New York 2019: Saturday Part 1: Downtown desserts

Saturday morning, our hosts departed for a family function in Boston before we got up, so we had the house to ourselves. Jordan finally roused herself and got ready with pants that were totally #faberge (we're going to make this happen). We'd been unsuccessful in our Broadway lottery attempts for the day, so we checked a few lists of shows and made our top choices: My Fair Lady and Wicked. I found inexpensive matinee My Fair Lady orchestra seats via the Today Tix app and Sarah found similarly priced evening side orchestra tickets to Wicked through Ticketmaster (regular ticketing). We purchased our tickets and made our way into town.

We headed out a little after 9 to walk through the park to the light rail station. We may have actually crossed a police line in the woods.... But the bridge didn't break and we saw no dead bodies. (Is Branch Brook Newark's Leakin Park??)

Pastries including religieuse at Dominique Ansel Bakery

Once in the city, we mended the folly of our Friday ways and immediately opted for the Metro to head downtown. Finding the right train in Penn Station was just another of the many times we were fairly lost but managed to walk pretty much directly where we needed to go.

Macaron and éclair at Dominique Ansel Bakery

Dominique Ansel, we're coming for you

Our first stop was at the Dominique Ansel Bakery, home of the inventor of the Cronut (!). After waiting in line for the Cronut, (and enjoying a sample of their tasty and light mini madeleines) we noticed the DKA, Dominique's kouign amann. After seeing the kouign amann on The Great British Bake Off years ago, I'd made multiple attempts to find one at a local bakery, without success. It seemed like fate, so we ordered a flavor-of-the-month cronut (peach jam and pancake batter ganache) and a DKA and left to eat them on a bench outside.

Kouign amann and peach jam and pancake batter ganache cronut

Um. Hi. REVELATION. The cronut was interesting and the flavors inventive, but unfortunately, the pastry texture wasn't as crisp and flaky as you'd want. (I'd had better at a French bakery in Provo, UT, so I think that's saying something.) BUT the DKA was transcendent. The layers were perfectly buttery and the crystalline crunch on the exterior was heavenly. It was definitely worth the wait for these Breton beauties!

Where could this place be?

Eileen's Special Cheesecake does not care if you are impressed.

Another priority stop on our list was not too far away (0.4mi): Eileen's Special Cheesecake. We ordered two mini cheesecakes: the award-winning cheesenoli and the bruleed salted caramel. The texture was perfectly light and smooth, and the flavors were innovative. The cheesenoli really captured the spirit of both desserts and the salted caramel had a great balance of salt and sweet with the crackle of the burned sugar layer on top. Definitely recommended!

Eileen's special cheesenoli and brulée salted caramel cheesecakes

Rice to Riches

Yet another important stop was located just around the corner: Rice to Riches. Although I'm not normally a fan of the texture of rice pudding, I was tempted to try Sarah's French Toast flavored pudding--and was surprised to find I liked it! Short grain rice for the win.

French toast rice pudding from Rice to Riches

Then it was time to head up for our first show!