As part of her Food Lovers Guide to Queens book project, Meg and I ventured over to Bayside this afternoon for a hefty and fruitful exploration of their food scene. I'm quite familiar with the area, but even for me, I was surprised by all the neat and interesting food finds we ran into. Here's one that stood out most to me in terms of sweets - it was a cute, little, tucked-away bakery called the Teaspoon Bake Shop.
Atmosphere:
Located a little out of the way from the main shops and restaurants on Bell Blvd, Teaspoon Bake Shop is well worth the short walk we took to find it. From the outside, it doesn't look like much, being part of a mini strip mall, but when you walk inside, you forget about all that. For what lies inside is a charming, stylish bakery with tons of eye and tummy candy.
It all starts with their impressive cake display of elaborate fondant creations that seem like the thing to get for a special occasion. But behind the glass display, you're confronted with more goodness. Beautifully arranged cookies, scones, cakes, pies, and of course their famous cake balls lie there in their glory, making patrons (including us of course) ooh and ahh in indecisive pleasure.
Food:
Even though our eyes were bigger than our stomachs, we managed to sample the cake balls, which were an immediate must. Trying two flavors including the peanut butter pretzel and the red velvet, there were still several others to choose from including, lemon, vanilla, carrot cake and more. Next time...
Cake Balls - Cutting these sizeable treats in half, we enjoyed a perfect portion. The peanut butter pretzel was my favorite, as I loved that it combined an almost fudgy texture with the crunch of a pretzel. I liked that the peanut butter was creamy and rich but not overly sweet. The whole thing was sealed with a dark chocolate glaze on top, creating a sinful combination.
The red velvet, which is Teaspoon's signature cake ball was also very delicious and more cake-like than the peanut butter, as Meg pointed out. It was very moist, and interestingly paired with the dark chocolate coating as well, which is a nice change from the traditional cream cheese frosting usually paired with red velvet. Nicely done Teaspoon!
Service and Cost:
I'm happy to report that the staff here is very friendly and hospitable, and we felt comfortable just conversing freely with the gentleman behind the counter. Graciously answering our questions and giving us some good tid-bits about the ingredients that go into each sweet, we felt really good about our experience and would love to come back soon.
Costs are moderate for a good quality bakery and include:
Cupcakes - 6 for $9, 12 for $18
Cake Balls - $1.35 each
Cakes - $15 - $95
Cookies - $1.75 - $2.75
Bars - $2.50 - $4
Pies - $8 - $24
3 Mmmms
Teaspoon Bake Shop - 36-41 Bell Blvd, Bayside NY 11361
718.224.4626
LIRR - Port Washington Line to Bayside
www.theteaspoonbakeshop.com
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