I got totally spoiled this holiday season: a face-shaking electric
toothbrush, the full set of Harry Potter movies on blu-ray, a cutting
board with my precious stand mixer on it...
While I was in New York I also got myself a little something--or rather, several little somethings.
I've been really unhappy with the way colors turn out on my macs. They're dull and pastel-y and not at all like the vibrant hues I see in cookbooks that inspire mac attacks. I figured there was no place better than New York to satisfy my colorz needs.
A google search led me to New York Cake in Midtown Manhattan, which reviewers gushed was a baking paradise, even if the customer service was a bit lacking. True on both accounts, I discovered. They had entire walls devoted to cookie cutters, and something magical called disco dust in every shade imaginable. The same was true of their coloring selection, which was available in airbrush, gel or powder form.
There was also a cat roaming the aisles.
I nabbed seven shades in hues of green, yellow, pink, purple and red, and also found several flavorings (lime, coffee, pomegranate, cassis) to add to my basket.
Then I spied something too good to be true: PRINCESS FLAVOR. I can only imagine the awesome and promise to report back once I've concocted something.
The store is conveniently located a hop, skip and a jump from Maison du Macaron, so of course after my shopping trip I had to stop there (purely for research purposes). They had about a gazillion flavors, of which I sampled cranberry, cassis, caramel and lavender nougat. They were pretty good. Not Ladurée caliber, but decent.
Speaking of Ladurée, you know there's no was no way I was going to pass up a trip there (or several) when I was in the same zip code. Last Friday I waited in line for an hour for a chance to taste the yum flown directly from Paris each morning. A box of six cost $20, which is totally exorbitant but totally worth it, especially when given as a hostess gift to a lass who had never tasted such glory in her life. Regardez:
This is what Ladurée does to people from Nina Graham on Vimeo.
While I was in New York I also got myself a little something--or rather, several little somethings.
I've been really unhappy with the way colors turn out on my macs. They're dull and pastel-y and not at all like the vibrant hues I see in cookbooks that inspire mac attacks. I figured there was no place better than New York to satisfy my colorz needs.
A google search led me to New York Cake in Midtown Manhattan, which reviewers gushed was a baking paradise, even if the customer service was a bit lacking. True on both accounts, I discovered. They had entire walls devoted to cookie cutters, and something magical called disco dust in every shade imaginable. The same was true of their coloring selection, which was available in airbrush, gel or powder form.
There was also a cat roaming the aisles.
I nabbed seven shades in hues of green, yellow, pink, purple and red, and also found several flavorings (lime, coffee, pomegranate, cassis) to add to my basket.
The store is conveniently located a hop, skip and a jump from Maison du Macaron, so of course after my shopping trip I had to stop there (purely for research purposes). They had about a gazillion flavors, of which I sampled cranberry, cassis, caramel and lavender nougat. They were pretty good. Not Ladurée caliber, but decent.
Speaking of Ladurée, you know there's no was no way I was going to pass up a trip there (or several) when I was in the same zip code. Last Friday I waited in line for an hour for a chance to taste the yum flown directly from Paris each morning. A box of six cost $20, which is totally exorbitant but totally worth it, especially when given as a hostess gift to a lass who had never tasted such glory in her life. Regardez:
This is what Ladurée does to people from Nina Graham on Vimeo.
