Trying Viral New York Desserts | Finding the Best Bakery in New York City - Dining and Cooking (2024)

Are these sweet treats the best desserts in the world? I visited some of the most iconic dessert shops and bakeries in New York City, including Magnolia Bakery, Milk Bar and Levain Bakery. I was determined to try all the tik tok famous foods, like the magnolia bakery banana pudding, milk bar compost cookies and birthday cake and levain chocolate chip cookie. I hope you enjoy this mini bakery tour of new york, and see if these viral new york foods are worth the hype!

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Transcript

so I am in New York and if there’s one thing I know about New York is that it is a good food destination I have absorbed so much New York food content whether it’s from like bonati going out and doing like taste tests of like famous restaurants or Tik toks of like the most viral new bestest place to eat in New York and if there’s one thing about me I love a little treat I do so now that I’m in New York okay I want to try and taste these things and see if they are like actually good I’ve been prepar preping for the video I just feel like with big cities like New York I kind of am thinking you’re going to be good because the rent is expensive there’s a lot of people a lot of mouths and if you’re not good you won’t make it so for the places that have you know made it what what what’s the deal but before we jump into tasting all of those sweet treats let’s make some sweet treats and have some delicious fun with the sponsor of this video love and pies I don’t think you understand I’m 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relate to this did anyone else have like a baking phase specifically if you’re like Millennial gen Z cusp that era where cupcakes were trendy there was just like this period in like 2009 I want to say where like baking blogs and like TV shows specifically about cupcakes like Cupcake Wars Cake Boss as a result of that kind of cupcake craze I became I’m very like interested in particular like famous bakeries and one of those bakeries is of course Magnolia Bakery I feel like Magnolia Bakery kind of blew up because it was featured in an episode of Sex in the City they got their little cupcakes from Magnolia and they were eating them and then suddenly everyone was going to Magnolia Bakery to get these cupcakes now Magnolia Bakery has like expanded they have multiple locations I think they even have them like around the world none in Australia or none that I’ve been able to visit until now they’re for like their like little icing SWR on their cupcakes but I feel like more recently I feel like they’ve been very very famous for their banana pudding so yesterday I went to the original location to get a cupcake to get some banana pudding and you are going to see that [Music] now when ordered sustain some mild psychic damage during that process if you do happen to go to the one in the original location just know that there’s a different ordering thing to the count anyway it’s fine it’s fine also sorry I just wanted to interject uh briefly you he mentioned that like the interaction was weird and I don’t want to get like anyone in trouble it was actually not very busy I was fully prepared for there to be like a huge line I was like really shocked and surprised that we could literally just like walk in so they had the little fridge with the banana puddings and I had seen someone in reviews talk about like you need to take the banana pudding out of the fridge and bring that to the counter so I knew to do that but so then the person at the counter was like oh you ready and I was like yeah sure so I had like the banana pudding in my hand and I went up and I was like I just want to get this small banana pudding and I would like to get a cupcake please and they didn’t I don’t they were like oh you can’t get a cupcake here and I was like oh okay sorry do I go get it from over there and she was like yeah you have to order it over there and I was like okay and then do I bring it back here and they were like yeah and then I was like oh okay and they were like I don’t know how to and my boyfriend Max was with me and after this interaction I was like was there like signs to direct you to like where to go because like if so then that’s like obviously totally on me and he was like no there was not that was like that was really awkward I feel like they would get so many people coming in and I get that that would be annoying but if there’s no signs and your bakery setup is like you have to do like go to different places to get things I feel like maybe instead of just being like that’s wrong you could maybe be like you have to go like I I had to like so do I get it and they’re like yeah you order it from there and I was like and then do I bring it back here and they were like mhm and I was like I don’t know psychic damage anyway and I took the cupcake and then I brought it back over to the counter and I was like sorry I like didn’t know the ordering system and they were just like sorry and I’m being like really like thank you so much and they’re just like mhm anyway I think a lot of people who would be visiting because it’s a very famous bakery that people would be visiting cuz it’s like kind of a tourist attraction would not know to do that so anyway if you go to Magnolia Bakery the original location just know that you have to get the cupcake from the cupcake person and then you can pay for it at the counter cuz I did not know that anyway taste test time we got a couple of things let me show you got the banana pudding and then one of the Little Cupcakes all right I’m going to try little cupcake B very cute little swelly but we’ll see how we go got chocolate don’t know if chocolate vanilla is bad out lot let’s see I mean yeah it’s a really good cupcake there a lot of frosting but it’s not too sweet it’s just kind of like fluffy chocolate cake is good it’s not like remarkable but I think it’s a really good cupcake I can see why if they were like OG SL when I was like obsessed with cupcake stuff when I was like 15 and I would read making blogs and I would like read about my family bankery that would be like the thing but yeah just good cupcake I see what famous yeah it’s a good cupcake right yeah it is like 40% frosting frosting is nice though so yeah that’s what I’m saying I haven’t had a frosting that’s like I don’t know it’s like more fluffy than it is like buttery or sugary oh it kind of matches my nails those are really grown out anyway um yeah good I know everyone’s like all about the banana pudding but I think it’s this is like the classic I should try it and I’m kind of like kind of into it that’s really good I’m actually really impressed by that I really like cupcakes but I do think it’s hard and a lot of like even good cupcake places have frosting that’s like way too sweet or too like buttery but that’s like a really nice whipped frosting I don’t really like my desserts like too sweet and they often do on that side so that kind of SCE make sure we’re not covered in like frosting or cupcake but that was surprisingly really good I kind of just got that because I was like I want to try the classic as you know an old school baking blog cupcake craze fan I don’t even know what to call that era of like the internet SL like Comedia and that wasn’t like the main thing that everyone says is like you know the viral like hot sweet treat but I thought that was really good so if you like cupcakes you should definitely get one but now we have the main event allegedly the banana pudding just going to try and I don’t know if I can get this with one hand I need some help thank you ooh okay vanilla pudding banana bits Wafers let’s see now I enjoy banana but I’m not as big of a banana fan as BF is so we’ll see a nice good kind of SCP oh that’s really good as well it’s not like super banany but again it’s like whipped creamy it’s not too sweet I don’t I got any wafer but that is so so good I think people really like this ban I don’t think it’s that banana I’m EA a I didn’t get a banana slice I just got like pudding and like I got some banana taste but I didn’t get like a banana slice that’s probably going to be more banana it’s good it’s like light fluffy creamy it’s not really like a j I would have that often or like not something I have I feel like banana pudding is maybe more of an American thing we don’t really I’ve never like seen it around locally I trying to see if I could like recreate this I know people do like try and do it I kind of always want to say that the cupcake is like more impressive though because I think cupcakes can be so bad whereas I feel like this you could make a different version of this and have it also be in a similar realm of good maybe controversial take there I don’t know I’m giving you all the hot takes that is magnoli Bakery I’m actually really impressed it actually lived up to the hype and considering it’s like you know expanded and everything you could maybe think it would be not so good I did go to the original location if that helps but yeah pretty tasty the vanilla pudding is really good see you in the next one oh right look Bonkers uh little bonus round we’re going to go and get some bagels from popup Bagels so I had heard some Buzz about popup Bagels on Tik Tok for being the best bagels in New York City but after my trip I heard even more buzz and even saw these guys eating at the exact location I visited the team working there was super friendly and I felt sad it was just my boy I so we couldn’t sample more of the flavored cream cheeses but we ended up going with the limited flavor of the weekend which was the honey Chipotle cream cheese but ultimately I think the fresh warm Bagels themselves are the real star and the cream cheese is like a celebrity special guest it’s like steamy warm the whole thing is that you like rip the D the rip the bagels and then dip them in the cream cheese and apparently these are some of the best bagels so we’ll [Music] see that’s really good it’s really well seasoned too cream Che is spicy just a little bonus round really just as a note because I did eat a fair few Bagels on this trip I think POA Bagels was the most delicious Bagel but in terms of my favorite like complete Bagel it was from Liberty Bagels in Midtown which was yummier than I expected specifically they’re everything bagel with blueberry cream cheese do not judge me it is the one bagel I think about from this trip so next up is Levan Bakery dubbed New York City’s most famous cookies this one was a no-brainer to visit on my list started in 1995 this Bakery was founded by competitive swimmers and triathletes Pam weeks and Connie McDonald the famous cookie came around from their desire to make a delicious chocolate chip and walnut cookie to give them energy For an upcoming triathon and then they sold a batch in their Bakery and it was a hit L now has several locations across New York and I think a few others dotted around the US I have seen so many attempts to make the ultimate leevan cookie copycat recipe I think I’ve even made a few of those recipes but how can I compare it without trying the real thing so let’s go do that now it is a little windy so I do apologize but I have the lean Bakery cookie the line was kind of long um but it moved very quickly this is like a $5 something like that cookie like 5 USD so in Australian dollars it’s like $8 9 so it’s not inexpensive but I will say it’s very Hefty okay it’s a big big boy he’s one big and chunky I’m not going to chat too much because it’s quite chilly and I think this is like fresh out of the oven so I don’t want it to get cold so just going to pull it out a little bit so we can see it’s so windy I don’t have anyone to help me it’s just me at the moment but that’s what it looks like you can kind of see my hand for scale it’s a really really large cookie sorry about the wind I don’t know it’s really cold and windy let me take a bite of this I had a few different flavors but I got the chocolate chip and walnut cuz that’s the OG I feel like that’s the fairest thing to judge some on I’m still so shy when people walk past me that’s good I’m so awkward it was really hard to find a place to sit let alone chat but it’s also so busy but it’s also New York so it’s fine low key mortifying anyway I don’t know if you can see the outside is like super crispy and golden but the inside is like almost like not even baked it’s really good it’s not too sweet and the walnuts kind of like cut through the sweetness as well the wind is really [Music] help I had one that was like double chocolate chip that seemed popular but I like the idea of the walnuts once of course you have a non allergy then maybe you wouldn’t enjoy the idea of the walnuts yeah good I feel like I’ve tried to make a lean style cookie at home and it did not work or look like this so I don’t know I mean look at that little morsel it’s like perfectly gooey but then like crunchy golden on the outside they’re kind of crazy to this one I know I’m kind of I wish I had some warm milk but that just could be cuz I’m cold right now little milk this could slap I don’t think that’s overrated at all I was kind of expecting to be like disappointed by that or kind of feeling like it was overrated cuz I’ve heard about it for so long and it’s kind of been loed as like the perfect chocolate chip cookie but like crispy outside soft inside melty chocolate chips nuts nice balance of flavor not too sweet I don’t know if you could make one much better than that obviously everyone’s chocolate chip cookie preferences are different but in terms of making like an all round like most people would agree this is a perfect cookie kind of think I’ve done it the wind is I’m going to pack this up and get moving second opinion on the leevan cookie it’s interesting have you got like a crispy side you can try I would never describe it as crispy no there’s a crispy bit on the like on the sides that’s the middle Center um I think it’s too wet in my opinion too wet it’s too moist it feels like it’s undercooked which is a Vibe but I’d prefer a hter biscuit what about the side there it’s like more cooked got a bit of crunch similar to magn a bakery if you were invested in the dessert craze of the early 2010s there’s a solid chance you would know about Milk Bar started in 2008 it was actually originally part of momo f*cku before splitting up and becoming its own huge food brand championed by pastry chef and dessert World royalty Christina toy their whole vibe is like Nostalgia and sweet treats di up to a 10 so childhood favorites like sugary cereal and birthday cake become cereal milk ice cream Sundays and technicolored layer cakes but a little more complicated than the classic box mix and they’ve also released cookbooks of famous treat but having tried to make some of those recipes myself they are not easy okie dokie don’t mind the noise I’m actually back at I’m actually in our hotel basem*nt it’s like a little uh kitchenette kind of thing with like a little vending machine and a microwave and an ice machine and all that but also a table and somewhere to sit because we are actually checked out it’s our last day but anyway as you saw I went to Milk Bar in SoHo SL noo still not 100% across all of the areas but also as you saw it’s not really like a sit down location it’s basically like a little walk up counter dealio got some steps in so now I’m actually very hungry which is good because we have here H quite a large slice of cake it’s pretty chonkers this is the OG birthday cake also like The Milk Bar is really famous a lot of their recipes a lot of people try and imitate I have made Milk bar recipes multiple times myself so it’ll be very interesting to try the OG because their recipes are quite involved have lots of like specialty ingredients that at least for me are hard to get I don’t have at home home so I know whenever I make things that are Milk bar recipes they’re always like almost what it’s meant to be but not quite so I’m very keen to try I have the compost cookie which I have made this myself again not 100% how they make it and the upper mentioned cake and I’m really excited to try the cake because this is something that I can’t really recreate at home we just don’t have these kinds of like rainbow sprinkles in Australia like look how bright and colorful they are so I’m really really excited they describe it as inspired by box vanilla Funfetti cake that we loved as a kid I did not have that as a kid again we don’t have like Funfetti as a thing in Australia three tiers of heavenly rainbow flect vanilla birthday cake with creamy frosting and crunchy crumbs with rainbow sprinkles I’m really really excited I hope it’s good I’m trying to delay it cuz I don’t want to be disappointed but I think it’s going to be good I don’t know if you can you can’t really see but there’s like little see there’s like little crumb pieces on top okay here we go I’m so happy it’s good cuz I saw some people in the reviews like SLE like it’s like overpriced we’ll get to the value proposition point but the flavor that’s so yummy that’s really good you can very much like see the inspiration from like the box kind of birthday party cake mix but it’s it’s a lot better than that in my opinion and they’ve layered like the little crumblies and sprinkles all the way through so it has like a nice crunchy texture you can kind of like see it like it’s all rippled through that’s fun let me try one of the little crumbly boys on the top crunchy little cookie like milky not good describing cookie crumbles but like vanillary cakey flavor Max would you like to try that’s yummy it’s yummy right the icing I thought it was going to be really like fluffy sugary kind of like the Magnolia icing that was what I was assuming from what it looked like but it’s actually like a little bit of a cream cheese Vibe the slight tartness kind of offsets the sweetness it’s still very sweet and I’m not hugely into like super duper sweet sweet I prefer something that’s like a little more tempered in terms of the price point this was more expensive then Magnolia Bakery to be honest I don’t think the price point is heinous because it is like a teared cake it’s not just like a piece of banana bread or a single cake with a single bit of frosting I think it’s kind of fair maybe that’s a bit outlandish for me to say but now we have the cookie and it comes like packaged this is the compost cookie and it’s called that because it has like a little bit of everything in it designed to be like used for like you know the last like handful of your chips and things like that I made a version of these before and actually Max you really like them when I made them they’re like cuz it’s like Savory sweet never made them again I’ll make them again for you when we get home I wonder if you’ll like this one so they describe it as the original sweet and salty kitchen sink cookie with chocolate chips in a deep vanilla base plus milk Bar’s five recommended food groups pretzels potato chips grain crackers coffee oats and butterscotch so it’s kind of yeah a little bit of everything but I feel like and I could be wrong but I remember they published the recipe for this again and I think there’s like corn meat or something there was like a an element to this cookie that I was like I don’t have that so let’s see this cookie was us $350 which I think is fine to be honest my perception of Valley was a little bit warped after being in New York for like over a week no I think everything’s like slightly expensive with the conversion rate to AUD as well but like for a name brand Bakery cookie I don’t think that’s too bad lean’s was like $5 something and that that one was really big this one’s a little smaller makes sense here he is very see the little different bits in there kind of like a soft cookie all right let’s try wao they crazy for that one you know what this tastes like it’s like a um it’s like those chocolate chip musy bars but if they’re like salty and in cookie it has that kind of like chewy bite H it’s quite salty but I think it balances out like the sweet elements quite well it’s good I don’t think it’s quite as impressive to me personally than the birthday cake slice but obviously it’s a cookie versus a layer cake so I think it’s not really fair to like compare no not into it he’s very tasteless but it’s about all the added but I barely got anys wait really do you like the ones I make but you don’t like this one no okay I’m surprised so far that everything I’ve tasted has been not bad I don’t know I was just like I feel like I have built up expect and maybe because of my expectations and because of the fame level these treats I kind of like tempered my expectations and you know set them low so that I wouldn’t be you know hugely disappointed but honestly I haven’t been that disappointed I at some more this cake I think the cake is yummy the cookie it’s also good but I think the cake is the real stand out for me look how like it’s just it’s very just delightful what a fun little cake um so yeah that is milk bar so I realized I never filmed a full conclusion so here’s a quick wrap up on all of these viral sweet treats if I can only eat one one of these treats again I think it would actually have to be the Magnolia Bakery cupcake which isn’t the most viral treat I know but there was something about a classic perfected that really surprised me otherwise while it was tasty I do think the Magnolia banana pudding is a little bit overrated it’s not that it’s overpriced or anything like that it’s just kind of what you expect not worth going out of your way for in my personal opinion and then both Levain and milkbar I think were actually quite deserving of their hype leevan is far more for fans of the classics and milk far as like elevated Sweet Tooth although upon reflection I think if you’re going to go to Milk Bar just go for the over top really fun things like the cake or they have the cereal milk soft serve that I didn’t try and leave the things like the cookies to leevan but yeah I don’t know that little New York City cupcake just stole my heart I hope you enjoyed this little NYC adventure and as always thank you so so much for watching and I’ll see you in the next one bye [Music] n [Music]