Mmmm, I told you August was raspberry month! Today we celebrate the time-honored dessert tradition of serving fresh fruit in heavy, delicious cream, with National Raspberries In Cream Day. Unlike sweet fruits like Strawberries and Cream or Peaches and Cream, raspberries are far more tart, and could use an extra sprinkling of sugar on top of the dish along with the whipped cream. Or, mix your raspberries and your cream into a completely different sweet dessert that will help complement all of the tart, juicy, creamy flavors, without dumping a ton of sugar into the blend!
There aren’t many places in New York City that champion their stellar raspberries and cream dessert–it’s just not a dish that requires a lot of skill or expertise to find the “best” in the city. But there is something that involves cream and raspberries that we can all enjoy…raspberry ice cream! And on a day like today, we can enjoy a whole lot of it 😉 The added sweetness of the ice cream helps temper the tartness of raspberry, and you can find a lot of local ice cream shops that will make their ice cream fresh and with real, whole raspberries–none of that juice or jam stuff. One of the best you can try is at Holey Cream in Hell’s Kitchen. Here, their homemade ice cream flavors toe the line between classic and kooky, boring and out-of-the-box. Take their Long Island Raspberry Ripple for one: the mix of berries and chocolate chips in ice cream is such a classic, dating back from the invention of rocky road, but adding raspberries instead of a sweeter berry is inventive and only done here. Want to really indulge in your raspberry dessert goodness? Then get Holey Cream’s version of an ice cream “sandwich”–where they slice a glazed donut in half and fill it with the ice cream of your choice! Screw the old chocolate wafer cookies, I’m definitely going for a donut sandwich next 😀
Holey Cream
796 9th Ave (between 52nd St & 53rd St)
http://www.holeycream.com
“I’ll tell you what I like to do. I like to go to Holy Cream late at night, and grab a cone’s worth of the Raspberry Ripple. It’s straight up magnificent. Then, once I have my cone, I like to sit out in their comfy lawn loungers, kick back, rake my time with my ice cream, and watch the 9th avenue parade. Between the super smooth ice cream and the people watching, it’s a well rounded experience.”–Eric I.
“The employees were really really sweet with us and patient as we tried about 10 different flavors of ice cream before finally deciding. Some stand-outs: chocolate cookies n cream (major deep chocolate flavor. I loved it, a little too much for my friends), raspberry (very strong berry flavor. We were talking about having a fruit/berry theme next time), fat free peanut butter (we were amazed this was possible. You could definitely taste that it was fat-free though. Shouldve tried this one first and moved onto the heavier ones), PLUS there were gelatos including a coffee flavored one (my friends loved this but I’m not a big fan of coffee flavored ice cream), and sorbets. Loved all the selection.”–Ziyan C.
But for something that’s definitely different than traditional raspberries and cream–even more different than raspberry ice cream!–you’ve got to go to Sweet Revenge. This is no Magnolia, kiddies: a new twist on the waning cupcake craze, Sweet Revenge serves beer and wine along with their baked goodies, so you can pair a Merlot with your macaron or Chardonnay with your cupcake. They offer wine pairings to go with all of their cupcake flavors, including their four signature cakes: the Sweet Revenge, Pure, Dirty, and Crimson & Cream. The last one is perfect for a non-traditional Raspberries and Cream celebration: it’s made from a raspberry red velvet cake and topped with cream cheese frosting. The red velvet cake is made the way it should be–with deep, real berry flavor, and none of that tasteless red food dye. The cream cheese frosting is rich and fluffy, but not too rich as to take away from the cake’s flavor. Wash it down with a raspberry bellini–or a few–and you’re definitely good to go!
Sweet Revenge
62 Carmine St (between Bedford St & Bleecker St)
http://www.sweetrevengenyc.com
“The cupcake had a raspberry flavor in the cake as well as a raspberry drizzle on top. The frosting was tangy and had a hint of cinnamon in it. The cake was dense and real red velvet (not vanilla with a little cocoa powder).”–Cupcake Activist
“While you don’t need to choose their suggested drink pairing I would highly recommend it, as they tend to keep the flavors in balance. I opted for the Crimson & Cream with the Raspberry Bellini and was really impressed not only with the size of the cupcake and generous amount of cream cheese frosting, but also with how well the raspberry flavors in the drink complemented the fruity red velvet cake.”–Gadling
“Usually, red velvet cupcakes tend to disappoint, offering a cake that’s merely dyed red and devoid of any actual flavor. The “Crimson and Cream” is an exception, offering a subtle raspberry flavor. Despite the fact that the moderately rich cream cheese frosting slightly dilutes the raspberry flavor, this is still a superior red velvet.”–NYC Food Guy
Some reviews from Yelp.com:
“My favorite is the Crimson and Cream, a raspberry red velvet, with fresh berries in the batter and a cream cheese frosting with the perfect balance of sugar and spice. Sweet Revenge’s cupcakes are far from being savory, but the slightest saltiness in each recipe titillates the palate and deepens the flavors of cocoa or caramel or vanilla bean. Having tried all of New York City’s most popular cupcakes, these are the best.”–Kate M.
“Crimson & cream – cream cheese frosted red velvet with raspberry.. the whole raspberry and chocolate combo is generally not my favorite dessert choice, but this little baby was one of the best red velvets I have ever tasted! mm.. warning: you must love cream cheese frosting! omygosh AMAZING.”–Angela K.
Make sure you check out the updated NYC Food Holidays Map to find this most recent holiday!
National Food Days in New York City 
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