butter | cranberry white chocolate oat scone

OK, maybe I went to two bakeries this morning. I couldn't help but stop at butter on my way back from Patisserie 46. It's just up the street.

The girl who helped me wasn't tremendously helpful with suggestions. She actually said, "I try to be good," when I asked her what her favorite thing is. The idea of working at a bakery or cafe or bakery-cafe and not trying the food is so strange to me. Anyway, I chose a cranberry white chocolate oat scone.

It's OK. I keep eating it, even though I don't love it. The cranberries are craisins, the white chocolate is sparse, and the oats don't seem to contribute much (maybe chewiness, but I haven't had one of their scones without oats, so I can't say). It's got some kind of sugary egg wash that makes it too sweet. Overall, meh. I'm not going to finish it.

I'll probably try something else from butter, though. The cinnamon biscuits in the case this morning looked good.

Patisserie 46 | Bressane and two macarons

A bressane from Patisserie 46

I rode my bike to Patisserie 46 this morning and got myself a bressane and two macarons.

The bressane was delicious. The person who helped me described this as brioche with creme fraiche, and cursory Googling doesn't bring up much. Whatever it was, I liked it. I loved the fluffy interior with its buttery flavor and the crunchy, lightly sugar-coated crust. I will be getting this again.

A caramel and a coconut-mango-passionfruit (I think) macaron from Patisserie 46

I also got a couple macarons, but I think I'm a bad judge of these things. I just don't really like them. Too sweet and grainy in texture. They seem to be all the rage, however. I've only had them from here and from Sweets Bakeshop, and I didn't notice any major difference in quality.

Chocolate croissant and monkey bread from the Wedge

I stayed home sick today and decided to venture a couple blocks away to the Wedge to buy ingredients for lemon lentil spinach soup. As always happens, I ended up with more than was on my list.

I stood in front of the sweets case at the deli for about five minutes, but none of that stuff looked appealing to me. I don't know why, but that happens every time I go to the Wedge. Maybe I'm afraid that everything is too sweet. Maybe all of it just seems too decadent. Eventually, I want to try one of their cupcakes to see if they're not horrible, but I don't have high hopes. It seems like all bakery cupcakes are horrible.

Anyway, I headed toward the registers by passing the bread area and was unable to resist a chocolate croissant and a monkey bread. I fought with myself about it for about three minutes.

The chocolate croissant was really good. Light, crispy texture without being dry; buttery flavor to the pastry; rich, not-too-sweet, smooth chocolate. I should do a head-to-head of chocolate croissants in the area to be sure, but I think this is my favorite one.

The monkey bread was much better than I expected it to be. It was perfect. The size of the pull-off pieces was just right (about half a tablespoon), and nearly every piece had a mixture of textures—tender interior, slightly chewy/crispy exterior where the sugars caramelized. The dough was buttery without being greasy, until I got to the pool of butter in the bottom of the cupcake liner. It was sweet and cinnamon-y in a delicate way. It will be a serious challenge not to buy one of these every time I'm at the Wedge. I almost want to walk over and get another one right now.

I asked a woman working behind the deli counter if they bake everything there, and she said yes. I asked if they bake overnight, and she said no, they simply have a super-efficient crew of bakers who start at 4:00 a.m. I think I'll write to them to see if I could either work part-time or volunteer 4:00–8:00 a.m. a couple mornings a week.