Milk Bar Mea Culpa

I had previously stated that Milk Bar was not good at chocolate.  It seems that in my absence they have been righting some wrongs.

First of all, this:

It's a "5-Borough Cookie" or something like that.  The first ingredient?  Cocoa powder.  It's even chametz-free, for all those of you observing passover (Sephards-only!  It has a little cornstarch.  Also I guess this advice is coming a little bit late.  Next year?)

It's also extremely delicious.

Next up, the chocolate malt cake truffles are back, and delicious as ever:

Also, they had a "chocolate swirl," which seemed like it was just a chocolate croissant shaped like a cinnamon roll, but I didn't try it, so I can't tell you for sure.

Finally, I got some of the birthday cake truffles, which are one of my favorite non-chocolate desserts in NYC, and I made an amazing discovery.  The third ingredient is white chocolate!  This explains why I love them, and why Leila does not.

Bottom Line: Milk bar is known for a somewhat rotating menu, so let's wait to see whether this effort is sustained, but this is a promising development!

The Treats Truck Stop

This evening I was in Carroll Gardens for a class at the Brooklyn Brainery. I wanted a hot chocolate to drink in class.

This should have been an easy goal, but I will tell you that I walked the length of Court Street, from the Carroll Street subway stop to the Brooklyn Brainery at West 9th Street, and I could not find an appealing hot chocolate to go. Anywhere. A few coffee shops were closed. One cafe offered me a three dollar cup of Swiss Miss, if you can believe it.

When I reached the Brainery, I still had a few minutes before my class was due to begin. "I will walk just one block farther south," I vowed, unwilling to give up my clearly doomed dream of hot chocolate.

So I walked one block further south. And lo! Across the street, through the darkness, and the rain, and the fact that I wasn't even wearing my distance glasses, I spied a symbol that I recognized. And that was the symbol of the Treats Truck.

I recognized the Treats Truck logo because I received their cookbook for Hanukkah. To date I've tried making only one of their recipes (it was for a non-chocolate cookie, which is why I haven't written about it), but I'm looking forward to baking all the rest.

I flung myself into the Treats Truck Stop all but shrieking, "YOU MUST HAVE REAL CHOCOLATE. YOU HAVE SAVED ME."

I was right. Not only did they have non-Swiss Miss hot chocolate, they had Mexican hot chocolate.

I love buying Mexican hot chocolate because, unlike normal hot chocolate, I don't know how to make it at home, and therefore I can more easily defend paying for it. In this case, paying only $2.72, which is rather a bargain.

The first thing the Treats Truck proprietor did was offer me free samples of their baked goods. I hadn't told her that I write a chocolate blog or anything. She just wanted to share. She cut me off a piece of the pecan butterscotch bar (delicious) and the Mexican chocolate brownie (even more delicious: just the right amount of chocolatey and spicy).

The Mexican hot chocolate that I ordered was smooth, thick, and lovely. It could have been more cinnamon-y for my tastes; it didn't have that intense kick of some Mexican hot chocolates. If you're not a big spice person, this might be a good way to ease into it. And I have a great deal of respect for the fact that they offer a "small" and a "large" cup, and the "large" is so large that it was daunting even to me. It can be very hard to find places that will sell me hot chocolate in big enough quantities.

I drank my hot chocolate all through my class. Just kidding -- I finished it in the first ten minutes. Either way: I think it helped me learn way better.

BOTTOM LINE: Without question, Treats Truck Stop is your best option for hot chocolate, baked goods, and other treats anywhere between Court Street at President Street, and Court Street at Garnet Street.

Momofuku Milk Bar

The first time I walked into Milk Bar, I asked if they had anything that was chocolate.  They said no.  I walked out, and I didn't return for about two years.

The thing, though, is that it is on my block.  I mean, literally.  So when it's 11pm, and most places are closed, it gets pretty tempting, even if they are insultingly light on chocolate.

So they do a lot of things at Milk Bar, many of them well and many of them not-so-well.  I generally find their soft serves to be too salty.  Their cereal milk is perfectly good, but I have it in my cereal every day, so I do not usually feel the need to purchase it.

Now there is one thing they do very well, which they are famous for -- cake truffles.  Basically, bite-sized, round pieces of cake, easy to eat with your hands.  Smart.  They used to have a chocolate malt flavor that was great.  I am generally embarrassed to admit to eating non-chocolate desserts, but I will sheepishly endorse their birthday cake truffles as being off the proverbial hook.

In my most recent trip, in addition to the birthday cake truffles, I purchased some chocolate chip truffles.  Now, objectively, they were good.  But they were nonetheless disappointing.  I am a huge opponent of the fruit+chocolate combination, and I was shocked that it came into play here -- they put orange juice in this!  And you can really taste it!

Fortunately, I was prepared for disappointment, as one look at these puppies told me they wouldn't be chocolatey enough, regardless of other flavor situations.  Accordingly, I purchased a chocolate croissant.

Yes, it sort of looks like a quiche or at least something savory.  But it was actually quite good.  It had nice texture, and it was more chocolatey than most.  That said, as is usually the case, it could still have done with more chocolate.

Bottom Line: While Milk Bar has much merit, it is not a place for chocolate purists.