Hostess Desserts

Update Review, 2024

When I visit my hometown, I sometimes raid my father's snack foods stash, which often has packaged snack cakes in it.  I didn't grow up in a house with Hostess products in it, and they still are fairly rare now, so I still find it novel to try them when I spot them.

Patriotic Cupcake.
(Seasonal)

"Set off the fireworks for limited edition HOSTESS red, white, and blue themed cakes. Star Spangled CupCakes take on a whole new look with fun blue icing and a red squiggle. The yellow cake is moist as ever with creamy filling."

"Celebrate the holiday with HOSTESS® Patriotic CupCakes, available for a limited time only. Popping with sprinkles, these perfect party cupcakes sparkle with colorful red, white and blue. Take a bite into the frosted yellow cake with creamy filling and prepare to LIVE YOUR MOSTESS."

For the 4th of July, Hostess had a special patriotic cupcake available.  I had tried the orange cupcake a year or so prior, and didn't really like it, but how could I resist the limited edition item and the festive topping?  It was attractive enough.

The hard blue icing and sprinkles were probably the best part.  They tasted like sugar, and nothing else, no specific flavor at all, but were fine.  The "creamy filling" tasted like, well, sugar as well, and Crisco or something.  There wasn't a lot of it, but I didn't really want there to be more.  And as for the cake itself ... 

Ingredients!?!

The cake was moist.  I'll give it that.  But wow it tasted like just a bunch of chemicals.  There was nothing fresh, nothing remotely homemade about it.  It too tasted very plain, again no real flavor, not vanilla, not even classic "yellow" cake flavor if you know what I mean.  It just tasted like chemicals, which, it turns out, it was.  The ingredient list was terrifyingly long.  There was no reason to eat this cake.

So, hard sugar topping, chemical moist plain cake, and Crisco cloying sweet filling.  The appeal of these was lost on me, clearly.  I pondered heating another one up and topping it with ice cream, but decided it really wasn't worth trying to jazz it up, I had plenty of other better items to dig into.  *+.

Hostess also makes Star Spangled Ding Dongs, and Red, White, and Blue Twinkies for the holiday.

Twinkie.

"You don’t need a description. This is why you’re here. The Original Golden Snack that’s been putting smiles on faces for generations."

"A ready-to-enjoy snack cake, Hostess Twinkies are famous for their golden, fluffy exterior and irresistible creamy filling. Each sweet bite delivers a burst of soft and creamy goodness. Great for lunches, sharing and snacking on the go. Soft and fluffy golden cakes. Delicious, creamy filling center."

This ... may have been my first Twinkie?! Or at least the only one I've had since I started taking photos of things, or reviewing food items.  I also have no memory of actually eating a Twinkie, so it may very well be true.  Either way, I don't feel like I've been missing out at all.

The Twinkie was pretty similar to the cupcake really: moist but plain and chemical tasting cake, Crisco sweet plain filling.  Again not tons of filling, but reasonable amount, and I didn't want more.  Besides being obviously very processed and fake tasting, it also was just a bit one-dimensional for me.  Imagine just having some jam in there or ... something?  It was fake and bo-ring.  Is this why people deep fry them? *.

Original Review, April 2022

Hostess.  As in, Hostess Cupcakes, probably *the* most well known packaged snack baked goods out there, and yet to me, a relatively unknown entity.  Twinkies, Zingers, Hohos, Snowballs, etc ... I know the names, sure, but none of them were really known to me.

Yes, really.  While other kids at school had lunch boxes complete with these things of wonder (or so I imagined), I always had homemade cookies, unless I was really lucky, and had managed to convince mom to get some Little Debbie Nutty Bars (which, as you may recall from my review a few years ago, still really are good!).  My dad was #teamDrakes (see old review), so when his treats were in stock, it was Devil Dogs.  And thus, Hostess products just never really found their way into my house, even though the cakes are obviously quite iconic.  

Snack Cakes

In adulthood, I finally tried the cupcakes, available in the signature chocolate version with white icing inside, or a similar "golden" version with gold-ish cake.  They also now come in a slew of more interesting varieties like birthday cake, lemon, and even "patriotic" (seasonal).

I finally tried one.

Orange.

"Known for curing appetites, rather than scurvy, these Orange flavored CupCakes will take your taste buds someplace sunny and 75."

Orange is not exactly the variety I would gravitate towards normally, since I'm not generally one for citrus desserts, but for some reason, on a day when I was craving buttercream and frosting and sweetness, these orange cakes jumped out.

The construction of the orange cakes is the same as the more common varieties: cake, white cream filling, hard (orange) frosting top, signature squiggle.

I took my first bite, and was blown away by the strong orange flavor.  There is no doubt whatsoever that these are orange flavored, as artificial as it may be.  Orange, orange, orange.  So strong.  If you like orange, well, these could be for you.

The icing on top was really quite hard.  I'm not sure what I expected, as it clearly isn't fluffy buttercream, but I still was surprised by how firm it was.  It was crazy sweet, the flavor a bit hard to explain, just, um, sweet?  I do not think there was orange flavor in it, despite the obvious orange color.  My craving for frosting was really not met by this topping, but it isn't trying to be frosting.

The cake itself was fairly moist, and quite dense, and wasn't awful, but certainly didn't taste fresh.  It however is where the orange flavor was, and I really did not care for that.  

Inside was a tiny amount of white frosting, quite sweet, and with no actual real flavor to it.  There wasn't enough to make up for the lack of fluffy frosting on top.

So overall, um, orange flavor dislikes aside, not really a cupcake in my mind, as it failed in the primary responsibility: frosting delivery vehicle!  Not something I'd pick up again.

**+.

Pies

There are many brands that make hand held "pies", but somehow in my mind, Hostess is *the* gold standard for these items.  Again though, not items I ever had growing up, but always had some jealousy towards.  They've been around ~forever, introduced in the 1970s.

If you are unfamiliar, these are fairly large "hand" pies, rectangular shaped, with crust all around.  The crust isn't like a traditional pie crust though, and is always glazed.  Inside is a fruit and, uh, goo filling.  Fillings range from fruity classics like apple and cherry, to harder to find varieties like blueberry or lemon.

Cherry Pie.

"Don’t leave these on the windowsill, because the neighbor kids will definitely get their hands on them. Individually wrapped and ready to eat, these pies are a family favorite."

The pies come in a cardboard box, really more of a sleeve than anything, with no inner wrapper.  They somehow have an impressive shelf life even without more protection.

And inside, just one, large pie.  My memory is that they used to have 2 smaller square pies inside?  Am I making that up?  Was that another brand?  Was that Drakes?

Cherry Pie: Inside.

Anyway, these "pies" are good for what they are.  The pie crust is hard to describe if you've never had it before - it is not real pie crust, it is not flaky, it is not buttery, but it is also nothing like a danish, nor a cookie, it just is its own thing.  And it is sweet, entirely covered in glaze.  Sorta like what you'd get if you had an item made up of just the outside of a glazed donut, no fluffy donut insides to it.  If that makes any sense.

The cherry pie filling leaves something to be desired if you expect to find actual cherries.  No, this is not even the quality level of canned cherry pie filling.  It is just goo.  Sweet, cherry flavored goo.  

So if you go into this expecting, um, a pie, or even a hand pie with real crust, and anything remotely resembling fruit, you'll be quite sad.  But if you know what you are getting into, it can be kinda satisfying, although clearly not remotely wholesome, and so full of preservatives.  When I went to write this up, I found someone else describe them as "basically hard glazed donut crusts filled with artificial fruit flavored gel", which I think is shockingly accurate.

Interestingly, the box says you can warm them up in the microwave, something I certainly never remember seeing anyone do.  I tried it, but didn't find it added anything to it, and actually, just left it a bit soggy, and unevenly heated.  Boo, microwaves.

I do think it could be better warmed more appropriately (e.g. toaster oven) and served a la mode?  But if you were eating a whole pie, the ice cream addition would be a bit much, as these things clock in 430 calories in the pie alone.

***, and strangely satisfying, but not something I'd seek out unless I was really craving another.

Sweet Street Desserts

"Desserts open doors, hearts, and conversations."  ~ Sandy Solmon, Founder of Sweet Street Desserts

Well, yup.  I agree.  I'm a dessert girl, through and through, so I surely agree whole heartedly with the tag line from Sweet Street Desserts, a wholesale bakery located in Pennsylvania.

I'm going to start with the punch line.  I never really loved cookies until I encountered those from Sweet Street.  Sure, there are unique cookies out there that I've enjoyed, like the ones from Milk Bar, but actually loved?  Yeah, it doesn't happen.  Cookies aren't usually "real" desserts to me, rather, just components to a bigger dessert creation.  That is, until I discovered the cookies from Sweet Street.  One in particular, gets a perfect ***** review from me.  That rarely happens, in any category, let alone cookies.

But Sweet Street is much more than just a life changing cookie maker.

"Sweet Street is the leading innovator in the dessert industry. Though our reach is global, our passion for artful food and dedication to quality remains the motivation behind every one of our gourmet desserts. We challenge ourselves to aggressively source the best ingredients. Among many milestones, we have eliminated GMO’s from key ingredients, use only hormone-free dairies and creams and removed artificial flavorings while developing house-made, natural alternatives."

They are a cookie maker that also has tried to source reasonable ingredients, although you'll note that they only use non-GMO ingredients for the "key" ingredients, which I read as having some wiggle room.  Anyway.

"We take the time to soak our gourmet cake layers in wonderfully flavored syrups, fill our deep dish pies with fresh fruits, hand-sprinkle toasted almonds atop our cream puffs, meld coconut-scatter butterscotch in our gourmet desserts bars, and-fire our premium cheesecakes, create nostalgic yet surprisingly chic coffee and bundt cakes and hand-select South American chocolates for our all-natural cupcakes."

While the cookies are what first captured my heart from Sweet Street, they actually have a huge portfolio of products, and I've gotten the chance to try many.  They tend to be far above average, although I've had a few I wasn't fond of.  They also make some killer pies, including one that ... wait for it ... ALSO gets a perfect *****.  They are just that good.  Perfection.

Sweet Street Desserts: In the Wild!

Sweet Street is not a retail bakery, but rather sells wholesale and to the foodservice industry, and they are quite successful - I've seen many high end restaurants place Sweet Street desserts on the menu to pass off as their own, several large chain fast casual businesses around San Francisco have the individually wrapped cookies on their menu (Sajj Mediteranean, The Melt, and Ike's), and the extremely overpriced market down the street from my house sells the cookies and slices of cake as if homemade to unknowing customers (to be fair, they do bake the cookies off in house at least).  

On Display: In NH!

I have found the cookies coast to coast, including in a small co-op market where my parent's live in New Hampshire.  Clearly, Sweet Street has vast reach and success.  I'm not the only one in love with their cookies.

Cookies

Sweet Street makes four different cookie product lines: Skillet Cookies, Cookie-Pie Raves™, Artisan Cookies, and Manifesto Cookies™.

The Cookie-Pie Raves are giant cookies meant to be sliced like pies ... borderline if I'd consider these actual cookies, but, hey, sure.  Skillet Cookies are large format cookies baked in skillets, generally intended to be served warm, as a more upscale dessert.  Again, not quite what I think of when it comes to cookies.

"Every batch of our freshly baked Manifesto desserts is made from simple ingredients befitting of your pantry and do not contain any artificial ingredients or GMO's. We mix in only pure cane sugar, cage free eggs and sustainably grown chocolates. Enjoy!"

The Artisan line is basic flavors, think chocolate chunk, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, etc, and made with the sort of ingredients you'd expect from a commercial bakery, whereas the Manifesto line is the more innovative innovative flavors (old fashioned peanut butter, salted caramel, "sandy's amazing chocolate chunk") and made with more real ingredients, like whole eggs, cane sugar, and non-GMO ingredients.  Basically, the premium line, even if "Artisan" also sounds fancy.

The cookie dough is sold frozen, in pucks, and is meant to be baked off to serve by the restaurant/grocery store/etc, although they also make an individually wrapped fully baked line as well.  I've tried many of the Manifesto line, and, spoiler, they are, literally, the best cookies I've ever had.  Reliably.

The only one I haven't found anywhere yet is the newer "Zoe's Crush" with toffee, almonds, toasted sesame, candied ginger, single origin Peruvian chocolate and miso (!!!), and I wish I could find them somewhere.  If you see them, let me know where!

Lemon Blueberry Manifesto.

"Our Lemon Blueberry Manifesto Cookie dough starts with all butter, pure cane sugar and cage free eggs, buttery and lemony, it is plump with wild Maine blueberries for a refreshing rebirth of our quintessentially melt in your mouth sugar cookie. "

Ok, I'll admit, this was a decent cookie.  It was the first I had from Sweet Street, and I never expected to care about their cookies.

It was fairly soft.  It was thick.  I loved the plentiful pearl sugar on top.  I liked the flavorful large blueberries throughout.  It was very buttery.  It was very sweet.

Sure, it was still a cookie, but it was soft, sweet, and very sugary, so, for a cookie, it wasn't bad. 

***+.

Tray of Lemon Blueberry, freshly baked.

I had another.  I again liked it.  A soft cookie.  Like a sugar cookie, but, more interesting with the bites of blueberry and accent of lemon.  Great dunked in whipped cream. ***+.

Another Update Review:
Ok, I really like these cookies.  And seriously, I don't like cookies.  Something about the buttery sweet decadence, plus the interesting flavors,  actually works for me.  Great with fresh blueberries on top too.  ***+.

More Updates:
It turns out, I like these best when they are frozen, and then just slightly soft.  Don't ask me why.  I've now had the pleasure of having them fresh baked, just an hour before, still slightly warm, and ... I like them better when they are then frozen, and pulled out of freezer for later enjoyment.  Sometimes I'm just ... odd.  But either way, these are a repeat order for me.  My second favorite of the Sweet Street cookie line. ***+.

Salted Caramel Manifesto.

"Made with all natural toffee and milky white chocolate chunks, crisp pretzels bites and sea salt. Topped with pretzel salt and golden demerara sugar." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Imagine the buttery crunch of all natural toffee and milky white chocolate chunks, alongside crisp pretzels bites and sea salt, all playing hopscotch across your taste buds. Topped with pretzel salt and golden demerara sugar, each bite of this salty sweet mashup is dangerously better than the last. " -- Sweet Street

Behold.  The most glorious cookie there ever was.  The Salted Caramel Manifesto.  

Like the lemon blueberry, this too was a really good cookie, with the same basic makeup: Soft.  Thick.  Sweet.  Buttery.

But this one was loaded with goodies.  Sweet toffee hunks, creamy sweet sweet white chocolate bits, crunchy pretzels, and, oooh, the salt on top.  Sweet and salty all at once, great textures from the mix-ins, generous, generous amount of mix-ins ...

Really quite addicting.  Which is crazy for me to say about a cookie.  The flavors pop, the textures are all there to play off each other, and, well, it is far, far too easy to devour one of these.

*****.  Simply put, the best cookie I've ever had.

Serving size: One?

I've had the pleasure of having these more times that I can count.  I ordered them regularly for team events through my catering team, and you can be sure I saved any left over.  The beauty of being individually wrapped!  They are shelf stable for a while, and freeze beautifully too.

I like these best when they are thawed out (not frozen like the lemon blueberry!), and dunked in whipped cream, although really, they are absolutely a complete joy just as they are with nothing else added.  They are also fantastic crumbled up on top of an ice cream sundae.  Sweet and salty FTW.

Several fast casual chains in SF sell the individually packaged ones for $3-4 each, and even the small co-op market in NH has them from time to time, so even when my supply from my catering department at work ran dry during the COVID years, I was able to keep acquiring them.   By the handful.

Best. Cookies.  Ever.  *****.  Yes, perfect score.

Sandy's Chocolate Chunk with Pretzel Manifesto.

"Everything we love about Sandy’s Amazing Chocolate Chunk Cookie with added pretzel punchiness. Mixed into our dough of all butter, pure cane sugar and cage free eggs are crunchy, savory pretzel bites that play off of sweet, giant morsels of Peruvian sustainable chocolates, milk, semisweet and dark coins, in a brown butter, caramelized chewy-crispy-edged wonder."

Next I went for what I expected to be a crowd pleaser: the Sandy's Chocolate Chunk with Pretzel cookie.  One look at it, and I knew we had another winner on our hands.  This is a jazzed up version of the Sandy's Amazing Chocolate Chunk cookie, which is actually their signature cookie, but this one has "added pretzel punchiness".  In the form of "crunchy, savory pretzel bites".  Sounded (and looked!) great to me.

As you can see, it is truly loaded with chocolate, in all varieties.  Full dark chocolate coins and halves of coins.  Chunks of milk and semi-sweet chocolate.  Chunks of milk chocolate with what I think were the pretzel bits in it.   Very chocolate forward, and the chocolate quality seemed high.

Like the others, the cookie itself was soft, with a classic butter/sugar/flour base.  I did not detect the advertised brown butter.  Not particularly interesting, but decently done.

The pretzel came as little chunks mixed in the base too.  They added a nice salty component.  I appreciated that they were small chunks, yeah for "pretzel punchiness"!

Overall, a decent cookie.  Remember that I'm not really one for cookies, so it is hard for me to be excited about this, but I give them kudos for the plentiful mix-ins and the soft cookie base.

Warning: this is not a light cookie, in actual size, nor nutrition, lol.

***+.

Sandy's Amazing Chocolate Chunk Manifesto® Cookie.

"Giant morsels of sustainable chocolate grown in the Peruvian Andes, milk, semisweet and dark coins, coalesce in our Sandy's Amazing Chocolate Chunk Manifesto Cookie dough of all butter, pure cane sugar and cage free eggs. Caramelized chewy-crispy-edged wonder. "

A few months later, I had the chance to try the basic, signature cookie: Sandy's Amazing Chocolate Chunk cookie, basically, the same as the previous one, just without the pretzels.

It was a pretty near perfect cookie.  So ridiculously soft and almost gooey.  Expertly crispy-chewy at the edges.  Sweet and buttery.  And, um, loaded with chocolate.  I am pretty sure there was more chocolate than actual cookie dough in here, just like the pretzel one, with disks and chunks, milk, semisweet, and dark all included.

What would make it better?  A touch of sea salt.  But I'm just being picky.  For a non-cookie girl, this is a very good cookie, and quite high praise.

This cookie is sold by many fast casual chains around SF, generally individually wrapped.

****.

Bars / Brownies

Next up, I moved on the bars and brownies.  These are sold fully baked and frozen, although some can remain shelf stable at room temp, others require refrigeration.  Sweet Street makes a huge line of different bars, including some in non-traditional shapes like the Key West Bar, a star shaped key lime pie bar.

Toffee Crunch Blondie.

"It’s like sinking into a quilt of richness. A buttery blondie studded with creamy white chocolate chunks and loaded with semi – sweet chocolate and chewy pieces of Heath® toffee. Pair it with coffee and prove blondies have more fun."

This didn't look bad, and, although I don't really like cookies or brownies, I do like blondies, so I had great hope.  Particularly since they make such amazing cookies.  Also,  "buttery blondie", "creamy white chocolate chunks", and "pieces of Heath toffee" were all promises of goodness.

But ... I didn't like it.  At all.  It wasn't buttery.  It wasn't moist.  The white chocolate was waxy.  I tried to extract just the toffee chunks, and somehow even the Heath toffee didn't taste like it should.

The entire thing just tasted stale and not good at all.  **.

Update Review: We had them another time.  They were less stale at least.  They were actually moist, but in a "way too much butter and chemicals" sense, not a delicious sense.  Still not a winner.  I'm confused how they are such a flop.  **+.

Toffee Crunch Blondie (2023).

"It’s like sinking into a quilt of richness. A buttery blondie studded with creamy white chocolate chunks and loaded with semi – sweet chocolate and chewy pieces of toffee. Pair it with coffee and prove blondies have more fun."

I've tried these before, and hated them, but they always look so good.  I do like a good blondie, and <3 toffee!  But again, I was extremely displeased with these.

The base blondie is soft, but it lacks the sweet buttery goodness I want.  Even the toffee bit on top is lackluster.  The dark chocolate pieces are ok.  I never found any white chocolate chunks.  I actively dislike these, and they disappointment so every time. *.

Lemon Manifesto.

"Bright and lively, its zesty lemon freshness makes your mouth come alive, and quenches your thirst, while the buttery smoothness of its melt-in-your-mouth curd and subtle crunch of the shortbread crust satiate. Simplicity at its essence. "

I know, you've heard me say a million times that I don't like bars, and I don't like lemon desserts.  So, why would I even bother?

Well ... the "Manifesto" line with the lemon blueberry cookie *did* impress me, and that was a cookie (never my favorite thing) and lemon based, so, I had hope.  Plus, Sweet Street makes some fantastic cakes (keep reading!).

This was a fairly standard looking lemon bar - shortbread crust, curd topping, powdered sugar on top.  And ... it was a fairly standard bar.  The shortbread crust was actually pretty good, sweet, buttery.  The curd ... was lemon curd.  Not my thing.  But good texture, and I liked the powdered sugar on top.

I'm sure a winner for those who like lemon bars, but just a **+ for me.

Peruvian Brownie, Manifesto Series.

"An Intense, full bodied chocolate delivery, dense and fudgy with a chewy crust. Born from the prized Criolla bean, this unique and sustainably sourced Peruvian chocolate adds a delicate fruity edge upfront and is deep and rich in its finish. Sophisticated flavor up and down the tongue…a brownie like no other. " 

These were pretty good brownies.  Indeed, as described, dense and fudgy.   Very rich, very chocolatey, very dense, not a cake-like brownie.  I liked the chocolate chunks in it for some texture too, and they were quality dark chocolate.

Overall, yeah, a decent brownie, good at room temperature, better dunked in whipped cream, and even better (or, just different, really) warmed up and served a la mode.

***+.

Rockslide Brownie.

"Chunks of rich brownie piled with caramel and pecans on a light texture brownie base."

"A light textured Brownie topped with butter-luscious caramel, piled high with Brownie cubes, toasted pecans and drizzle with milk chocolate ganache."

Well, these looked a bit ridiculous, quite decadent.

But this is a case where the ridiculous toppings did not pay off, at least for me.

The base brownie was a bit dry, not as intensely chocolately nor as quite as good as the simple Peruvian brownie, but fine enough.  The toppings though just didn't add up.  The caramel was sweet and thick, a bit too chewy.  The nuts were fine, but just pecans, they didn't seem toasted.  I wanted the crunch, sure, but they were fairly eh.  And ... why have chunks of brownie on top of a brownie?

Overall, it was just a less good brownie, with lackluster toppings, that seemed like it was trying way too hard.  I greatly prefer the Peruvian brownie.  **+.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Stack (2022).

" Ooh la la, the tastes and textures. Sweet and salty peanut butter crunch, light and creamy milk chocolate and buttery caramel, all layered twice on our lighter-than-expected brownie cake hybrid. Finished with crunchy honey roasted peanuts."

"Sweet, salty peanut butter crunch, creamy milk chocolate and buttery caramel, all layered twice on a Brownie cake hybrid."

So much promise.  Chocolate.  Peanut butter.  Salty.  Creamy. Crunch.  

But ... this was kinda eh.  Or at least, it was a sum of its parts not serving each other well.

The main component that failed for me was the "lighter-than-expected brownie cake hybrid", which, the best I could tell, was just, um, a dry dense chocolate cake.  It lacked the moisture and crumb structure of a good cake , it lacked the intense chocolate flavor of a good fudgy brownie.  It was very, very "meh".

The layer above the chocolate "hybrid" cake-brownie was sorta thick and creamy milk chocolate ganache that was decent, and a creamy peanut butter layer with crispy bits, which, did taste peanut buttery and did have a really unique crispy nature to it.  I also liked the crunch on top from the honey roasted peanuts.  The caramel, on its own, was also quite tasty - thick, rich, sweet, buttery, intense quality caramel.  But the caramel was so sweet and strong it wiped out the peanut butter taste for me, and the caramel and peanuts just weren't a good match (yes, I know it works in a Snicker's bar, but it just didn't here).

So ... yeah.  Dry boring cake, clashing peanut butter and caramel components, not a real success for me as it was served.  That said, I of course deconstructed it, ate the cake warmed up and moistened served a la mode with a scoop of coffee ice cream, ate the creamy chocolate and pb crispy layers together to really appreciate the peanut butter, and then just enjoyed the caramel on top of ice cream later.  Each component, besides that cake, was **** worthy, just, combine to a ... **+.

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Sweet Street Lemonberry Jazz Bar (2022).

"Lively lemon curd and light lemon mousse punctuated by wild Maine blueberries, white chocolate, and buttery shortbread."

When I picked this item, it was mislabelled by my cafe, so I thought I was getting a raspberry item (even though it didn't look that way), but I definitely didn't realize I was getting a lemon item, because, well, I wouldn't have grabbed it.

One bite though and I realized the error.  Gah.  Lemon curd.

But the rest of the bar was actually good - the soft shortbread base was buttery and flavorful, the white chocolate drizzle on top was sweet and tasty, and even the lemon mousse layer was decent - very cream cheese forward, basically like a whipped lemon cheesecake.  The lemon curd layer though ... pretty much ruined it for me.

Oh, and the wild Maine blueberries?  Tiny, not really enough to notice.

For the components I liked, ****, but **+ overall, because, lemon dessert.

Gluten-Free Bars

I eat plenty of gluten myself, but ordered several of these for our group as we have a number of gluten-free members.  The gluten-free items come individually wrapped.

Honduran Chocolate Manifesto Brownie.

"

Taste the “good” in every bite of our rich and fudgy certified Gluten-free 

Manifesto™ Brownies. Baked with only cage-free eggs, our own blend of 

gluten-free flour, sustainable chocolates and ingredients free of gmo’s and 

artificial additives– yet the star of these irresistible brownies is the purely 

dark Honduran chocolate mixed into every batch. Sourced from a small cocoa 

collective of women farmers, this chocolate supports the advancement of 

these women providing them with the skills, education and income necessary 

to bring success to their families and village"

These were fine brownies, thick, rich, fudgy, but ... they did have a bit of gluten-free funk to them.  The flavor and texture was not as awesome as the regular brownies.  I think for a gluten-free item they were on the better end of the spectrum, but I prefer the regular brownies.

One point lost to the two tiny tiny chunks of chocolate on top ... it was just a tease!  I love chunks in my brownie, but these just made me angry, because I wanted more.  I'd honestly prefer zero!

**.

Chewy Marshmallow with Brown Butter & Sea Salt (GF)

"Marshmallow cream folded with gluten free crispy rice puffs and mini marshmallows. A touch of browned butter is added to bring a subtle caramel note, sea salt to make it come alive."

I don't think I've ever actually wanted or liked a rice crispy treat in my life (not that they call them that, they are called "Chewy Marshmallow" as the product name, and don't actually mention the crispy rice puffs in any way ...)

I opened one to try it so I could review, then planned to promptly hand it over to friend (which I still did), but I'll admit, they are far better than I expected.  I did take a second bite.

I still don't like or want a rice crispy treat, but the brown butter really adds a richness and depth of flavor, the salt punches it up, and they have lots of full mini marshmallows in them, which does totally change the texture and eating experience considerably.  They are truly ... "chewy marshmallow" as named,  more marshmallow forward than normal crispy treats.  They put Rice Krispie brand ones to shame, and probably any bakesale mother's versions too ...

So, if you like marshmallows, gooey chewy crispy treat things, and more grown up flavors like brown butter and sea salt ... give one a try.

***+.

Cakes

Moving on, Sweet Street also makes a variety of styles of cake, ranging from 6 layer full size cakes (literally called "The Big Line"), to cheesecakes, to cupcakes, and individuals too.  I've tried an assortment, everything but cupcakes, some more successful than others, but all do look pretty fabulous.  These, along with pies, are the items that nicer restaurants tend to put on their menus, when they don't have an in-house pastry team.

Flourless Chocolate Torte.

"When you crave a knock-out chocolate punch in an unassuming delivery, the flourless chocolate torte is for you. It is also gluten-free." -- Sweet Street

"Simple, elegant and timeless. This flourless and gluten free chocolate torte is made with a blend of chocolate and finished with a ganache topping." -- Gourmet Express, Foodservice Distributor

This is a very, very rich chocolate cake, a 10" cake, pre-sliced into 16 slices, which looked a bit small at first, but turned out were plenty large, as it was sooo rich.  This cake is gluten-free.

The texture was good, creamy yet dense, and I liked the ganache on top, but I wasn't really into the chocolate cake itself.  Then again, I'm not generally that excited about cake, or chocolate desserts.  

I added whipped cream, and liked it more that way.  It really needed a thick cream to cut the sweet.

***.

Flourless Chocolate Torte (2022).

Flourless chocolate cake.  Something many people go crazy for.  But me?  I'm always ... "meh" on it.  I really need to be in a specific mood to want it.  

A few years ago I had the Sweet Street version, called a torte, and I remember thinking it was fine (see above), but, yeah, it was a flourless chocolate cake, and I wasn't that into it.  But one day it showed up again, when I was in the mood for chocolate ...

The slices looked tiny to me, but I quickly realized they were appropriate.  This was so, so rich.  Smooth, creamy, decadent, and so, so rich.  It screamed out for needing a balance of fresh whipped cream, some strawberries or raspberries, even a drizzle of dark chocolate sauce, something to cut the rich.

I liked the thick chocolate ganache layer on top more than the cake itself.

It is a fine product for what it is, but, just not really the dessert I'm crazy for.  ***.

Chocolate Lovin' Spoon Cake.

"Layers of chocolate cake, chocolate pudding and creamy chocolate icing." -- GourmetXpress, distributor

"A giant mouthful of chocolate pudding between two layers of dark, moist chocolate drenched chocolate cake." -- Sweet Street

Next up, the well named "Chocolate Lovin' Spoon Cake".

This was another very, very rich chocolate cake.  Sliced small by the cafe, but still hard to get through a full slice as it was just so very rich.  And I like big dessert portions!

The chocolate pudding/frosting layers were very sweet, very thick, and just, too much.  The cake helped cut it, but, overall, just, too much.  I wanted whipped cream to cut the chocolate and sweet, but that seemed a bit ridiculous to add.  A scoop of vanilla ice cream I think would work perfectly.

I liked the nuts and little chocolate chips on the exterior.

***.

Lemonade Cake with Meyer Lemon Curd

"Layered lemon cake with a luscious, cool lemon mousseline and Meyer lemon curd."  -- GourmetXpress, distributor

"Using lemonade as an inspiration, we've layered lemon cake with a luscious, cool lemon mousseline and Meyer lemon curd to create the ultimate lemon cake."  -- Sweet Street

Lemon desserts.  Never my favorite.  Cakes.  Never my favorite.  But I still tried it.

It was better than I expected, actually.  A layered cake, with three layers of cake, one layer of lemon mousseline, one layer of curd, and topped with both the mousseline and curd.

The cake was decently moist.  It said lemon cake, but I didn't detect the lemon here (and preferred it that way, actually).  The "mousseline" was creamy and just a bit lemony.  The curd was tangy, not too eggy, but a bit gummy.  The mousse and curd went well together.

Still a cake, still not my pick for desserts, but not awful.  **+.

3 Layer Iced Lemonade Cake with Lemon Curd (2023).

"Using lemonade as an inspiration, lemon cake with a luscious, cool lemon mousse and Meyer lemon curd to create the ultimate lemon cake."

I'm not wild about lemon (or other citrus) desserts in general, and definitely went many years really not being into citrus curds in particular, but, as I've grown older, I've started to quasi-appreciate these types of desserts.  I blame it (er, credit it?) to a stunning key lime cheesecake from Fillings and Emulsions in the SLC Airport of all places (seriously, so good, worth a layover there, really!).  And so, when I saw the lemonade cake from Sweet Street on the menu at Lemonade, I gave it a try.

It was decent.  The cake itself was only faintly lemon flavored, and wasn't particularly moist, but it was sweet and the crumb structure was good.  A bit better than generic grocery store cake.  The lemon mousse filling and topping had more lemon flavor, and were nicely creamy.  The lemon curd layer was more like a gel, and was the most intense lemon flavor in the cake.  It all came together to deliver a reasonably strong lemon flavor, a trio of components with different textures, and overall was decent.

I added fresh blackberries and whipped cream, and enjoyed it more that way.  Not an item I'd go out of my way for, but I easily finished it, and I would recommend to those who do like lemon desserts. ***+.

3 Layer Iced Lemonade with Lemon Curd (2024).

"Using lemonade as an inspiration, we've layered lemon cake with a luscious, cool lemon mousseline and Meyer lemon curd to create the ultimate lemon cake."

I got this from Lemonade in San Francisco, where I've gotten it in the past.  The staff member opened the fridge to fetch my slice, and had to dig around for a while.  He plucked it from the far back, which I didn't think much of, until I opened it.  It looked like this when I got it - missing a hunk from the base, the topping pulled off of it.

So, it didn't win any awards on looks, but I still didn't think there was a problem until I took a fork full of the cake.  It was so dry.  It tasted like the inside of a freezer.  Stale, dry, freezer burnt.  Um. Not that this is usually amazing cake, but, this clearly was either 1) old or 2) wasn't stored properly.  The top layer was possibly even worse ... it was rock solid, and it should be a softer mousse.

I did extract the two middle lemon layers, but they were considerably more solid than they should be.  I even tried cake from the middle, but it too was just bone dry, and tasted like freezer parts.

Sadness.  I don't think I can properly evaluate this, as I think Lemonade definitely did something wrong by serving this to me.

Salted Caramel Crunch Cake: Side View.

"A showstopper, brings sweet and salt cravings to perfection. Buttery, vanilla flecked pudding cake with rich waves of caramel. Layered with caramel crunch, creamy custard and more caramel." -- GourmetXpress, distributor

"Light, buttery vanilla-flecked cake has waves of caramel cake and layered with salted caramel crunch and a creamy custard layer." -- Sweet Street

I'm not a cake girl.  You know this.  But, this promised sweet and salty, it promised "waves" of caramel, and it promised crunch.  It sounded like perhaps a cake form of the salted caramel manifesto cookies almost.  I had to try it.

It was fantastic.  I expected the vanilla cake to be entirely throwaway for me, since, like I said, "eh, cake", but the base cake was even good.  The vanilla flavor (they use Madagascar Vanilla) was intense, and the "pudding cake" aspect of it meant it was really light and fluffy.  The layers of vanilla cake also had little half moons of caramel cake, not mentioned in the description, but those too were good.  Maybe it was just a "rich wave of caramel" that infused the vanilla cake, rather than a separate type of cake?

Between the bottom cake layer and the middle cake layer was a very thick layer of caramel crunch.  This was sweet, gooey, and a great texture.  The "crunch" wasn't nuts as I first expected, but actually, I think bits of hard caramel inside the thick caramel sauce?  Super sweet, but tasty.  There was only one layer of the crunch which made me laugh a little since it was supposed to be a "crunch cake" after all.  One layer was plenty though.

The upper layers were instead separated by custard.  Creamy, rich custard, again, good vanilla flavor.  Far more exciting the standard buttercream between layers.

So far, so good, **** ... but there was more!

Salted Caramel Crunch Cake: Top.

The top was covered in another very thick layer of the caramel, this time without crunch.  Sweet, good consistency, who says no more more caramel?  It upped the sweetness level once again.

The backside was coated in a white fluffier frosting, not the same as the thick custard layer, and a graham crumble.  The fluffy sweet frosting was again a nice contrast, and better than most standard buttercream.

Overall, everything here had its place, and worked.  Good quality cake, nice custard, great caramel, bit of crunch, fluffy frosting.  Complete winner in both taste and texture.

Don't ask about the nutrition, or ingredients used in it though.  It is ... impressive how many things go into it.  Food science almost!  Seriously.  Both butter and margarine.  All the sweeteners: sugar, rice syrup, brown sugar, honey, liquid sugar, corn syrup, and glucose.  All the dairy: cream, milk, buttermilk, nonfat milk, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk.  And of course, a slew of oils and lecithin.

But wow is it good. ****+, really a great cake.

Update: I've had this several more times, and have been impressed every single time.  The second time I had a slice I was worried my expectations were now high, and it wouldn't live up.  Except ... it did.  I still loved it.   Such great textures, flavors, and components. ****+.

Chocolate Nut Torta with Nutella.

"Layers of lightly roasted almond and hazelnut cake "sandwiched" with the creamiest milk chocolate. Hand-decorated with milk chocolate Nutella icing." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Old meets new in this Gluten Free classic nut torta that sparkles with roasted hazelnuts and almonds and a milk chocolate icing and hand-slathered with Nutella®." -- Sweet Street

If you like cake, and you like Nutella, then, this is the cake for you.

I ... don't, really, so, it wasn't really my thing.  The cake layers had texture from the nuts, and were a bit dry.  Also, gluten-free, if that matters to you.

The frosting/filling was super rich, fudgey, thick, and sooo much of it.  Bonus Nutella layer on the very top as well.  Again, if you love Nutella, yay.

I think this was probably good, if it is your sort of thing but for me, meh. **+.

Pomegranate Parfait Cheesecake.
Seasonal.

"Surprising pops of brilliant-red, tart pomegranate sauce provide a delicious contrast to the creamy coolness of cheesecake times two. A layer of creamy White Chocolate Cheesecake marries a layer of refreshing pomegranate-infused cheesecake; all topped with smooth, white chocolate drizzle and fresh pomegranate arils."

This is a seasonal offering, festive with the red colors from pomegranate for the holidays, and the drizzle of white chocolate all over the top.  Ours did not have the "fresh pomegranate arils" from the description, or from the stock photos I saw, with them beautifully placed on top.

I liked the sound of white chocolate cheesecake, and of the "parfait" style, but, I wasn't quite sure how I'd feel about all the pomegranate.  I also thought maybe one layer would be a mousse, not both cheesecake, because, calling it a "parfait" seemed a bit odd if its really just a two layer cheesecake?  I guess it was layers, and it was fruit?

Anyway, I ... didn't like it.  It turns out, others didn't either, and it was discontinued in November 2021.

Pomegranate Parfait Cheesecake (Slice).

Here you can see a bit better the layers.

First, the crust.  It was horrible.  Mushy, stale tasting, like cardboard graham crackers.  I did not like it at all.

The cheesecake was thick, rich, smooth, but I didn't taste white chocolate in the bottom layer.  I know cheesecake is always rich, but, this seemed too rich.  Perhaps that was the white chocolate influence?

The pomegranate cheesecake layer was a pretty color, it too was thick and creamy, but I didn't care for the flavor.

I somewhat wonder if I just really wasn't in the mood for this.  I can't pinpoint why I really didn't care for it at all.  **.

Individuals

We also sometimes get the individual items, rather than sliced items, for ease of serving.  Sweet Street has expanded offerings in this range more recently, likely to adapt to the Covid market.

Chocolate Molten Bundt.

"Chocolate bundt cake enrobed in chocolate and filled with dark chocolate truffle." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Deeply chocolate, enrobed in chocolate and filled with a dark chocolate truffle. Serve wickedly warm, unleashing a rush of molten chocolate to your customers’ wild delight. Your plates will be dressed to kill." -- Sweet Street Tip Sheet

"Our moist dark chocolate cake enrobed with dark chocolate … filled with a dark chocolate truffle that melts out when heated." -- Sweet Street

Molten chocolate cake.  Key word: "MOLTEN".  Except ... our catering team missed that word.  They also seem to have missed all the handling instructions that make it quite clear that this is not a room temperature item.  We were presented with not only room temperature, but actually chilled cakes.  Um.

So, first, I'll explain the chilled cake.  It had a hard chocolate shell with a decent snap.  The cake itself was decently moist, but, just chocolate cake, and with no frosting nor whipped cream, it was just fairly boring chocolate cake, strangely surrounded by a chocolate shell, with ... a big hard chunk of chocolate in the center that connects to the disk you see on top.

Clearly, I had to fix this.  I read the manufacture's instructions, with how to heat in microwave or hot box, and then of course added ice cream (and whipped cream, to compare!).

It was dramatically different, as you'd expect.

The cake was better, more moist, nice warm.  But still just chocolate cake, not something I go crazy over.  But that molten core?  Oh, wow.  It really did melt into oozing chocolate deliciousness.  Rich chocolate oozing deliciousness.  Paired with cold vanilla ice cream, this was an insanely good (and decadent!) treat.  Whipped cream worked too, but the hot molten center was a much better match with the cold ice cream.

***+ once I prepared it properly, uh, **+ otherwise.

Vanilla Bean Brulee Individual Cheese.

"Creme Brulee custard with Madagascar vanilla cheesecake on an oat crust." -- Gourmet Express, Wholesale Distributor

"We cook a vanilla bean crème brulée custard with macerated Madagascar vanilla pods and fold it into our cheesecake batter, intensifying the vanilla flavor and giving it a silky, airy lightness. The crispy, baby oat crust laced with even more vanilla is gluten free." -- Sweet Street Bakery

Both the baker, and the distributor, call this "Vanilla Bean Brulee Individual Cheese", which just makes me laugh.  Not cheesecake, but, "cheese".

Anyway.

It sounded, and looked, better than it was.

The crust was oat based, and tasted like cardboard.  Gritty cardboard.  Fairly thick, but very uneven, layer as well.

The cheesecake was ... ok.  The consistency was good, creamy, and it had visible vanilla bean specs, but, the flavor wasn't particularly interesting.  The "brulee" top didn't really have flavor either, it seemed to just be a gel on top.

Fine, but, just nothing special. **+.

Salted Caramel Cheesecake.

"For our caramel, we cook sugar until dark amber, then we stir in fresh whipping cream and butter. It’s blended into the graham crumb crust, folded into a layer of the cheesecake batter and then salted and dolloped on top. Bruléed for a golden caramelized edge."

Another one that looked better than it was.

This one had a graham crumb crust rather than oat.  Then a layer of brown cheesecake that I guess was supposed to taste like caramel, and then another layer of plain cheesecake, that they bruléed for some reason, even though there was then caramel poured on top too.

I didn't like the cardboard-like base.  It was way too thick and mushy.  The brown cheesecake didn't taste distinguishable from the white.  All very plain.  Not very cream cheesy.  The caramel on top was tasty though it really seemed more like dulce de leche.

Fine I guess but very eh.  **+.

Basque Cheesecake (2023).

"Originating from the Basque country of Spain, Basque Cheesecake does not have a traditional crust. This cheesecake is baked at a high temperature to form a delicious, caramelized exterior that serves as a natural crust, which encompasses the entire cheesecake protecting the smooth, creamy interior. Crafted with real cream cheese, a touch of heavy cream, and cagefree eggs, our soufflé’d cheesecake is the lightest and most delectable of all cheesecakes"

"Soufflé’d cheesecake forming a caramelized exterior, serving as a natural crust, with a creamy interior and notes of wood fire."

I'll admit I was skeptical about Sweet Street pulling off a basque cheesecake.  But I laud them for jumping on board this trend.  They make this in an "individual" size, which my cafe choose to cut in half.

The look was reasonably legit - a lightly caramelized top, no crust.  It was remarkably light and fluffy, very soufflé-like as they say.  The flavor was good, not too sweet, fairly strong cream cheese flavor.  It was an above average cheesecake.

But ... it did not have the signature creamy, gooey interior that a basque cheesecake really should have.  It was also quite plain, I recommend serving with a little fruit compote, or fresh fruit and whipped cream.

For a true basque cheesecake, I have to give this just *** for lightness, but lack of creamy center and not particularly strong caramelization on top, but for a generic cheesecake, it was above average, ***+.  I enjoyed it.

Pies

The pies from Sweet Street are another winning category for me.  Not only are they fairly unique varieties, but, wow, there were some shockingly good items in this lineup.  These too I see on restaurant menus around town, or at nicer pizza places in particular.  Most are massive, either deep dish style, or just loaded with goodies.

Caramel Apple Granny.

"Buttery caramel and toffee studded custard embrace tart apples in a shortbread crust." -- GourmetXpress, distributor

"Buttery caramel and toffee-studded custard hug fresh Granny Smith apples piled high in our melt-in-the-mouth shortbread crust." -- Sweet Street

First up, the Caramel Apple Granny.  This is not ordinary apple pie.

Everyone loved the look of this one.  The caramel coating dripping down the sides was a crowd pleaser, for sure.

I'm not a huge fan of apple pie, but, this looked too unique to miss out on.

Caramel Apple Granny: Cross Section.

As we dug in, we discovered that this was no standard apple pie, and not just because of the caramel topping.

The crust was not traditional flaky pie crust, instead, more of a shortbread cookie, thick, sweet, buttery.  It was double crusted, which wasn't obvious at first, but, the layer under the caramel coating was also crust.  And a bottom and back crust.  Lots of crust.  The crust was buttery, soft, sweet, and actually really quite good, at least, the blond parts of it.  I didn't like the very outside edge, darker, and kinda mealy.  But the rest of it, great component, just not traditional pie crust.

The caramel topping was indeed great.  Smooth, sweet, more like toffee flavor than caramel.  Very good.

The inside too was fascinating.  Soft, spiced apples, but also a bit of custard.  Hmm, custard inside apple pie?  I didn't necessarily taste the caramel and toffee inside, but the topping had enough of those elements to make up for that.  The apples were nicely cooked, not mushy, good sized chunks, and the spicing was just right, very "seasonal", but not aggressive.

Overall, this was decent, and certainly one of the more unique apple pies I've ever had ... non-traditional crust, non-traditional topping, non-traditional filling.

I enjoyed it at room temperature, and didn't even add whipped cream.  I wished I had taken another slice, as I wanted to try it warm too.

****.

Caramel Apple Granny: Again!

We've since had it more times, and each time, I think about taking the time to warm it up as I usually do with apple pie, but, it actually just works well at room temperature, or even chilled.  The apples are perfectly cooked, not mushy at all, and so well spiced.  And, of course I love the sweet caramel on top.  But what really continues to surprise me is how much I like the shortbread crust.  Buttery, sweet, tasty, and particularly with some whipped cream.  Overall, a crowd pleaser, every time.  And yes, great with whipped cream too.

More update: I finally heated a slice up.  I liked it that way too, particularly when paired with vanilla ice cream.  But I think I like it cold more.

So basically, good as served, good with whipped cream, good warmed up, good with ice cream, good for dessert, good for breakfast ... just, well, good! ****.

Irish Cream Bash. 2018.

"White chocolate mousse with chocolate cake crumbles, fine Irish cream and white chocolate chunks in a brownie shortbread crust." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"White chocolate mousse and delicate chocolate cake crumbles, tipsy with the finest Irish cream." -- Sweet Street

This was a very tasty pie.  And, uh, a decadent one.  It came pre-sliced, into what I consider *very* small slices, and then I saw that they are 440 calories.  For tiny slices.  I planned to have at least 2 in a sitting ... 

Anyway, why the high cal load?  Let me, uh, run through the ingredients.  In order.  Cream.  Cream cheese.  Sugar.  Margarine. White chocolate.  Flour.  Eggs.  Chocolate.  Irish Cream.  Sour Cream.  Evaporated Milk.

Uh, yeah.  Not that I expected this to be healthy, but, wowzer.  Cream + cream cheese + Irish cream + sour cream + evaporated milk?!

The result though?  A tasty pie.

The crust was the weakest element, at least for me.  It looked like a slightly thick chocolate tart shell, but it turned out to kinda be a rather stale tasting brownie.  The kind of brownie that makes you say, "meh".  But it was just a crust.  The rest was fantastic.

It was filled with rich, creamy, white chocolate cheesecake-like mousse, studded with chunks of moist chocolate cake, and topped with chocolate drizzle.  It was fluffy, it was sweet, it was boozy, it was, well, tasty.  The chocolate cake chunks were useful in breaking up the consistency and I was glad they were moist, but, I'm not sure they were really needed.

Overall, it was very enjoyable, and I'd gladly have it again. ****.

Update: I had it again in 2018, for St. Patty's day.  I liked it even more that time, so rich and fluffy, and that time, I even liked the brownie-like crust.  The crust was far more moist, more like a fudge component, and I appreciated the contrast of the chocolatelyness against the sweet fluffy cream.  ****+.

Irish Cream Bash. 2019.

The next year, I ordered it again for St. Patty's in 2019.  And again, adored it!

This time, I liked every component.  The "crust" was just a thick fudgey brownie, and, unlike the first time, wasn't stale at all.  It was firm but moist, and complimented the cream very well.

And the cream ... so very good.  Fluffy, rich, creamy, boozy ... just oh so good.  I even loved the large shards of dark chocolate on top.  Dark chocolate and Irish cream turn out to be a really great combination.  The only element I wasn't excited about was the chocolate cake pieces mixed in, they were fine, good to break up the mousse I guess, but, not as good as the crust, and I didn't think I needed them, when I had all the crust too.

****+, we are nearing pie perfection.

Key Lime Cream Pie.

"Authentic Florida key limes smothered with a lacy white whipped cream." -- GourmetXpress

"Authentic Florida Key Lime…tartly refreshing in a granola’d crust." -- Sweet Street

This was my least favorite Sweet Street pie, but, that makes sense, since I don't tend to like lemon or lime desserts.

The crust was the part I thought I might like, but didn't, as it seemed almost sawdust like. Compressed sawdust, but not a texture I cared for.

The key lime custard was creamy and tangy, and I'm sure if you like that sort of thing, it was fine.  The whipped cream on top was fairly standard.

Others seemed to like it, it just wasn't the pie for me, given personal preference. **+.

Bourbon St. Pecan Pie.

"Toasted pecan halves on a pecan filling with the smooth flavor of Jim Beam Bourbon." -- GourmetXpress

"Mammoth toasted pecan halves in an intoxicating filling, laced with Kentucky bourbon." -- Sweet Street

Pecan pie is always a favorite pie of mine, but also one I have strong opinions on.  As a result, I always approach pecan pie with a bit of apprehension (and, in case you are wondering, I'm totally pro-Karo syrup.  I like other kinds of pecan pie too, but, classic corn syrup laden pie has its place!).

This was a good pecan pie.

The crust was the weakest element, again more of a shortbread rather than traditional pie crust, but not like the one I liked in the Caramel Apple Granny.  It was a bit hard and dry.  The filling was sweet, gooey, and had a lovely bourbon flavor to it, and a bit of depth from molasses and brown sugar in the sugar mix.  The top was loaded with pecan halves that really did look as if they were placed by hand.  The apricot glaze on top was a bit odd, a technique I see in other pastries but never before in pecan pie.  It wasn't bad exactly, just more sweet goo, but, a bit odd.

Overall, this was a pecan pie I was happy to eat, and I liked the bourbon aspect.  It was pretty standard awful-for-you pecan pie though, made from corn syrup + invert sugar + refined syrup + molasses + brown sugar + white sugar + butter + margarine ... It came pre-sliced in 14 slices, which is far fewer than I'd slice it into, and those tiny slices were, uh, 530 calories and 31g of fat eacg, so, perhaps it is a good thing they pre-sliced it.

I liked it more warmed up, and served with vanilla ice cream.  Really, what I loved was just ditching the crust, and warming it up completely and serving it over a big scoop of ice cream, as a topping.  Sweet, gooey, and perfect pairing. ****.

Update: I've had this a few more times, and sometimes the bourbon element doesn't quite please me.  Or actually, I think it is the apricot glaze that I don't really care for.  Something in the flavor just sometimes I don't like .... ***+.

The Big Blitz with SNICKERS® BAR Pie

"Chocolate, peanuts & caramel combined into one of America’s favorite taste combinations." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"The original pie that eats like a candy bar! Large chunks of Snickers® bars, fudgy Brownie, caramel, peanuts and a tart cream cheese filling" --Sweet Street

Well, hello, decadence.  I know I've said that about others, but this one really defined it.

No matter what angle you took this in from, it was clearly just loaded with goodies.

From the top, covered in thick chocolate ganache, drizzled with more chocolate and caramel, topped with peanuts, chopped up Snickers bars, and chocolate chunks.  Basically a Snicker's bar, a salty sweet combination, and plenty of chocolate.

The Big Blitz with SNICKERS® BAR Pie (Side Profile).

More reasonable from the side?  Nah.

Here you can see more layers - crust at the bottom, chocolate/caramel filling with chunks of Snickers, a layer of cream cheese filling, and then the layers that you could see before from the top.

The crust wasn't particularly interesting, although it actually was nice to have something a bit flaky and less sweet than the rest of the pie.  It kinda needed the crust (and really would have benefited from some whipped cream too).

Because everything else? Sweet and decadent.  Very rich.  The filling layers were all very sweet, but loaded with textures - creamy cream cheese layer, crunchy nuts, chewy bits of snickers and caramel ...

A fun pie, for sure, but a little goes a long way with this one. ***+.

Update: Of course, I had more of this another time.  And I took my own advice, adding whipped cream to lighten it up.  Except that time, I didn't find it necessary.  Hmm.  Maybe I got used to the richness? ***+.

Update: I had another slice a year or so later, and ... I really didn't care for it.  At all.  The top was Snicker's, the cheesecake lackluster compared to others, I didn't like the nutty base layer, and honestly, the only thing I really tolerated was the crust.  No idea why my impression changed so radically ... **+.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie with REESE'S® Peanut Butter Cups.

"The popular candy bar in a pie! Dark chocolate and peanut butter mousse full of Reeses' Peanut Butter Cups." -- Foodservice Direct, distributor

And then ... there was this.  Similar idea to the Snickers pie, but featuring Reese's Peanut Butter Cups instead.  O. M. G.

Do you know what happens when you combine cream (literally, #1 ingredient in this pie!), all the peanut products (peanut butter, Reese's peanut butter chips, peanut drops, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups), chocolate, sugar (regular and brown), evaporated milk, margarine, and a host of other additives ...

You get magic.  That is what you get.  Calorie laden, fat laden, but INSANELY DELICIOUS magic.  Rich, indulgent, magic.

That is what the wizards at Sweet Street have created here.

No, really.  This is insanely, insanely, insanely good pie.  But oh-so-rich.

It honestly is one of the best desserts I've ever had.

Ok, let me calm down enough to review this.  Starting with the base, graham cracker based, just a crumble/margarine/sugar mix, it actually had a nice grit to it that provided a bit of crispy/crunchy in with the creamy elements.  A good choice for this time.  Also the most boring layer of course.

Above that, the chocolate layer.  Thick, creamy, perfectly smooth, and very chocolately.  Intense and rich, not too sweet.  It is everything you want in a thick thick chocolate ganache.  This alone, with the crust, and some whipped cream, would make for a very satisfying pie to be honest.  But this is a chocolate peanut butter pie after all.

The middle is where the peanut glory kicks in.  Um.  Yeah.  Peanut butter mousse of dreams.  Much like the chocolate layer, the flavor was incredibly strong.  So much peanut.  It was also incredibly smooth, a slightly less thick consistency, and so, so, so rich.  Basically, um, just peanut butter and cream, made with crunchy peanut butter, plus additional Reese's peanut butter chips and drops.  The little bits of crispy peanut in here were a nice touch. Seriously, insane.

Above that a sweetened cream layer, crosshatch of more chocolate and peanut butter sauces, and, oh yeah, hunks of Reese's peanut butter cups.

I mean, come on.  To say a bite of this came together as a perfect package is an understatement.  You have creaminess, richness, a bit of crunch, and chocolate peanut butter galore.  A indulgent, perfect, truly could not be improved in any way, bite.

Although this slice was tiny, which made me scorn it at first, it turns out, a person really could not deal with more ... in a single sitting.

I actually added whipped cream to balance out the richness, and some fresh strawberries, just to feel slightly less, um, weighed down the second slice I had (of course I got two, they were tiny!), which I highly recommend.

*****, top 3 frozen desserts of all time, any brand, no question.

Pastries

So far I've focused only on the desserts, but Sweet Street also makes a number of other baked goods and pastries.  I've tried fewer of these, and they offer only a handful, including basic croissants, coffee cake, and loaves. 

Classic Coffee Cake.

"This classic coffee cake for one is studded with pockets of gooey cinnamon smear and topped with crispy crumbs." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Raise your expectations. This classic coffee cake is studded with pockets of gooey cinnamon smear and topped with crisp crumbs. A tender, buttery and indulgent treat." -- Sweet Street

This was ... ok.

The base cake wasn't exciting.  A bit dry, just, well, plain cake, with a cinnamon layer about halfway through the bottom.

The "gooey cinnamon smear" was flavorful, and it was gooey, but it truly was just smeared on top.  

The crispy crumble was likewise decent, yes, crispy, and I liked the texture, but, not particularly exciting.

Overall, a fine product, but not worth a repeat. ***.

Breakfast Breads

Loaves are available in a number of pullman varieties, and a few are offered as individually wrapped slices as well.  Breakfast breads are never my go-to, but, as with many products, it turns out, Sweet Street does a great job with these too.

Farmer's Market Blueberry Oat Pullman.

"Fresh Maine Blueberries are swirled in a moist buttery, yogurt cake, abundant with blueberry flavor. Topped with nutrient dense rolled oats."

This was a shockingly good breakfast bread.  It didn't necessarily look like anything special.  Just a breakfast cake.  Studded inconsistently with blueberries.  Oats on top.  It looked skippable.

But I'm glad I ordered (and tried!) it.

A dense style, really a pound cake, not a breakfast quick bread really.  It was amazingly moist from the low fat yogurt used inside, and studded with what turned out to be a decent distribution of blueberries, juicy little pops of flavor.  It was sweet for sure, like I said, more of a pound cake than a quickbread.

Overall, this was quite enjoyable, as a breakfast item alongside a coffee kinda like a blueberry muffin just a bit more naughty feeling, or as an afternoon treat.  It wasn't so sweet or cake-like that it seemed like it should be dessert.

***+.