When good things comes in small packages, many small packages.

Our experience

We are entering into our 32nd week of working from home here in NYC.  Summer has officially ended here – it was a very brief few weeks of intense sweat and fierce sun, and now we are into the crisp chill of the “fall season,” with leaves quickly transforming from emerald shades to fiery hues.  Early into the lockdown, we featured three dessert self-care boxes: a highly memorable breakfast dessert pastry from Supermoon Bakehouse, a very passable pie sampler from Four & Twenty Blackbirds, and a creative afternoon tea cake and soft dessert assortment from Kitsby.  We subsequently wrote about a few of our favourite local dessert stops (Mia’s Bakery, Ella Crown and Damascus Pastry).  Amalgamating dessert box and local treat in one, we recently received a Bien Cuit dessert package from a friend in celebration of our birthday.  Bien Cuit is located very close to us, but due to its more savoury boulangerie offerings (as well as having encountered not particularly friendly staff on previous visits), we haven’t featured it to date on this dessert blog.  Allow us to remedy that, as their dessert box is certainly worth a dessert adventure!

Our Bien Cuit dessert box present was literally, a giant box of boxes.  Unboxing this took a considerable time, but was well worth the wait.  It revealed a breathtakingly generous buffet of cookies – over 30 treats in all!

Ginger Muscovado Cookie – This was our favourite of all the Bien Cuit cookies.  We always make sure to purchase ginger snaps whenever we visit London, so this was a welcome token of nostalgia in a time when we aren’t able to travel.  Bien Cuit’s version was a palm-sized cookie flecked with crystals of candied ginger.  Brown sugar gave it both its earthy oak hues and a moderate molassy chew factor.  We would definitely repurchase this.

Chocolate Chip Cookies – As our dedicated long-time readers will know, we l-o-v-e chocolate chip cookies.  Indeed, we have written extended reviews of cookies in New York, from the best home-style smaller cookies to gargantuan, dinner plate-sized cookies to super chunky cookies.  An addition to the list of home-style smaller cookies, Bien Cuit’s “Chocolate Chip Cookies” erred on the hard side and had a significant bite.  The scattering of sea salt embedded into each cookie conferred a definite sharp end taste.

Salted Chocolate Buckwheat Cookies – These were fairly hefty nuggets that fell towards the more savoury end of the cookie flavour spectrum.  The salt tones were not as pronounced here as they were in the Chocolate Chip Cookies, but nonetheless served to numb any sweetness.

Cranberry Rosemary Financier – These tanned logs worked splendidly as a slightly sweet accompaniment to our afternoon tea.  Any rosemary tones were subdued in this dense-textured cake, bejewelled with tiny dots of cranberry.

Our verdict

When we first started dessert blogging many years ago in Melbourne, deconstructed desserts were all the rage, the progeny of the molecular gastronomy trend.  Fast-forward almost a decade later, and the world is obsessed with either psychedelically-coloured, Instagram-worthy desserts, or with comfort desserts.  Bien Cuit caters to the latter – it’s a reliable local stop for rustic, artisan loaves, and now, for us, we will revisit for those delectable ginger muscovado cookies.

Dessert adventure checklist

1. ☑ Dessert destination: Bien Cuit, 120 Smith Street, Brooklyn Heights / Cobble Hill, Brooklyn 11201.
2. ☑ Budget: $$-$$$.
3. ☑  Sweet irresistibles: Cookie.
4. ☑  Must-eat: Ginger Muscovado Cookie.
5. ☑  The short and sweet story: When good things come in small packages, many small packages.