An afternoon serenade of desserts.
Our experience
Over the last month, we have showcased two dessert adventures by delivery: (i) that superbly sumptuous breakfast pastry buffet from Supermoon Bakehouse and (ii) a sampler of delicious (but doll-sized) pies from Four & Twenty Blackbirds. To round-up this third month under lockdown in NYC, we end with a review of dessert self-care boxes from Kitsby, a charming little space in Williamsburg that offers an East-meets-West style of patisserie craft (see here for our previous dessert adventure there). To snag yourself one of Kitsby’s boxes, you will need to hop online and order via their website early in the week. Each box is supposed to last for a week, but for us, it didn’t take more than a few days to munch our way through the box hehe. 😛
Similar to Supermoon Bakehouse, you can’t pick and choose items, you will simply receive the full box of desserts. Kitsby helpfully includes a detailed list of the desserts and their constituent ingredients in the delivery box itself. The dessert box menu changes weekly, but generally you can expect four larger-sized desserts (usually 2-3 cakes, and 1-2 refrigerated desserts), and four bite-sized petit fours. That’s a total of eight dessert treats for $40, including delivery.
Our first Kitsby dessert box contained the following:
- 2 cakes: “Yuzu Cheesecake” and a “Hojicha Mille Crepe Cake.” The cheesecake had a texture somewhere between a dense American-style cheesecake, and a lighter Japanese-style cheesecake. The crepe cake was delightful, less creamy than your Lady M confection, and infused with the strong earthy and nutty tones of hojicha.
- 2 soft desserts: “Dessert Chawanmushi” and a “Matcha Tiramisu.” If you are a matcha-lover, you would have adored the latter. As we are not, our hearts belonged to the “Dessert Chawanmushi” – essentially a glass jar of silky custard, it sang a song of summer, with coconut, papaya and mango flavours all swirling around.
- Four petit fours: Our first box contained a quartet of chocolate bites. The “Shiso Leaf” chocolate was a curious green-coloured ganache, with a slight grassy and minty taste. The “Red Miso Caramel” chocolate, now that was a superstar. It reminded us of the wonderful chocolates that we had a few months ago in San Francisco (see here for our previous review).
Our second box delivered by Kitsby contained:
- 3 cakes: A hefty chunk of “Earl Grey Roll Cake” was simultaneously airy yet rather filling. Equally substantial, and with pronounced coffee tones, was a square slice of “Caramel Macchiato Sponge Cake.” There was also a third cake — “Salted Egg Yolk Lava Cake.” By golly, how much do we yearn for dim sum?
- 1 soft dessert: …wait for it…*drum roll*…POPCORN ICECREAM! Yes, you read that right. Does anything say summer fun is incoming more than ice cream? And stir some popcorn into the mix, we might just have combusted with sheer excitement! This was a very memorable pint of frozen joy, salty and sweet in one spoonful, it reminded us of the French Fries ice cream from Morgenstern that we had last summer, albeit this is certainly more universally appealing!
- Four petit fours: Not quite as memorable as the chocolate bites in our first box, our second box contained two blood orange macarons (a touch crunchy for our preference), and two small squares of hojicha fudge brownies.
Our verdict
What a roller coaster ride these last few months have been, no? In terms of one’s feelings of anxiety and security, in terms of work flow, the list goes on. Our dessert adventures by delivery have certainly, mirrored this roller coaster. From the wonder of Supermoon Bakehouse‘s rainbow box, to the pie parsimony of Four & Twenty Blackbirds, we are thankful that we are able to end the month of May on a satisfyingly higher note. If you wish to bookend your day with dessert, consider Supermoon Bakehouse for a breakfast pastry galore, and look no further than Kitsby’s dessert boxes for an elegant serenade of afternoon tea desserts. (And if you are in a DIY mood, they also offer baking kits, too).
Dessert adventure checklist
- ☑ Dessert destination: Kitsby Dessert Bar and Cafe, 186 Grand Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York.
- ☑ Budget: $$$ ($40 including delivery/tax).
- ☑ Sweet irresistibles: Assortment of desserts.
- ☑ Must-eat: Any of their weekly cakes, though watch out for a repeat of the Hojicha Crepe Cake, Earl Grey Roll Cake, Popcorn Ice Cream, and for any of their chocolate bites.
- ☑ The short and sweet story: An afternoon serenade of desserts.
Dessert Correspondents 