Always Hungry: The Perfect Chocolate Malted

GutterGourmet — January 28, 2010

A Banana Chocolate Malted at Eddie’s Sweet Shop in Forest Hills, Queens.

Growing up in Queens, little league baseball was life and death. To lose a game invoked serious thoughts of suicide. Fortunately, the coach, who was the father of one of my teammates, knew the perfect way to get us over our shame and mentally prepare us for next week’s game: chocolate malteds! As we only got to go for malteds when we lost, I must confess I might have looked at a few too many strikes.

The thing about the perfect malted is that to construct one, you need specific ingredients and even more specific equipment. The places that have these things are soda fountains like Lexington Candy Shop, Hildebrandt’s in Williston Park, and Eddie’s Sweet Shop in Forest Hills, which has been around since 1909. Never drive through Queens without stopping for one (for a great variation, try their banana chocolate malted).

Of course, you could always make yourself a malted at home. If you do, keep in mind the following:

Click here for more on the Chocolate Malted >>

AlwaysPartying: National Chocolate Cake Day

Maryse Chevrière — January 27, 2010

The Strip House Chocolate Cake.

Today, January 27th, is National Chocolate Cake Day, and while we’ve visited Portugal and Brazil to taste ‘The Best Chocolate Cake in the World,’ New York deserves praise for its chocolate cake game. Case in point: Strip House’s famous Chocolate Cake, the awe-inspring, multi-layered Holy Grail.

In case you needed a little incentive to celebrate, here are photographs of our some of our favorite, most sinfully delicious chocolate cakes around the City.

Click here for photographs of the City's best chocolate cakes >>

AlwaysInformed: The Butter Burger

GutterGourmet — January 25, 2010

Lexington Candy Shop’s Butter Burger goes great with one of their Chocolate Malteds.

The Lexington Candy Shop on the corner of 83rd and Lexington Avenue proudly announces its most well-known specialties beneath its windows: “Malteds, Sundaes and Fountain Service. But it’s most interesting menu item, the Lexington Butter Burger, is curiously less heralded.

The windows contain an amazing collection of international and limited edition Coca-Cola bottles, all full. They still mix the Coke using syrup and soda water in iconic glasses as done in 1925 when the restaurant was established. The soda “jerks” know what they’re doing. They’re equally adept at mixing a mean egg cream, and what is perhaps the City’s best chocolate malted (at $8 it may be the planet’s most expensive). But you’re here for the Butter Burger.

Click here to read about the Butter Burger at the Lexington Candy Shop >>

AlwaysTraveling: O Melhor Bolo de Chocolate do Mundo

Arthur Bovino and Maryse Chevrière — December 10, 2009

Top, “Traditional Sweet” Cake in Lisbon. Left, Lisbon shop. Right, São Paulo location.

You don’t call your store, O Melhor Bolo de Chocolate do Mundo or, in English, The Best Chocolate Cake in the World, unless you have serious chocolate cake to throw-down. But that’s exactly what this self-confident store has done, with locations on both sides of the Atlantic, in São Paulo and Lisbon.

Bras Carlos Lopes created his no-bake, flourless chocolate cake recipe about 20 years ago. O Melhor Bolo’s website notes that the dessert menu of the restaurant where it first appeared “was so successful that he had to open a small bakery to sell only this delicacy.” In 2007, the cake appeared in a sister location in São Paulo, to be quickly followed by two more stores there.

There are three cakes: semisweet (70% cocoa), “traditional sweet” (53% cocoa), and “Zero Sugar.”

We first stumbled across the Brazilian outpost, and followed-up that visit to the original location in Portugal. Now that we’ve visited both, we can comment on the assertion inherent to the stores’ name.

Click Here for Two Field Report Reviews of O Melhor Bolo de Chocolate do Mundo >>

AlwaysLearning: Sacher Torte

Arthur Bovino — December 04, 2009

Sign outside the Café Sacher in Vienna. Right, a piece of Sacher Torte.

According to The Nibble, tomorrow is National Sacher Torte day. If you’re an aficionado of chocolate cake then the dry slice you’ll get at the storied Café Sacher in Vienna’s Hotel Sacher probably won’t impress you, but considering its history having a slice there with a Wiener Melange is a must-do food pilgrimage. Not going is like a dessert-junkie visiting New York City for the first time and skipping out on cannolis at Ferrara’s, cheesecake at Junior’s and Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity.

What it is: The Sacher Torte is a bittersweet, dense, chocolate sponge cake covered with a thin coating of chocolate. The cake’s two horizontally sliced layers are separated by a thin layer of apricot jam filling. A sharply-angled slice of the cake is usually served with whipped cream.

Where it’s from: There are several origin stories. They agree on one thing: the cake was the creation of a 16 year-old apprentice cook, Franz Sacher, who was in the service of Prince Metternich. The Times recounts the story told by Sacher’s son Eduard, his father Franz supposedly invented the cake one evening in 1832 when the prince was taken over by a “sudden craving for something dainty to sink his teeth into.” Alone in the palace kitchens, the task of whipping up a chocolate cake was left to Sacher, whose creation won princely favor, and the cook subsequent acclaim.

According to the Hotel Sacher’s website, the cake was created by Sacher when the prince requested “a particularly palatable dessert for spoiled high-ranking guests,” and his chef was ill in bed. In either case, Sacher became a successful chef and confectioner and his son opened a cafe and later, the hotel behind the Imperial Opera house.

How it’s made: While the original recipe may be secret, there has been no shortage of attempts to duplicate the cake. Most involve beating the egg whites with sugar to stiff peaks, adding melted chocolate and butter, and folding the mixture together with flour before baking it for about a half hour and covering it with chocolate cream frosting.

Where to get it in NY: You can order an original Sacher Torte from Vienna online, but if you’re looking for renditions in New York City you can find it at Klee Brasserie and on Wallsé‘s brunch menu.

AlwaysPartying: The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment

Arthur Bovino and Maryse Chevrière — November 16, 2009

Top, Denise Smith’s Chocolate Chip Cookie. Bottom left judging panel. Right, The Bell House.

Coming off The Brooklyn Cheese Experiment (also hosted by Nick Suarez and Theo Peck) we had high expectations for The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment (site), their next event at The Bell House.

The event was fun (judges’ and audience awards follow), but several contestants tried to make things a little too interesting. Many savory dishes weren’t chocolate enough, and in some it wasn’t even perceptible. The strongest savory representative was Lei Takahashi’s “Pig in Drag,” which featured a flavorful spice mix, a sauce that was like a smoky chocolate jam, and meat almost as good as some of what we tasted at the Big Apple BBQ Block Party. The other two best savory dishes were Jill Strominger’s Ole! Mole, and BH Squared’s Savory Chocolate Tamales.

The most successful desserts were simple, take the chocolate chip cookie. It had delicious raw cookie dough taste and a cross-section revealed impressive brick-like layering of chips. And while it wasn’t part of the competition, the other notable interpretation of chocolate was Young’s Double Chocolate Stout.

Click Here for Pictures of the Food at The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment >>

Featured Dessert: Cafeteria’s Chocolate Crème Brûlée

The Gluttoness — November 09, 2009

Cafeteria’s Chocolate Crème Brûlée, $9.00.

Cafeteria (view) is known for its trendy, 24-hour comfort food, but their desserts are spectacular too. Apple Pie Ravioli, White Chocolate Bread Pudding, Waffle Banana Split, Deep-Fried Oreos, and Peanut Butter Cheesecake with Oreo crust and Caramel Bacon Popcorn— they’re all as good as they sound.

The Chocolate Crème Brûlée has become a staple of Cafeteria’s dessert menu, but its executive pastry chef, Matt Joyce, decided to give the dish a little pop, literally. The dark chocolate crème brûlée used to be served with a chocolate chip cookie in the center. Now, two warm, freshly baked cookies are served on the side, making way for Cafeteria’s signature dark chocolate spoon, which is emblazoned with the Cafeteria’s logo. But the spoon isn’t there just to add another jolt of chocolate. It also delivers a heaping spoonful of strawberry Pop Rocks.

While eating the Pop Rocks with the chocolate custard doesn’t create the exaggerated reaction of Coca Cola, they do impart an effervescent sensation to custard’s thick creaminess. You can eat the Pop Rocks in one bite or break the burnt sugar crust and mix them throughout the crème brûlée. Either way, their chatter gets your mouth singing a sweet, happy song. Once your chocolate spoon is gone, don’t bother with other silverware. The soft chocolate chip cookies make the perfect utensils for scooping up the rest of this rockin’ chocolate dessert.

AlwaysInvestigating: Trifle-Spotting

The Gluttoness — November 04, 2009

Left to right, The Standard Grill’s ‘Deal Closer,’ Yerba Buena Perry’s Tres Leches Parfait and Gansevoort 69’s Banana Cream Pie.

During my fall tour of new restaurants, I’ve noticed three desserts that use the trifle composition to reinvigorate familiar dishes. You may recall one, The Deal Closer. It was recently a Featured Dessert.

The Standard Grill’s (view), “The Deal Closer” ($12.00) is fun to eat just because you get to do it with a spatula. Putting that aside, this ginormous dessert actually features trifle-like layers of bittersweet chocolate mousse and moist chocolate cake.

Yerba Buena Perry’s (view) three-layered Tres Leches Parfait ($9.00) features traditional Tres Leches Cake at the bottom of the glass topped with Pisco Panna Cotta and a slightly spiced Mexican chocolate mousse. Tres leches is fantastic alone, but even better topped with two complementary, sinful sweets.

Gansevoort 69 (view) also re-imagines a classic with a trifle composition: Banana Cream Pie ($10.00) built for two. A fudge brownie serves as the “black bottom crust” and a gooey coating of chocolate ganache makes for additional decadence. The rest is true-blue banana cream pie—thick banana pastry cream and bananas, topped with whipped cream that spills over the edges of the ceramic dish.

Featured Desserts: Guinness Cake and Shake Pairing

The Gluttoness — October 30, 2009

Left, Guinness Chocolate Cake at Vinegar Hill House ($8.00). Right, MARK Burger’s Guinness Milkshake ($6.50).

We totally agree with Celia Cheng’s latest craving: Guinness Chocolate Cake at Vinegar Hill House (view). We too crave its dense, fudgy flavor. The cake is supremely chocolatly, but with a tempered sweetness, one supplemented by its cream cheese frosting. It almost mimics an Oreo, coating the mouth with that nostalgic combination of chocolate and cream. Milk is the obvious accompaniment, but we stumbled across an even more perfect pairing. Something with Guinness, of course.

MARK Burger’s (view) Guinness Milkshake is a rich reincarnation of a classic Irish Car Bomb. It’s Chef Erik Rubin’s favorite party drink, and he told me he couldn’t believe no one had thought of this before. Rubin first tried to make it a float, but ultimately he realized that you just can’t go wrong with that classic combination of a milkshake with a burger and fries. His secret method? Rubin reduces the Guinness with a little sugar to create a caramel syrup. Each shake blends four ounces of syrup with Ciao Bella’s Tahitian Vanilla Gelato. The first sip of this thick milkshake has crazy Guinness flavor, but eventually the hint of dark beer becomes lost amongst the shake’s creamy decadence.

Now all we have to do is get these two together.

AlwaysPartying: National Chocolate Day

The Hungry Goat — October 28, 2009

From Strip House: Strip House Chocolate Cake.

On this most sacred of days, National Chocolate Day, we give you the gift of chocolate food porn. For the viewing pleasure of all you chocoholics out there, we have assembled pictures of some of our favorite chocolate dishes in New York City.

Click Here for more Chocolate Food Porn >>

AlwaysTraveling: La Tana dei Golosi’s Chocolate Eggplant

Arthur Bovino — October 26, 2009

Melanzane Al Cioccolato di Amalfi.

Restaurant: La Tana dei Golosi
Address: Via di San Giovanni in Laterano, 220, Rome, Italy (Eggplant for Dessert? posed the question: “Have you ever had a dessert involving eggplant?” It recalls a dish that was part of a six-course tasting menu, themed, “Kingdom of the Two Sicilies,” which I ate in Rome with my sister at La Tana dei Golosi in 2007.

La Tana dei Golosi seems to have changed chefs and owners, but back then it was an unpretentious slow food restaurant near the Colosseum that used excellent local and organic ingredients. It changed menus every two months and focused on a region of Italy and an historic moment of that region. The waiter told the story of each plate brought out. Thinking about that meal makes me happy. But I digress.

“Caramelle Del Goloso,” (Pasta Filled with Fossa Cheese and Pears) served with fried spaghetti was crazy good, inspiring several attempts to recreate it. To answer Robyn’s question, the most memorable dish was the last one, a wonderful surprise: Melanzane Al Cioccolato di Amalfi (Fried Eggplant with Chocolate). There was no limit to my skepticism, but the thin layers of chocolate-covered fried eggplant were delicate and delicious— accompanied by candied orange peels, pine nuts, drizzled chocolate and powdered chocolate and sugar.

My Neapolitan is remedial, but as far as I can tell, the dish is called, E’ Mulagnane c’a’ Ciucculata, and it’s supposedly an ancient tradition of Salerno. Proof positive that you can dip anything in chocolate and it will taste fantastic. Check out the slideshow for pictures of the rest of the meal.

AlwaysInformed: Fatty Bars

The Gluttoness — October 16, 2009

Fatty Bars on sale ($8.00/each) at Cabrito.

As I sat down at the bar in Cabrito, I thought I was seeing things. But the display of Fatty Bars wasn’t a figment of my imagination, but rather new sweet merchandise from Zak Pelaccio and Team Fatty. According to the folks at Cabrito, the $8 chocolate bars have been available for two weeks and can be found at: Cabrito, both Fatty Crab restaurants (West Village and UWS), and the Fatty/Cabrito kiosk at the Mad. Sq. Mark’t on 23rd Street.

The candy bars come in two flavors: milk chocolate with puffed rice and ginger, and bitter chocolate with almonds, chili, praline and salt. They’re made by a boutique chocolatier in Brooklyn, and are wrapped in foil, as if the golden ticket on a Wonka Bar had gone crazy.

From Fatty Bourbon (by Buffalo Trace) to Fatty Bars, it will be interesting to see what Team Fatty comes up with next. Or maybe they could just focus on opening Fatty ‘Cue already— the Epicurious preview was a terrible tease.

Featured Dessert: The Standard Grill Closes The Deal

The Gluttoness — September 23, 2009

The Deal Closer (for two—-or twelve).

When Mom used to bake when you were growing up, there was nothing better than licking the spatula clean. The Standard Grill’s (restaurant page) double-portioned dessert, The Deal Closer, plays off this childhood nostalgia—colorful Le Creuset spatulas included. Maybe the executive chef, Dan Silverman was particularly fond of pudding pie remnants because The Deal Closer’s heaping helping of bittersweet chocolate mousse and whipped cream is definitely reminiscent of this old-fashioned sweet.

Amongst the never-ending pool of luscious mousse, moist layers of chocolate cake created a trifle-like composition. It wasn’t long before the spatulas were digging towards the bottom, fighting for the bits of brownie. A mountain of schlag adorned the already over-the-top dish. It was dusted with chocolate shavings that instantly got interspersed amongst the creamy madness— hidden shards of velvety goodness. Digging in, you can’t avoid the sensuality of consumption, the exorbitance of the messy experience and the utter satisfaction that follows. This dessert lives up to its title. It may be a gimmick, but it’s just as good as if Mom made it.

AlwaysFresh: The New Amsterdam Market

Michelle Kiefer — September 17, 2009

Beautiful handmade pastas made by The Ravioli Store in Long Island City.

We really enjoyed wandering through the debut of the third annual New Amsterdam Market (view site) this past Sunday on South Street by the Seaport, and not just because of all the free samples of bread, chocolate and sausages. If you haven’t been yet, you have to check it out. There are more than 70 vendors selling everything from farm fresh produce to baked goods and cooked foods in the bustling atmosphere of legendary public market halls like London’s Borough Market.

You’ll be pleased to come across familiar names like Marlow & Sons, Saxelby Cheesemongers, and Sullivan Street Bakery as well as newcomers like Basis, which Grub Street noted is planning to open a retail store late fall, and Saltie, former chef Caroline Fidanza’s (Marlow & Sons and Diner) takeout spot/bakery, which is slated to open tomorrow in Williamsburg (378 Metropolitan Ave).

If you missed the market check out our great pictures, then get down there from 11am to 4pm on one of the next three remaining dates (10/25, 11/22 and 12/20).

AlwaysInvestigating: Pain au Chocolat

Michelle Kiefer — August 24, 2009

Pain au Chocolat from Bouley Bakery ($2.75). Cross-section.

Pain au Chocolat— a simple, yet ingenious marriage of the croissant with chocolate. But several factors go into making a good rendition: flaky or cripsy? one bar or two? chocolate distributed evenly or spottily? We won’t even get into the transcendental difference of one fresh out of the oven. Pain au chocolate soft from the warmth of the chocolate inside, well, there aren’t many better things in life first thing in the morning. When a rendition is good, it’s the kind of food experience that forces instant recall of seminal memories with sweets. Some claim that really good pain au chocolat cannot be found anywhere but Paris or at least France. We won’t argue authenticity, but there are several deserving examples of this pastry in Manhattan.

The beautiful pain au chocolat above from Bouley Bakery & Market in TriBeCa (130 West Broadway) takes flaky to a new level. Bouley’s soft layers of croissant build to form an exterior that is a little harder than you might typically expect. It crumbles away in crisp, almost like phyllo. The chocolate is a single bar whose placement is centered, but it finds its way into unexpected nooks and crannies.

Pain au Chocolat from Ceci-Cela ($2.50). Cross-section.

Ceci-Cela (55 Spring Street) serves a fine pain au chocolat just a few steps from Balthazar. Of course, the chocolate-to-croissant ratio depends on preference and varies according to the baker, but here the dark Belgian chocolate is a little too understated to compare this version to the Platonic ideal of pain au chocolate. But what’s lacking in Ceci-Cela’s generosity with the chocolate is made up for with their croissant. In this case, chocolate is just an accent that highlights the perfectly light and buttery pastry.

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