Win Son Bakery

Another day, another excellent New York bakery for me to rave about.  Yep.  New Yorkers sacrifice many things (e.g. space, reasonable priced apartments, privacy, etc) but they sure make it up for it in density of incredible bakeries (and ice cream shops, or ok, just, fantastic food in general).  And as a lover of baked goods in particular, this brings me great joy when I visit.

One place, Win Son, hit my radar when they opened a second location in the east village this past year (their original location is over in Brooklyn, in Williamsburg).  It is a Taiwanese-American bakery, open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily (they also have an actual full service restaurant, but I'm talking only about their bakery-cafe in this review).  They serve a full lineup of barista made espresso and coffee drinks, but also beer, wine, and cocktails.  In addition to the pastries and baked goods that caught my eye, they are very well known for their scallion pancakes (filled with egg, cheese, and other yummies), and they have sandwiches, small bites, and even fascinating sounding salads.  Taiwanese flair all around.

Even though it was on my radar, and pretty high up on my list given both the rave reviews from the masses in general but also good friends of mine, I didn't actually visit myself - yet.  But rather, I was treated to some goodies that a friend brought to the office and shared with me.  

Spoiler: the treats far surpassed my expectations.  I cannot wait to visit myself sometime.

Twice Baked Almond Red Bean Bolo Bao. $8.

Oh, wow. 

So imagine a twice-baked almond croissant, but rather than croissant, make it like a Asian bolo bao. A red bean bolo bao that is.  But still use laminated dough like a croissant.  Add in some deep caramelization like a kouign amann too.  And that is what you have here.  Basically the love child of a twice baked almond croissant, kouign amann, and red bean bao.  And wow, is it good.  

The outside was super crispy, coated with a thin layer of almond frangipane and tons of slivered almonds, just like a twice-baked almond croissant.  Soo much texture and crunch.  The almonds had just the right level of toastiness.  Very good.

The pastry shattered beautifully, making a mess, in the way a great croissant dose.  The base was lightly caramelized, like a kouign amann, making it that much more decadent.  A quality foundation, and an exceptional pastry just from those elements.  But this had so much more to give.

(And yes, this is just a hunk of the full size, large, item).

Twice Baked Almond Red Bean Bolo Bao: Inside.

Inside, stuffed with the expected almond frangipane, plenty of it, well distributed, but also ... there was lightly sweetened red bean!  It added a softer texture, a different kind of slight sweetness and savoriness, more depth, and real Asian vibes to really transform it from being just a differently shaped French pastry.

Unique, absolutely, but also just downright delicious.  4.5/5.  Win Son also makes these in other flavors like chocolate and chocolate peanut butter.  I'd gladly try any.

Seasonal Nian Gao. $8.
(GF).

I think this was likely my first ever nian gao.  If you are unfamiliar, as I was, it is a dessert usually consumed for Chinese New Year, and isn't usually full of toppings like this.  It is made with glutinous rice flour, water, and sugar, and is usually steamed (although it can be fried, and I think Win Son bakes theirs) and served as a round sweet dessert cake (although there are savory versions that are sliced and stir fried too).  It is usually quite plain, the only mildly interesting (to me) versions have red bean paste inside.  Not an item that has really hit my radar before.  Naturally gluten-free, since they use rice flour.

However Win Son has made it interesting, and offers them throughout the year, with seasonal toppings (and I think sometimes fillings).  In August, it had mixed berries and streusel, definitely far from traditional, and, at first glance, it looked more like a mini berry tart or pie.  In fact, the person who gave me this referred to it as a "berry tart".  It also completely confused him, and he wasn't into it, saying "the bottom of the berry tart was very unusual, chewy like string cheese or uncooked dough".

And indeed, the base *was* unusual - if you aren't familiar with Asian desserts and heavy use of rice flour.  It was familiar to me immediately, very mochi adjacent.  If you've had a mochi muffin, it was like that.  It was soft, bouncy, stretchy, chewy.  I really liked it, but I can totally understand how if you thought you were getting a berry tart, or if you were unfamiliar with mochi, this could easily seem just wrong.  It was good at room temp, but even better warmed up.  The base was lightly sweet, but fairly simple and plain, as nian gao normally is I think.  4/5.  

But this too had much more to give ...

Nian Gao: profile.

The berry topping was exceptional.  It was a mix of berries (at least blackberries and blueberries, and I think maybe cherries?), all cooked down, but not sweetened.  The berries were super tart, and that tartness just made everything about this pop.  Think sour cherry pie, that style.  There was just enough goo to make sure all bites had a lot of berry flavor.  Really shockingly good, and it immediately made me grumpy at the multiple mediocre sour cherry and blueberry pies I had the previous two weeks (from Bubby's and Petee's Pies).  5/5 fruit topping.

And then a streusel like crumble, which honestly wasn't even necessary as everything else was just so good, but it did add nice sweetness and very contrasting texture.  It made it eat much more like a fruit pie/tart as well.  4/5 streusel.

All together a unique and very enjoyable dessert.  I liked it best warm, and think it would be insane with a bit of ice cream on top too.  4.5/5.

In the fall, I saw they did one featuring figs, both in the base and fresh on top, that had a malted cream and candied orange zest component too.  They seem to really just use nian gao as a fun base to play with, and I'm all for that.