Dana's Bakery Perfects the Macaron

This past weekend was my family's big birthday trifecta, as my mom, dad and brother have three in a row birthdays.  We celebrated with our closest family and friends, at my parents' house, and needless to say, we indulged in a lot of delicious eats.  My mom made tasty traditional Slovak foods including fasirky, Slovak-style potato salad, and other goodies.  Lots of scrumptious dessert was had as well, and I always try to do something special and festive, which I surprise my family with.  Last year it was Thea's stiletto and soccer ball cake, while this year it was personalized French Macarons from Dana's Bakery.

About Dana's Bakery:
I first found out about Dana's Bakery through following her posts on Instagram and I fell in love with her colorful confections.  After doing some research online, I decided they were the perfect treats for my family's celebration, especially because you can personalize them.

Based purely online, Dana's delivers (literally) beautifully crafted French Macarons with an American twist.  I love how colorful (and sometimes mismatched) they are, with the filling differing from its meringue cookie.  They feature 11 unique flavors, as well as a surprise flavor of the month.  Focusing on American-style nostalgic flavors, you can find these confections in red velvet, thin mint, cookie dough, fruity cereal and other interesting varieties.  This month's flavor of the month happens to be banana split, with sprinkles, fudge and a cherry inside.

Macarons:
As you can see, I ordered an assortment of macarons for my family's big birthday celebration.  Loving all the beautiful colors that formed this birthday medley, people dug in with excitement and I myself only got my hands on two macarons - one of them being the peanut butter and jelly as well as the s'mores.  Out of those two the former was absolutely amazing, tasting both nutty and fruity, just like a real PB&J sandwich.  All you had to do was close your eyes and imagine your favorite childhood sandwich.  Dan had a bite too and agreed this flavor was stupendous.

The s'mores macaron was nice too, but not as pronounced in flavor as the PB&J.  Other flavors that received high marks were the Cup of Joe coffee flavor as well as the fruity cereal, which supposedly tasted exactly like Fruity Pebbles.

Service and Cost:
I absolutely loved the way my order was serviced, including a really quick response from Dana via email and an even faster expediting process.  Placing the order just two days in advance, I was able to receive my Macarons quickly and picked them up at a convenient location in Midtown Manhattan.  They also deliver for an additional fee, but I believe that's limited to Manhattan.

Costs are expensive but worth it for something special at $2.50/macaron and an additional $15 for the personalization.

3 Sweet Mmmms

www.danasbakery.com

The Cupcake Bar Mixes a Mean Red Velvet

Image by The Cupcake Bar

Another local specialty I had while in North Carolina this week were some mighty delicious cupcakes.  I was disappointed that my phone ran out of juice while enjoying a beautiful red velvet cupcake, and so I had to use the bakery's photo above of a similar looking treat (just picture the red dough instead).

I found these cupcakes at a neat little bakery in Downtown Durham called The Cupcake Bar.  The concept is a really great one, which is based on ingredients that form a cocktail, only in cupcake form.  Their logo is really lovely too - a silhouette of a cupcake with a stirrer poking out of the frosting.

Atmosphere:
Situated in a perfect corner spot on East Chapel Hill Street, The Cupcake Bar is hard to miss.  I love the bright orange exterior, which right away piqued my interest and the simple, chic interior that certainly evoked a bar-like vibe.

When I walked in on a Wednesday evening, it was pretty chill and seemed like a good place to sit down, relax and even possibly do some work (they have wifi).  Several folks came in throughout my visit, and seemed to be placing larger orders, showing me that this is a popular place to come when hosting events or children's birthday parties.

Cupcakes:
Even though there were a lot of interesting options to choose from, I went really classic with a Red Velvet cupcake.  After all, how could I not have one of these when in the South?

Red Velvet - I ordered the mini version, which was just the right size for me.  Boasting a really moist interior, it created the most heavenly bite.  The frosting was fluffy, a little tangy from the cream cheese and not too sweet.  My favorite part though was the gorgeously large pecan that stuck out of the frosting, just waiting to be devoured.  All of these ingredients created a beautiful medley of flavors that conjured up memories of childhood and down-home comfort.

Service and Cost:
The staff was nice , but not as overly hospitable as in some other establishments I encountered in Durham. Maybe they were tired and ready to go home? I don't know...but this wouldn't deter me from going in again.

Costs are comparable to any good trendy bakery in NYC and include $1.50 for the mini cupcakes and $3 for the full size.

The Cupcake Bar - 101 East Chapel Hill Street, Durham NC 27701
919.816.2905
www.cupcakebarbakery.com 

Leli's Bakery Serves Mini Cakes

After my delicious brunch at Pachanga Patterson last weekend, I wandered around the nabe for a bit, exploring what's new.  I happened to pop into Leli's Bakery as well, which everyone seems to love and spotted a few interesting things.

Besides their great-looking cookies, croissants and other flaky pastries, my eyes immediately gravitated to the mini cakes you see above.  It's hard to imagine the proportion through this photo, but these are actually miniature 3 inch cakes, which looked just darling.

Leli's Miniature Cakes - Boasting a number of flavors including red velvet, chocolate mousse, tiramisu, carrot cake and more, I found these mini cakes quite unique and so convenient if you just want a little bite of something sweet.  It's nice to share with one other person or to serve to a special someone in honor of their birthday.  I inquired about the costs and they're affordable too, at just $4.50 for a 3 inch cake, $6 for a 4 incher and then starting at $18 for the bigger cakes.

Besides all that, I loved that there's a few tables up front where you can sit down and enjoy your treats with a steaming cup of coffee.  There were a few people occupying those seats and they looked happy and relaxed, devouring their goodies.

Leli's Bakery - 35-14 30th Avenue, Astoria NY 11103
718.626.8090
N/Q Train to 30th Avenue

Valentine's Day Red Velvet Special

Image by The Chocolate Swirl

Here's a fun V-Day special for you, if you're still thinking about treating your loved one to something sweet and delicious.  Sure, you can get a box of truffles, flowers or whatever's the norm, but there's also cupcakes.  Red velvet to be exact, that pay homage to V-day in the nicest way.

One of my favorite sweet shops in Astoria, The Chocolate Swirl is featuring a great Valentine's Day special on red velvet mini cupcakes at 50% off.  Here's the deal:

1 dozen mini cupcakes for $12 (usually $25)

Supplies are limited, so order these today to get them in time for tomorrow.  To order, email: info@thechocolateswirl.com

I can vouch that you won't be disappointed.

www.thechocolateswirl.com