Fig cakes and first dates
Dating is hell, but if you go to one of these places, it might be less hell
Hello and welcome back to Five Things I Ate! This week, I mess with your love life. If you’re new, check out past posts here, and please follow my Instagram @fivethingsiate.
Fresh-fig cake with honey cream cheese frosting at my friend’s apartment
Recipe from New York Times Cooking, via Melissa Clark
If you’ve been feeling neglected lately — like you could use just a little more attention and adoration from the masses — drop what you’re doing, make this fig cake and bring it to a party. It’s definitely a showstopper, take a look for yourself. The recipe is from the New York Times Cooking section, and it’s surprisingly easy to make. Aside from fresh figs, fig jam, and a few spices, you probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry. The flavor in the cake is excellent; the cardamom and ginger really shine. The frosting is salty-sweet, although you can easily make half as much. It’s hard to criticize something that’s so beautiful, but I’ll take a stab at it: Although the frosting and cake were both lovely, the finished product didn’t add up to more than the sum of its parts, which is what a good layer cake should do. The cake was dense and nutty, but if it had a softer, lighter crumb, it would meld better with the fluffy frosting. Next time, I might make bake batter up in a loaf pan, as quickbread, or as muffins.
Revolution gelato, Cardamom spice flavor at Prospect Market
Look up where it’s sold here
I am on a quest to eat my way through every brand and flavor of non-dairy ice cream available in my local grocery’s freezer. The quest arose naturally but it turns out I am very good at it, so now it is a goal. It took me a while to get to Revolution gelato, a brand from Atlanta (no coincidence!), because it’s both a rare sighting, and at $8.99, the priciest pint in the shop. However, I’m glad my frugal instincts didn’t get the best of me, because this might be the best pint of non-dairy gelato I’ve eaten, aside from the hazelnut concoction from L’Alberi de Gelato. There’s only 11 ingredients, and although the gelato is coconut-based, it doesn’t taste strongly of coconut, just cardamom and orange blossoms, a flavor combo made in heaven.
Kvikk Lunsj at my office
Available in Norway, or online
I aspire to go through life with the confidence of an oversized chocolate bar that calls itself a “quick lunch.” That’s what Kvikk Lunsj means in Norway, where it’s marketed as an energy booster for outdoor activities. According to Wikipedia, the average citizen eats three of these chocolate bars during Easter alone, which is prime hiking season. I get it, because Kvikk Lunsj is absolutely delicious. To the untrained eye, Kvikk Lunsj looks just like a Kit Kat bar, but it tastes way, way better. The milk chocolate is creamier and the wafers are crispier and it’s all completely addictive. I’d eat it for a meal.
My dear Julius at Blueprint
196 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Blueprint has amazing cocktails and a nice ambiance. But don’t take my word for it — ask anyone in Park Slope, Gowanus, Prospect Heights, and two-thirds of yuppie Brooklyn, because they’re all definitely going on a first date here. In fact, if you don’t feel comfortable running into three people you’ve swiped left on in this bar, and one that ghosted you, you should probably avoid it.* I have no sense of shame and love to ignore people, so I continue to frequent Blueprint. My favorite drink there is the “My Dear Julius,” which contains bourbon, plum liqueur, lemon, cinnamon, maple, and egg white, but somehow tastes greater than the sum of its (many) parts. It’s topped with perfectly frothed egg white, and served up in an old fashioned glass.
*This statement has been independently confirmed by a person who is not me, and is also on Eater’s list of reliable first date bars, so it’s no exaggeration.
Banh xeo at Bricolage
162 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217
I am stubbornly loyal to my neighborhood Vietnamese shop — where I pick up dinner on the way home three out of five nights of the work week — but I do have to admit that the addition of chairs and tables makes for a better time. I’m surprised that Bricolage doesn’t make Eater’s list of reliable first date spots, because it’d be a great addition. It has a fun drink menu (although the drinks are nowhere as good as Blueprint) that forces your company to order something that’s not boring, even if they really are. There’s a lot of small bites on the menu (spring rolls, egg rolls, the usual) so you can give the illusion of appearing delicate and refined, or, if you’re a hungry monster like me, you can order the bahn xeo, which is a giant crispy crepe filled with pork belly, shrimp, and bean sprouts that you’ll probably look unattractive eating, unless your company’s into that.
Keep calm and carry on,
Soph
P.S. There is no way to run a poll on this newsletter, which makes my little scientist heart very sad, but if you’re interested in more first date recommendations, let me know, because it’s oddly my favorite hobby to plan other people’s dates?