Sweet Find: Homemade Baked Goods by Bluebottle Coffee, San Francisco

Bluebottle Coffee in San Francisco is one of the places for coffee snobs to go and be themselves among their people.

But I like them for a different reason: they make all their own baked goods!

That's right. Their creative array of baked goods is baked at one commercial kitchen and then delivered daily to each of their Bay Area locations.

Though the menu is frequently changing, you might find caramelized macaroons, individual brandy cakes, sweet and savory (!) shortbread, and, on the day of our visit, saffron snickerdoodles.

The overall opinion was that the saffron snickerdoodle was quite well executed, but there was some reservation about assigning it to the Snickerdoodle family. The saffron made it seem like a different cookie entirely, and biting into a snickerdoodle one usually would expect a rich cinnamon-sugar flavor, and with this one, it was definitely saffron-erriffic. Which is a very good thing, but snickerdoodle fans might not be getting what they bargained for, you know? Maybe re-branding it as a Saffrondoodle? On second thought, that is a terrible name.

Nonetheless, the point is, Bluebottle is to be commended for their creative and very nicely executed bakery case; if you're in San Francisco, be sure to check out what they have on the day of your visit. Or if you live there, don't hesitate to hit them up for treats as well as coffee.

Bluebottle Coffee, multiple locations; online here.

Baker's Dozen, CakeWalk Edition: Thirteen Bakeries, Thirteen Zip Codes in NYC

My self-appointed spy mission on my most recent visit to NYC? To visit 13 bakeries I'd never visited before (or at least to get a treat I had never tried, if it was a bakery I had been to), in 13 different zip codes.

Reasons? Threefold. #1, I might make some sweet new bakery discoveries and branch out from just the famous spots or my old favorites. #2, the number 13 because it's a baker's dozen. #3, you know, for a great adventure and all.

My adventure took place over 2 days, and directly before it commenced, two very serendipitous things happened. First, I had a date with one of my favorite bloggy bff's, Blondie from Blondie & Brownie. She's awesome and supplied my first two leads listed below--as well as having tipped me off to the fact that D'aiuto (famous for their cheesecake) was worth a visit for something else entirely: the fritters. She is to be trusted. And without further delay, the great adventure:

10018: Gregory's Coffee. This coffee shop might be unassuming, but there's something special about their baked goods case. While many of the items are brought in from wholesalers, a handful are made on-site, including their crumb cake. As a documented die-hard of the crumbly stuff, I found this to be a deeply appealing version, with a wonderful ratio of crumb (lots) to cake (little).

10016: Culture Espresso. Every day at 12 and 3, something magical happens: the chocolate chip cookies that they bake in-house come out of the oven. Now, I will be honest, I did not arrive at the serendipitous time to try one fresh out of the oven, but if it is a tip trusted by Blondie, that is good enough for me.

11103: Frank's Bakery, Astoria, Queens. Old school as all get-out, I decided to pick up a rainbow cookie here. “Can I get just one rainbow cookie?” I said, and the shopkeeper replied “you can, but you look like you could use a dozen.” Flatterer! These cookies were a keeper, with jam between the cakey layers, and that wavy chocolate topping that is so lovable.

10028: William Greenberg's. Now, I have been here—they are famous for their black and white cookies—but I have never tried the Pink and White cookies. Not only were they the perfect color palette, but they are ideal for the rare eater (like yours truly) who actually prefers the “white” side taste-wise but enjoys the contrasting color visual (still weirded out by the “just whites” at Donut Pub). Best method of eating? Slowly nibble the pink side first, obvi.

10003: Tu-lu's Gluten-free cupcakes: Nestled right next to gluten-rich Veniero's, this place is fairly adorable and has a small, but very pretty, array of gluten-free treats. I chose the pistachio frosting-topped chocolate variety. I was delighted to find that the cake wasn't excessively dense or overly fall-apart crumbly (my two frequent complaints with gluten-free cake); the frosting was very buttery and delicious.

10075: The Best Chocolate Cake in the World: With a name like this, you're going to draw customers simply out of curiosity; however, you've got to have a product that is great, or they'll never come back. This is a very unique chocolate cake, not your grandma's style, but a more boutique, fancy confection. It's worth a return visit.

10002: Economy Candy. Oh. My. God. How have I never been to this place before? It is like candy land. Not in the over-the-top way that Dylan's Candy bar is (although there is certainly a time and a place for that), but in a very old-school, Lower East Side kind of way. Any childhood favorite that you've found yourself craving, any regional sweet you miss from your hometown, any faraway favorite that you've been mail ordering...they have it here. I picked up one of those elusive old-time favorites for me, the candy ice cream cone. It tasted like being seven. 

10023: Alice's Tea Cup. It is my greatest regret that it took this long for me to visit Alice's Tea Cup, because it is made of magic. Alice in Wonderland-themed, they specialize in tea and scones, and they do both well (and sandwiches and other stuff besides). I had the added pleasure of visiting with Elisa Strauss, who is kind of my cake hero and who is as cute and sweet as you could possibly imagine. Our advice: try one of the flavored scones, which we found to be more interesting than the basic buttermilk (and, you know, we're experts). And don't even try to skip the preserves and cream on the side, what, do you not like joy?

Photo: Bee Desserts10011: Bee Desserts. Honey? Chocolate? Cake? OK. I had heard of this place but never visited their retail outlet; it's very cute, and fans of mellower sweets will have a very happy time here.

10014: Amy's Bread. Of course I have been here before. Don't even kid about that! It is one of my favorite places in the world (although, truth be known, my favorite is the Hell's Kitchen location!). BUT. I realized I had never tried their version of the magic cookie bar (here it is called the Coconut Dream Bar). The name may not say it, but this thing is made of magic.

10021: Cake & Shake. The most magical mobile truck in the world? Possibly. I found it perched outside of another magical place, the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

10009: Ray's Candy Store. Belgian Fries. Beignets. Candy. Softserve at a belgian fry place? Believe it. An unassuming but magical spot.

11211: Joyride Truck: it's mobile, but I caught it in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and picked up some delicious macaroons. Worth noting: this is a delicious zip code, and at a nearby cafe I spied treats by Robicelli's and Liddabitsweets, two other delicious bakers who don't have their own retail storefronts.

10001: LaNewyorkina Paletas. Is it just me or is the high line the most magical place ever? Well, on the day I visited there was sweetness added to the magic by way of popsicles in the 10001 zip code.

Bonus: 10036 sighting! I spied Treats Truck parking in 10036. The truck drove right by where I was walking. But I already knew I loved them, so there was no visit (this time).

 All in all? Beyond a baker's dozen of deliciousness.

CakeSpy Undercover: San Francisco Street Bakery, Olympia WA

You want to know how I find all of the best bakeries? Here's my secret.

Here's the thing. People love telling me about their favorite bakeries.

And I love hearing about people's favorite bakeries. And when they tell me about them, if I find myself in a geographically convenient place, I will seek them out.

So when Alithea suggested the San Francisco Street Bakery in Olympia, WA (which, interestingly, turns out to be located on San Francisco Avenue, not Street), I made a mental note, and when I was passing through on my way to Portland for Crafty Wonderland, I made sure to stop there.

This is the type of bakery I adore. Slightly off the beaten path, you can tell that this is a place beloved by locals—it is a daily place, the type of spot that locals would drop in every day for years, where the staff would know what they wanted before they even ordered.

But on my visit, as a newbie, I had to take it all in. Bread's big here, with all sorts of challah, hippie-Northwest loaves, and traditional breads—but my eyes were fixed on the baked goods. Cookies, cakes, pies, and cream puffs and french pastry—they had it all. But what called to me was one of the simple treats: a spiral chocolate and vanilla butter cookie. 

Buttery, with a perfect crumb that didn't crumble as much as yield, this cookie was redolent of butter, and the chocolate swirl added the perfect slightly bitter and rich dimension to the cookie to make it more interesting than a mere butter cookie, but still simple, sweet, and delicious. The pleasure of a cookie like this is simple, but sweet and delicious—and this is a place where it can be savored. Though I didn't try it, trusted sources say that they have “the best brioche ever” and “amazing macaroons”.

And for extra Northwest hippie points, they have their own garden in the back.

San Francisco Street Bakery, 1350 San Francisco Ave NE, Olympia, WA; online here.

CakeSpy Undercover: Cako Bakery, San Francisco

If you are a bakery, and you tell me to come visit, I probably will. 

So when I was in San Francisco recently and Cako Bakery said (via twitter, natch!) “you should visit our bakery” I was all “OK”.

I hit it up with friends Phil and Matt before we went to see Tales of The City, the musical (no, really). The bakery is in an unlikely spot, sort of downtown leaning into the Tenderloin, but there it is, with a pink neon sign and cupcakes in the window. (I later learned they have a second location, too, in Japantown)

When we visited, it was about 7.30 pm but they still had a prettily stocked display. There was a big tattoed fella behind the counter who seemed slightly incongruous with his cupcake setting, but when he asked what we'd like and I said “Well, tell me, what's the best flavor?” he didn't hesitate for a moment: “Strawberry cheesecake.” And he smiled while he said it, like he had been friends with that cupcake before.

Matt had the pleasure of devouring this beauty, which had a strawberry cream cheese frosting, vanilla cake and a cheesecake filling. Like, cheesecake inside! Like whoa. Bake it in a Cake would faint.

Matt is an expert (he is friends with me, after all) and reports that the cream cheese frosting is lighter than usual, which is kind of nice; it is more whipped. The cupcake itself is dense and flavorful, a nice contrast to the light frosting. His overall thoughts: “a different kind of cupcake. I like it”.

That's enough for me to add it to my next return trip!

Cako Bakery, 211 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco; online at cakobakery.com; follow them on Twitter here.

CakeSpy Undercover: Pie in the Sky, Woods Hole MA

There are a few reasons you should love Pie in the Sky, a bakery in Woods Hole, MA. I'll share with you a handful of these reasons, OK?

They are conveniently located right next to the ferry to Martha's Vineyard. Everyone knows that baked goods taste better on a boat.

Pie, pie, pie! They have plenty of it, but (I will confess) it is some of the other items that excited me more on a recent visit!

One of their specialties is Popovers (pictured top). For one thing, not many bakeries offer popovers as a standard item, in my experience, so this is unique. And these ones are delicious: HUGE, but airy inside and delicious when split, liberally slathered with butter and jam, and eaten in furtive little bites til all that carbohydrate is gone, baby, gone.

They have Almond Joy Croissants. Almond Joy Croissants!

They have cannoli in two varieties: regular, and "inside out" (with chocolate filling and white chocolate chips). One of each, please.

They have their own version of the Magic Cookie Bar--the "Wonderbar". And these ones are big, fat, and delicious.

Pie in the Sky, 10 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA. For more information, visit their website here.

C'mon Get Happy: Happy Donuts, San Francisco

First things first. If you like boutique doughnuts, and you're in San Francisco, go elsewhere. Go to Pebbles or Dynamo, where they have a fine product and creative flavors with local ingredients and all of that business.

But if you're looking for a donut that simply gets the job done, and is deliciously greasy and cheap, go to Happy Donuts. They have several locations throughout the Bay Area; I went to the one on Haight Street.

This place was suggested by SpySister's Boyfriend, who saves the world professionally for a living, and who, unlike me, is unconcerned with the backstory of his baked goods, when I was asking around about the best baked goods, said something along the lines of “I like Happy Donuts because they are good.”

That was enough for me. And at 90 cents apiece, these doughnuts will do you right. I bought two chocolate frosted (with sprinkles) and immediately downed one, and found it a perfect low-brow, high-sweet treat; I left, and was solicited for money by a down on his luck fellow on the street. “Do you have a dollar?” he said. “No,” I replied, “But I do have an extra donut.” Well, as it turns out that's what the guy was going to use a dollar for, so he was pleased as punch to receive this round of dough. Dollars to donuts indeed!

Happy Donuts, Haight Street and elsewhere, San Francisco.

Pastry Profiles: Chocolate Cake, The Best Chocolate Cake in the World, NYC

Here's the thing.

It takes some serious...ah, cake truffles, shall we say, to call your establishment “The Best Chocolate Cake in the World.” And, with a small case to the side of exceptions (breakfast treats, mostly), to only offer this self-proclaimed superior product. 

But it is also intriguing, and when I came across their Upper East Side location the other day (their latest location, which has only been open a few months) I simply had to go in.

The world's best doesn't come cheap; it's nearly $55 for an entire cake, $6 for a slice, and $3.50 for a macaron-sized bite of it. I went for the cheapie bite, I'll tell the truth.

Now, (spoiler!) the cake was very, very good. It was interesting though, because if asked to conjure an image of “chocolate cake” I think that probably most people in the US would think of a chocolate layer cake slathered with chocolate frosting, sort of “like grandma used to make”. And this cake was most certainly NOT that.

It's a delicately composed series of layers, alternating between a biscuity, almost meringue-y chocolate, and a rich ganache. Each layer itself doesn't necessarily scream out “cake”...but when you take one pleasurable bite with each layer contained, it kind of combines into a chocolate cakey experience, and it is just gorgeous.

While the title may invite some naysayers (after all, everyone's definition of “the best” is different, isn't it?), this one is a very fine specimen of chocolate cake indeed. And the store is just darling, so if you're in NYC, it's worth making the effort to make a visit happen. You can learn more about the story behind the cake here.

The Best Chocolate Cake in the World, multiple locations; online here.

Sherlock Scones: Alice's Tea Cup, NYC

Alice's Tea Cup in New York City is a magical place. Well, actually, magical places--there are three, cleverly entitled "Chapter One"...and so on.

Why so magical? Well. It is an establishment based around the idea that tea need not be relegated only to teatime. It is Alice in Wonderland-themed. They have delicious scones.

Honestly, the only thing they're missing is a bunny hopping around telling you to “eat this”. Which, I suspect, might have happened if I had stayed around a little longer.

I had the great pleasure of visiting this establishment (the Upper West Side location, down the street from my new building crush, 126 W. 73rd street, which resembles a slice of wedding cake with draguees, really it does) with my extreme cake crush Elisa Strauss (you may know her as the famous cakemaker to the stars who released the books The Confetti Cakes Cookbook and Confetti Cakes For Kids, or from her numerous TV appearances). We ventured down the rabbit hole and enjoyed tea and scones. Here we are together to prove it:

But luckily, the scones also taste good. The basic buttermilk biscuit was a drier, more biscuity sort, which definitely needed cream and preserves (don't you dare not order the preserves and cream); far more interesting was the pumpkin variety, which was lightly sweet, more moist, and had a delicate glaze on top. The scones were actually on the saltier side (a definite pro for me), so they were perfect when topped with the sweet preserves, each and every sweet and salty bite a teatime revelation.

Perhaps the loveliest thing, though, is that these scones are so clearly in their natural element, and the full experience of eating them surrounded by a sort of magical-realism world is very queenly indeed. In fact, I may or may not have found myself humming a line from the animated Disney Alice In Wonderland movie as I exited...”you can learn a lot of things from the flours...especially in the month of June...”

Final thoughts: Alice's Tea Cup makes for a golden afternoon. If you can't make it to NYC this very instant, you can at least buy their cookbook, Alice's Tea Cup: Delectable Recipes for Scones, Cakes, Sandwiches, and More from New York's Most Whimsical Tea Spot.

Alice's Tea Cup, 102 west 73^rd Street; online here.

Sweet Sandwich: Bavarian Waffle from The Danish Bakery, Leavenworth WA

Oh, hi. Let's talk about something I got to eat recently. It was called "Bavarian Waffle".

A Bavarian Waffle is probably not what you'd think it would be simply judging by the name. It's not at all like a Belgian Waffle, for instance. It's not necessarily like a stroopwafel (Dutch syrup waffle) either, although that's more of a start.

Picture a stroopwafel--now shape it like a demi-baguette. Now, add a second slice of this stretched-out stroopwafel-y thing, and sandwich both crispy discs with a thick Bavarian cream and berry preserves. The crispy waffle-y bits were perfect with the cream in the middle; the strawberry was a nice touch, if anything it could have been a little less syrupy, but overall decidedly enjoyable.

Of course, if mystery waffles that look like baguette sandwiches aren't your thing, you could go for one of these figure-8 shaped "cherry custard" pastries (just power past the unfortunate typestyle choice):

...or a burnt cream danish, cinnamon crisp (like a large, flat cinnamon roll) or some Kringle. Or a pretzel, which are one of their signature items, judging by the carbohydrates that line the entryway and even the light fixtures.

Danish Bakery, 731 Front Street, Leavenworth. Read more here.

Stella! Cookies from Stella Pastry, North Beach, San Francisco

I love North Beach, in San Francisco. It's so touristy it's kitschy, and because of that, it kinda has soul. Kind of like an old Italian grandma who likes to wear rhinestones (spoken like a Spy who has a grandma who likes to wear rhinestones, no?).

And the bakeries are old-school, with the rows and rows of butter cookies that seem to be the hallmark of an Italian Bakery.

So when I visited Stella Pastry, I chose a sweet assortment of these sweet treats to sample: a rainbow sprinkled butter cookie, a pignoli cookie, and a russian teacake (I am not sure what they call them in Italian?).

Now, it's hard to say this without sounding like I'm making a jab, but let me try. These cookies are typically not the standout menu at Italian bakeries--for instance, at Stella, they seem proudest of their Sacripantina slice. Frequently, these cookies are somewhat dry (not to say they are stale, just drier in texture). It is that they are wonderful to look at, taste like sweet nostalgia, and always pair beautifully with milky coffee. Even if you don't have a glitzy Italian grandma, for a moment, you can pretend that she baked these for you.

And you'll get that sweet treat with a kick of nostalgia at Stella Pastry. So go visit!

Stella Pastry, 446 Columbus Ave, San Francisco. Online here.