Top 10 Sweet Treats of 2014

Top 10 Sweets of 2014

I love looking back on some of the experiences I had over the course of the year at this time every year. Year after year, Philadelphia really blows me away with its quality and incredible ability to continue improving. This year was absolutely crazy in terms of quality openings and quality meals devoured. I wasn’t ever a dessert person really until I met my fiancé. As you all know, that has changed quite a bit. This year was a great year for them, so lets take a look at a quick recap:

10. The Pine Nut Tart with Apricots at Matyson - I heard a lot about Matyson and the food coming out of the kitchen when Ben Puchowitz was still in the kitchen, pre-Cheu days, and there were a lot of good things being said. Unfortunately, I never made it there while he was still there, but I am happy to say the food we experienced on our visit there was nothing short of splendid. The pine nut tart with apricots we had for dessert was damn near perfect. The crust was buttery and crumbly, the pine nuts added a nice depth of crunch and nuttiness, the caramel was a perfect accompaniment to it all. Each and every bite was spot on.

9. The Cake Shake at Square Burger - This is not a gimmick. Its real and its awesome. At Stephen Starr's season burger joint in Franklin Square Park, the make an ice cream shake with butterscotch krimpets, and it works out phenomenally well. The ice cream is delicious, but it’s the churned up krimpets that star in this dessert. They leave them chunky enough so that you can get them up the straw and chew them, leaving each sip full of tasty surprises.

8. The Buttermilk Chess Pie at the Alabama Dinner at the Fat Ham - Chef Kevin Sbraga invited some of his buddies, Chef Leo Maurelli and Chef Rob McDaniels, from down south up to the Fat Ham to cook with him and the chef running the show at the Fat Ham Aaron Gottesman. They knocked out tons of fantastic Southern favorites, some of which I am sure inspired the Fat Ham. Kevin Sbraga's stand out dish of the evening was his dessert, a traditional buttermilk chess pie. The custard filled pie, topped woith lemon Chantilly cream and fried rosemary leaves was rich in true Southern fashion and a beyond perfect way to end a delicious Southern feast.

7. The Rhubarb Panna Cotta at Osteria Jersey - Rhubarb has become one of my favorite flavors over the past few years. I love the bite and sweetness it provides at the same time, and it just seems to make so much sense to my taste buds. While dining at the Vetri family's new digs in Jersey, the kitchen sent us out a rhubarb panna cotta to try. What an outstanding dessert. The texture of the panna cotta was superb and the crumble underneath was a fantastic contrast to the panna cotta itself. The rhubarb sauce was sweet and savory at the same time. It was phenomenally done.

6. The Warm Cookie Dough at Ela - Jason Cichonski's neighborhood hangout was high atop my list of places to try far before I moved two blocks from it. It took me far too long to try it, but once I did, I realized what all the fuss was about. The warm cookie dough for dessert really lived up the hype. While I wish the ice cream didn’t melt as much as it did, the testure and flavor of the cookie dough was fantastic. It was soft and gooey just like you expect cookie dough to be. Inventive, flavorful and delicious.

5. The Bacon Egg Cream at Abe Fisher - So many good bites here this year. Definitely my new favorite restaurant in Philadelphia. The bacon egg cream is definitely one reason why. Maple custard, chocolate foam and crushed bacon all in a glass together formed into one dessert? Ridiculous. It looks dense and super heavy when you see it, but it doesn’t eat that way at all. I was shocked how light it was and how quickly it disappeared. Do yourself a favor and order two.

4. The Caramelized White Chocolate Pudding at Laurel - I barely had any room by the time the desserts came out at Laurel, but I actually wound up finishing mine and my fiances' because it was simply that good. It was a riff on one of the desserts he made on Top Chef that wasn’t well received by the judges, so he must have corrected it because it was fantastic. The pudding was very rich, and the crumble and fruit both provided textural differences and flavor contrasts that made it a very satisfying little bowl. 

3. The Poundcake with Rye Carraway Ice Cream at a.Kitchen - No surprises here. A lot of the best sweet bites I had this year came from the hands of Sam Kincaid. Her mastery of pastry and desserts got her a nod for best new pastry chef in the country, and with good reason. Any of the pastries at High Street on Market is a safe bet, but one of the best things I have had was the pound cake with rye caraway ice cream and peaches at a.Kitchen. The pound cake was warm, buttery and rich. The ice cream was what really pulled me in. Savory ice cream? That tastes like rye bread? I mean its just silly to think about. So silly that I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. 

2. The Brown Butter Panna Cotta at the Aldine Popup at Cheu Noodle Bar - Words cant express how excited I was to hear that George Sabatino was opening his own place. I hadn’t had a chance to try any of his work that had gotten so many good reviews at places like Stateside, so I jumped at the chance to try it at the preview of his new place at Cheu Noodle Bar. From beginning to end it was a symphony of flavors and technique, ending with a brown butter panna cotta with berries and ground almond. While I personally wouldn’t have said it was a panna cotta simply because of texture, it was one of the best puddings I have ever had in my life. The flavor was immense and kept the bar as high as it was all evening. 

1. The Sunchoke Cake with Salter Butter Semi-freddo at the Osteria vs. Amis cage match at Alla Spina ­- A cake made of sunchokes? Those little vegetables that taste like potatoes? You cant make a dessert with those. That’s actually what the team members of Osteria said to the team of Amis during the battle. 4 ingredients, 4 courses, you can use them in any order you please. Osteria made the easy choice of using blood orange for their dessert, but Amis stepped the dessert game up to another level. They were getting manhandled in the battle up to that point and pulled an impossible comeback out with the flavor of their cake. I knew how good the salted butter semi-freddo was because I had it multiple times at Amis. If you put it on the grossest thing you can think of, it would still taste like heaven. But the cake was the star of the show. It was incredibly moist, served warm and had just enough crust to provide the perfect amount of crunch to every bite. The flavor was not savory as you would expect, but sweet and paired phenomenally well with the salted butter semi-freddo, aka crack. Best dessert of the year, not even a close second. 

I would love to hear back from anyone about desserts out there that they think are top 10 worthy. Particularly I would love to hear about them so I know to try them when I head to those places! Cheers!