CakeSpy Undercover: Dragonfly Cafe and Bakery, Taos NM

Not so very long ago, I visited a magical place called Taos, New Mexico. It's a place famous for a few things

It also has a bookstore called Moby Dickens and another store called Unicorn School Supply. And it is the home of Taos Cow. So naturally I liked it there.

I also heard it is the occasional home of Julia Roberts, but she's not always beloved there. But I digress.

While there, I heard over and over that I simply had to visit a place called Dragonfly Cafe and Bakery. Well, if you tell me I should go to a bakery, chances are, I will--immediately. So over I walked.

Here's how it looks from the outside. It looks kind of enchanted, behind all of the desert plants, doesn't it? I'm sure it's even more so in the summertime. 

When I walked in with a friend, it was very quiet, and we thought maybe it was closed. It's more a restaurant in the front part. But as we walked back, we found the pastry case. Oh, hello.

They had a lot of good-lookin' stuff, and while we browsed the offerings, we were offered free dragonfly-shaped cookies. Very nice.

Of course, it soon was revealed why the cookies are complimentary--because everything else is so expensive! We got a slice of the chocolate cake with red wine-soaked cherries, and a chocoalte salted caramel tart. And a coffee. And the bill came to nearly $20. Yowch!

But gosh-darn were they good. If the picture doesn't give you the idea, let me tell you that this cake was a pure chocolate-filled bite of heaven. And since it has cherries on the top, it's probably OK to consider it health food.

But as for the salted caramel tart.

I'll tell the truth, I found the crust pleasant, but it was the filling, oh the filling, that made it memorable! The perfect marriage of dark, bittersweet chocolate with smooth, velvety caramel. Topped with salt to bring that beautiful flavor combination home, all in your mouth. This was one of those "oh can I please eat my weight in it" sorts of foods.

Oh, one more shot!

Based on the price, I would not call Dragonfly Cafe and Bakery an everyday type of bakery/dessert spot. Consider it more a fancy dessert place, or a place to get dinner and dessert in style. But most importantly, enjoy!

402 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, Taos, NM; online here.

Pastry Profiles: Carrot Muffin, El Tesoro Cafe, Santa Fe NM

I've never known a muffin like this before.

I met this muffin at a place called El Tesoro, which is located in the Sanbusco Market Center in the Guadalupe District of Santa Fe. Per the Sanbusco Center website, "This treasure, as the name El Tesoro implies, has been serving food to Santa Feans for the past ten years.  Breakfast and lunch are served daily.  The menus are a beautiful blend of New Mexican, Central American and American entrees; it is a local’s favorite for fresh guacamole, great green chile, pupusas, salvadorean tamales, salads and salmon tacos.  The food is prepared fresh daily with items made to order."

Now, a New Mexican-Central American eatery wouldn't be the place I'd expect to find a top-tier muffin...or to have a muffin on the menu at all...but that's just what they have here.

It's a carrot zucchini muffin you see in the picture above, and while the taste is just fantastic--spicy, lightly sweet, very moist--what is really intriguing about this muffin is the texture.

It's soft and cakey on the inside, but has a firm yet silky-smooth crust on the exterior. It's almost like the exterior of a popover. It makes you want to keep eating just for another bite of that perfect texture. How on earth did they do it? I would love to know!

But mostly, I'd like to eat another, and soon!

El Tesoro, 500 Montezuma Avenue, at the Sanbusco Center; online here.

CakeSpy Undercover: Rebel Donut, Albuquerque NM

When, with a rebel yell, she cried mo', mo', mo'...I'm pretty sure she was talking about donuts.

And if she was in Albuquerque, she was probably talking about Rebel Donut, a very cool place for donuts in the Land of Enchantment.

As their website entices, "Rebel Donut is Albuquerque's premier artisan donut and pastry shop specializing in designer donuts, baked goods, coffee and more. We pride ourselves in using quality ingredients to create worthwhile indulgence. Our menu consists of over 30 flavors that change daily. Come in and try our Maple Bacon, Rocky Road, Red Velvet Rebels, Raised Glazed, Fritters and much, much more. Come on....be a rebel."

Avec plaisir!

And it's not hard to love them from the get-go, with a donut counter filled with holey treats as bountiful as this:

Ranging from the old standards to the new and funky, Rebel Donut has a lot of choices.

And of course, because it's New Mexico, they have a flavor inspired by the Official State Cookie, the biscochito:

As well as a donut containing green chile, a staple food in the state.

And with a nod to the famous TV show which takes place and is filmed in Albuquerque, a "Breaking Bad" themed donut, complete with blue rock candy to resemble crystal meth (it's actually pretty cute):

Well. After much deliberation, we decided on a few flavors: a "birthday cake", glazed vanilla cake, and maple walnut. The donuts were affordable--I forget exactly how much each one was, but the total was less than $4 for everything.

These donuts, while not so rebellious in the taste department, were quite good and fairly traditional donuts. And that is a good thing, people! Slightly on the soft side (not as much of a crispy "crust" as some donuts). Nice and cakey and soft inside. Delicately vanilla-scented dough. Very nice icings and frostings.

A very nice pit stop for holey treats if you find yourself in Albuquerque, and the shop's decor is fun, too.

Rebel Donut, 2435 Wyoming Blvd., Albuquqerque NM; online here.

CakeSpy Undercover: Saratori's di Tully, Albuquerque NM

When you think of an old-school Italian bakery, you probably think...New York. Boston. Providence. New Jersey. Or at least I do. I don't have actual evidence, but I feel like there is probably a higher concentration of such bakeries in the Northeast. 

Albuquerque, New Mexico probably wouldn't even cross my mind in pondering old-fashioned Italian bakeries.

But as it turns out, such a place does exist--a bakery called Saratori's di Tully. 

It's next-door to Tully's, an Italian specialty market that made me feel like I was in Philadelphia or New Jersey for a few moments--big, fat sandwiches at the deli counter, homemade ravioli both in the deli department and freezer, and more types of pasta than you can count. A great place, but you'll have to trust me on that. I'm here to talk about the sweets.

Saratori's di Tully, I hear, is named after two girls in the family--Sara and Tori. If that is true, I hope that both girls are extremely proud to have this establishment bear their names, because it's chock full of  tasty stuff.

They make their cannoli to order, I should tell you that first. Although I have not tried one of these heavenly treats for myself, I have it on very good authority that they're good stuff.

I started with the "Spruzzare Biscotto", which was nice and tender and almond-y--a perfect cookie bite. The texture was very nice--slightly dry, but not like dry-out-yer-mouth. It would have been even better with an espresso, I think!

Next up was a fennel biscotto, which was lightly licorice-y (but not offensive to licorice haters) and not extremely sweet but more like a nice tea cookie. See the fennel seed? It added a nice little burst of flavor at irregular intervals. Sometimes it is nice to have your cookies challenge you a little, you know?

Finally, the "Nonna's Lemon Drop" cookie. It's a general rule that I hold that if it's named after Grandma, it's probably gonna be good. For me, this cookie led to several moments of nostalgia--not for my upbringing, but for the cookies I used to buy at Rocco's Pastry on Bleecker Street when I lived in New York City. If you've been there, you know what an excellent experience it is. Here's the cookie.

 

Very, very good stuff. And a charming and sweet staff.

For a taste of the East Coast in the middle of Albuquerque...dudes and dudettes, you've got to go to Saratori's!

Saratori's di Tully, 1425 San Mateo Blvd, Albuquerque; more info here.

CakeSpy Undercover: Taos Cow, Taos NM

In Taos, New Mexico, when you drive up a steep road into a sort of hippie utopia called Arroyo Seco, there's a clearing which gives way to a place called Taos Cow.

It's off the beaten path of the town—far from the plaza, or town center. But it's worth a visit.

One of their specialties is ice cream, which has a most unique texture. In fact, I am tempted to say it's more gelato-like—sort of smooth and with a different texture than say, Haagen daz. In asking the employee what made for that unique texture, she couldn't say—maybe the cows are just happier in New Mexico. 

Dairy is, after all, one of the major industries in New Mexico, and all of the dairy used in their products is from the state. I tried three types of ice cream: Caramel Pinon (pine nut), which is smooth and mellow and rich, with a deep, sophisticated aftertaste. I wanted to commit to this flavor, but they only had the tiniest bit left so I settled for a taste and got a hearty scoop of another flavor: the strawberry chocolate.

Probably this was one of the nicest strawberry ice creams I've ever tasted, with a distinct strawberry taste and a wonderful accompaniment of bittersweet and white chocolate. The high sweetness of the white chocolate, the slight bitterness of the dark chocolate, and the natural sweetness of the strawberry, all coming together in creamy matrimony, sure made my mouth happy.

A friend got the chocolate pecan ice cream as a shake, and it contained about 6 heaping scoops of ice cream. It was absolutely delicious, and at the end of it, there were nutty bits coated in melty chocolate like a treat at the end of the milkshake road.

But wait, there's more! Although Taos Cow is famous for their ice cream, it's not all they have to offer. They also have a pastry case full of cookies, pies, and pastries.

For instance, the apple pastry, which had a beautiful, flaky crust and a sweet, brown sugary apple filling. It was most impressive for breakfast the next morning.

Taos Cow is a hippie place with tourist prices, but it's certainly a sweet stop in New Mexico.

485 Hwy 150, Arroyo Seco, NM; online here.

Southern Belle Cupcake from Dream Cakes Gourmet Cupcakes, Santa Fe

Sometimes, a cupcake makes you want to purr. 

This is an experience I had recently (as in, there are probably still cake crumbs on my shirt) at a place called Dream Cakes Cupcakes in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

The retail space is small, tucked in a mall just off of the city's Plaza (downtown area). It is somewhat unassuming when you walk in, and the prices are somewhat hefty--$4.50 per cupcake. 

But the cupcakes are serious fatties--I don't like sharing cupcakes (at all) but here's one that I'd consider cutting in half and saving part 2 for later (sort of like...sharing with my future self). Because it's not quite 2 times the size of a regular cupcake, but 1.6 times the size of a regular cupcake. 

This picture (from their facebook page) may not portray the size, but it will show you the unusual square-ish shape they have.

Here's the menu.

The menu is pretty immense, about 50 flavors, but only certain ones are available daily. Generally, those will include their two bestsellers, the Chocolate-chocolate cupcake (I forget the name) and the "Armadillo"--the red velvet. I wanted to get the "Santa Fe" - a cornbread cupcake with green chile topped with a honey buttercream--but alas they were out for the day. The friendly man behind the register removed that flavor from the daily menu after he realized this cupcake was not in attendance.

He did give me a frosting shooter to soothe my broken heart.

So I went for my second choice--the "Southern Belle", a pecan cupcake with praline filling topped with cream cheese frosting. 

Looking into the Chinese takeout-style container (filled with cupcake!) this is what I saw. The man behind the counter (one of the owners) commented that he thought it was the prettiest of their cupcakes, and I agree that it was quite a looker. I didn't want to shut the lid for fear of disrupting the frosting.

I dug in to the container, using a fork. 

And after one bite, I wanted to go back and demand that they stop stuffing their cupcakes with crack, because that's just illegal.

OK, so the cupcakes are not stuffed with crack. But this one had an unmistakably buttery, rich vanilla birthday cake-y flavor, studded with delicious, sweet-salty praline gobs. It was good enough based on these merits, but add the cream cheese frosting and you have a combo that can make CakeSpy swoon.

I'll confess: based on the tiny interior and the prices and location, I had been slightly wary about this place as a tourist trap. But now that I have been, I must say that I am very impressed, and I am looking forward to going back and trying at least a baker's dozen more flavors.

66 E. San Francisco Street, Santa Fe NM; find out more info here.

CakeSpy Undercover: Whoo's Donuts, Santa Fe NM

Doughnuts, donuts. Whatever you want to call them, I go nuts for these holey treats. Since I'm writing about Whoo's Donuts in Santa Fe, NM, today, though, I'll stick with "donuts" for this post (if you want to explore the subject more, look here).

I mean, seriously. Aside from the fact that they are delicious, their very name is one of my favorite words to pun with. Some of my favorites:

If at first you donut succeed, fry, fry again.

Dead men donut bite.

Donut stop thinking about tomorrow.

Damned if you do and damned if you donut.

Donut have a cow!

Donut Stop Believin'.

and one of my faves...

(the donuts pictured in that last one are not from Whoo's, but are rather part of my donut soup recipe)

So. This is all to say, I am a lover of donuts, and as such, donut doubt my authority on telling you where to get a good one.

And if you want a delicious holey treat in Santa Fe, donut delay in getting yourself to Whoo's Donuts! Owned by the same folks as The ChocolateSmith next door, this is a fancy-ish donut shop where the donuts are more expensive than, say, Dunkin' varieties, but you definitely get what you pay for. All organic, they prominently feature the classics (yeast and cake, cream-filled); here is an example of how you can get two Vanilla Cake donuts and form a figure-eight of delicious...

And to start with the classics, they have a very good donut baseline. Especially, in this Spy's opinion, on the cake donut front. The crispy edge that they somehow attain is absolutely fantasic, lightly crunchy and giving way to a soft, cakey interior. If you get a bit of that crispy edge in every bite, you're feeling like a holey roller. 

And their delectable donuts also dress up nicely for creative, tricked-out treats. Some that I have sampled are the choco-toffee variety, sprinkled with hunks of buttery toffee atop a rich chocolate glazed chocolate donut (yes! yes!):

I have also tried the Cherry coconut donut, which is sublime. The cherry flavoring adds a little zest to the doughnut, and the fat flakes of toasty coconut on top add a pleasant crunch and a pleasing richness. 

But my favorite treat from Whoo's so far has been the Lemon Pistachio White Chocolate donut. Something about the sweetness of the white chocolate with a hint of lemon zest, complemented by the salty pistachio bits just makes me wish this was a donut I could curl up in and live inside for a while. It is just so good.

They also have donut holes ("Why-Nots")

and filled donuts (Key Lime! Caramel-filled!) and the requisite bacon variety. But next on my list to try is the Blue Corn donuts!

So, basically what I am telling you is run, donut walk, to Whoo's Donuts. And drop in to The ChocolateSmith next door for something like this:

Whoo's Donuts, 851-B Cerrillos Drive, Santa Fe NM; online here.

Sweet Morning Carbohydrates at Tecolote Cafe, Santa Fe NM

At Tecolote Cafe in Santa Fe, New Mexico, they serve "great breakfast, no toast".

Now, I know. You're thinking...what's wrong with toast? Certainly it's a likeable foodstuff.

But as I found out on a recent visit, after taking a bite or two of what they do offer here, you won't even care why they don't serve toast, because you won't miss it.

First off, the "bakery basket". When you order an egg breakfast, you get a choice of tortillas or "bakery basket" as a side when you order. I want to urge you to NOT BE A FOOL. Because while tortillas are undeniably tasty, the bakery basket is the way to go here. This is what you can expect (and this is for one person):

The sweetest basket, with muffins and biscuits! On the day of my visit, it was blueberry, corn-jalapeno, and pumpkin muffins, and a biscuit. This could change on the day of your visit, but I promise it will be tasty.

But on to breakfast. If there is even a small part of you that has an interest in pancakes, you must order a pancake here. They are delicious. They are huge--salad plate sized--so one is perfect, especially if you add fruit or an egg or something on the side. Yes, if you look at the top picture you will see I ordered an egg. I know this is a big deal because it proves that I ate something other than sweets. Don't worry, I didn't eat anything else that wasn't sugar-coated all day.

I got the Atolé Piñon pancake. To translate, this is a blue cornmeal pine nut pancake. And was it ever good. The slight grit of the cornmeal gave the pancake an interesting texture and wonderful natural sweetness, and the mellow, rich pockets of toasted pine nut gave it a nice crunch every now and again. Topped with (warmed!) syrup and butter, this was a thing of sweet beauty to behold and to then store in my stomach. It was a warming and hearty and pretty much perfect pancake. 

They also had "Tollhouse" pancakes -- with chocolate chips and nuts. 

Now. Tecolote has sweet French Toast offerings too (I didn't ask why it was ok to have "no toast" but French Toast was OK): on the day of my visit, there were various fruit and chocolate and nut options. Tasty town!

Basically what I am saying here is that if you do not go to Tecolote Cafe as soon as possible, you are doing yourself a great disservice. 

Tecolote Cafe, 1203 Cerrillos Road in Santa Fe, NM. Online here.

Tres Delicious: Tres Leches Cake, The Pantry Restaurant, Santa Fe

Let's get one thing straight. They do not make their Tres Leches cake in-house at The Pantry Restaurant in Santa Fe, NM. Wait, don't stop reading! Because it still is legitimately a "homemade" baked good, made at home by the wife of one of the restaurant's employees. And on the day of my visit, it was extremely fresh--I was informed that this would be the first slice cut from this hallowed round of delicious. 

Yes, I said round. Personally, I'm more accustomed to a square of Tres Leches--what about you? But I digress. In terms of construction, the Tres Leches at The Pantry resembled a round birthday-style cake; it was frosted on the top and sides, with piped decorations in the frosting. But once cut into, the inside of the cake revealed more what you'd expect from the traditional "three milks" cake--a spongelike cake kept moist and tender with mass amounts of dairy. And indeed, this one was so saturated that it just about dripped when you tucked your fork into the slice. Yessssss. 

The flavor of the cake was very good: milky, yes, but with a certain je ne sais quoi (look at me, acting all international!) to the aftertaste that made it compelling, and extremely easy to keep on eating. 

The Pantry Restaurant, 1820 Cerillos Road, Santa Fe, NM; online here.

Haute Chocolate: Historically Accurate Chocolate Elixirs by Kakawa Chocolate House, New Mexico

Photo: Missy Wolf c/o Kakawa Chocolate HouseIt's a funny thing about chocolate.

I like chocolate. I even love chocolate at times. But I will be honest. Once it starts getting discussed in "Fair Trade certified...90% cacao" terms, I kind of zone out. I am not trying to be disrespectful, because I realize that Fair Trade and purity are respectable characteristics of chocolate. But I find myself wondering "when do I get to eat it?".

But even though I admittedly don't "know" chocolate, I know that sometimes a chocolate comes along that kind of makes me hum a little bit like a tuning fork. It's really an interesting sensation. "Chocolate buzz"?

Photo: Kakawa Chocolate HouseAnd recently, I had such an experience with the drinking chocolates by Kakawa Chocolate House of New Mexico.

Called "elixirs" (oh how worldly!), they come in little round cakes that can be melted with water or milk or cream (see how I resisted calling them "balls", though just look at them...), and have an interesting backstory: 

The drinking chocolate elixirs at Kakawa are one of our most famous and popular items. These elixirs are deep, rich drinking chocolates based on recipes we have recreated from historical sources. They have been described as a kind of "time traveling" for thepalette, and range from pre- Colombian drinking chocolate to colonial American drinking chocolate as well as a few of our own inventions.

We first re-created several elixirs based upon the chocolate that was consumed in pre-Colombian
America. These exceptional drinks were reserved for the powerful elite and for special ceremonies (Cortez, for example, drank chocolate with Montezuma when he first arrived in Tenochtitlan). These elixirs are full of intense flavor, highly spiced with a wide variety of native herbs, flowers, and chiles.

and, even further, they appeal to food geeks because they are available in historically accurate bites (or sips): Mesoamerican varieties (unsweetened, like the Aztec Warriors would have imbibed), Historic European varieties (I recently bought SpyMom the Marie-Antoinette era variety; other types include the 1631 Spanish Elixir, based on a recipe from 1631 written by Antonio Colmenero de Ledesma which describes how the Spaniards preferred their chocolate), and a most fascinating 1790s Jeffersonian Elixir, a sort of crossover to what we now consider american hot chocolate, described thusly:

Representative of the historic drinking chocolate of the American colonies from the early 1700s to the mid 1800s. The first chocolate company in America was started by the Walter Baker Co. in Massachusetts in 1765. Thomas Jefferson loved chocolate and consumed it at Monticello. Due to its expense American drinking chocolate was simplified with less chocolate used. The drink became thinner and sweeter then European chocolate. Modern American hot chocolate is a direct descendant of this historic evolution. 

There are also "Contemporary" versions, and while delightful, weren't quite as compelling to this spy in terms of doing the whole "tasting time travel" thing. 

So, we've established that this drinking chocolate is interesting. But how does it taste?

The Mesoamerican varieties are compelling: deep and dark, and spicy--but to American hot chocolate drinkers, these are going to taste...well, maybe strange. For one thing, most of them are unsweetened. They're more like an espresso or turkish coffee--with a different, richer taste--and they will give you a powerful energy kick, but they're definitely not like the creamy variety at Cafe Angelina, for instance. So while I loved trying them for historical perspective, I don't think they're going to become part of my regular rotation. 

For me, the favored varieties were the European ones--especially the 1631 Spanish variety and the Jeffersonian one. Both were accessible to my sweet-starved palate, but still dark and complex enough that you could see how the transition was made from the unsweetened varieties to the sweeter American style. But they were still dark and slightly bitter, so there is no mistaking these for, say, hot chocolate from 7-11.

One thing was true for all of the varieties, though: with such a concentrated, pure chocolate flavor, it is impossible to drink these "elixirs" without getting a total buzz afterward. Maybe that's why the Aztecs dug it so much?

Moreover though, what is clear is that Kakawa Chocolates is passionate not only about what they are doing, but about preserving the history of chocolate and educating their consumers.

And that, friends, is totally sweet.

Shop on the Kakawa site for elixirs as well as confections, truffles, and caramels. They're online here and on facebook here.