Serendipity 3: Carrot Cake Sundae

Bill


We find it necessary to review multiple desserts at Serendipity 3 because it's generated so much buzz based on its long-anticipated opening, NYC pedigree, and prime location in the former Nathan's space.  Out of several Serendipity 3 desserts, the carrot cake sundae impressed me the most, and I'm not a big fan of carrot cake.

The carrot cake sundae starts simple at the bottom and increases the novelty and decadence toward the top.  Scoops of vanilla and butter-pecan ice cream start the party at the bottom of the bowl.  A piece of carrot cake slides on top of that.  Drizzles of maple-walnut and white-chocolate fudge crown this monument to humankind's search for greatness.  It is served with a pool of chocolate fudge surrounding the base of the bowl.  The end result is unique, and blends the flavors and textures masterfully, at least if you like nuts in a sundae.

The carrot cake is velvety smooth, moist and flavorful.  Its cream-cheese frosting is better than average, and the maple-walnut and white-chocolate fudge add delightful flavor and texture elements.  The added touch of fudge on the bottom provides you an opportunity to alter this mixture to your taste.  Note that the carrot cake has a large volume of nuts throughout, which is somewhat uncommon.  Overall, this dish had too many nuts for my taste.  It still deserves our divine rating, because anyone who likes this amount of nuts would surely rate it so.


3150 M St. NW Washington, DC 20007
(202) 333-5193

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Crumbs Bake Shop Union Station: Heart-shaped marble brownie

Bill


Crumbs Bake Shop is a NYC-based chain that mainly competes in the DC cupcake war, with multiple local stores.  We'll cover its ranking in the cupcake craze in a later post.  For now, with Valentine's Day almost here, you should know about he heart-shaped marble brownie, which is one of Crumbs Bake Shop's many Valentine's gifts to the DC dessert scene. 

It's a brownie tooped with a layer of cheesecake with marbled ribbons of fudge.  The mix of cheesecake and brownie is often attempted, but rarely perfected.  The two elements are
difficult to combine without accidentally creating a disruptive citrus flavor.  Avoiding that is extremely rare, and the mark of a masterful pastry chef.  This dish complicated the task even more by marbling the cheescake with ribbons of fudge. The chef executed this plan with perfection.

The brownie is not too crunchy on edges.  The cheescake is soft and its texture closely matches that of the brownie.  The just slightly crispy edges of the brownie provide the only texture contrast.  The brownie's taste did not pop much because the flavor of the fudge marbling was so strong.   That's not a bad thing, because the fudge marbling communicated that old-fashioned mix of cocoa and better well.  As a Valentine's treat, this will not disappoint.  It deserves our great rating.


Union Station Train Concourse
(202) 408-1001      

Also: 
2839 Clarendon Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 524-4001

604 11th St. NW
Washington D.C. 20004
(202) 737-4001      

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FroZenYo: General Endorsement

Bill

FroZenYo is a new player in the DC dessert game, and it wins our endorsement.  You grab a big cup, fill it with any combination of flavors and toppings, then pay for it by weight.  Bonus:  you can add fudge or caramel after you weigh it.  Most frozen yogurt shops, especially those that followed the relatively recent pinkberry trend, serve either tart or mildly flavored yogurt, and you’re expected to turn that into a dessert by adding toppings.  FroZenYo finds ways to mix the necessary milky flavor of yogurt with other elements in ways that not only maintain the flavors, but even make them pop.  I didn’t think that was even possible.  You don’t need the toppings, because these flavors can stand on their own. 

I specifically recommend FroZenYo’s cheesecake, pumpkin pie, and dulce de leche flavors.  These flavors win our divine rating.  The pumpkin pie yogurt has a depth of pumpkin pie flavor that’s deeper than an average pumpkin pie.  The red velvet cake yogurt was good, but disappointing compared to the other flavors I tried.  Add this growing chain to our favorites.  The only negative at the Downtown location is a seating shortage.

FroZenYo currently has three locations, but an aggressive expansion plan.  We hope its growth forces other dessert purveyors to improve their offerings.

1006 F St NW, Washington, DC 20004

(202) 347-1414

Google map & reviews (5/5 from 2 displayed ratings)

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