When Bad Pictures Happen to Good Desserts

The monstrosity that was Junior's Cheesecake.

Like people, not all desserts are photogenic.

I'm kidding! Well, kind of.

Since I started Married to Chocolate in May, I've been eating dessert every day (even when I'm sick). Sometimes three times a day on a good day (or a horrible one). So if I don't blog about it, it's either, one, they're not worth the effort (Crumbs Red Velvet Cupcake, this means you, you big fat disappointer), or two, I took bad pictures of them.

It's usually nothing major. Either they're not the right color, not the most flattering angle, plain un-pretty, or some odd combination of the three. I blame them on days when excitement gets the best of me and I would quickly trade my camera for a spoon. Behold, a parade of bad pictures of good desserts--completely unedited.

 Cheesecake Factory's Stefanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake

Case in point of over-excitedness. But come on, look at that--white chocolate shavings on the side, dense red velvet cake sandwiched between even denser cheesecake layers. It was rich, not cloyingly sweet, with a nice tangy-ness to it that only comes from real cream cheese--and lots of it. That swirl of whipped cream was overkill for me but this brilliant cheesecake flavor lived up to its name. Stefanie, whoever you are, you're awesome.

 

Mr. Cupcake's Carrot Cake Cupcake

Ever since I ate carrot cake at Serendipity 3, I became a huge fan. What I found was carrot cakes are usually hit or miss, and its fate depended mostly on good cream cheese frosting. This had lots of it. The cupcake itself was lovably moist, not the kind that crumbles in your mouth, but one that delicately melts on your tongue. Two thumbs up.

 

Julia Child's Crepe Recipe with Raspberries and Chocolate Raspberry Pudding

If this crepe were a woman, this would definitely be her fat angle. This was an attempt at making Julia Child's famous crepe recipe a couple of months back. Mind you, the crepe was seriously good, light and milky almost. To this day I remember how the crepes managed to smell perfectly fresh, and how they were fantastic with apples and brown sugar.

Got bad dessert pictures you wanna share? This blogger does. Check out Cake Wreck's fall collection of bad cakes!

- Kris Alcantara

Today's Sugarhigh: Cheryl and Co.'s Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie (Thank you Roosevelt hotel!)
Score: A

crazy about carrot cake

I went from "eww, carrot cake" to "oh my god, carrot cake!!" because of Serendipity 3.

Of course there was a wait, as there has been one the last eight years. The place was tiny and a little cramped ("cozy" is pushing it), and nowhere near as romantic as it looked in the movie. Most tables had an order of their "famous" (major emphasis on the air quotes) Frozen Hot Chocolate, which I'm still convinced is a pimped out version of Swiss Miss. But the carrot cake was a different story.

So on the menu it was called Celestial Carrot Cake, and that's either a reference to the price ($8/slice) or how it's so good it sends you to the moon. Insanely moist and with a generous serving of whipped cream and walnuts, the texture was soft, chewy, perfect. Whipped cream was slightly overkill for me so instead I attacked the cream cheese icing it was smothered with. About three or four bites into it, I was a convert.

Other CC haunts in NYC (so I hear) are Carrot Top Pastries and Billy's Bakery. Care to add more?

- Kris Alcantara
(remember me?)

Today's Sugarhigh: LU Chocolate Wafers
Score: A