Empire Cake, NYC

Update Review, Summer 2025 Visits

I was in New York more than a month before I encountered extra Empire Cake in the office.  Perhaps a record for me, as that office is usually the mecca of extra cake from my favorite place.  I was nearly about to actually, gasp, purchase some myself to satisfy the craving, but luckily someone came through - on my actual birthday no less! (Now, granted, it was to celebrate someone else's 10th year work anniversary, but that didn't stop me from pretending the cupcakes were for me!).  I was late to the party and only snagged the last bits, but I was still thrilled.  I was able to try three cupcakes, all flavors I'd never had before.  And two days later?  A full size cake (an actual birthday cake, uh, for a dog). The next week? Two more cakes.  Finally!

As always, I adored the cupcakes/cake, and continue to think Empire makes the best classic American high sugar/buttercream style cake in NY.

Cookies & Cream.

"Chocolate cake frosted with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream and chocolate cookie crumble."

Regular readers know how I feel about Oreos, and yet, I couldn't resist trying this final hunk of the cookies & cream cupcake.

It was a good cupcake, very moist, deep chocolate flavor, open crumb structure.  Sweet frosting that was a very creamy consistency.  I barely noticed the bit of cookie crumble on top and integrated into the frosting.  I still would prefer not cookies & cream, but this was good.  My least favoritei though.  3.5/5.

Strawberry Fields.

"Vanilla crème fraîche cake frosted with strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream and a dab of strawberry preserves."

Next up, this pretty pink one, which turned out to be strawberry.  I adore Empire's vanilla crème fraîche cake base in general, and this was no exception.  So moist, so tangy, love it.  And the swiss buttercream frosting excellent as always, again, fluffy, sweet but not cloying, well balanced in the butter levels, and bursting with strawberry flavor.  The dab of strawberry preserves accented that strawberry flavor even more.  My first time having this flavor, very big fan.  My favorite of the flavors I tried, and one I'd gladly get again.  4.5/5.

Bananas Foster.

"Banana cake frosted with cinnamon rum Swiss meringue buttercream and topped with a caramel drizzle and walnuts."

The last one I got was brownish, and clearly had caramel drizzled on top.  I assumed it was dulce de leche, a flavor I knew Empire makes, but it turned out to be ... bananas foster!  The cake itself was mildly banana flavored, subtle but definitely there.  Moist, good cake as all of theirs are.  The frosting was sweet and enjoyable, but I didn't really taste cinnamon nor rum.  The caramel drizzle on top was super sweet, and definitely did make this more bananas foster like.

But ... this cupcake had more than the description said, and more than I realized it would have.  The center was a core of sweet dulce de leche adjacent gooey goodness.  Yes, it made this whole thing very sweet, but it was quite good.  My only criticism of this cupcake is that it really wasn't strong in the bananas department, which was fine, but if you were looking for bananas foster, you'd find it a bit lacking.  Low 4/5.

Very Vanilla.

"Our moist vanilla crème fraîche cake filled and frosted with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream."

And then, actual cake!

The birthday cake was just the very vanilla, which, yes, is simple and very vanilla, but I do love their cake, and this was no exception.

The cake was moist, and had Empire's signature tang from the crème fraîche.  I adore their buttercream, yes, just vanilla in this case, but not too sweet, great balanced butter/sugar, and, very importantly, plenty of it.

4/5, a very reliable third pick for me.

Very Vanilla.

Another day, another slice of very vanilla.  The layers weren't particularly even (the cake or the frosting), so I'm sure a judge on a baking competition would seriously dock them for that, but I didn't mind.  Same great cake and frosting as before, and the ratios still totally worked, plenty of buttercream in every bite.  4/5.

Black Forest.
(Deluxe)

"Chocolate cake layered with kirsch brandy-marinated Morello cherries and crème légère, frosted with dark Belgian chocolate ganache."

I recognized this cake immediately, as I had it last year.  The only Empire Cake that doesn't have their amazing buttercream between the layers and on the outside, but rather, uses the crème légère within, and very thick dark Belgian chocolate ganache on the outside.  I gleefully took a giant slice of cake, and of course, lots of the debris hunks of that excellent ganache that fell off.  I don't understand the humans who leave all that goodness behind!

It was exactly as I remembered.  Moist, deeply chocolately, yet somehow light chocolate cake.  Insanely rich dark chocolate ganache, such a thick layer of it.  Plenty of crème légère to balance out all the richness.  I do really love Empire Cake's buttercream, but the lightness here is needed to combat the intense chocolate nature of the cake/ganache.  And of course fancy cherries on top as decoration AND within the layers.  They were super soaked in kirsche, and nicely boozy.

Put it all together, and this is a fantastic cake, and a great pick when I don't want buttercream.  4/5, maybe even 4.5/5, my second favorite I had this trip.

Update Review, December 2024 Visit

It used to be, without fail, that when I visited my NY office, some group would have an extra cake or cupcakes from Empire Cake, several times a week.  Literally.  But the past two visits I didn't encounter *any* stray Empire Cake goodies.  Yes, I had other cupcakes (like from Buttercup Bake Shop) and other cake (like from Mia's), but not from Empire.  So I broke down an picked up a simple vanilla cupcake myself.

It remains my favorite place for cake and cupcakes.  No question.

Very Vanilla. $4.25.

"Our moist vanilla crème fraîche cake frosted with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream."

Love these damn cupcakes.  Moist, dense cake that is sweet and slightly tangy, and has such strong vanilla flavor.  Love the sweet but not cloying buttercream.  Love love love.  Simplicity perfected. ****+.

Update Review, August & October 2023 visits

Whenever I used to visit my New York office, I kid you not, I discovered extra Empire Cakes cupcakes or full size cakes in our microkitchens every single time. Usually this would happen on my first day there, and often nearly every day thereafter.  Everyone seemed to order from Empire Cakes (which, makes sense, it is right across the street), and everyone seemed to always be having celebrations, and copious leftovers.  I'm sure if I worked there normally, I'd get a bit sick of Empire Cakes eventually, but for me as a visitor, this was such a treat.  I really, really like Empire Cakes, definitely the best I've had in New York, and some of my favorite cake from anywhere really.  I've liked nearly every flavor, and every format, I've tried.  It is just my style of cake.  If you prefer a lighter, less sweet sponge cake and minimal or very fluffy frosting, this isn't the place for you, but for moist, dense, American style butter cake, it is perfection.  And, swoon, that buttercream.  

So when I recently visited New York for the first time since 2019 (damn that pandemic!), and I didn't encounter any Empire Cake the first two days, I was a bit sad.  But, my luck all changed by day 3, and then again on day 4.  And day 6.  And 7.  And the next week. Phew.  And, I was thrilled to see that I do still absolutely adore this cake!

Cakes

The most common goods I find are abandoned layer cakes, from a party of some kind.  I'm always thrilled the actual attendees don't seem to have great cake appetites.

Chocolate On Vanilla.

"Vanilla crème fraîche cake with our rich Belgian chocolate buttercream filling and frosting."

Oh, this cake.  Just as good as I remembered.  Even the simple chocolate on vanilla.

The cake was perfectly moist, dense, sweet, buttery, slight tang from the crème fraîche.  Exactly my style of cake.  I could almost even just eat the cake, no frosting nor ice cream pairing needed.  Which is really saying something for me, a person who usually sees cake just as a vessel for frosting.  ****+, simple cake, but, fantastic.

And then, the buttercream.  This isn't a light, fluffy buttercream, but rather, a more firm style.  Which might not sound great, but I really like it.  I even like it straight from the fridge, when it is super firm, although, letting it warm up a bit is best.  The chocolate flavor here was mild, and the buttercream was sweet but not cloying.  Again, simple, but just how I like it, ****+.  I also appreciated the ratio of frosting filling and topping to cake.

<3 this cake!

Liliko'i (Passionfruit). *Deluxe*

"Vanilla crème fraîche cake layered with passion fruit curd and frosted with a light coconut Swiss meringue buttercream."

Another day, another abandoned Empire Cake in the kitchen.  This time, a flavor I haven't yet tried: lilikoi!

This one had the same excellent moist vanilla cake, but also a curd filling and different buttercream frosting.  It was interesting that the passionfruit curd didn't go all the way through the layers, rather, it was in the center 60% of the cake, with buttercream around the outer part.  I've never seen a layer cake broken down that way before.  It made for some very fruity bites (any from the center) and some great buttercream bites (from the edges), and I liked being able to pick my own adventure that way.

Anyway, the curd was tangy but sweet, lovely passionfruit flavor.  No seeds though, I kinda wished it had those for some crunch or to make the curd seem more "real".  Still, quite creamy and enjoyable.   The buttercream was softer and fluffier than most I've had from Empire Cakes - maybe the host hadn't refrigerated this one at all?  I still quite liked the buttercream - as always with their buttercream, a nice balance of butter, cream, and sugar.  The coconut flavor came through well.  Together, this all combined to a tropical island feel.

This wasn't my favorite of the Empire Cakes I've had (I'm not generally one for fruity cakes, or coconut in cakes), but, it was well made.  Like most of the more interesting cakes with fillings other than just buttercream, this is a "deluxe" offering, so priced a bit higher.  ****.

Black Forest Cake. *Deluxe*.

"Three layers of chocolate cake filled with kirsch brandy-marinated Morello cherries and crème légère, frosted with dark Belgian chocolate ganache."

This is the first Empire Cake I had that didn't have their incredible buttercream frosting.  Instead, the exterior was covered in very thick, very rich, dark chocolate fudge.  I was thrilled to see so much extra "debris" left behind by others, as that fudge-y frosting really could make a dessert in itself.  It paired wonderfully with my afternoon coffee for a little pick me up!  But, beware, richness abounds in that fudge! ****.

The cake was the same as other Empire chocolate cakes.  Always a reliably good cake.  ***+.

And then, the filling.  I didn't know what cake this was when I tried it, and I was describing the white cream to co-workers as "it is sorta like whipped cream, just a touch thicker.  Not nearly as heavy as a pastry cream though, and definitely not buttercream.  It is lighter, than those, but more stable ...".  Turns out, it is crème légère, which is literally crème pâtissière that's lightened by folding through whipped cream.  It was exactly the contrast this cake needed against the very decadent and thick fudge ganache coating.  Perfect level of light sweetness too.  I really liked this element. ****.

And finally, the cherries.  Yup, a bit boozy, soft due to soaking.  I don't actually love black forest flavors in general, and at first I thought there was just the cherries on top, but I kept finding them throughout, so I think they were within the layers as well.  I'd rather not have these, but that is just a personal thing, and clearly what make it black forest in the first place.

Overall, I was happy to try something different from Empire, and as always, it is their frosting/filling that really shines.  ****.

Cupcakes

Less common to find are cupcakes, but they made several appearances as well.   I do prefer the layer cakes, as I think the cakes are generally a bit more moist, and the frosting to cake ratio even more in the frosting's favor (my style!), but, the cupcakes are still top notch.  

Chocolate on Chocolate.

"Our moist chocolate cake with a rich Belgian chocolate buttercream frosting."

I had this as a day-old leftover from someone else's party, so it wasn't particularly fresh.  That said, I did still absolutely love that buttercream - the texture, the flavor, everything.  I love it.  It is best soft at room temperature, but I do even like it when refrigerated and a bit hard.  <3.  ***+.

Chocolate on Chocolate #2.

A few weeks later, another party, more cupcakes, this time fresh.  

The cake was light and fluffy, great cocoa flavor.  <3 the buttercream.  A very good chocolate cupcake. ***+.

Very Vanilla.

"Our moist vanilla crème fraîche cake frosted with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream."

This is the cupcake that shows you that vanilla on vanilla is not boring and basic.  The crème fraîche in the cake makes all the difference, giving it a slight tang. Truly great vanilla cake.  The cake is always moist and enjoyable, and, swoon, that frosting.  Sweet and perfect consistency.

I truly cannot fault a thing about this cupcake.  ****+.

Pistachio Praline.

"Vanilla crème fraîche cake frosted with pistachio Swiss meringue buttercream and a sprinkle of pistachio praline."

Finally!  The pistachio praline cupcake.  This flavor was at the top of my list of flavors to try when I finally ordered from Empire myself, rather than relying on the leftovers from other events.  This was for Chrome's 15th birthday party, and we had them customized with the Chrome dino game dino with a Google "Noogler" hat on.

I was slightly let down by the pistachio praline cupcake.  It was a very good cupcake, don't get me wrong, but, I wanted a stronger pistachio element.  The base of this was the regular (great, but plain) vanilla crème fraîche cake, rather than a pistachio cake.  Standard, very good, basic cake.  The toppingg is where the pistachio elements came in to play.  The buttercream had a reasonable mild pistachio flavor (and light green color), and the sprinkle of praline added a touch of crunch and of course a bit more pistachio flavor.  

I really did like the very sweet fondant custom printed topping too.  Mmm, sugar!

So, overall, good, quality Empire cake, but, not dramatically better than the very vanilla.  I think a pistachio cake, or maybe some pistachio paste filling, would really amp this up.  ****.

Gluten-Free Chocolate w/ Vanilla Buttercream.

"Our moist gluten-free chocolate cake with either a rich Belgian chocolate or vanilla buttercream frosting."

We also had gluten-free cupcakes available, and there were plenty extra.  I tried one, as it had been a few years since I had the gluten-free ones.

The gluten-free cake really was good too. Slightly lighter than the regular one, but, I liked it just as much.  Good cocoa flavor.  And of course, I just adore that buttercream.  This one sorta reminded me of cookies and cream, in a good way (I'm not usually a lover of Oreos or Oreo-adjacent things).

This is a gluten-free treat that gluten eaters will never notice.  ****.

Cookies

Most of my encounters with Empire Cake have been with, well, their namesake cake, but I also finally got a chance to try some of their cookies.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip.

This cookie might not look like anything special, but it was great.  Perfectly soft, slight chew.  Great peanut butter flavor.  Plenty of sugar and butter.  Little chips.

A very satisfying, totally normal size, unassuming cookie. ****.

Callebaut chocolate-dipped coconut macaroon.

A very standard coconut macaroon, with the bottom dipped in high quality dark Callebaut chocolate.  The coconut is shredded, sweetened, and bound together well.  Very coconut forward taste, which you'd expect, and overall quite sweet, a bit too much for without pairing with a black coffee.  The dark chocolate was fabulous.

Overall, good execution of a classic, albeit a touch sweet for me.  ***+.

Original Review, August 2021

It seems that every time I visit the New York office, I encounter Empire Cake.  Probably because it is located close by my office, and they make custom items.  Admins love it for easily getting special goodies for the team.  And because it is good.  Really good.

"Empire Cake brings you the best in American baking with a gourmet twist. We feature fresh-baked cakes, cupcakes, cookies, breakfast pastries, brownies and bars, and sophisticated versions of classic snack treats, including our own “twinkies,” “snowballs” and Swiss rolls."

Every single cake or cupcake I have had from Empire has been good.  Moist, sweet, flavorful cakes, and that buttercream!  Swoon, the buttercream.  I just can't get over it.  

Setting

The bakery is, literally, across the street from my office.  It was easy for me to go check out in person.

Store Front.

The front of the store is quite inviting, with huge cakes in the window, although, alas, those are not real.

Cupcakes.

However, there are plenty of real ones once you step inside!  Cases and cases of goodies.  The cupcakes are what seem to show up constantly in my office.

Other Goodies.

They also make standard cakes, assorted bars, and some fun novelty items, like snowballs and swiss rolls!

Cupcakes at the Office.

It still shocks me that, literally, something like 80% of the time I visit the NYC office I find cake or cupcakes from Empire Cake in a microkitchen.  I know the boxes now well.  This is a very normal sighting - extra cupcakes, free for the taking!

Cakes & Cupcakes

Given the name, Empire Cake, it should come as no surprise that cakes are their speciality.  Available in many sizes, many tiers, many flavors, all sorts of customizations, buttercream or fondant decorated, etc.  I'd love to see their wedding cakes sometime!

The cakes all feature one signature thing: buttercream.

"Buttercream is what you’ll commonly see on many traditional cakes.  It is made primarily of butter, egg whites and sugar.  At Empire Cake we make a Swiss Meringue Buttercream which has a silky, delicious taste and will allow for a nice, smooth finish on your cake."

Yes, most cakes have buttercream frosting, but ... the buttercream at Empire Cake, uh, takes the cake for being the best I've ever had.  The quality of their sourcing, local butter and cream, is apparent, as is the commit to quality throughout, like using fresh seasonal produce from the Union Square Greenmarket. 

July 2018

My first encounter was in July 2018 when I walked through a microkitchen and found a bunch of cupcakes, many only halves or quarters remaining.  I remember trying a few kinds, including a shockingly good gluten-free one.  I liked them enough that I paid attention to the brand, so I was rather thrilled a few days later when the event I was attending had cake ... from Empire Cake!

All The Cakes: Vanilla, Carrot, Red Velvet, Chocolate, and Raspberry Lemon.

The event was large, and our hosts went all out, ordering 5 massive, supersized, cakes.

These cakes had a huge diameter, and were 3 very thick layers tall.  Slicing off "just a small piece" of any of them was impossible, comical even.

We ... didn't come remotely close to finishing them.  I took some extra back to hotel and had it as midnight snacks most nights.

Very Vanilla:
"Our moist vanilla crème fraîche cake filled and frosted with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream."

Carrot:
"Spiced organic carrot cake with pecans, layered and covered with cream cheese frosting."

Red Velvet:
"Our moist red velvet cake filled and frosted with cream cheese frosting."

Raspberry Lemon:
"Vanilla crème fraîche cake layered with raspberry Swiss meringue buttercream and lemon curd filling, covered with raspberry buttercream."

Seriously so much cake!

I had them all, and didn't take notes at the time, but my favorite was the carrot, loaded up with goodies/nuts/raisins/pineapple/etc.  But I remember liking them all, and again, zomg, that buttercream.

October 2018

The next time I was visiting the office, my very first day, basically the same experience as in July.  Walking through a microkitchen and ...

Box for Cupcakes.

Yup, boxes of cupcakes!

And these ones *weren't* all cut up.  They did have only simple vanilla and chocolate left, but I was still pleased to find them.

Two days later?  Same thing.  Ones does not need to look hard for Empire Cake in this office.

Very Vanilla.

"Our moist vanilla crème fraîche cake frosted with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream."

I started with a simple, classic "Very Vanilla".  It was a good cupcake.  Seriously, for a cupcake, this was great.  Sweet dense moist well made cake.  As good as a vanilla cake is going to be.  The creme fraiche clearly helps make it good.

On top?  Perfectly sweet fluffy buttercream.  And plenty of it.  That buttercream is really shockingly good.  But yes, sweet sweet sweet.

I really enjoyed this, enough so that I took a second cupcake (a different kind!), and I had literally just had other dessert before it ... thank you, random team, for having extra cupcakes!

Very Vanilla.

Two days later ... more cupcakes.  Another event.  More extra cupcakes.

I gladly snagged a vanilla, this time with blue icing and a different fondant topper, but still, the same cupcake essentially.

I again adored the frosting, and I think the blue color made me enjoy it even more.  I know that sound silly but ... I loved it!

Vanilla on Chocolate.

"Chocolate cake with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream."

Next I had the chocolate cake version, same incredible buttercream.

The chocolate cake was also good, it had an interesting flavor to it, a bit of a tang almost?  I think I preferred the vanilla though.

Vanilla on Chocolate.

Two days later, yup, more of the cupcakes.

This time, I preferred the chocolate to the vanilla.  But my preference is slight, as both versions are truly wonderful.

The blue buttercream was again just slightly more fun.

GF Vanilla on Chocolate.

"Our moist gluten-free chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream frosting."

And finally, since there were plenty of these still left at the end of the day, I opted for the gluten-free one, remembering that the gluten-free cupcakes I tried before were actually quite good.

It too had the same great frosting, and looked almost like the regular chocolate, but was a darker brown.

It too was good, and honestly, I would have never guessed it was gluten-free.  Such good cupcakes.

Hazelnut Cake. (Oct 2018).

"Vanilla crème fraîche cake filled and frosted with hazelnut Swiss meringue buttercream and hazelnut praline, topped with a bittersweet chocolate glaze."

And then ... yes, that same visit, just a few days later ... a cake!  This was also very good.

Same moist tangy creme fraiche based cake, this time with the same style of incredible fluffy sweet buttercream, just, nutty hazelnut flavored.  Loved it.  The chocolate glaze complimented it well.

I first thought this was peanut butter and chocolate, but once I learned it was hazelnut it made more sense.

Very tasty cake, would gladly eat again.

July 2019

I can't make this up.  Seriously, every visit to the office, cupcakes.

Chocolate and Vanilla Cupcakes.

These all had orange colored buttercream, but it was just plain vanilla, not flavored in any way.

I adored the buttercream as always, soooo generously applied, and sweet and buttery and tasty.

The vanilla cake was good, very sweet, moist enough, but not quite as magical as I had remembered.

The chocolate however?  OMG.  So very good.  Rich, dense, chocolately, and balanced nicely by the super sweet buttercream.  This place makes me like cupcakes!

Uh, congrats "Vector" team?  And thank you.

Classic Treats

"We are well known for our homemade, gourmet versions of classic American treats, which have been featured in such publications as The New York Times, New York Daily News, and Martha Stewart Weddings, and even presented by Whoopi Goldberg to Jimmy Fallon on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon!"

It was hard to stray from the cupcakes and cakes, but when I actually visited the bakery myself, in person, to purchase some goodies, I decided to expand my horizons and try some "classic treats". These treats range from homemade Twinkies, to Swiss Rolls, to Snowballs. or, you know, their take on them. 

My Goodies.

Since I didn't plan to eat them right away, I wanted something that would hold up ok a few days, although, I knew from plenty of experience, that the cupcakes do hold up absolutely fine for a couple days in the fridge.

Still, I wanted to branch out.

I went for a couple items, really just impulse shopping at this point.

Snack Cakes (Homemade "Twinkies")

The item I've been eyeing on Instagram is the snack cakes, basically, their version of Twinkies: cakes filled with a cream filling and covered in a white or milk chocolate coating.  I was told these would hold up even better than cupcakes.

The snack cakes were available in a few flavors, including Brooklyn Blackout, Red Velvet, and a Pride special Funfetti version.

Red Velvet.

"Red velvet cake with cream cheese filling, dipped in Belgian white chocolate."

I couldn't remember if I liked the red velvet before, but I knew I really liked the carrot cake, and that had cream cheese frosting, so, I mostly selected the red velvet to try the cream cheese frosting again.  Also, I wanted a white chocolate shell rather than milk.

The white chocolate shell was fine, pretty standard white chocolate, thicker than I expected, sweet.

Red Velvet: Inside.

Inside, the cream stuffed cake.

I was hoping for more cream cheese filling inside.  I realize now this is still a totally reasonable filling amount, but, I adore the frosting from Empire Cake so much, and I appreciate their usual ratio of very generous frosting, so, this was far less filling compared to the usual frosting, which left me wishing I had a cupcake.

The cake seemed more dense as well, and I wasn't really into the red velvet flavor.

I ... wished I had gotten a cupcake.  The snack cake didn't seem to be the thing for me.

Funfetti.

"Confetti cake filled with cake batter frosting, dipped in white chocolate & drizzled with rainbow colors."

But I also opted for the fun Pride themed snack cake, Funfetti!  Of course, I got this before I tried any snack cake, and didn't realize I wasn't a fan of the form factor.

I wasn't drawn in by the rainbow colors exactly, but I do generally like a good funfetti cake, and also, I really wanted to try the cake batter frosting.

The shell on this was the same thick white chocolate, this time drizzled with rainbow colors.

Funfetti: Inside.

The filling amount was pretty much the same as the red velvet too - the amount appropriate for a Twinkie, but, not nearly as much as I wanted.  The blue color was fun, and I liked the colors in the funfetti cake.  Clearly, this was a fun item.

But ... it was much like the other snack cake.  The cake was fine, dense, fairly standard cake.  The frosting amount was too minimal to really taste.  I can't say I tasted birthday cake. 

The snack cakes are cute, but ... I'm a frosting girl, so these aren't what I'd go for again.

Cookies

"Our cookie selection changes daily, but some of our most popular are classic chocolate chip cookies with Callebaut chocolate, walnut thumbprints with apricot or raspberry jam, Russian tea cakes, oatmeal raisin cookies, molasses ginger snaps, rainbow sprinkle sugar cookies, cinnamon sugar snickerdoodles, and the “8th Avenue”—our almond-flour cookies with dried fruit and nuts."

I'm not a cookie person.  You know this.  I know this.

Cookies Galore.

It wasn't until I visited the shop that I learned that, along with cupcakes and cakes obviously, cookies are a big focus of Empire Cake's offerings.

I wasn't drawn in by most of them, but on the bottom shelf were cookie sandwiches, filled with buttercream.  Swoon, that buttercream.  I almost went for one of those, but the cookies themselves really didn't look special.

Plus, I had read many reviews of the black and white cookies.  People love them.  Available in several sizes, including mini.  How could I not at least try a mini?

Mini Black & White Cookie.

"Our Pride inspired white chocolate covered "Black and White" rainbow cookies are available all month!! Come taste the rainbow!!"

The black and white cookies are normally, well, black and white, but for Pride, in addition to the classic black and whites, they had several different rainbow color choices.  I went for purple, just because.

This is the mini size, a regular size, and larger size, are also available.

It was ... boring.  It was much like the snack cake, but, without frosting at all.  Just plain cake, and white chocolate coating.  Very uninteresting, even though the white chocolate was good quality.

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Curry Up Now

Update Review, October 2025

I last visited Curry Up Now, a chain of casual Indian street food focused restaurants, back in 2014.  I think they were relatively new at that point, and certainly hadn't expanded nationwide.  I didn't actually visit in person again this time, but rather, encountered their products at an event I attended that used them for catering.

Catering Kathi Rolls.

The event I attended had boxes of kathi rolls, in either chicken or paneer.  They were well labelled, and wrapped up in foil to stay warm.  Kathi rolls are probably Curry Up Now's most famous item, they certainly introduced the Bay Area to them.

Kathi Roll.

"Egg washed flaky paratha, onions, cilantro chutney, choice of protein."

The roll was relatively well wrapped.

The paratha was reasonably fresh tasting, kinda soft and a bit soggy though.  It didn't seem egg washed as described, but the flavor was good, and I appreciated that it wasn't too oily.

I ended up deconstructing it and pressing it on my panini press to make it crisp and that worked very well.  

Paneer Kathi Roll.

"Egg washed flaky paratha, onions, cilantro chutney, paneer."

I went for the paneer version. It was not very full - this is how it looked when I opened it.  It was all mixed up with the cilantro chutney, which was fairly mild, and not particularly complex.  I definitely wished I had other chutneys to add to it, particularly as it ate a bit dry.

Paneer Kathi Roll: Inside.

Inside was the expected paneer (kinda crumbled, more broken up than I had thought it would be), onions (red, kinda harsh, raw), and a pretty dominant amount of unexpected tomatoes and bell peppers, all with some mild spices.  Neither the peppers nor tomato were listed on the menu, and the ratio of them to other ingredients was pretty high, which was sad for me as I dislike bell peppers, and although I like fresh juicy ripe tomatoes in salads and sandwiches, I didn't actually want lukewarm ones here (although I appreciated the substantial soft element they added).

Overall, the roll came together reasonably well, and I suspect that getting it fresh would likely improve a couple of my key issues, namely, hopefully it would be less soggy and I could order it spicy (since this was event catering, I think they just did them all mild?).  Still, I'd prefer some different ingredients inside, bigger chunks of paneer, and more chutney.  I'll give it a 3/5 as everything was fine, just not my preferences.

Original Review, November 2014

Curry Up Now is a small chain of indian restaurants in the Bay Area, with a location in San Francisco, plus others in San Mateo, Palo Alto, and San Jose.  They also operate a food truck.  I've only visited the San Francisco restaurant, located in the Mission.

The menu is not standard indian cuisine.  Instead, the focus is on street food.  This includes a number of classic chaat, plus some more interesting Mexican influenced items, like ... burritos (perfect for the Mission right?)  The tortillas are filled with rice, garbanzo beans, onions, and indian filling of your choice, like chicken tikka malasa, lamb stew, or allo gobi.  Or go for a quesadillix, made with aloo paratha as the bread, stuffed with cheese and a filling of your choice, with pickles and yogurt.  They also have "unburgers", fried ravioli, and "deconstructed samosas" (a mound of garbanzo beans and chutneys, garnished with mini samosas).  Their most famous item is probably the kati rolls, a wrap made of pan fried flat bread similar to roti, pickled onions, chutneys, and your choice of filling (remember the crappy kati roll I had from the Kasa indian food truck?).  The menu is rounded out by "naughty naan", open faced naan sandwiches with tikka masala, cheese, greens, onions, and jalapeño.  Like I said, not exactly standard indian cuisine, no simple curries and rice here.

Service is casual, order at the register, take a number back to your table, and your order is brought to you when it is ready.

After I placed my order, I went to use the bathroom.  I don't normally review bathrooms unless there is something notable, and, here there was.  Once you enter the bathroom, a recording starts playing, educating you all about the benefits of hand washing.  I guess this is more effective than the signs that no one reads?  Still, I'm not sure why they cared ...

Silverware Buckets on Tables.

Each table had a bucket in the middle with silverware and napkins, self-service.  Unfortunately for me, my bucket contained only spoons and no napkins.  I had to go steal the utensils I needed from a neighboring table.

The seating is fairly diverse, a bunch of tables for 2 along the window, all with really unique padded chairs.  Picnic table larger tables make up the other side of the room, and a few tables are out on the sidewalk as well, for al fresco dining.

The main focus of the dining area is the open kitchen, complete with large oven, similar to a pizza oven.  I'm guessing this is where the naan is cooked?

Criss Cut Sweet Potato Fries, Maggi Ketchup.  $4.35.

Since most of the menu is sandwich based, and I just wanted a snack, I just got an appetizer: sweet potato fries!

My fries arrived very quickly, so it was clear that they weren't fried to order.  They were also only lukewarm when they arrived, and cooled down even further very fast.

The fries were ... good.  They were crispy, but not overcooked.  They weren't too oily or greasy.  But, they didn't have a strong sweet potato flavor, and they were woefully under-seasoned.  I am not actually sure they had *any* salt on them.  I also do like criss cut fries, like the ones from Phat Philly, but for sweet potato fries, I really want to taste the sweet potato, so I prefer a thicker form.

However, there was a star on the plate.  The ketchup!  Now, that was something special.  I'll be honest, I had no idea what Maggi Ketchup was, and wasn't ordering this for the ketchup.  I just wanted sweet potato fries.  I usually dip my sweet potato fries in some sort of honey mustard.  Or bbq perhaps.  (For regular fries, I'm all about aioli.  Or sweet chili and sour cream.  Rarely plain old ketchup there either).  I love my sauces.

It turns out that Maggi Ketchup is the number one ketchup in India.  I tried to find out what the ingredients were, besides standard ketchup ingredients, but the best I could find was "spice extract" or "mixed spices", along with onion and garlic.

Anyway, this stuff had some kick.  Like, serious kick.  But not too much kick, just enough to keep you both addicted, and in mild pain.  I couldn't stop going back for more.  If I were a beer drinker, I think these fries would have gone great with a beer.  Speaking of drinks, they are all served in cute mason jars.

$4 was a fine price for a basket of fries, which was large enough to be sharable with a meal, or perfect for a snack on their own.

Hot Chai.  $2.50.

Unlike most places, Curry Up Now does not sweeten the chai.  I was very surprised when I took a sip and it was just milky, bitter, black tea.  They did have sugar available to add in yourself near the water dispenser, but no other sweetener alternatives.

I appreciated being able to make it as sweet as I'd like, but, it really wasn't remarkable chai, on par with what many Indian places give you complimentary.

Ginger Mint Lemonade.  $3.

I also tried a cold beverage, which I was hoping to be refreshing on a hot day.  I'm not sure if it was fresh squeezed or not.  I didn't like it, the ginger was way too strong, and the lemonade too sweet.  Perhaps it would be nice with spicy curry?

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Snak Club x Hot Ones

Snak Club is a pretty commonly found generic packaged snack and candy distributor.  I see their products regularly in convenience stores or airports, nationwide.  They distribute a lot of snack mixes, nuts, candies, etc, and frequently do random collabs with other brands, like Hidden Valley Ranch or Tajin.

"We believe snacking should be the best part of your day—full of flavor, excitement, and a little bit of extra crunch. If we’re bringing you the same, old, boring thing, then we’re not doing our jobs right. Our snacks are powerhouses of authentic seasonings, exciting flavors, and hearty ingredients that will energize your mind, body, and soul. Each bite bursts with deliciousness, making each Snak Club moment truly satisfying."

As an avid snacker myself, I quite like their philosophy.  Their reach seems pretty wide, and they've been around since 1984.  I've definitely picked up their products before (sour gummy worms in particular come to mind), but I didn't ever really think I'd review them, so didn't take photos or notes until I stumbled upon one of their collabs.

"Snak Club is spicing things up with Hot Ones, the hit YouTube series where host Sean Evans interviews celebrity guests as they take on increasingly spicy chicken wings while answering even hotter questions."

Now, do I watch Hot Ones? Nope. In fact, I didn't know it existed until now.  I was just drawn in because it was a fun looking snack mix.  And I do love the adventure of devouring snack mixes.

Smoky Sweet Snack Mix.

"An enticing blend that tantalizes the palate with medium heat, featuring the smoky essence of chilies, sweet fruit, and tart tomatillo. This smoky and spicy fusion promises an irresistibly intense flavor, capturing the essence of the popular celebrity interview show. These vegan snacks draw inspiration from the flavorful Los Calientes Verde Hot Sauce, spicing up the medium-heat mix of peanuts, pretzels, sesame sticks, toasted corn, cashews, and spicy seasoning."

Here you can see a pretty standard handful of the mix.  You may notice that there are no cashews here, even though the description mentions them.  That is because, um, I didn't realize it had cashews until my second day eating the mix, when I was already more than halfway through the bag (side note: um, do not pass any judgement about the fact that if I was at <50% remaining my second time having this, and they say the bag is 9 servings, that means I had ~5 servings as my first serving ... gulp.  Snack mixes like this are my nemesis!). There *were* a few cashews (halves) but they were hard to come by.  The other ingredients were in reasonably equal distribution (although peanuts definitely outnumbered the corn nuts).

Anyway, as you may have guessed given the fact that this most definitely did not last me anywhere near the specified 9 servings, I quite enjoyed it.  Every element was good.

The peanuts came in both full size pieces and halves, and were well salted and seasoned.  Fairly standard, but they carried the mix well.  The aforementioned cashews were much the same, although, far, far, far fewer.  Both were fresh, not too soft, just, good standard nuts. 3.5/5 for these elements.

The sesame sticks were the ones I honed right in on, as I always like a sweet element to my mixes, as these are often the sweetest.  These were not as sweet/candied as some other versions, but still had some light sweet glaze on them.  They had decent sesame flavor, good crunch, and they too were well seasoned.  Another 3.5/5.

Next, the pretzels.  The component I was least excited by, but turned out to be pretty good.  I'm super fickle when it comes to pretzels (not the shape, but the actual pretzels, I sometimes love them, sometimes hate them, and I can never really pinpoint what makes me like or dislike a certain pretzel).  Anyway, these were good, again fresh, crisp, well seasoned.  They really let the seasoning cling to them, so were the most flavorful pieces. Standard little twists shape.  They gave the mix some body and a carby element. Another 3.5/5.

And finally, the "toasted corn" which was like ... corn nuts, but somehow both crispier and airier, if that makes any sense.  These were wonderful, although hard to know if you were getting a peanut or corn piece, unless you looked very closely, as they were about the same size and both well coated in seasoning.  I absolutely loved the crunch they added. 4.5/5, probably the best corn nuts I've ever had (although clearly differently made compared to normal ones). 

So all the components, good on their own, distribution of components fairly good, and then there is the all important seasoning.  It was a fairly fascinating flavor.  I wasn't sure what chilies, sweet fruit, and tomatillo would really taste like, nor am I familiar with Los Calientes verde hot sauce, but this was, well complex.  It was savory and sweet and spicy, yep.  The ingredients tell me there was salt and sugar of course, but also apple cider vinegar, jalapeno, onion, parsley, and cumin.  The salt/sugar/acv/jalapeno/onion I definitely tasted, and made sense, but the parsley and cumin were total wildcards in there that I would not have guessed.  You may also notice that I didn't list any fruit, despite their description of having "sweet fruit", nor did I list tomatillo, again, despite being in the description.  I didn't taste them really either, although there was the sweetness (yay, sugar!) and there was something sorta verde tasting.  It was mildly spicy, and the heat did build reasonably well (uh, once you downed half the bag in one sitting).  I found it fairly compelling as it went well with all the mix-ins.  

Overall, I'm not sure I'd buy this exact flavor again, but I really enjoyed it (and all the other bags I had of it, as I got it in bulk by the case), and it was a bit different from your standard pub mix.  Strong 4/5, perhaps higher, as it just came together very well, and I liked every bite I had.

Read More...

Posh Bakery

Update Review, 2024 - 2025 Tastings

Years ago, my office had baked goods provided by Posh Bakery.  I generally found them lackluster, and moved on.  As did my office baked goods sourcing folks, eventually.  That was all 10+ years ago.  But then they came back to my office post-pandemic, I tried a few more items that first year, and again, found them lackluster, and moved on.  Yet for some reason over the past two years I've tried a few more things, as my office keeps having them, and I'm a captive audiance.  Guess what?  Yeah, they still are no good.  Not a single item earned higher than a 2.5/5 stars from me.  I really must learn my lesson and stop trying these items!

Raspberry Cheese Danish.

I grabbed this mistakenly thinking it was the danish from Panorama Bakery, which actually makes pretty decent (think: reasonably buttery, flaky) danishes for a frozen item.  One bite in, I realized I was wrong.

The pastry was spongy.  It wasn't buttery.  It wasn't flaky.  The filling was just thick gloop.  It had an odd apricot glaze.  Calling it "raspberry" was amusing, given the tiny dot of raspberry goo.

This was not good.  *.

Cream Cheese Danish.

I don't know why I grabbed this, given how abysmal the Posh Bakery danishes all have been.  Ok, that's not true, I do know why: I thought it was a cinnamon roll!  But no, it was the same danish base that is just ... all wrong.  It is spongy, chewy, not flaky, and just truly awful.

The cream cheese blob perched on top was good though, sweetened, good cream cheese flavor.  So, really, zero stars for the pastry, **+ for filling, *+ overall.  

Maple Oatmeal Raisin Scone.

I was definitely drawn to this by the drizzle.

And this scone has some things going for it, like that great drizzle of maple icing.  But ... after that, it isn't a particularly compelling product for me.

The scone is hard and dry, not a very nice crumb to it.  It is very clearly oatmeal based, with lots of texture, and a fairly healthy taste (besides the icing, and the sugar studded top of course). The bits of raisin add to the healthy-ish vibes.  It mostly reminds me of a very hard granola bar, just in a slightly scone-like form.  But overall, too hard, too oatmeal forward, and not an interesting enough taste.

Eh. **.

Jelly Donut (Raspberry).

I remembered not thinking these were very good before, but when my office had them one day, of course I had to try again.  

It may not look this way in the photo, but these are massive donuts.  At least 50% bigger than standard round raised donuts, if not double.  That was the number one thing I heard other people saying too, just, how big they were.  No one said anything about them being good, and I saw many getting tossed in the trash.

I tried it at room temperature first.  Yup, that was a mass produced, not fresh donut.  Yes, it was lightly yeasted, and puffy, but it tasted so processed.  The dough was sweet.  The glaze was extensive and very sweet.  Meh.

It was not filled evenly at all.  Only one quarter of mine had the raspberry goo, although the part that had it had tons.  The filling too was very sweet, and it too tasted highly processed.  Just goo.  I can't even really call it jelly.

So we had a sweet dough, with sweet glaze, and sweet goo, all of which were highly processed, tasted artificial, and most certainly didn't taste fresh.  I did try to warm it up in my toaster oven, and add vanilla ice cream to offset the sweetness, but, nothing really helped much.

Note to self: do not get these again. *+.

Key Lime Tart.

I had totally forgotten that I tried these once before. And yes, I still don't really like lime or lemon desserts, and yet ... I grabbed this.  It had a sort of rustic charm to it, visually.

As I had noted last time, the tart shell is nothing like a normal tart shell, instead, it is more like a sugar cookie, just, thicker.  And blander.  Far better, in my mind, than a standard tart shell.

The filling was kinda tangy and key lime tasting, which I didn't love, and it was a very odd gelatinous consistency.   It had a somewhat acrid aftertaste.  I added a bunch of fresh berries to balance it out.

I probably won't get another, but it somehow wasn't as awful as I thought it would be.  **+.

Triple Chocolate Tart.

Next up, the triple chocolate tart!  Now this is much more my style.

This featured chocolate in three components: chips on top, milk chocolate buttercream on top, and ganache within.  It uses the same base as the key lime tart.

The most dominant of the chocolate elements was the buttercream on top.  It was cloying sweet, but I liked it.  The ganache was barely noticeable under it, just a very thin layer along the tart shell.  The shell is just their very firm sorta cookie-like short crust ... meh.  Sadly that shell is major component, about 45% of the treat.  The buttercream is other 45%, with <10% chocolate ganache, hence why it was so easily lost.

So, tasty buttercream, but the rest wasn't really very good.  **+.

Posh makes tarts in a slew of other flavors, I'd love to try the banana or coconut cream, pecan chocolate, pumpkin spice, cherry, etc sometime.

Triple Chocolate Tart.
(April 2025).

About 6 months or so later, we had these again, and I remembered vaguely liking them.  So I got another.  This time, it had chocolate curls on top rather than chips but otherwise was the same.

The buttercream was again the dominant component, so sweet and cloying, but, hey, sometimes you want that.  Not much chocolate flavor, but I did still strangely enjoy it.  Then there was a decent enough ganache, but alas, so little of it.  And boo to the very thick tart shell.  

So, yes, I enjoyed the ganache and buttercream with some strawberries, but really not a good item overall.  **+.

Raspberry Turnover.

A new category of item to try!  Somehow we never had the turnovers before.  Posh makes these in 3 flavors: apple, cherry, and as I had, raspberry.  

I found this pastry extremely perplexing.  It kinda defied any expectation I had for it, and was unlike any other pastry I've had really.  And I've had a lot of pastries ...

At first glance, it looked much like any mediocre hotel breakfast buffet quality pastry.  It seemed to be a standard puff pastry commonly used for turnovers (as opposed to a yeasted or laminated dough like used in croissants and danishes, or a regular pie crust dough).  I knew not to expect incredibly flaky lovely puff pastry, but ... I didn't really expect this.  It was just odd.  I don't know how else to describe it.  It was simultaneously remarkably light and dense at the same time.  It was very, very pale, particularly the inner layers, and looked like it must be underbaked, except it really didn't seem raw.  And speaking of the layers ... it was remarkably layered.  But in a strange way, where the layers literally just fully peeled apart.  They layers weren't flaky exactly, they just ... separated.  Into sheets.  It was just, as I said, odd.  I couldn't decide if it was good or bad, but, visually, it was under-baked and falling apart in a strange way, and that certainly didn't give off good looks.  The flavor was entirely bland, not buttery and decadent, not really sweet, just, bland.

The filling was raspberry goo, the kind you get from a mediocre jelly donut somewhere, all goo, with a few seeds just to annoying you, but it didn't really resemble wholesome fruit in any way.  It wasn't particularly generously filled, but I wouldn't want more.

And finally, a sweet icing drizzle, that was the hard style, and kinda just peeled/flaked off too.

I still don't know what to make of this.  It wasn't ... bad tasting really, but it wasn't very good tasting either, and it just ate strangely. **.

I tried to heat up another one, thinking that it warm, with a scoop of ice cream, might be really good.  I used the same technique I've used with numerous pastries over the years: toaster oven, 350*, for just a few minutes.  When I peeked back in on it ... what I found was a huge pool of oil.  Not just "oh, of course, some butter ran out", but, really, truly, a massive pudding of oil.  It was baking in its own oily mess.  I've never had such a thing happen when heating up a pastry of any kind ... not danishes, croissants, turnovers, etc, not pies ... I think the only other time I can remember this happening is with an apple fritter.  This item continues to perplex me.  (It was not really edible in its heated form - it was soggy, and just gross!)

Update Review, 2021 - 2023 Tastings

It has been many years since my original review of Posh Bakery, back in 2014.  You may recall that I was incredibly unimpressed by their products, and thus overjoyed when my office switched suppliers for our morning baked goods and desserts.

But fast forward a bunch of years, through pandemic times that lead to our newer vendors closing and our own quantity controls going down, and ... our cafes switched back to Posh Bakery.  I tentatively gave them a try, hoping they had gotten better in the last 8 years, after all, *they* made it through the pandemic, but alas, their items were all as bad, if not worse, than I remembered.

Everything was universally lower quality that a generic grocery store bakery.

Breakfast Baked Goods

Bagels, donuts, muffins, scones, and danishes make up the Posh Bakery breakfast baked goods lineup.  I've tried many.

Muffins

"Our plump muffins are made fresh daily and available in a variety of sizes & flavors.  Every muffin promises to be moist & rich with flavor.  Enjoy our muffins at breakfast or any time of day. "

I will give Posh Bakery credit for the large lineup of muffins.  They produce 15 different flavors of muffin, including fruity (apple cinnamon, blueberry, lemon, cranberry orange, cranberry), chocolatey (chocolate chip, double chocolate), seasonal (pumpkin spice), and even reduced fat choices (blueberry, bran, cranberry).

Double Chocolate Muffin.

"Chocolate lover's can delight in our double chocolate muffin.  We combine delicious moist dark chocolate muffin and fold it together with plenty of rich milk chocolate chips.  Just when you think it can't get any better, a few more chocolate chips are thrown on top."

Well, this muffin did not improve over the years.

It was far from moist as advertised, rather, extremely, extremely dry.  And while it was brown, and thus I guess chocolate, and it did have chips covering the top, it somehow managed to not taste chocolatey at all.

I do not think chocolate lovers will delight in the muffin as promised.

*+.

Scones

"Reminiscent of an authentic English style scone, our scoop and triangle shaped scones are made with real butter for that unbeatably rich, buttery flavor.  Our scones are delightfully crumbly with just the right amount of moisture to keep it irresistible and from falling apart. "

The scones were always the only items I found remotely tolerable back in 2014, although not good, and not really "scones".  They have really not changed at all, with even the exact same 4 varieties offered: blueberry lemon, cranberry orange walnut, raspberry peach, and maple oatmeal peach.

The are not rich and buttery as advertised, they are certainly not crumbly as described, and are basically just sweet breads.  A very soft style.  The part I do like is the pearl sugar on top, but besides that, nothing redeeming about these items.

Peach Raspberry Scone.

Our cafe cut the scones in pieces, a good move, as, well, these are so lackluster who would want a full one?

The sugary top was nice, but, besides that, they were just sweet bread.  I didn't find any peach nor raspberry in mine.  Kinda dry, sweet bread.  

Meh. **.

Croissants

I knew that I had disliked the danishes and croissants, due to the extremely lackluster pastry, but, hey, a few years had passed, so, try and try again.

Cheese Croissant.

"Our cheese croissant is a delicate yet flavorful croissant pastry that is filled with a rich creamy cheese inside. "

Ok, I'll start with the positives.  It is a big croissant!  Well covered in powdered sugar.  Lofty.  But ... yeah, the pastry just still isn't good.  It is soft, not flaky.  No lamination. Just, not a croissant.

The filling is decent though, cream cheese heavy, basically like a cheesecake stuffed into a croissant, smooth and creamy.  And it was generously stuffed.

But sigh, the pastry itself.  I even tried warming it up, but although it got slightly crispier, it didn't help.

**.

Danishes

The danishes fare no better than the croissants.

Blueberry Cream.

"This buttery danish has a dopple of juicy blueberry filling placed on top of our flakey dough.  The danish is lightly brushed with an apricot glaze and baked to a golden brown."

I should have known better.  After all, I had never liked the danishes from Posh Bakery before.  But ...  I was a captive audience.

The pastry part was awful.  Spongy, and just very not fresh tasting.  It tasted like preservatives, which was surprising as it is a locally made, fresh item?  The cream cheese filling was standard, the blueberry filling not "juicy" as they proclaim, but rather just gloopy, more like what you find inside a donut.  I didn't like the flavor from the apricot glaze.

Majorly, meh.

*.

Donuts

"Our donuts are made fresh daily and perfectly crafted to be the finest donuts in town.  Available in raised, cake, old fashion and buttermilk.  Choose from a variety of toppings!  With so many varieties, everybody will love them."

After many, many years of not having any Posh Bakery donuts, as they were always mediocre and my office stopped sourcing from them, they came back.  Just in case something had managed to change in the 5 years or so it had been since I last had them, I tried them again, one morning when I was just really craving donuts.

Posh makes a large variety of donuts, a slew of raised fluffy ones (sugar coated, glazed, chocolate iced, maple glazed, etc, etc), plus twists, cinnamon rolls, donut holes, and fritters all using the same yeasted dough, and then there are a plethora of cake donuts (again, with icing choices, nuts, sprinkles, coconut, and more applied), a lineup of old fashioneds, a range of buttermilk bars, and of course all the filled classics like raspberry or blueberry jelly filled, powdered sugar coated and lemon jelly filled, and more.

But that is not all.

Vegan

Posh makes a large lineup of vegan donuts as well, a dozen kinds, all cake style, no raised, no bars, no old fashioned, but, they come with a variety of toppings ranging from icing in cherry, blueberry, and apple cinnamon in addition to the more standard maple or chocolate glazed, plus coated with nuts or coconut too, in a slew of combinations (e.g. maple glazed with coconut).  Basic plain, crumb coated, and cinnamon sugar round out the lineup.

I've tried many, and I found something fairly surprising: the regular donuts (cake, old fashioned, raised, filled) all still really are not very good, but, somehow, the vegan ones are considerably better.

Chocolate Glazed Vegan.

The first one I tried was the chocolate glazed vegan donut.  The chocolate drew me in, it was so well coated.

And ... well, this thing wasn't bad.  

The chocolate flavor was strong, and the generous coating really allowed it to taste like, well, chocolate.  The base didn't taste like a fresh bakery donut, don't get me wrong, it definitely had more in common with a boxed variety, but, it was kinda great alongside a coffee.  It was just a basic cake base, no frills, and again, not fresh tasting, but it was a good "dunk in your coffee" base, if that makes sense.

I don't claim this to be a good fresh donut, but, average boxed donut quality, that sometimes, particularly when you have a black coffee in hand, can be just fine.

***.

Maple Glazed Vegan.

After the mild success with the chocolate donut, I went for the maple glazed donut next.  Again, I was drawn in by the excessive glaze.

The base donut was the same as the chocolate one, a cake donut, which I don't usually like as much as a raised, but, works well in this vegan format, and is great to dunk into a coffee.  The glaze was ... ok, a bit much on this one.  The generous coating worked fantastically when it was chocolate, but as this was VERY sweet maple ... it made the entire thing eat very very sweet.  That said, if you take my advice and dunk into coffee, some of the maple coating will soften up and fall into the coffee, slightly sweetening the coffee behind it.  Which, it turns out, maple coffee is tasty!

Again, not a fresh amazing donut, but, it really satisfied when dunked into coffee.

***.

Blueberry Glazed Vegan.

Next up, the beautiful blueberry version.

Same plain base, although this one seemed more fried, heavier, oilier.  Definitely didn't taste remotely healthy.

The blueberry glaze was, like the others, generously applied and sweet.  It was mildly fruity, but not particularly intense.  I expected more of a blueberry taste given the visible flecks of blueberry.

Again, fine, not amazing.  Best dunked in coffee, or paired with a scoop of ice cream and fresh berries.

***.

Apple Cinnamon Glazed Vegan.

I remember trying the apple cinnamon glazed version as well, but, alas, I lost my notes.

Regular

For regular donuts, Posh makes a variety of cake, raised, and specialty donuts.

Raspberry Jelly Filled / Chocolate Glazed Cake / Glazed Old Fashioned.

Cake donuts are not usually my thing, so I didn't try the chocolate glazed cake donut.

One bite of the glazed old fashioned and I was immediately reminded why I never liked these donuts before.  It just tasted like old oil.  Yes, it was very well covered in glaze, lovely sweet glaze, but, that didn't mask the oil taste, and it wasn't a good oil taste.  It just tasted, well, old, if that makes sense.  I tried dunking it in coffee, but it still just did not taste good. The glaze job was nice though.  **.

Next up, the jelly filled.  These were massive, as you can see, about twice the size of the others.  They were well glazed.  I tried a bite at room temperature, and at first, it seemed only slightly better than the old fashioned - it was fluffy, the donut airy, but, it did have that kinda stale old oil thing going on.  The filling was very, very, very generic raspberry goo.  I can't really call it jelly, and I honestly am not sure if it contained any actual raspberry, but, it was sweet, fruity goo, no seeds.   Very sweet.  Undeterred, I heated it up in the toaster oven, and it was considerably better once warmed up.  The donut stayed light and airy, the glaze turned into a bit of a caramelized exterior, and the inside goo turned molten.  I served it with a very generous amount of vanilla ice cream to balance it out, and really quite enjoyed it - basically, the fruity goo was like a warm sauce for my ice cream, and I stuffed the ice cream into the donut too, and it just rounded it all out.  It really needed the ice cream to balance the cloying sweet though.

So, as served, the jelly donut, impressive in size and glaze, but otherwise, **+.  Warmed up and served with quality ice cream though, ***.

I would not get any of these again most likely, although if I really was craving a donut and the jelly ones were around, and I had a toaster oven and ice cream ready, I'd consider it.

Raised Glazed.

I skipped the simple raised glazed.

Strawberry Glazed.

Instead I opted for the more fun looking strawberry glazed one.

This donut, much like the old fashioned, again reminded me of exactly why I never liked the Posh donuts before.  Yes, it was nicely glazed, it was a fluffy lofty donut, and the strawberry glaze was fruity and fine, but, it just tasted again like stale oil.  Old oil.  The donut itself just didn't taste fresh.

I don't expect donuts to taste healthy and fresh obviously, but this just tasted old, stale, and like bad oil.  I tried heating it up, but that didn't save this one.

**.  The star only goes to the glaze.

Chocolate Glazed.

I'm really not sure why I tried the chocolate glazed, but at least I found someone to split one with me.

It was basically exactly the same - sure, it was a nice raised donut, and yes, it had a generous amount of decent enough chocolate glaze, but, it just tasted like old stale oil.  Sigh.  I need to not expect otherwise at this point.  My least favorite of the donuts.

*+.

Loaf Cakes

"Slice into any  one of our seven varieties of loaf cakes to create convenient individual servings, or leave it untouched and tie with a colored bow to make the perfect gift for anyone."

Loaf cakes, or quickbreads, always amuse me, as they are commonly served as morning breakfast items, but really ... um, are cake.  Posh makes 7 kinds: including the expected banana (with nuts) and zucchini, plus other morning muffin variety favorites like blueberry, cranberry, almond poppy, and carrot, along with seasonal pumpkin. 

Pumpkin Bread.

The pumpkin bread was a bit boring looking ... no streusel (it wasn't coffee cake after all), just, a dense loaf cake.

It was reasonably moist, had decent spicing (not too much "pumpkin spice"), and otherwise was just kinda basic and boring.  Not bad, not great, and not really my thing (unless warm, toasted, covered in cream cheese, or perhaps slathered with icing for an afternoon treat?).

***.

Banana Nut Bread.

The banana nut bread was also highly average.  Not bad, not great.  Decently moist.  Decent banana flavor.  I liked the nut crumble on top.

I toasted it, added cream cheese and additional sliced banana and candied walnuts, and enjoyed it as a snack.

***.

Desserts

While I do love my morning baked goods and pastries, I love desserts even more, and Posh makes an assortment of cakes, pies, bars, cookies, and other goodies.

Cakes

"Make every occasion special with the perfect cake.  Posh offers many styles and flavors, but they all share one thing in common. . . very  moist, full of flavor, creative and beautiful."

Posh Bakery makes a variety of regular sized round cakes, plus sheet cakes, bundt cakes, cupcakes, and cake pops.  We always had the sheet cakes, cut into squares, as it was large format cafe setting.

The cakes are pretty universally lackluster.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing & Nuts.

I had a glimmer of hope for the carrot cake.  I really like carrot cake, and was pleased to see it included nuts and NOT raisins.  But alas.  Posh Bakery does not ever deliver on quality items.

This was the most cake-like carrot cake I've ever had.  It was odd, really.  Usually carrot cake is denser, more moist, has shreds of carrot, perhaps some pineapple, etc, but this was more fluffy/risen, like, well, cake, or even more like bread.  It had a few visible flecks of carrot, but certainly no shreds, and no additions like pineapple.

What it did have however was spicing.  Extreme spicing.  Way too much spice for me.

The icing was lackluster, and way too thin of a layer. One point for nuts.

*+.

Frosted Brownie.

I'm not usually super excited about brownies (unless warm, a la mode, and with some chocolate sauce and whipped cream too of course), but every once in a while I really get a craving for chocolate goodness.  Such a craving hit on a day we had Posh Bakery brownies, so I was excited to try.

The brownie was ... dense.  Very dense.  Fudgey, not cakey.  Not dry, but not moist exactly, just, really heavy and dense.  It was chocolately, but ... not in a particularly interesting way.  It just wasn't very good.

This was the "frosted" version, and I'm not really sure what it made it frosted.  It seemed basically the same throughout, no visible frosting layer.

Meh.  **. 

Cupcakes

"Possibly the world's best little treat is a beautiful and delicious cupcake.  Available in a variety of decorations, they are easy to serve and easy to devour."

Cupcakes come in all your standard varieties: chocolate, white, red velvet, and carrot, plus german chocolate and black forest.  We often had them in adorable mini size.  They, um, were not good, but they were cute.

Red Velvet.

The red velvet cake was ... ok.  It was a light fluffy style, not moist, but not dry.  Very light cocoa flavor.  The frosting didn't really taste of cream cheese, but it was sweet and fine.  Overall, "ok", but not something to seek out. ***.

Update: I had another.  I appreciated that I could taste the cocoa in it, and again, the cake was this interesting not dry nor moist style.  The frosting was generous, sweet, and only lightly cream cheese flavored.  Great frosting to cake ratio - tons of frosting!  ***+.

White Mini.

Next up, the white mini.  The white cupcake however was really, truly not good.  

The cake was again not dry exactly, but not moist, no crumb to it, too tight of a structure.  It had no flavor whatsoever.  The frosting however was even worse.  It was just cloying sweet.  Not good at all.  

Calling it "white", rather than "vanilla" seemed appropriate, as it certainly didn't seem to have any vanilla flavoring even.

Nothing redeeming about this cupcake. *.

St Patrick's Day "Everyday White".

These cupcakes look considerably better than they were, and were full size regular cupcakes, dressed up for St. Patrick's day.

The frosting is fluffy and the ratio is right, but, it is just cloying sweet.  So very very sweet.  No flavor to it other than sugar.  Just like the mini.  Kudos for the brilliant green color.

The cake, yup, just white, no flavor, just like the mini.  At least not too dry?

Again, no reason to eat these.  Generic as can be.  *+.

Pride "Everyday White".

These cupcakes.  Sigh.  They always look decent!  And then ... they are never actually very good.

This was another "white" cupcake with "white" frosting, not vanilla, just, plain.  Plain, plain, plain.  The cake was not moist nor dry, it just ... was.  No crumb to it.  Not stale, just, there.  Sorta like angel food, but entirely flavorless.  The frosting, just sweet.  Not even good fake-sweet, just, sweet.  Plain on plain.

I honestly don't understand how these are so blah, but they are.  I do strangely kinda like the taste of the edible paper they use on top for decoration though.

*.

Black & White - Mini.

The black and white weren't horrible, but they weren't very good either.  Cake sorta dry, not much chocolate flavor.  Frosting cloying sweet, but I kinda liked it.

A very mediocre, grocery store quality, cupcake.

**+.

Black & White St. Patrick's Day.

The next year, another full size version dressed up for St. Patrick's day with shamrock sprinkles, was no better.

The cake is relatively light, not dry exactly, but also not moist, and doesn't have a very strong chocolate flavor.  Very, "eh".  Frosting generous, fluffy, but just cloying sweet.

Add it together, and it just tastes like a generic grocery store cupcake.  Not awful, could be worse, but no reason to eat this.

**+.

Blueberry Mousse.

This cupcake looked far more exciting than it was.  I was hoping for a blueberry filling, but the base was just a plain white cake.  No different from previous Posh cupcakes, just, white cake.  Plain plain plain.

The frosting was ok, fluffy, it did taste lightly blueberry flavored, and the dot of compote added to the blueberry element.  I'm not sure what was "mousse" about this.

Overall, ok frosting, but meh cupcake.  **.

Lemon.

Lovely fluffy frosting.  Very lemon forward frosting.  Boring "everyday white" cake.  Eh. **.

Everyday Chocolate.

Another day, another Posh Bakery mediocre cupcake.  This one, the "Everyday Chocolate".  The chocolate cake was fascinating in that it was very dark, looked intensely chocolatey, but still tasted like plain angel food cake. Not particularly moist nor dry.  

The frosting was not very chocolately, and quite cloying sweet.  It tasted like just sugar, and wasn't nearly as fluffy as past cupcakes.

This gets a very generic average rating, **+.

Cookies

"We bake fresh daily an assortment of the finest cookies around using only premium quality ingredients.  Make someone's day and give them Posh cookies today...."

You've probably grown sick of hearing me comment on not really being a cookie person, or at least, historically not being a cookie person, but, times changed, and amid the pandemic I got more into cookies.  And thus, I was willing to try the offerings from Posh, although, really, I had low expectations given the other items.

Posh makes your basic chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter (and a version half dipped in chocolate), and snickerdoodle, along with macaroons (again, including a half dipped in chocolate version), almond horns (yup, half dipped option), and palmiers.  For holidays, they do shaped/decorated sugar cookies.

Shamrock Sprinkle Sugar Cookie.

For St. Patrick's Day, Posh made shamrock shaped cookies, coated in green sugar crystals.  I had basically zero expectations for these, but was craving something festive, and thus, gave one a try.

It really wasn't a bad sugar cookie.  A hard style, but that works for sugar cookies.  Buttery and sweet, and yup, extra sweet from the sugar crystals on top.  It was nice to dunk into hot cocoa and into green whipped cream my cafe was serving alongside.

Far better than I expected, and I'd actually happily eat another, if craving a pretty classic sugar cookie.

****.

Pride Cookie.

Another holiday, another themed cookie, this time just a simple round shortbread cookie, with an edible pride logo and drizzle of white chocolate.

This was another simple, but not bad, cookie.  A hard style, but that works for a shortbread base.  It had decent flavor, decent sweetness.  

Much like the shamrock sugar cookie, it was better than it looked or I expected, and I enjoyed it, and again, another I'd eat again if I was in the mood for that kind of cookie.

***+.

Pies

The Posh Bakery introduced pies only recently.  

"Posh introduces pies, baked fresh with all natural ingredients, just like you would make for your family!  Our packaging is oven and freezer safe, and recyclable."

They are sold unbaked.  Fruit varieties include a slew of apple choices (regular double crust apple, caramel apple, apple cherry, or crumb topped dutch apple), along with blueberry, cherry, or triple berry.    They are available with standard top crust, lattice, or streusel.  Seasonal pumpkin is on offer, as is key lime.  In the cream pie department, there is standard coconut, banana, and chocolate.  Prices start at $36 for basic 9" pies, and upwards for premium varieties and crust/toppings.  

Blueberry Double Crust.

"Double buttermilk crust with wild Maine blueberries."

I liked the sound of this pie, at least, the crust.  I'm a sucker for a good buttermilk tang, normally is biscuits or cobbler, but why not pie crust?  An as a pie crust lover, double crust is always my preference (assuming it is a good crust of course).  I was lukewarm on the blueberry part itself, just because I don't tend to love little wild Maine blueberries.

The pie looked reasonable, although it was clear that the pie crust is not a light and flaky homemade style.  Definitely more compact and dense, although I did like the sprinkle of sugar on top.  The crust tasted about as "eh" as it looked ... and I didn't taste any buttermilk.  It wasn't stale, it wasn't dry, but it also just wasn't particularly good nor flavorful, and seemed more like what you'd get from a frozen baked product than a freshly baked one.

The filling was too heavy in the cornstarch, rather thick, cloudy, and, well, cornstarch-y. The berries themselves were fine, and it wasn't cloying sweet nor heavy handed in lemon, but, the consistency wasn't really right.

Overall, a pretty mediocre pie, that didn't taste freshly made, and was on par with what you'd get at a generic grocery store.  ***.

Tarts

The Posh Bakery has a slice of individual mini tarts, essentially all the flavors of the regular pies (apple, cherry, etc), along with lemon curd or lemon cream, triple chocolate or pecan chocolate, and seasonal pumpkin spice.

Key Lime.

I don't generally like tarts, and I don't generally like lemon or lime desserts, so honestly, I don't know why I tried this, but I was curious.  Plus, I think I'm starting to come around to citrus desserts ...

Anyway, it was better than I expected.  The tart shell is where I was quite impressed - so often tart shells are hard, fairly flavorless, cardboard like, and throwaway.  But this was a delicious - sweet, slightly soft, and reminded me of a very good shortbread cookie.  Does that make it a paté sucrée? Sablée?  I would gladly eat just the tart shell as a cookie, and I never say that.  

The filling was fine. Lightly tart.  Not really that strong of a key lime flavor.  Good consistency.  If I liked key lime, I'd be disappointed by the lack of flavor, but it was fine for me.

I did jazz it up with whipped cream and fresh blackberries, and enjoyed my little treat.  ***+.

Original Review, August 2014

The Posh Bakery is a wholesale bakery located in San Francisco, providing baked goods to retail stores, cafes, and restaurants worldwide.  They also have 14 retail stores of their own in the area, under The Posh Bagel line.

I haven't visited the stores, but my office got our morning muffins, danishes, and scones from them for years.  I was never impressed.  The danishes and croissants I always thought were awful, the muffins were never really good, and the scones were only worth eating when I really, really wanted a baked good.  Luckily, we stopped sourcing from Posh Bakery and the pastry team started making all of their own morning pastries.  I hadn't thought about Posh Bakery in a couple years, until ... my office introduced Donut Friday.

Now, Donut Friday *should* be an amazing thing.  And I have to admit, it looks impressive, every Friday morning when I arrive.  For the first few weeks, I was convinced that Donut Friday could be a success.  I mean, come on, piles of donuts in every style and variety imaginable.  How can you go wrong?  The answer is simple: source your donuts from Posh Bakery.

For the first few weeks, I thought I must somehow just be picking the wrong donuts.  Maybe I just didn't like their raised donuts.  Maybe it was just the cake donuts.  Maybe the vegan ones would be good.  No.  Their donuts are just bad, all of them.  I love donuts.  I'm not asking for freshly made donuts like the amazing ones we received at the end of our meal at Cyrus, or The French Laundry.  I'm not asking for delicious foie gras donuts like we had at one of Lafitte's foie gras dinners.  But even the baked-months-ago, loaded with preservatives, and wrapped in cellophane ones from Walgreens are better than these.

I tried far more of these donuts than I'd care to admit.  I was convinced I'd find a winner.  In particular, I was convinced that somehow, sometime, the apple fritter would be delicious.  But, it never, ever was.  None of them were.  Worst. Donuts. Ever.

Donuts

Raised

I started with the raised donuts.  All were light and airy, but generally tasted stale.

Apple Fritter.

Ah, the fritter.  Always one of the first donuts to disappear from a box. Obviously the one I tried first.

"A favorite for all, our moist apple fritter filled with ripe apple chucks and is soft on the inside and crusty on the outside.  It's not too sweet and has just the right amount of glaze to make it a masterpiece."

"Filled with ripe apple chunks"?  I beg to disagree.  I didn't find any apple in my first one at all.  It did have some cinnamon, and it was incredibly well glazed.  I liked the crustiness.  The first time I had it, I deemed it fine, but really not a great apple fritter.

On another occasion, I got one that actually had bits of apple in it.  So I take it back, sometimes, they do have apple chunks.  It was still not particularly good though.

And on another day, I tried another, again, there was some apple, I appreciated the crustiness, but still, it was just not a very good donut.

Yet I tried another.  It was so bogged down with oil. I couldn't even taste the sweetness this time, literally, just oil.  I can't resist these because they are apple fritters, but ugh, so bad.

Yet somehow my third favorite of all of their offerings.

Glazed Twist.

On that same first day, I also couldn't resist the glazed twist.  Don't judge, it is totally reasonable to have 2 donuts for breakfast.

"Our twist donut is hand-twisted and made with our light and fluffy raised donut recipe.  It is coated with a delicate icing and ready to be devoured."

It was totally unremarkable.  The donut seemed dried out.  It tasted very fried.  The glaze was crusty, as if stale, but I had it at 8am, right after they were delivered.  It had a good fluffiness, but was not good.

Cinnamon Roll Donut.

Next, a "cinnamon roll donut".

"Our cinnamon roll donut is prepared with our light and airy dough that we coat with a spicy cinnamon and sugar mix on the inside.  It is then rolled, sliced and covered with the perfect amount of glaze to make it delicious."

First, what is a cinnamon roll ... donut?  Answer: a dried out cinnamon roll, without the flaky goodness of a cinnamon roll, covered in hard icing.  Meh.

Yet, of course I had another.  This time I knew not to expect a cinnamon roll.  It did seem like a decent raised donut, airy and light, with some slight glaze.   But the cinnamon was totally lost, and thinking of it as a cinnamon roll would certainly result in disappointment.

Cake Donuts

After many disappointing raised donuts, I decided that perhaps cake donuts were just more of Posh's thing.  They were certainly different, denser, but all just tasted like bad old oil.

Crumb.

"Our crumb donut is made using our original recipe cake donut covered with icing and a tasty crumb topping." 

It tasted way too fried.  The crumb topping was slightly spiced, but I'm not sure by what.  Meh.

[ Update review: still oily and fried tasting, and why would I want my donut coated in crumb topping? ]

Maple with Coconut.

"This original recipe cake donut is first hand-dipped in rich maple icing, then sprinkled with fresh coconut shavings. "

Ok, this had to be better, right?  No.  Again, a spongy, too fried tasting cake donut.  The icing was clearly not just plain white glaze, but I didn't taste much maple.  There was lots of shredded coconut, but it wasn't toasted, so it was just soggy on the outside.  I really did not like this one.

Plain Old Fashioned.

 "Our famous old fashion plain donut has all the flavor and everything you'd expect from a great old fashion donut."

And, you guessed it, too fried tasting, not particularly interesting.

[ No Photo ]

Blueberry.

This was a basic cake donut, with little bits of blueberry inside. They were flavorless, and honestly I couldn't tell what kind of donut this was supposed to be. It was dense, greasy, and quite gross, like all of their donuts. The only good aspect was the light glaze on top.

Bar Donuts

Ok, so the raised donuts were stale, the cake donuts were oily.  How about ... the bar donuts?

Glazed Buttermilk.

"Our glazed buttermilk bar is made with is our original buttermilk recipe and then covered with a delicate glaze.  This bar is full of the buttermilk flavor you'd expect."

This was one of the better donuts.  The donut base is cake style, denser than the raised donuts, but not as oily as the round cake donuts, and it did indeed have a slight buttermilk tang to it.  The glaze was well distributed and sweet, but not too hard and crusty, as was an issue with the iced donuts.  It reminded me of the fritter, just without the apple, and with a tang (not that their fritter had much apple anyway).  My favorite of the donuts.

So I had another a few weeks later.  I still appreciated the tang and the fact that it wasn't as nasty oil tasting as the raised donuts, but, it too tasted stale.  It was still the best of the lot, but not very good.

[ Update review: still one of the better choices, but, not good.  The base flavor of their donuts is just too strong on the "old, stale oil" spectrum ]

Bavarian Cream Filled Chocolate Glazed.

"Our chocolate bar is made with our light and fluffy raised donut recipe and hand-dipped in rich dark chocolate icing.  This bar comes unfilled to be enjoyed as-is, or may be ordered filled on the inside with creamy and lightly sweet bavarian cream. "

This should be the ultimate donut, basically an eclair, or, if you are from the east coast, a Boston Cream.  But, as you read earlier, their raised donut base is just not very good.  Sure it is fluffy, but it just tastes so oily.  Even the chocolate coating on this was strange tasting, too heavy.  The bavarian cream was the part I was most excited for, but it too disappointed.  Even Jell-o pudding has more going on than this cream.  Would certainly not get again.

Ojan, who adores Boston Cream donuts and eclairs, didn't even want a second bite of this.

Bavarian Cream Filled Maple Glazed.

"Our maple bar is made with our light and fluffy raised donut recipe and hand-dipped in good ol' fashion maple icing.  This bar comes unfilled to be enjoyed as-is, or may be ordered filled on the inside with creamy and lightly sweet bavarian cream."

This was no better.  Same oily, gross base donut, same off putting bavarian cream, same maple icing as before (hard, just sweet, no maple flavor).  Definitely wouldn't try again.

Filled Donuts

Ok ... what about round filled donuts?

Lemon Filled.

This was a standard filled donut, covered in powdered sugar, filled with lemon ... stuff.

The dough was basically the same as all their other raised donuts, although in this case it was more dried out than bad fried oil tasting, an improvement I guess.  I did like the powdered sugar on the outside, it helped the less-than-notable dough take on a more interesting flavor.

The filling was lemon ... goo?  Sorta a jelly perhaps?  Since I don't tend to like lemon, I did not expect to like this, but, strangely, it wasn't bad.  The lemon was sweet and tangy, although the consistency of the lemon goo was certainly a bit strange.  And the donut itself wasn't good.  But the powdered sugar saved it.  I can't say that I want another, but this was my second favorite overall.

Raspberry Filled.

Another filled donut, this time glazed, and filled with raspberry goo.

The dough was fluffy, raised dough, but, just like many of their donuts tasted like only one thing: old fryer oil.  And it seemed stale.  The glaze was flaking off.  Basically exactly like the glazed twist.

Inside the Raspberry Filled.

And inside ... the goo.  I've ceased calling it jelly, as goo really does more accurately describe the situation.

It had no flavor, and the same horrible gooey consistency as the lemon.  Very low quality.

Everything about this donut was bad, and it was one of my least favorites.

Vegan

I don't even know why I was still trying at this point.  But, maybe the vegans knew something that I didn't ...

Blueberry Glazed.

This just tasted strange.  The texture was strange.  Clearly vegan, and not very good.  The icing was tasty, but the donut just boring.

Cherry Glazed.

Taking a play from its non-vegan siblings, this just tasted fried, and had no real cherry flavor.

Scones

As I said, we used to get their scones as well.  Luckily, I was taking notes, even back then.  You can see subsequent notes [ in brackets ].  The scones are my favorite of their baked goods, but I would certainly never seek them out.

Blueberry Lemon Scone.

Same as other scones, always mediocre.  Loaded with blueberries though, which were very flavorful. 

[ Dry, doughy, no lemon flavor. Not many blueberries. Nothing good here. ] [ Tons of plump blueberries, but dry and doughy, subtle lemon ] [ Very dry, lots of blueberries in the middle, but so dry, not much flavor, and totally burnt. ]

Cranberry Orange Walnut.

"We hand-fold in the fruit center and grace the top with sparkling sugar crystals. "  

Same as others, very mediocre.  My chunk only had cranberry (no orange/walnut detected). [ Again, no orange or walnut, but there were plump cranberries. Kinda doughy, not that great, but enjoyable enough with coffee ] [ Dry, crumbly. Base scone just doesn’t have any flavor.  I’m still not sure this is really a “cranberry orange walnut” scone, as I can’t ever find anything but cranberry! ] [ Again, no orange or walnut, but lots of plump, juicy cranberries. Very strong cranberry flavor as a result. If you like cranberry, you’ll like this! So much fruit that it is easy to overlook the dry boring scone. ]

Update 2018: This scone has not improved in the 4 years since I last had it.  Dry, flavorless, crumbly base.  Hard bits of cranberry.  Not good.  Yay for sugar crystals on top?

Maple Oatmeal Raisin.

This one looked great.  It did have nice icing on top, but it was quite hard, yet mushy inside.  Ok oatmeal flavor, not much maple. and not very good flavors.  

Update Reviews:  Hard style. Nice maple glaze on top. Definitely my favorite of their scones. [ Best scone I've had from Posh, but not that great. ] [ Nice texture from oatmeal ] [ Very dry, good hearty texture, but not that great overall. ]

Update Review (2022): 

This isn't awful, but isn't great.  A very hard scone, but I like the maple flavored icing on top.  Little bits of raisin and oatmeal for texture.  Slight buttermilk tang.

Best of their products, but not amazing.

[ No Photo ]

Raspberry Peach

Hard style, sugar top. Very, very doughy surrounding fruit, I think it was undercooked. Raspberry is nice flavor, peach just sorta mushy. 

Update Review: It was definitely undercooked last time. Now just kinda soggy, not very good. Soft, crumbly, no flavor. 

Muffins

The muffins were all super generic and not good.

Poppyseed Muffin.

"Our poppy seed muffin is a harmonious blend of almond flavor and poppy seeds mixed together.  We top this muffin with slivered almonds and bake it to perfection."  

The consistency of this muffin was all off.  It was ... spongy?  Not moist, not dry, but almost gummy?  I did like the slivered almonds on top, and the almond flavor in the base, rather than standard lemon with poppyseed, but it was just all wrong texture-wise.

Double Chocolate.

“We combine delicious moist dark chocolate muffin and fold it together with plenty of rich milk chocolate chips. Just when you think it can't get any better, a few more chocolate chips are thrown on top.” 

Looks tempting but ... dry, chalky. Not good chocolate flavor. Not good at all. 

[ No Photos ]

• Banana Nut: "Topped generously with fresh walnut chunks, this delicious muffin is full of flavor and a real a favorite."  Tasting notes: flavorless, couldn’t detect banana at all, moist/soggy texture.  Not good.
• Cranberry Orange: “Our cranberry-orange muffin is made with plump and juicy whole cranberries. We add minced bits of orange rind to marry two tangy sweet flavors together into one muffin”. Tasting notes: Cranberry did have tartness and strong flavor, muffin itself was really strange bright orange flavor, moderately moist but not very good at all. Very generic, like grocery store muffin.

Danishes

The danishes, even worse.  I put their danish dough on par with their donuts.

Vienna Cream Danish.

• Apple Cinnamon Danish: “This buttery danish has a generous dopple of chunky apple filling placed on top of our flakey dough. The danish is lightly brushed with an apricot glaze and baked to a golden brown.”. Tasting notes: Same danish dough that I don’t like. Topped with goeey not very good apple jelly like stuff, and some chunks of mushy apple.
• Bearclaw: “Pure rich danish dough and filled on the inside with a traditional blend of chocolate and almond bearclaw filling. We delicately brush the outside with a translucent apricot glaze and top it with thin sweet/toasted almond slices.” Tasting notes: plentiful almond slices on the outside.  Decent flavored filling. I’m still not a fan of their danish dough and the ratio of filling/dough is a little off - too much dough.
• Raisin swirl: “This swirled buttery danish is heavily speckled with plump juicy raisins throughout.” Tasting notes: Same not good pastry dough as others, no extra flavor, meh raisins. [ Same danish bread I don’t like, swirled with raisins. Do not like.] [ Same dried out, not good danish bread.  It looked like it would be good due to cinnamon visible, but it wasn’t. ]
• Vienna Cream: “Buttery and twisted danish dough has a dopple of lightly sweet custard filling placed on top of our flaky dough. The danish is lightly brushed with an apricot glaze.” Tasting notes: Same danish dough that I find not very flavorful and sorta soggy.  Nice custard filling. [ Ugh, the danish dough is horrible.  Soggy, not flaky, not buttery.  The cream in the middle tastes nice, but the pastry is just way too nasty. ]

Croissants

The croissants have the same dough as the danishes, thus, disappointing.

Cheese Croissant.

• Almond: “Our almond croissant is our buttery, flaky croissant dough wrapped around a traditional almond paste. This distinctive croissant is then topped with almond slivers and lightly dusted with powdered sugar”. Tasting notes: almond marzipan filling, croissant shell, topped with powdered sugar and almond slices.  The croissant part is just not very good.   Inside was nice flavor, but doesn't make up for gross croissant dough.
• Cheese: "Our cheese croissant is a delicate yet flavorful croissant pastry that is filled with a rich creamy cheese inside. "  Tasting notes: if they would just get some decent pastry dough ... ugh.  Spongy, not flaky, stale tasting, just really horrible pastry.  The cheese filling was fine.
• Chocolate: “This flaky croissant pastry is generously filled on the inside with rich dark chocolate that melts when we bake it. After baking, we drizzle the top with just the right amount of dark chocolate." Tasting notes: Decent amount of chocolate filling, lots of chocolate swirled on top. Same not very good pastry dough as danishes.

Breakfast Treats

Pecan Sticky Bun

• Pecan Sticky Bun: Tasting notes: How do you make even a pecan sticky bun unappealing?  Dried out dough.  So dried out.  Not moist.  Not buttery.  Not good. The glaze at least was sweet, but the pecans were burnt and bitter.  There wasn't much cinnamon.  Perhaps one of their better baked goods, but this really isn't saying anything.

Bagels

• Cinnamon Raisin: "This classic flavor combination brings a wonderful aroma of spicy warm cinnamon and each bite brings a delicate cinnamon flavor along with the taste of plump fruity raisins. "  Tasting notes: ok cinnamon flavor but not a very good bagel. [ Not much flavor, only 2 raisins in whole thing, not good texture to the bagel dough itself. ]

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