Purin! Purin! Custard Pudding: Sugar, egg, milk, and cream are the basic ingredients of Purin, Japanese creme caramel / flan. It’s the flavor of “pudding” add ins for your bubble tea, with a firmer texture than American pudding yet softer and creamier than Jello. This particular product is made in California and was purchased in Berkeley at Tokyo Fish Market. It represents a simple deliciousness - classic, but not average, with a layer of sweet dark caramel at its base. Small plastic spoons included. 3.5/5.0
recommended japanese tokyofishmarket purinpurin custard pudding 3.5 sweets dessert
Tre Marie Ancora Una milk cream filled wafer: From Milan, these bite-sized square vanilla wafers are like Quadratini, only better, with a deliciously rich milk filling. Thin wafers are crispy yet substantial. A snack whose quality you can clearly taste. 3.5/5.0
recommended montereymarket italian sweets dessert tremarie ancora una milk cream filled wafer 3.5
Kekou Almond tofu gelato: Tofu jelly with canned fruits is a classic Chinese banquet dessert made not with actual tofu but with gelatin, sugar, water, and almond extract. It was one of my favorite sweets to eat growing up, so I was excited to see the flavor at the menu at Kekou, an ice cream shop off Spadina in Toronto specializing in asian flavors. Kekou doesn’t use any stabilizers, which translates to gelato that’s more fresh but not quite as smooth. The tofu gelato was a little icy and a bit too sweet for my palat... (read more) 3.0/5.0
icecream Toronto kekou almond tofu gelato 3.0 dessert
Dominique Ansel Bakery Frozen S’more: Brûléed to order, this sizable toasted marshmallow resembles a baked Alaska, with a vanilla ice cream interior mixed with chocolate crunchies. The texture of the marshmallow is excellent - light but having a satisfying chew - and it has a crisp honey-flavored sugary shell. Before you reach the ice cream filling, it’s overly sweet due to the layer of caramelized sugar, but the chocolate crunchies add a touch of bitterness that ultimately balances it out. An elevated and playful reworking of a... (read more) 4.0/5.0
dessert recommended la marshmallow icecream chocolate dominiqueanselbakery frozen s’more 4.0
Bhan Kanom Thai Pangchi: Pangchi is a bite-sized sticky rice pancake cooked on the griddle, giving it a crispy crust on both sides and mochi-like interior mixed with corn. While not captured in this photograph, panchi are actually lilac in color. Mochi is my favorite snack, and this take on crispy mochi was eye opening and delicious. A perfect bite. Purchased from the Thai dessert specialty store Bhan Kanom Thai in LA. 4.5/5.0
exceptional dessert thai mochi stickyrice corn bhankanomthai pangchi 4.5
Bhan Kanom Thai Sticky rice with taro: Wrapped in a banana leaf, this steamed dessert consists of long grain glutinous rice with a taro filling at the center. The quality of the rice is superb and quite possibly the best sticky rice I’ve had. It’s chewy but still has just enough bite. Perfumed with coconut water, the rice has a very faint sweet tropical flavor, while the taro adds additional richness and a contrasting soft and creamy texture. As far as classic desserts go, this traditional sticky rice was a revelation and at $1.5... (read more) 4.5/5.0
exceptional la losangeles dessert stickyrice bhankanomthai sticky rice taro 4.5