In pursuit of the Big Apple’s best desserts
No trip to New York City is complete without trying a sweet treat. Amid restaurants, bakeries, tourist sites, and cafes, NYC’s dessert finds are varied and delicious and often worthy of a social media posting.
From traditional goodies — think cannoli, cupcakes, or cookies — to innovative culinary creations, these are the 15 best desserts in NYC and where to find them.
Classic Sunshine Cupcake, Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery
While NYC visitors often associate cupcakes with Magnolia Bakery, other bakeries like Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery hold their own in making these lovely little cakes. On Manhattan’s Lower East Side, owners Deb Weiner and Peg Williams opened their shop in 2003. Amid an assortment of cupcakes and cakes, with some vegan options, plus pudding and pies, the classic Sunshine Cupcake, a vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream frosting, is a favorite among customers.
Other recommended cupcake spots include Buttercup Bake Shop, Little Cupcake Bakeshop, Huascar & Co. Bakeshop, all in Manhattan, and Brooklyn Cupcake in Brooklyn.
Rose with Cinnamon Roasted Almonds Ice Cream, Malai
Founder and CEO Pooja Bavishi started Malai in 2015 in homage to the aromatic spices and flavors reflective of her childhood. Bavishi applies them to eggless ice cream varieties, nondairy ice creams, and sorbets with South Asian-inspired whole ingredients. Try flavors like rose with cinnamon roasted almonds, chocolate coconut burfi, and festive, seasonal holiday ice creams at Malai’s scoop shop in Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens.
Other NYC ice cream shops include Sundaes and Cones, Caffè Panna, Il Laboratorio del Gelato, Big Gay Ice Cream, and Sugar Hill Creamery, all in Manhattan, and Tipsy Scoop, Oddfellows, and Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream, in various locations.
Milkshakes, Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain
Those who remember old-time soda shops find nostalgia at Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain in Carroll Gardens. Inside a circa 1920s pharmacy, this contemporary malt shop is known for its regular and specialty milkshake selection. The apple pie shake incorporates a scoop of apple compote, while The Rocket is a coffee milkshake with a shot of espresso. You can also order regular milkshakes, ice cream floats, or the New York classic egg cream.
Other milkshake spots in Manhattan include Black Tap, Lexington Candy Shop, Harlem Shake, and Ray’s Candy Store, all in Manhattan, and Soft Swerve, which has various NYC locations.
Photo courtesy of Moritz Wiesel
Cheese and Guava Quesito, Chocobar Cortés
Quesitos, or Puerto Rican pastries made with puffy pastry dough and sweet cream cheese, are made fresh daily at the New York City outpost of Chocobar Cortés. The gastronomic side of the bean-to-bar chocolate company Chocolate Cortés offers guava and cheese and regular quesitos, chocolate-based drinks, and Caribbean dishes. Quesitos are one of the best desserts in NYC, especially when paired with churros con chocolate or a chocolate martini.
New York City is home to other Caribbean bakeries, including Allan’s Bakery in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie, Levain Bakery
Friends and bakers Pam Weekes and Connie McDonald founded Levain Bakery in 1995 as a small bread shop on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Today, their business is famous for its chocolate chip walnut cookies, one of the best desserts in NYC. As triathletes, Weekes and McDonald started baking 6-ounce cookies as a post-race treat. After finalizing the recipe, they quietly offered the cookies for sale, and they were a hit.
Other cookies not to miss in NYC are at Chip City, Milk Bar, Maman, and Funny Face Bakery; Ovenly in Brooklyn; and Sweet Maresa for vegan cookies and other baked goods.
Cheesecakes, Eileen’s Special Cheesecake
While Junior’s often comes to mind with NYC cheesecake, Eileen’s Special Cheesecake has also been a longtime favorite. In 1975, Eileen Avezzano founded her namesake storefront in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. Now run by her daughters, Holly Maloney and Bonnie Ponte, this cheesecake place has become an institution, serving some of the best desserts in NYC. Flavors include plain, strawberry, chocolate, salted caramel, pineapple, cookies and cream, lemon, and mango cheesecakes.
You can also find great cheesecakes at Circo’s Pastry Shop in Brooklyn, Martha’s Country Bakery in Brooklyn and Queens, and Veniero’s Pasticceria & Caffe and Keki’s Modern Cakes in Manhattan.
Photo courtesy of Mah-Ze-Dahr Bakery
Brioche Doughnut, Mah-Ze-Dahr Bakery
Doughnuts are almost synonymous in NYC, with noteworthy shops all over the five boroughs. Mah-Ze-Dahr Bakery, founded by James Beard Foundation Award nominee Umber Ahmad, has a brioche doughnut that’s one of the best desserts in NYC. The doughnut starts with a light brioche dough, gets filled with a signature vanilla pastry cream, and then dusted with vanilla bean sugar. A doughnut hole sits on top like a crown of glory.
Other recommended doughnut places include Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop and Fan-Fan Doughnuts in Brooklyn, The Donut Pub and Sweet Churros in Manhattan, and Doughnut Plant in multiple locations in NYC.
