Photo via Amanda
What a great time I had in NYC last week despite the wicked cold! No kidding, this was the first time in my entire 34 years of age that I have ever witnessed falling snow. It was quite the experience for me, it’s beautiful! I prefer enjoying it from a warm hotel room, but what the heck, I was only in NY for a couple of days, so I didn’t let it slow me down….much 🙂
I love this photo above that Amanda snapped of us Left: Me, Susan from She’s Becoming Doughmesstic, Maria from Two Peas and Their Pod and Lori from Recipe Girl. We really were just cruising through the streets of NY hunting for the best bakeries around.
Fist up was this adorable little bakery called Bouchon Bakery. I wasn’t expecting much since it was just inside a mall but boy did it prove me wrong. The vanilla macaron photographed a few photos down was probably one of the best things I have ever eaten, hands down!
Here’s the homemade Oreo Cookie, it was just so so if I am being honest.
A nice big Bouchon chocolate chip cookie. Doesn’t touch Levain’s cookies, but this one was good.
Photo via Amanda
Here is the ever so fabulous Vanilla Macaron from Bouchon that I will never forget. It was soft and cake like, almost like a cream filled cupcake which is probably why I fell in love with it so much 🙂
The inside goodness of the vanilla macaron, drooling just thinking about it.
This is what we had left….how embarrassing. We devoured these treats.
Photo via Amanda
Such a fun photo that was taken with Amanda’s camera in Central Park. Left: Me, Maria, Lori and Amanda.
Photo via Amanda
Here’s another shot with the same gals swapped with Susan on the right 🙂 Susan happened to be in NY the same time we were there, how fun is that?
Photo via Amanda
Amanda and I….we were due for an updated photo together 🙂
We walked through this snowy weather to find our sweet shops. Are we nuts?!
Couldn’t pass up stopping in Magnolia Bakery. Such pretty cupcakes that happen to be mighty tasty too.
Magnolia employee hard at work 🙂
This was quite fun, we wanted to capture the yellow taxi in the background of the photo. Luckily they passed by every couple seconds.
The berry crumble and chocolate peanut butter pop were incredible. Actually the red velvet cheesecake and vanilla cupcake were great too.
Photo via Amanda
We popped in Alice’s Tea Cup for a few minutes. Cute little shop.
Ahhhh, finally back to Levain Bakery. This tiny little shop produces some crazy good treats. Go find them next time you are in NYC!
Deciding what to order 🙂
Photo via Amanda
I think Lori said it best on twitter about this photo….this is what happens when a bunch of food bloggers get together 🙂 Let the photo shoot begin.
Photo via Amanda
We got to meet up with Maggie from Three Many Cooks for lunch at Patsy’s Pizza. This was such a great day. Patsy’s has a killer salad. I just remembered how much I loved it. Left: Susan, Lori, Amanda, Me, Maria and Maggie
After lunch we strolled on over to Momofuku’s for some unusual desserts such as crack pie, birthday cake truffles, compost cookies and cereal milk ice cream. They were all…..really interesting. I’ll leave it at that. My favorite was probably the birthday cake truffles.
Photo via Amanda
We kind of took over the upstairs library for our hang out/dessert eating session.
Photo via Amanda
Left: Me, Susan, Maggie and Maria
Photo via Amanda
Walked back to our hotel through Time Square. I don’t ever get tired of this gorgeous city. The lights are unbelievable.
Photo via Amanda
After our cupcake adventures we had a fun pampering night with the folks from I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter who provided us with the trip. We then had a PJ party in Amanda’s room.
Stay tuned for day 2 where we spend the morning at Butter Restaurant, met Chef Alex Guarnaschelli and saw Kim Cattrall during more adventures with ICBINB.
New York is a wonderful place, glad you got to see it 🙂 All of the sweet treats look amazing (will definitely have to check out Bouchon)
When do we get to see day 2??? I am so anxious!!!
You really can’t beat Levain bakery. The chocolate cookie with peanut butter chips is out of this world. Looks like you ladies had a blast!!
Jenny, I LOVE THIS!! Such happy friendships you gals share. I adore all of you & I am so happy you had so much fun playing in NYC. Congrats on seeing the snow for the first time. It is beautiful. I have been & eaten my way through most of these place ’cause NY is home 🙂 XO
Great recap! It looks like you guys had so much fun! I loved Bouchon Bakery when I was in NYC last spring. I still need to get my butt to Levain!
Loved your photo’s of the sweet treats you found in the city. I can’t believe this is the first snow fall you’ve experienced. Of course this comes from a girl raised in Finger Lakes region of NY.
It looks as though you had a fantastic time and found some wonderful bakeries!
Awww what an awesome trip for you girls! How FUN!!!
I love the pic of all of you with your mack daddy dslr’s and lenses. Let the photo shoot begin 🙂
Looks like you guys had so much fun! I’m a little jealous! 😉
Wish you were there Tracy, I want to meet you!!
The macaron looks to die for, I love those things! What a wonderful trip you had! I don’t know if I would ever tire of trying all those treats 🙂 Were you able to eat at Max Brenner’s Chocolate By The Bald Man or Donut Plant?
Sounds like a yummy trip! I haven’t been to NYC in years and would love to go back and check some of these places out! I recently read about that ‘crack cake’ and have been dying to give it a try!
What a fun trip! I would love to eat my way through New York one day!
Love, love, love this recap! I can’t wait for the next installment. 🙂
Can’t believe this was your first time seeing snow fall! Lucky you 😉
Those vanilla macarons look incredible – I’m going to need to grab one next time I’m in New York!
I loved this post…it’s given me some great places to add to my list when my husband and I got to NYC later this month for my Lea & Perrins/Food Network win! Yahoo!! Levain Bakery, here we come!!!!!!!
Congrats on winning Dawn!! You have got to try all of these shops, they were so much fun and so delicious!
I am going to NYC for the first time in April. I will definitely visit some of these wonderful shops. thanks for all the info and fun photos.
So so so so bummed that I had to say no to this trip! What a great group of ladies! Those macarons look AMAZING. Next time I’m in NYC I’m there!
It would have been so fun to have you there Rachael! It was such a quick trip, I completely understand!
Looks like so much fun! Love your photos! :)8
In my first ever trip to NYC, I stayed with a friend that was living there. She whisked me away to Alice’s Tea Cup for breakfast and the pumpkin scones we had for breakfast were amazing! Perfectly spiced, just the right amount of sweet, delicious.. We ended up going to Levain right after which is the only reason I didn’t inhale 12 of their cookies all at once. Anyhow, Anna did a review on their cookbook recently so I snagged it for my friend for Christmas since she’s back in Colorado. We recreated the pumpkin scones on NYE and they were every bit as delicious as the ones in the shop. Yumm!
So much fun! Hope we can do it again soon!
Love the Nick and Nora pjs! 🙂
Thanks Sarah! I love those funky PJ’s
How fun! We have a Bouchon bakery here (well, in Napa) and I can attest that those cookies are the best ever!
What a fun day!! Gosh, I can’t imagine getting to walk around taste all of those treats! I visited NYC a little over a year ago and was fortunate to stop by Magnolia Bakery. Whew, they are unbelievable! I also have one of their recipe books and it’s definitely a go-to.
How was the crack pie, btw? I saw an article on Bon Appetit about that pie and it sounded exactly like you described it…interesting.
The crack pie was good, but by the time we got to Momofuku’s I was all sugared out, so I’m sure it was better than my first impression!
Looks like an awesome, fun , delish trip!! I love the owl pj’s. Can you share where you got them?
sweetpeonies07 at gmail
Hi Tara,
I got them at Target right before Christmas. I believe they are by Nick and Nora 🙂 LOVE them!
Loved our trip! Miss you girls already!
OMG looks like such a fun trip! Now I’m hungry lol. I’ll have to check out this bakery 🙂
Amazing photos! I’ve read (lurked) on your blog for a long time, and it’s so awesome to see the great things it’s bringing you (in return for the great things you’ve been bringing your readers!).
We had too much fun! Miss you girls!! And I am wishing we would have bought a dozen of those macarons:)
WHAT A BLAST!!! Too bad that the oreo wasn’t that great though – bummer!
What a wonderful recap! I love seeing what places you tried while in NY. I actually have only been to the Bouchon Bakery in Napa, but I’m thinking I should make my way up town to try the macaron!
I cant wait to try some of these places i live 10 minutes from NYC! Thanks for the post!