NYC's Best Spring Desserts

After a never-ending winter, finally there are signs of spring.  We’re ready to come out of hibernation and take a break from heavy desserts, the likes of bread pudding and creamy custards.  Pastry chefs are embracing light citrusy desserts like  lemon and lime as well as rhubarb and tropical fruits. 

Baked
359 Van Brunt St. (btwn. Dikeman & Sullivan Sts.)
(718) 222-0345
www.bakednyc.com
Anyone would fall for this Red Hook bakery filled with inventive American desserts.  Someone at Baked has a lemon fetish — lemon-lime bars, lemon meringue pies, and mini-lemon bundt cakes.  And, of course, an excellent grasshopper bar: A brownie-like bar filled with crème de menthe center and coated in a chocolate mint ganache.

Bespoke Chocolates
6 Extra Pl. (at First St.)
(212) 260-7103
www.bespokechocolates.com
For a teeny shop on an unmarked alley called Extra Place, Bespoke gets a lot of attention.  The biggest draw may be the pretzel-covered sea salt caramels.  To welcome spring, owner Rachel Zoe introduced strawberry balsamic truffle and a rosemary vanilla ganache with dark chocolate .

Momofuku Milk Bar
207 Second Ave. (at 13^th St.)
(212) 254-3500
www.momofuku.com
What’s
the fun of being a grown up if you can’t at least, eat like a kid? 
David Chang doesn’t only master pork and savories.  Oh, no.  Chang and
his pastry chef Christina Tosi also succeeds at imaginative sweets. My
favorites are the compost cookies, ice creams and dulce de leche cake. 
For spring, Tosi’s featuring a key lime cake — a three-layered cake
coated in a graham cracker frosting and filled with key lime curd, sour
cream and graham cracker crumbs.  It’s fabulous.

Gotham Bar and Grill
12 E 12^th St. (btwn. University Pl. & Fifth Ave)
(212) 620-4020
www.gothambarandgrill.com
Gotham’s been a Manhattan fixture for 25 years for good reason — Alfred Portale’s exemplary American fare and Deborah Racicot’s desserts.  She’s always coming up with unique pastries and this year she’s all about tropical fruits.  Case in point:  Her mango empanadas with sour cream parfait and frozen lychees filled with lychee sorbet.  Four desserts in one, it’s also served with caramelized mangoes and a mango coconut soup. 

Shake Shack
Madison Square Park
E. 23^rd St. & Madison Ave.
(212) 889-6600
www.shakeshacknyc.com
Okay, so I guess the heat lamps never worked out this winter, but it’s spring.  We’re eager and willing to wait in block-long lines for burgers, fries and shakes.  Shake Shack’s just as serious about their custard, so much so there’s a custard calendar.  I favor Friday’s for the strawberry rhubarb and Sunday’s carrot cake flavors.  Really, the best desserts year round are the black & white shake and the concretes.

 
Joyce Bakeshop…
646 Vanderbilt Ave. (btwn. Park Pl. & Prospect Pl.)
(718) 623-7470
www.joycebakeshop.com
This Prospect Park bakery’s got an extensive selection of pastries- everything from French macarons and madeleines to whoopie pies and black & white cookies.   I love the bombe de amandes – a fragrant almond cake with a tart lemon filling.

Financier… 

62 Stone St. (btwn. Hanover Sq. & Mill Ln.)
(212) 344-5600
www.financierpastries.com
Behind the glass case in this Financial District patisserie is an array of fruit tartlets– the most notable being the Passion Fruit Chibouste. Atop a small banana tart lies a passion fruit pastry cream topped with caramelized sugar and passion fruit.  For a smaller bite, try the pistachio macarons and their signature almond financier.

Amy’s Bread

Chelsea Market 672 Ninth Ave. (btwn. 15^th & 16^th Sts.)
(212) 462-4338
www.amysbread.com
Amy’s
bread and breakfast treats are great, but come for the cakes and
cookies as well- especially the coconut cream cake, a yellow cake
garnished with coconut custard icing and shredded coconut, and
the Monkey cake, made with bananas, pineapple and toasted pecans. Both
are light but have a slight gooeyness. Their lime cornmeal cookie’s an
original- chewy with a fine texture and a lime glaze.

Dylan’s Candy Bar
1011 Third Ave. (at 60^th St.)
(646) 735-0078
www.dylanscandybar.com
Spring at Dylan’s Candy Bar means chocolate tulips, candy-coated bunnies, and ladybug truffles. Besides being good luck, these chocolate bugs are delicious.  Each lady bug is covered in red-tinted chocolate and painted with lots of little black dots.

Martine’s Chocolates

Bloomingdale’s 6^th Floor
1000 Third Ave. (btwn. 59^th & 60^th Sts.)
(212) 705-2347
www.martineschocolates.com
Just across the street from Dylan’s Candy Bar, Martine’s Chocolates is in full  bloom with a Spring Flower collection.  These colorful chocolate flowers are planted in chocolate flower pots.   Roses, daisies and clovers are made with marzipan as well.