Taste It Presents Desserts

As you know by now, desserts, and baked goods in general, are pretty much my favorite things to review.  And by "review", you know I mean "eat".  For "research".  While I certainly love local small bakeries, for my group at work, we are required to order through foodservice distributors, so I've had my share of wholesale items.  Many taste like the freezers they come from, most are non-offensively average, and every once in a while I find a vendor that makes a noteworthy item.  Like Taste It Presents.

"Taste It Presents creates gloriously tempting gourmet desserts, delighting pleasure seekers across the country. "

Taste It Presents also has 4 sister brands, Cannoli Factory, Love & Quiches, Joey’s Fine Foods and Sweet Sofia’s Bakery, but I've only tried the signature Taste It Presents line.  

"We offer a full range of triumphant frozen desserts for Foodservice and Retail, including American, Italian, Spanish/Latin, Asian and other world-renowned specialties. Choose from a wide assortment of delectable cakes, trays and pies, creamy cheesecakes, individual desserts, mousse desserts, brownies, dessert bars, cookies and cupcakes, grab-n-go, gluten free, baked goods and other top-selling favorites."

The lineup from Taste It Presents is reasonably extensive, but I've only tried the cakes.

Cakes

"No major milestone in life can be passed without cake marking the occasion. Our memory-making temptations have been capturing the hearts of diners for decades.

From the Belgian chocolate in our mousse cakes and the Italian Amarettini cookies atop our Toasted Almond Cream Cake to authentic Key lime juice in our Key Lime Pie, we source only premium ingredients, ensuring each cake has just the right balance of flavor, sweetness and texture."

The lineup of cakes is quite extensive, and I've tried several.  The quality bar is high.  And, spoiler, they make my favorite lemon dessert of all time.

Limoncello Mascarpone Cake.

"Our luscious Limoncello Mascarpone cake is a rich combination of Sicilian lemon infused sponge cake and Italian mascarpone topped with European white chocolate curls. A refreshingly light creamy dessert with the perfect combination of sweet and tart."

Limoncello.  I like Limoncello.  But ... I dislike most citrus based desserts - lemon curd, key lime ... just, sorry, not my thing.  And cake?  Eh.  Its ok, but, generally I want a pie, crisp, cobbler, mousse, or just something ... more interesting.  

The first time I saw the Limoncello Mascarpone Cake, I tried it, mostly because I was desperately wanting something sweet, and I figured, if nothing else, I'd eat the creamy frosting and white chocolate off the top.

But ... this is actually really good.   Really, really good.  It is a repeat order for my team.  We all rave about it every time it is served.

Limoncello Mascarpone Cake: Side Profile.

The sponge cake is light as air.  So fluffy, yet moist.  Amazingly light.  Like I said, I don't like cake, and I genuinely like this.

The layers of filling are sweetened, rich mascarpone cream, far more interesting than just sweet buttercream.  Perfect compliment to the lightness of the cake.

The white chocolate curls on top add an extra hit of sweetness, and a bit of texture.  The manufacturer recommends serving with fresh berries, whipped cream, or raspberry coulis.  I think the sweet coulis would be overkill, and mask the lightness of the limoncello, and more whipped cream is just totally unnecessary (not something I say often!), but berries I'd like to try sometime.

Is it good for you?  Well, no.  The mascarpone and cream add up.  A single slice (4oz, as pre-sliced is 380 calories), but honestly, it feels lighter!

4.5/5.

Limoncello Mascarpone Cake: Again!

I'm shocked every time I have this, as I genuinely like it.  I've added it to our rotation to theme alongside "Italian night" when we have it.

Most recently, I took my own suggestion and paired with fresh blueberries and raspberries, and they complimented the lemon and cream beautifully.  Definite success.

4.5/5.

10" Mixed Berry Cake.

"Sponge cake with Mascarpone cream, topped and filled with blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, black and red currants." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Mixed Berry Cake is refreshingly light and creamy, with colorful blue, red & black wild berries." -- Taste It Presents

After the surprise success of the Limoncello Mascarpone cake, I eagerly ordered the new Mixed Berry cake, as it too promised layers of mascarpone cream.

It is a nice looking cake, loaded with berries and white chocolate garnish on top.

And it too delivered.  The cake was again light and really not bad (for cake!), although this time not soaked in anything.  The mascarpone cream with thick, rich, and pretty fantastic.

Mixed Berry Cake: Side Profile.

The fruit was also found in the layers, assorted types of berries - blueberry, raspberries, strawberries - and tiny currants.  All the assorted fruits gave great pops of flavor, and I especially appreciated the currants.  Add in a bit of sweet white chocolate curls and I was quite pleased.

Update: we have had this several other times, and I've always enjoyed it.  Best when allowed to warm up to room temperature, and soften a bit, rather than "refrigerator" temperature.

3.5/5.

Mixed Berry Cake / Wildberry Cream Cake.

"Two layers of light, buttery sponge cake are delicately soaked in vanilla syrup, then enveloped with two layers of heavenly Italian mascarpone cream that is hand mixed with blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, black and red currants.

Topped with white chocolate curls."

Same cake, new name?  I think it is now marketed as the Wildberry Cream Cake, with a more accurate description, but I'm pretty sure this is the same cake.

I again do like the cream, but the berries weren't as great as I remembered - specifically, I wasn't into the currants, and they were dominant.

3/5.

Toasted Almond Cake, 10" Round.

"Delectable combination of imported ladyfingers lightly soaked in amaretto syrup, layered with smooth and creamy Italian mascarpone. Finished with crushed amaretiini cookies and roasted California Almonds." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"This 2 layer sponge cake is delicately soaked in amaretto syrup layered with imported mascarpone cream and topped with Italian amarettini cookies and roasted almonds." -- Taste It Presents

After enjoying the previous cakes, I branched out, ordering more cakes, again drawn in by teh mascarpone.

This cake is one of their signature items, and is available in a slew of formats - a full tray tiramisu style, a 7" round cake, a 10" round cake, and even individual pudding cups.  We had the larger 10" round.

Toasted Almond Cake: Side Profile.

It was a fantastic cake.

Much like the limoncello mascarpone and the berry mascarpone, it was made from light, moist ladyfingers, this time soaked in amaretto syrup.  I really don't tend to enjoy cake, but, when its this light and moist, it really is nice.  The soaked cakes from Taste It are better than the unsoaked.

And then, of course, their wonderful mascarpone cream.  Thick, rich, smooth, creamy.

Just the layers alone were a wonderful cake actually, but the crunchy amaretti cookies and bits of caramelized almond on top really pushed it over the top.

Light and moist.  Creamy and decadent.  Crispy and sweet.  Very good.

3/5.

Update:
I had it another time, and ... it wasn't as good.  It tasted stale in a strange way, like, the cream filling actually tasted stale, which is not a flavor I've ever associated with cream before.  I wonder if it was in a fridge with something with odor?

Tiramisu Cake.

"A light sponge cake and ladyfingers delicately soaked in espresso, alternately layered with imported mascarpone cheese and finished with a light dusting of cocoa." 

Tiramisu, as a cake?  Ok, why not?

This looked basically like a tiramisu, with layers of alternating soaked sponge cake, and mascarpone.

Tiramisu Cake: Inside.

Three layers total, but it was clear from immediate inspection that the ratio of everything was far more "cake" than I wanted.  Yes, this was a cake, not a tiramisu.

The cake was ... fine.  But boring.  Standard cake.  A bit dry.  Not a light airy one like in some of the other products.

The mascarpone filling though of course was thick, rich, and delicious.  I wanted more of it, like a real tiramisu.

The amount of cocoa on top was too aggressive for my tastes.

2.5/5.

Tiramisu.

"A traditional Italian dessert consisting of alternating layers of imported Mascarpone and ladyfingers delicately soaked in espresso with a hint of liquor."

Taste It also makes traditional tiramisu, which comes in a large tray of pre-scored slices for banquets and catering.

It was pretty classic, decent enough tiramisu.  Unlike the layer cake, the ratios were much better, enough cake obviously, but, look at the cream topping!  Much better.

The ladyfingers were nicely soaked, moist, lots of espresso.  The mascarpone cream was thick and rich, good flavor.  Powdered cocoa on top.

Very classic, no more, no less. 3/5.

Update: I had it a second time, and was less thrilled.  The cake was nicely soaked, but, the cream didn't have much depth to it, and, eh, cake.

Tiramisu (2026).

"A traditional Italian dessert consisting of alternating layers of imported Mascarpone and ladyfingers delicately soaked in espresso with a hint of liquor."

I had this years ago and found it pretty average, but it looked just so inviting that I tried it again.

And ... yeah.  Eh.  The ladyfingers were well soaked, but that just meant mushy, and the espresso flavor wasn't particularly strong.  The fluffy sweetened mascarpone-whip was tasty enough, and with the cocoa powder on top that was enjoyable.  But I wouldn't get this again, just not enough flavor overall.  Low 3/5.

Dulce de Leche Cake.

"A rich chocolate cake topped with dulce de leche mousse, sprinkled with chocolate curls." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Savor this rich chocolate cake topped with dulce de leche mousse (caramel flavor) sprinkled with chocolate curls." -- Taste It Presents

I was excited to order this one, something totally different, featuring mousse.

Sweet. Very, very, very sweet.  That is what I have to say about this one.

It looked like such a stunner, and everyone was excited for it, but most slices wound up in the trash.

Dulce de Leche Cake: Side Profile.

The base was fairly dry, not rich as advertised, chocolate cake.  I didn't care for that, but I never really care for cake.

The rest was the "mousse".  The texture was smooth and creamy, but the flavor was overwhelmingly sweet, in a cloying way, with a strange aftertaste.

The chocolate curls on top were at least good, nice dark chocolate.

1.5/5.

Caramel Pecan Fudge.

"The ultimate combination of rich chocolate mousse cake, topped with pecans, swirls of caramel and milk chocolate." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor.

"Caramels, pecans and fudge? Is there any BETTER combination? Put this cake on your menu, and watch the smiles come..." -- Taste It

There were some good, and some bad, parts to this.

The cake was dry and boring, not rich, not chocolately, not moist.  Throwaway component.

The chocolate mousse however was good.  Very thick, very rich, very chocolately.  Intense.

The caramel drizzle over the top was also nice, sweet, standard caramel.  I liked the crunch from the pecans too.

Overall though, it was actually ... too rich.  It needed whipped cream.  Badly.

Once I removed the cake, added whipped cream, and just had an amazing chocolate mousse with caramel and pecans and whipped cream, I really enjoyed it.

2.5/5.

 Belgian Chocolate Mousse.

"For the chocolate lover. A satisfyingly smooth chocolate mousse on a chocolate crust." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"A chocolate lover's dream. This light and satisfying cake has smooth Belgian chocolate mousse and is finished with tasty chocolate shavings." -- Taste It Presents

This was an ok product.  The mousse was creamy and rich, not super intense chocolate, but enough.  The texture was spot on.  I really liked the dark chocolate shavings on top.

The cake crust was dry, boring, and best left behind, but chocolate mousse doesn't need chocolate cake with it anyway.

Even better with some whipped cream.  Not an amazing mousse, but not awful.

3/5.

Flourless Chocolate Cake.

"Indulge your senses with this decadent, flourless chocolate cake. A chocolate lover’s dream, this dessert will delight gluten and non-Gluten Free customers alike.  Made with the finest Belgian semi sweet chocolate, butter, cocoa powder and vanilla. Unlike other flourless chocolate cakes which can be gritty, flakey or dry, this cake is delicately rich, and bursting with a smooth, moist, and creamy texture."

This was one of the better flourless chocolate cakes I have ever had.  It really was remarkably smooth and creamy, almost like a really thick pudding or mousse.  Deep, rich chocolate flavor.  

I laughed at the pieces my cafe cut them into, but I understand why - this is a "little goes a long way" kind of cake.  Best paired with some whipped cream to cut the heaviness, or strawberries/raspberries if consumed cold.  I also heated up a second slice the next day and added a scoop of coffee ice cream, which worked beautifully as well.

4/5.

Read More...

Takumi Taco

Mexican and Japanese fusion is not new nor novel.  Sushi burritos are all around these days.  But what about a place that is actually both Japanese and Mexican, as in, not just Japanese ingredients treated in a Mexican way, but rather, has real Mexican food too.  That's a bit different.  And honestly, a bit confused.  

"Takumi Taco serves Japanese Inspired Mexican food. The concept was born from our love of two incredible cuisines with deep, rich, and unique food cultures. Takumi Taco started in April 2012 as a taco stand at Smorgasburg in Brooklyn. From there, we expanded to multiple food halls across New York City growing our menu along the way to serve the ever-changing needs of our customers. We pride ourselves on serving fresh, unique food in a fast casual setting."

Takumi Taco is such a place, offering up mostly Mexican tacos, burritos, bowls, and sides, but then also has a few fusion items in the mix.

Popup Menu.

At the restaurant, most of the tacos use traditional corn tortillas, with the exception of the Japanese inspired ones (spicy tuna or curry beef), and a vegetarian lentil one that use a far more fun sounding crispy gyoza shell instead.  For our event, we had just one with the gyoza (spicy tuna), so of course I had to get that.  We also had the choice of two others (chicken, vegetarian cauliflower) and two sides (Mexican corn salad or Japanese slaw).

Bento Box. $13.75.
Spicy Tuna / Cauliflower / Takumi Slaw.

I got a bento box, which comes with two tacos and one side.  It also came with tortilla chips.

Spicy Tuna:

"Sashimi Grade Big Eye Tuna, Jicama, Avocado, Cucumber, Spicy Mayo, Radish, Sesame Seeds, Crispy Gyoza Shell."

This is the item I was most excited for, with the gyoza shell and basically tuna poke filling (although, yes, it had avocado, and yes, I am allergic).  I had hoped to ask for the avocado to be left off, but it was pre-mixed.  My allergy is such that if I don't eat it, but it has touched things I eat, I'll feel it, my lips and throat will swell a little, but it is generally fine, so, I still risked it (unlike my melon allergy which is far more severe).

I loved this and I'm glad I still got it even with the avocado.

The gyoza shell worked so well.  It was super crisp, and seemed pretty fresh, just a big giant wonton.  The filling was full of diced tuna, cucumbers, jicama, and avocado, all cut to about the same size, which made for easy bites.  The jicama added remarkable crunch, and it, along with the cucumber, were nicely juicy.  The spicy mayo was creamy and slightly spicy, and very generously applied.  Speaking of generous, it was stuffed really quite full.

This to me was better than a poke bowl or spicy tuna roll, as it allowed the fillings to shine in a better way, and, did I mention, I loved that shell?  It was fun to eat, it was tasty, and I'd get more of these in a heartbeat.  4/5.

Cauliflower Taco:
"Roasted Cauliflower, Sauteed Onions, Pineapple Pico De Gallo, Corn Tortilla."

Since a bento box contains two tacos, and I wanted to hedge my bets but hate chicken, I got the cauliflower taco as well.  It was al pastor style cauliflower, in a warm corn tortilla, topped with the pineapple pico de gallo to order.

I could care less about the (double) corn tortilla, but the cauliflower bits were flavorful from the al pastor sauce, and the pico de gallo was pretty vibrant and the pineapple a nice touch.  I don't get excited about Mexican flavors, and I'd prefer bigger hunks of cauliflower, but this was fine.  3/5.

Takumi Slaw:
"Napa/Red Cabbage, Carrot, Kale, Radish, Sesame Seeds, Sesame Dressing."

I adore slaw, I adore Japanese style things, so this was a great match for me, a slaw with a bit of Japanese inspiration in the dressing.  I liked that the dressing was added to order, rather than pre-mixed, as it meant the cabbage was crisp.  But otherwise this was a bit boring, I liked everything in it, but the dressing was a bit goopy, and there just wasn't much crunch.  Fine, but boring.  3/5.

Tortilla Chips:

I'm not one for tortilla chips, and would have asked to have these left off if I had known they'd be included, but I have to admit, they were good chips.  Crisp, fresh, thin, really well seasoned.  Definitely seemed homemade.  Far better than average.  4/5.

Bento Box.
2x Spicy Tuna / Slaw / Chips.

I liked Takumi so much I went back a few days later, but opted for two of the spicy tuna. 

The chips seemed less seasoned this time, more like just generic tortilla chips, and I again wished I'd left them off, but otherwise, this was much the same.  My feelings on the slaw were also unchanged.

Read More...

heybody protein snacks

Avid snacker Julie here.  I love to snack, I love to munch on things, and even moreso, I love to try products from other countries with flavors and ingredients that are a bit more novel to me.  Which led me to discover protein snacks from heybody, a Korean brand.

"Unleash Your Healthy Snacking"

These are high protein snacks, and healthy ones at that (baked not fried, etc).  The brand also makes protein balls that look like candy and high protein chocolate chip cookies ... and knee and wrists braces, and ankle and elbow support bands.  Um, yes.  The non-edible products are part of their "Hey balance!" line.  I stuck with the consumables.

Protein Chips

I honed right in on the chips.

"heybody Protein Chips are a nutritious snack option that allows you to indulge your cravings for savory and salty flavors without compromising on health. Craving a protein boost? Each serving of heybody Protein Chips delivers a whopping 12g of protein. Fuel your body with the essential building blocks it needs to support muscle growth and repair."

The protein comes from the soy protein isolate, and, to a lesser extent, rice and whole wheat flours and corn grits.  You'd think this would make the chips taste like these things, but, they don't at all.  They just taste like nice puffy rice crackers.  I was amazed I didn't taste anything healthy or protein isolate-like.

They come in 4 flavors: Onion & Sour Cream, Red Pepper & Sweet Chili, Sweet Corn & Cheddar, and Tomato & Pizza. I tried all of them.  All were remarkably flavorful.

"Baked Goodness, Crunchy Bliss: Why settle for greasy, unhealthy snacks? heybody Protein Chips are baked rather than fried, making them a healthier choice compared to traditional fried snacks. Baking helps reduce overall fat content while still providing a satisfying crunch."

Many snacks claim to be crunchy, but, wow, these really delivered.  I was blown away by just how crunchy they were.  Incredible crispiness, shocking in a baked product.  All had the same form factor of sorta puffy crackers.  They call them chips, but they are certainly more cracker like to me.

Red Pepper & Sweet Chili.

Wow!

One bite of these and I was pretty hooked.  First, the aforementioned insanely crispy texture, that just made for a very satisfying eating experience.  But then, the flavor.  So intense.  They did not shy away from the heat on these.  I was pleased that they had legit spice to them (with a bit of sweetness on the finish).

I was really surprised that they didn't taste like a high protein product.  No strange texture nor flavor, and yet ... 12 grams of protein in this snack bag?  The mix of rice and wheat flours and corn grits worked very successfully as a flavorful, hearty base that didn't taste too overly healthy either.

So, great form factor, satisfying snack, AND high protein?  Really a shockingly good product.  4/5.

Note to vegetarians, these actually contain chicken bouillon in the seasoning.

Onion & Sour Cream.

Next up, I went for the Onion & Sour Cream.  These had, um, "onion taste seasoning" and "sour cream taste seasoning" listed as the ingredients, so I can't really tell you what was in them to make them onion & sour cream adjacent (and yes, it drove me crazy that they put onion first - my brain just immediately puts them in the other order!).

Anyway, the flavor was good.  It definitely had dairy-ish taste.  And some savoriness.  Not as awesome as the previous flavor, but, still, good.  3.5/5, maybe even 4/5 as I just love the crispy form factor so much.

Corn.

Now it was time for "corn", perhaps a flavor not expected by most Americans, but one I'm pretty familiar with from Japanese snacks in particular, where corn potage is a fairly common snack flavor (e.g. these Aerial corn potage snacks I reviewed).

The chip/cracker format was pretty much exactly what I came to expect from Heybody now - super crispy, slightly hearty/healthy base. 

The ingredient list for these was just as funny as previous ones, with "buttery cheddar seasoning", "butter mixed powder", "cheddar cheese seasoning", "super sweet corn mix" as ingredients (along with cheese powder, bread crumbs, sugar, salt, and "salty enhancer".  I didn't taste any of the cheddar though, as the flavor was very distinctly corn.  Sweet corn.  Buttery sweet corn.  One you need to be in the mood for, as it was quite intense.

Overall, a nice snack when I was craving crunching on super crunchy corn chips, which isn't all that common of a craving, but, good when I wanted them, a bit overwhelming otherwise.  High 3/5, just because they aren't really an everyday flavor for me.

Tomato & Pizza.

I saved the strangest flavor for last, Tomato & Pizza.  These had tomato powder, cheddar cheese (not what I think of as pizza cheese ...), and beef seasoning.  Calling these pizza inspired seemed like a stretch given the ingredient list, but, actually, the flavor was sorta there. 

Like the other varieties, they were super flavorful, super crispy, and just an addicting joy to eat.  They were savory in a complex way that was maybe pizza if you really tried to envision it, but I mostly just got the tomato and herbs, not pizza exactly.  They were quite enjoyable, another bag gone in mere moments.  3.5/5, nearing 4/5 because I really did love eating them.

Read More...

Batter Bakery

Batter Bakery is a local San Francisco bakery that I desperately want to like more than I do.   They make a number of breakfast baked goods, including scones, muffins, quickbreads, coffee cake, and "morning bars".  They also make dessert items, such as cookies, brownies, shortbreads, and cupcakes.

They care about sourcing, with ingredients coming from local farmers, and selections varying with the seasons.  They try to take a slightly healthier focus on baked goods, with whole grain flours used in many items.  They sell at the Ferry Plaza farmer's market, and through Good Eggs, along with at their retail locations, including a cute little kiosk.

But ... I've been turned off by a few things.  The first is actually the service, at their now-closed Polk Street store.  I visited many times, and the staff were always very unfriendly.  This ranged from being visibly annoyed answering any questions, to barely offering up a "hi" when customers enter the store.  Second, the prices.  They seem higher than comparable places around town.  And third, the most important: the goods just aren't very ... good.  Everything seems dry and over cooked, and ingredients aren't well distributed inside.

The following is a collection of reviews starting back in 2017 when I first discovered them, then a big hiatus, and some newer reviews from 2025 & 2026.  You can also see how prices have changed in that time frame, which makes sense.

Scones ($3.85 -> $5)

"Think you don't like scones? Try one of these. Crisp on the outside, soft in the middle. Filled with flavor, these scones are a Batter favorite! " 

Scones come in 4 standard flavors, plus a rotating seasonal special fruit and savory variety.

The scones are all large size, very dense, crumbly style, square shaped.  I've tried many, and agree that they are crisp on the outside, although, they really generally seemed burnt to me.  I never liked any, and found the ingredient distributions were often off.

Buckwheat Walnut Fig. 

The first time I tried the Buckwheat Walnut Fig scone, I did not like it.  My tasting notes were simple: "Not very good.  No real flavor in the scone body, dry."

Yet, I didn't consult my notes before visiting another time, and picking the same scone.  Whoops.  I think the nuts and figs just kept calling out to me. 

My notes the second time were much improved: "I enjoyed this.  It wasn't the best scone I'd ever had, but it was pretty good.  Good heartiness from the buckwheat, slight tang, well spiced.  I liked the sweetness and slight chew from the bits of fig, and the crunch from the nuts.  Worked well as a standalone scone, no jam required, and didn't need to be warmed up."

Weekly Savory: Mushroom, Ricotta, Pancetta.

This was the weekly seasonal savory special.  I stopped in at Batter Bakery around lunchtime, and thus, a savory scone jumped out at me, rather than my standard pick of sweets.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from such a savory scone, but I thought it might be like a biscuit?  It wasn't.  Sure, the scone base wasn't sweetened, but it was still very much a scone.  Like their others, very dry and crumbly.

The outside was very, very dry, and a bit burnt.  Inside was moist at least, but the outside was just way overdone.

The balance of ingredients was also totally off.  In my entire scone, I found one little glob of ricotta.  There was no cheesy aspect to the scone at all.  Also lacking? The pancetta.  There were just a few tiny little bits of pancetta.  The pancetta that was there was absolutely delicious, super crispy little nuggets of salty goodness.  But not nearly enough.  The mushrooms were earthy and actually were in the correct quantity for the scone, but unfortunately for me, I didn't actually like them much.

But where everything went wrong, well, besides being overcooked and not having the right balance of any of the tasty ingredients, was with the herbs.  I'm not sure what herbs were in here exactly, but there was way too much of them.  The herbs overwhelmed everything.  And what is worse, is that some came in giant sprigs.  So not only did they ruin the taste, but biting into little sticks inside your scone is not enjoyable.

For some reason, I kept trying with the scone, even once I realized I really didn't like it.  I bought it home and heated it up.  It was better that way actually, but still, I wouldn't ever get another one of these.

Weekly Seasonal Fruit: Plum Spice.

My scone came in a plastic bag.  I think the bag is partially responsible for the texture, as the top seemed a bit gummy.

Inside was moist, almost doughy, which I actually liked, but isn't really ideal for a scone.  The scone didn't really have any crumb to it as a result, although the bottom was dried out and almost burnt, and did crumble.  Inside was a layer that contained slices of plum, very moist, very tart, lots of them.

I'm not entirely sure what all of the spices were that made up the "spice" component of "plum spice", but there was at least nutmeg, as it had a vaguely soapy taste.  The spicing existed mostly on top.

Overall, I didn't really like this, mostly because I didn't care for the plum, or the bottom of the scone.

Weekly Seasonal Fruit: Apple, cinnamon, cheddar.  $3.

Ok, I need to learn to stop trying their scones.  They just really aren’t very good.

The scone base was very plain, no tang.  That is not to say that it was flavorless, as the cinnamon was very, very strong.  Too strong.  The texture was also not great, no crumb to it.  But it also wasn’t a moist cakey style scone.  It seemed rather overcooked, although not burnt, just dried out.

Inside were chunks of apple.  They were a perfect size, and well cooked, not too mushy, not too crisp.  Decently distributed throughout.  That part was done well.

I never found any cheddar.  I didn’t taste it, I didn’t find any melted anywhere.

I’d clearly never get this again.

Seasonal Savory Scone. $5.
(chard, butternut squash, cheddar).

This was ok.  I didn't really taste the chard or squash, but it was mildly cheesy.  Decent moisture, decent crumble, but a soft scone, not quite what I think of as neither an American style nor British style scone.  But not particularly strong flavors of any kind to make it interesting.  2.5/5.

Seasonal Fruit Scone. $5.00.
(Spiced Pear).

Next I went for the sweet version.  The seasonal fruit was pear.  It was again a soft style scone.  It was loaded with cinnamon, and not a very balanced taste.  Reasonable hunks of pear within.  It was ... fine, but not particularly good, and not really the style I think of as a scone.  2.5/5.

Salted Cream Biscuit. $5.50.

Next up, one called a biscuit instead of a scone.  It seemed pretty similar though, as the previous items were almost like biscuits, and this was sorta like a biscuit, but one that went in the scone direction.

Anyway, it was a fairly plain flavor, I didn't really taste the salted element.  Just a plain biscuit-scone.  Probably fine to slather with jam and cream, or use as a shortcake biscuit? 2.5/5

[ No Photos ]

• Meyer Lemon Currant: Very large, dense, crumbly scone.  It weighed a ton!  Pretty strong citrus flavors, a nice buttermilk sour component as well, but nothing really special.  Didn’t reheat very well.  Got a really heavy buttery mouthfeel.  Still worked well as a conduit for tasty jam though! [ Frozen and reheated: Did not work well, was very crumbly and just too buttery, with a strange mouthfeel. ]
• Weekly Seasonal Fruit: Raspberry Ginger: Just dry, no real flavor, serious meh.
• Weekly Seasonal Fruit: Strawberry Poppyseed Scone: Nice crunch from the poppyseeds, good flavor and moistness from the strawberry.  My favorite of their products.

Muffins ($3.45 -> $5)

Double Chocolate Beet Muffin. $5.

Wow, I did not like these.

Sure, I was a bit skeptical about beets in my muffins, but I went in open-minded.  The texture was fine, and they were super moist, but the flavor was ... something more akin to what I think zucchini crossed with sawdust would taste like.  It didn't taste like beets, sure, but it really truly did not taste good. 1/5.

[ No Photo ]

Cherry Bran.

This was a little on the dry side.  It had a nice hearty flavor from the bran, but was not very flavorful, and was pretty boring tasting.  The cherries were inconsistently distributed throughout, some in big clumps, and other areas missing cherries completely.

It was not a bad muffin exactly, but certainly not worth going out of your way for it.  Didn’t reheat very well the next day.

Coffee Cake ($3.85/slice -> $5.50)

Coffee cake is available by the slice or round. 

Pecan Buttermilk Coffee Cake.  $3.85.

I went in one morning, really in the mood for a muffin.  It was 9am, and the store opened at 8:30.  Yet, no muffins.  Could they really run out that fast?  They are a bakery!  I inquired, and was told that they didn't bake any muffins that day.  Boo.  The other breakfast offerings were quick breads and scones.

I love scones, but I haven't ever been impressed with Batter's scones, and I don't like quick breads very often, so that left one choice: coffee cake.

Coffee cake is also not something I ever normally order, but it looked a bit better than the quick breads.

Batter got the "cake" aspect of this right.  It was seriously sweet.  It was good cake, very moist, and, I think would be perfectly good as a cake.  But for breakfast?  It was a bit much, even for me, and I eat pie for breakfast.  I did like the topping, a crumble top with pecans, but it too was sweet, so it didn't help cut the overall sweetness.  Inside the coffee cake were a few pieces of fruit, I think apricot?  Peach?  They were just little slivers in the very center, and added additional moisture.

Overall, this was better than I expected, but really not what I had in mind for breakfast.  I'd recommend it as a mid-afternoon treat with a cup of coffee perhaps.  Or, if you like cake for breakfast, by all means, go for it.  $3.85 price for a large slice of coffee cake, like most of their other prices, seemed a bit high.

Lemon Crumb Coffee Cake. $5.50.

This was ... ok?  I appreciated the thick sorta sweet streusel topping.  The cake itself was extremely moist, nice open crumb structure, nice soft spices.  I didn't really taste lemon, but that was fine with me.

So absolutely nothing wrong with it, but it somehow bored me. Low 3/5.

Pecan Buttermilk Coffee Cake.

This is one of the better Batter Bakery products I've tried.  It was moist, had a decent tang, and mild spicing.  Somewhat generic winter spices.  Too bad the pecan was just the crumble on top, I definitely wanted more crumble and more pecan.  I did like the little bit there was.

Overall, like I said, one of the better products, but I wouldn't get it again.  3/5.

Bars ($3.75 - $4.25)

Batter Bakery makes a lot of assorted bars, including several types of brownies, and even a gluten-free and a vegan option, plus a couple fascinating sounding "morning bars".

On one visit, I saw that they had these two types of morning bars, a standard nut and seed granola bar (crispy hard style, vegan, gluten-free) and one called a "breakfast bar".  It looked softer, more like a cookie, but in bar shape, and, given the name, it claimed to be acceptable for breakfast.  I grabbed one to eat the next day, even though I don't generally find granola bars to be all that interesting.  I've also tried several of the brownies.  I haven't liked any.

Breakfast Bar.   $3.75.

"A hearty, chewy snack bar filled with oats, oat bran, dried fruit & nuts."

The base was oats, with raisins, dried cranberries, and dried apricot bits.  It wasn't dry exactly, but it also wasn't very moist.  Basically, yes, just a soft granola bar.  I'm not sure why I expected it to be more than that.  It was nicely spiced, but besides that, why would I want this?

It would have been better with nuts for some crunch and some other dried fruit.  Oh, and chocolate chunks.  Or ... something.  Just too boring as it was.

[ No Photo ]

Carmelita. $3.95.

"An oat brown sugar crust filled with caramel, chocolate, and pecans. Decadent and delicious!" 

This was a many layer bar with nuts, chocolate, coconut, caramel ... basically everything.  It sounded great.  But, it wasn’t particularly interesting. 

I tried one again a few months later, as it sounded so good.  But, again, it just wasn't great.  I love all of the ingredients, not sure why it doesn’t come together for me.

[ No Photo ]

Devil’s Food Brownie. $3.95.

"Dense, fudgy and packing a serious chocolate punch, these brownies will make any chocolate lover drool." 

Meh.   It was very rich, very chocolatey, but just a brownie, and, like many of their items, a bit dry.

Cookies 

Batter makes an assortment of cookies, including gluten-free ones, and a large range of shortbreads.

I never seek out cookies, since they are my least favorite category of dessert (or, I argue, aren't *really* desserts), but cookies are what people bring in all the time to my office, so I have been able to try many from Batter that way, including their signature Sand Angel.  They are all hard style cookies, and I haven't really cared for them.

Decorated Shortbread Cookie.  $3.25.

I was really craving a sugar cookie with icing, which is funny, because cookies are very rarely the sort of treat I crave.  But I'd just depleted the supply from my freezer of iced sugar cookies from Suzie Cakes that I actually liked, and I just couldn't get the idea of iced cookies out of my head.

Batter Bakery didn't have sugar cookies, but they did have iced shortbreads, which seemed close enough.  Again, cookies are rarely the treat I choose, and of cookies, shortbreads are near the bottom of the list for me.  I love the butteriness, but, they are kinda boring.  This was certainly a strange pick for me.  But they had royal icing as decoration on top, so I hoped that they would meet my craving needs.

And, they did.  Was it a remarkable cookie?  Not really.  But it was exactly what I wanted.  The shortbread was buttery and sweet, a lot sweeter than I'm accustomed to for a shortbread actually, but since I wanted a sugar cookie, this was a good thing.  The icing was just basic royal icing, but again, it is what I wanted.

Buttery, sweet, fresh enough.  The price seemed crazy high at $3.25 for a single cookie however.  It wasn't particularly large.  I know the decorating takes extra effort, but if I wasn't really craving this, I would have never paid that much for a single cookie.

Honey Sesame Cookie. $4.50.

Eh.

It was a soft cookie.  Loaded with sesame seeds.  Slight sweetness from honey.  But really not all that compelling to me.  2/5.

Spiced Buckwheat Brownie Cookie.

This was a very spiced, and very buckwheat tasting cookie.  I didn't really get any brownie vibes from it, not in texture nor in taste, but, the spicing, yes, it was over-the-top, in-your-face winter spices, so much cinnamon and snickerdoodle flavors going on.  But then, healthy buckwheat with some bitterness.  Eh.  Maybe as a breakfast cookie?  But certainly not something I wanted as a dessert. At least it was nice and soft? 2/5.

Spicy Chocolate Oat Pecan Cookie.

Even though I had not previously enjoyed any Batter Bakery cookies, this jumped out because I do love chocolate and pecans, and it was a big, thick, hefty cookie.

With its massive heft I expected it to be a bit more of a gooey center, but this was fully baked through.  Not a hard cookie, but not nearly as soft as I'd like.  Loaded with oats and a fairly healthy, not too sweet, taste.  The kind of cookie you could have for breakfast fairly reasonably, but at least for me, doesn't quite do it as a dessert.

As for the mix-ins, other than the oats, there were very few chocolate chunk bits, and I never really found pecans, I think they were chopped up pretty small and just were masked by all the oats.  It also wasn't really "spicy" or even very strong winter spices as I thought it might be.

So, overall, yeah, a fine oatmeal cookie of a less decadent style, but not really my thing.  2.5/5.

[ No Photos ]

Assorted Cookies.  $3.25.

Chocolate Hazelnut Shortbread

Not very buttery, good flavor from hazelnut, crispy shortbread, not really my thing.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

"Chocolate cookie with peanut butter swirls and chunks of peanut butter cup".  

I love chocolate and peanut butter, but I didn’t love this cookie.  It was hard and crisp, and I prefer softer cookies.  The bites with chunks of peanut butter cup or peanut butter swirls were good, but these things were fairly sparse and inconsistent in the cookie, there just wasn't nearly enough peanut butter flavor to it.

Coconut Macaroon

Decently moist, decently sweet, but fairly generic.

Sand Angel

"Batter's signature, secret recipe cookie. A chewy, cinnamon-y cookie similar to a cross between a snickerdoodle & a molasses cookie. " 

Again, a huge hard crunchy cookie.  If it was softer, this could be a great cookie!  The cinnamon flavor was really strong, yet there was a great molasses undertone, with bright ginger backing it all.  Much better when heated up in the toaster oven to soften it up some.  If they just cooked it less, I would absolutely love this thing! 

Cupcakes ($3.25)

Batter's final offerings are cakes and cupcakes.  I've never had a full size cake, but I've tried several of the cupcakes.  I didn't really like them either.

Devil's Food

"Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Buttercream."

The chocolate cake was fairly moist, but again, like many of their products, not that intense of a chocolate flavor.  Chocolate buttercream was light and fluffy and a pretty good chocolate flavor.

German Chocolate 

"with Coconut Pecan Frosting."

Another dense chocolate cupcake that wasn’t very flavorful, but was nicely moist.  The frosting was a caramel base, but included mushy pecan and coconut flakes.  The frosting didn’t have any real flavor, not even a nice sweetness, and the mush level of the coconut and pecan were really unappealing.

Red Velvet

"with Cream Cheese Frosting"

My favorite of the cupcakes.  Cake itself was kinda flavorless but decently moist.  Frosting had a nice cream cheese flavor.

Vanilla Cupcake with Chocolate Buttercream 

The cake was very dry and plain tasting.  Frosting had a nice chocolate flavor and was light and fluffy.

Read More...

Mighty Quinn's BBQ

New York City has a lot of great food.  But I can't say I've ever heard people talk about NY as being a great place for BBQ, although there are several places around, including Mighty Quinn's, a small chain with a couple locations in Manhattan, one each in Brooklyn and Queens, along with New Jersey, Florida, and Maryland.  You may notice a distinct lack of locations in the actual bbq regions of the country.

Anyway, I still had hope, as a chain has to have something going for it to continue to open that many franchises, even if it started in NY.

"We bring together the best of all great BBQ techniques to create something uniquely its own. The process begins with the best, all-natural meats and poultry, seasoned with perfect spice blends and then smoked with wood for many, many hours until the perfect harmony of smoke, flavor and time emerges. Our food is steeped in tradition but given new life. BBQ was created in the South but Mighty Quinn's Barbeque was born in New York!"

I didn't actually visit one of the local restaurants in person, but rather got to experience their product at a catered event in my office.  For our event, we had the choice of two proteins: Kick'n Chicken or Burnt Ends.  At their actual restaurants they have many other offerings like brisket, pulled pork, ribs, sausages, wings, and more.  We didn't have any of their sides but they do have a pretty decent sounding lineup of cornbread, burnt end baked beans, mac & cheese fritters, mac and cheese, candied pecan topped sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, broccoli salad with bacon, two kinds of slaw, loaded fries or potatoes, etc, etc.  I was sad to not get to try any of those items.  And don't get me started on how sad I was to miss the cinnamon bun bread pudding. We did also have their house pickled cucumbers and onions and their signature bbq sauce.

Burnt Ends.

We were only allowed one portion, and it was a bit meager.  I can't blame the business for this, but, it did look a bit sad when served.

I had mixed feelings on these.  The smokiness was exceptional.  Maybe almost too smoky, as it got to be a bit much in a way I've never experienced before.  Like, inside of an ashtray.  But a small bite really was fantastic, and I suspect would go sooo well with mac and cheese or mashed potatoes to balance it out.

The pieces had a great char on them.  But ... the meat just wasn't that tender, it didn't pull apart nicely, it had some chewy big hunks of fat, and the flavor was fairly muted other than the smoke.  It let me down because the smoke hit hard at first, the char was obvious, and these seemed like great signs, but, at the end of the bite, I wasn't really all that happy with it.  Low 3/5 sadly.

Pickles.

Pickled cucumbers.

These were a bit different from most pickles. Crinkle cut, slices, but they were strangely pale.  Fairly soft, not mushy, but not as crunchy as some.  Relatively standard flavor.  Overall they were fine, but not special.  3/5.

Pickled onions

These were pretty standard pickled onions, good acidity to cut the fatiness and smokiness of the meat.  3/5.

BBQ Sauce.

The bbq sauce was good.  A nice consistency, not to runny, not too thick.  It had some vinegar tang but not too much.  It had some sweetness, but not too much.  Basically a very balanced bbq sauce, that didn't taste commercial.  3.5/5.

Read More...

Prince Street Pizza

My first day in New York after relocating my team had a pizza party.  It was not something I planned, nor even knew about, until right then.  I had other plans actually, but, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to at least grab a slice.  It felt like the proper NY thing to do.

"Our pizzas are available by the slice and as whole pies and are prepared using the freshest ingredients and handcrafted sauces made daily from scratch.  To get the same dough texture in markets outside of New York, we even use a water filtration process that replicates the water used in New York."

The host ordered from Prince Street Pizza, which I had certainly heard of, but hadn't tried before.  They have a few locations, in NY, and strangely in Miami and California.  I remember thinking that it seemed like people generally find it decent, not amazing, not the sort of place people line up for, but, a decent option for takeout or delivery for an office celebration like this.  They make both classic NY Style Rounds, and Sicilian squares, which I think is what makes them a bit more unique than most similar places.  They also have a couple token salads, motz sticks, garlic bread, and generic desserts (cheesecake, chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookie). 

Since then, I've stumbled into their leftovers at various events in my building, so I've had the chance to try it several times.

New York Style Rounds

"Thin, crispy crust for those that like a round-or-bust kind of pizza."

Our group started with a couple of the most basic NY style rounds.  

The Fancy Prince.

"Original Pizza Sauce, Fresh Mozzarella, Pecorino Romano, Fresh Basil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil."

First up, the Fancy Prince, or as all other establishments call it, the margarita.  I'll admit it looked pretty good.  I almost grabbed this just to have a good baseline.  But I only wanted one slice, and this wasn't my top choice.

The Boozy Broome.

"Vodka Sauce (contains Prosciutto) and Fresh Mozzarella."

The host's favorite pizza is the Boozy Broome, e.g. their vodka sauce pie.  I didn't try it however either.  

Sicilian Soho Squares

"Sicilian-style squares with a thick, crisp and fluffy crust."

The Soho Squares are their Sicilian style rectangular pizzas.  Cut into 8 slices.  I'm not usually one for Sicilian style, but I think this is what they are more known for.  

I didn't really care for this crust.  It was exactly the style I'm not into - it looks like Detroit style at first glance, which I do love, but then I taste it, and ... yeah, Sicilian style.  It tastes like the pizza I grew up with: airy, chewy in the wrong way, way too much crust, no interesting base flavor, and greasy.  Not the crust for me.

Spicy Spring.

"Fra Diavolo Sauce, Pepperoni, Fresh Mozzarella, Pecorino Romano."

I almost grabbed the Spicy Spring, as the fra diavolo sauce sounded interesting, and hey, what's not to like about fresh mozz and pepperoni?  I appreciated the use of cupping pepperoni.  I have to say though that not much care seemed to be used to apply the toppings, they looked pretty haphazard (which seemed the case on the prior pizzas with uneven application, but was much more clear here).

The Naughty Pie.

"Spicy Vodka Sauce (contains Prosciutto), Pepperoni, Fresh Mozzarella, Whipped Ricotta, Zab's Hot Honey."

Instead, I went for the final choice: the Naughty Pie.  It also featured vodka sauce, so I felt that was honoring my host's recommendation for the vodka pie, yet it was a spicy version of the vodka sauce, which is more my style, and it had the same pepperoni and mozzarella as the previous square, AND it had hot honey (trendy, I know, but it works) and ricotta.  Ricotta I can take or leave, but the rest sounded like clearly the best of all the pizzas.

I eagerly plucked a pepperoni off that fell off as I took my perfect slice (I had first pick!). Again though, toppings were kinda all over the place.  The pepperoni was thick classic cupping pepperoni.  No more, no less, but good.  The little bit of hot honey drizzled on it gave it a delightful sweet and spicy element.  I plucked off a few more.  I really liked them.

It was oozing sauce everywhere, so that definitely dominated.  

I wish I could tell you more about this slice.  But I actually wasn't hungry for pizza in the middle of the afternoon when this party happened, so I saved my slice to heat up in my toaster oven later for dinner.  But ... I put it in a fridge that failed, and I decided not to risk food poisoning and thus sadly had to throw it out (I was soooo tempted to still eat it ...).

Houston Jalapeño.

"Spicy Pepperoni + Jalapeño + Hot honey."

A few weeks later, another event, so I got another stab at (spicy) pepperoni and hot honey, this time with jalapeños too (although regular sauce, not vodka).  I was thrilled to see how ridiculously loaded up with toppings it was, three of which were spicy.  Bring it!

I did really like the pepperoni.  It was quite flavorful, thick slices, lightly curled up, and indeed spicy.  A great pepperoni, but because the pieces were so thick, and there were sooo many of them, this was obviously an exceptionally pepperoni forward pizza.  The pepperoni gave it actually plenty of heat, so the extra kick from jalapeño almost felt unnecessary.  And then of course, the hot honey, which was delicious, as expected, a bit of sweet and spicy, and always goes so well with pepperoni.  I did like all these toppings.  

It was a very topping heavy pizza, obviously, with the pepperoni and jalapeno so visible, but also underneath all that.  Lots of sauce.  Sweet, tangy, kinda in your face red sauce.  Too much sauce for my tastes.   Full coverage of cheese, this was a good element, it melted well, had good cheese pull, etc, but, definitely a cheesy pizza.  

And then the aforementioned Sicilian style crust, which I just don't care for.

Did I really enjoyed the pepperonis?  Absolutely. Was I happy to take any extras that fell off of slices?  Absolutely.  Did I think the cheese was good?  Yep.  But ... did I actually like this pizza?  Not really.  When I disliked the crust and the tomato sauce, and they were so dominant (well really, every element was so dominant!), it just made it hard to really like it.  4/5 pepperoni, 2/5 crust and sauce, 3.5/5 cheese, so, yeah, probably just a 2.5/5 for me.

Mercer Margherita.

"Fresh mozzarella, basil, fresh garlic, and extra virgin olive oil, also pecorino romano."

I also tried a small piece of the margherita, but it was even less enjoyable for me.  Just so much of the sauce that I don't care for, the crust I don't care for, and some decent cheese.  Meh. 2/5.

Read More...