and monkey bread. Every cookie, cupcake and pie is made from scratch daily at the shop, he said, and recommended the blueberry pie and asked if I'd like my s’mores cookie warmed up. Sure, I said, if he thought it would taste better warm. He said he'd recommend a warm cookie over a not warm cookie any day.

I left the shop excited about my purchase. While waiting for walk sign to cross Sixth Avenue, I opened the white paper bag, stuck my nose in and inhaled -- my own version of vaping. It was a magical scent: the warm, slightly caramelly, vanilla-laced scent of a freshly baked chocolate-chip cookie. I broke a piece off and tried it. A triumph of flavor. Now THIS is a cookie, said my tastebuds. And I hadn't even reached the marshmallow yet!

Upon arriving home, I immediately grabbed a plate, poured a glass of cold milk, and brought my plated cookie to my work desk. I ate the whole thing; it was delicious. Dare I say the marshmallow was the best part. An awesome pairing, indeed. To use “Top Chef” phraseology, the subtle flavor of the cookie, together with bits of chocolate, really allows the marshmallow to sing. I love marshmallow. Health experts always talk about vitamins, but are they concerned about whether we're getting enough marshmallow in our diets? The world would be a better place.

The verdict: The s'mores cookie at Posh Shop Bakery is supremely delicious. If it were a movie, it would be a summer blockbuster you could watch all year round. Like "Poltergeist" or "Goonies." Pure goodness. And very posh indeed.

The Deal Closer @ The Standard Grill

Square of Chocolate from the Standard Grill in NYC, under the High Line. This is not the dessert showcased in this blog post; I thought it best to leave that as a surprise.


At the Standard Grill, executive pastry chef, Frederick Aquino, has loosened chocolate cake's corset to create a fun and flirty chocolate burlesque called the Deal Closer. A king's portion of fluffy chocolate mousse covered with generous mounds of unsweetened whipped cream and sprinkled with thick chocolate shavings, arrives in a large glass kitchen bowl with two rubber spatulas. One taste and I said to myself about Chef Aquino, I like this man's joie de vivre!

First there's the eye-popping excitement of a big bowl of chocolate mousse. And spatulas, not spoons—what more do you need? Beyond the feast for the eyes, there's the titillating sensation of delving deep into a rugged heap of whipped cream followed next by billowy mousse, and then, fathoms below, a rich bed of chocolate cake. If you decide to tackle this mountain of mousse with a metal spoon, as I did, you can add to your sensory enjoyments, the muffled, hollow, tapping sound of the spoon hitting the bottom of the glass bowl somewhere beneath all that mousse.

As mentioned, the whipped cream is unsweetened, which is brilliant because given the portions too much sugar would really slow you down. The mousse is sufficiently chocolatey with little sprinkles of salt to keep things from getting monotonous. The chocolate cake is actually the most rewarding part of this whole extravaganza, it's like the rich soil you've been mining through all this mousse for.

Baked Goods @ Aroma Cafe

Messieur Almond Croissant, Herr Apple Struedl and Señor Alfajores. These three international pastries of intrigue can be found behind a glass case at Aroma cafe on Houston Street, New York City.


I completely overlooked the baked goods at Aroma. It's probably because I find the cafeteria-like environment to be a little too demanding of customers: long lines, red-plastic trays and uniformed employees barking names and receipt numbers into microphones. I understand that breaking down the order process in this way allows more people to be served more quickly, but I don't enjoy the procedural stress and anonymity that goes with it. To my surprise, however, in spite of the impersonal, fast-food environment, the pastries at Aroma have a fresh, rustic goodness to them.

Let's start with the apple strudel. Unlike traditional strudels, Aroma's strudel is wrapped in filo dough, giving it the flakiness of a 700-year-old book. But my are those crumbly pages tasty! Baked within this highly frangible pastry is a hearty apple and cinnamon flavor that doesn't rely on butter for flavor—not that there’s anything wrong with that. After looking up the word strudel in the dictionary, l learned that it is the German word for “whirlpool” or "vortex”—a reference to the way the pastry dough is rolled up. Well, this little strudel is more than a vortex of apple, dough and cinnamon, it's the perfect storm.

Next on the plate, Aroma's almond croissant. This was my first almond croissant ever. Are they all this good? Crusty on the outside, fluffy on the inside, with a moist, custardy center. Delicious! If only I were a mouse, then I could gorge on a torn-off croissant corner while doing the backstroke in a giant cup of tea.

On to the alfajores. This ever so delicate and sticky little sandwich cookie is—and this must be said with total Oprahesque enthusiasm—senSAAAAAYtionalll!!!! Behold, a closer look:




An alfajores is composed of two corn starch cookies with dulce de leite sandwiched in the middle, lightly rolled in shredded coconut. Cookies made from corn starch have an ultra-fine consistency that literally melts in your mouth. This cookie is so soft and fragile, you have to treat it with great care; think of it as the cookie equivalent of kissing a baby. What an incredible discovery, sheer joy!


Photos by Katherine Lee