Featured Dessert: Kyotofu’s Sweet Potato Cake

The Gluttoness — November 05, 2009

Warm Sweet Potato Cake w/Satsumaimo, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Sweet Potato Caramel & Pecan Tuile.

Slashfood recently penned a piece about the obscurity of Sweet Potato Cake. They’re right, sweet potato pie is probably the first dessert to come to mind when people think about sweet applications of this ingredient, but the creative minds at Kyotofu (view) are doing something to throw the spotlight on this lesser-known sweet potato treat. Kyotofu’s tofu-centric dessert bar is known for delicately blending eclectic Asian ingredients with classic French pastry techniques, and their Warm Sweet Potato Cake ($10.00) follows suit.

This stylized interpretation features two different textural implementations of sweet potato. The cake is moist and spongy. Warm slices are presented on a creamy purée of satsumaimo (a purple-skinned, Japanese sweet potato) and topped with a sticky, sweet potato-infused caramel. A scoop of vanilla bean ice cream offers a cool contrast and pecan tuile brings a nutty crunch.

AlwaysPartying: Madeleine’s Macarons

The Gluttoness — May 29, 2009

It’s National Macaron Day on Sunday (May 31st), and when we think of these traditional French flourless pastries, Madeleine Patisserie in Chelsea, automatically comes to mind. On any given day they have up to twenty variations of these meringue-like, sandwich cookies, ranging from your standard Vanilla, Chocolate and Pistachio, to Nutella, Lavender, Pear Brandy and Caramel Fleur de Sel. At $2.50 a pop, they’re pricey considering they’re really just egg whites, almond powder and sugar but their crisp exteriors and rich, creamy centers make them hard to resist.

(from left: Lemon Confit, Lavender, Chocolate, Raspberry, Pistachio, Passion Fruit, Strawberry—Lavender, Cassis, Chocolate, Lavender, Pistachio, Orange/Chocolate, Lemon Confit, Mango/Lychee)

In case you haven’t been to Madeleine Patisserie, they make everything homemade in the windowed bakery visible at the rear of the store. You can also find excellent macarons further downtown at Bouley Market or uptown at Bouchon Bakery.

Madeleine Patisserie is located at: 23rd Street, b/n 6th and 7th Avenues