2016 has been a banner year for desserts. So much so that my annual list of the best desserts Miami is in two parts. Here’s part 1 and prepare to drool even if you don’t have a sweet tooth! And in case you missed it, click here for the best dishes of the year.
Award for the WOW dessert of the year in presentation, mouth watering ingredients, and pure star power is the birthday sundae at Bagatelle Miami that comes to the table with a serious sparkler. One of my friends calls it AB FAB. It’s made with 8 scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream; house made brownies; marshmallow; whipped cream; caramel popcorn; cocoa nib streusel; almond granola and caramel syrup. Even friends who don’t usually eat dessert devour this one. You can find it at all Bagatelle restaurants.
My French friend swears by the the almond macaron ice cream sandwich at Proof Pizza and Pasta, and I totally agree. The macaron dissolves in your mouth with a touch of sweetness and nuttiness, and the vanilla ice cream is a creamy counterpoint, a perfect blend of textures.
The chocolate cremoso at Seaspice is one of the more unusual desserts that made my cut this year. It’s all at once sweet, salty, smooth and crunchy, a chocolate ganache that’s drizzled with caramel spiked with seasalt and topped with toasted rice and cocomints, beads made from seaweed. Then it’s all topped with a crisp tuille wafer. Heavenly.
Surprising that one seldom finds banana in desserts and yet, they’re a perfect accompaniment to ice cream (hello banana splits), chocolate (chocolate covered bananas), and crepes. To this list of dessert stars, I’d add the banana cake with meringue at The Sarsaparilla Club. The meringue had just the right consistency — dense yet airy, with high peaks and sweet but not cloying, and the banana cake was obviously housemade.
CREAM, a branch of the California chain that opened earlier this year in Aventura has THE best ice cream sandwich in town. What makes it so special? It’s a given that the ice cream has to be delicious — rich in butterfat and creamy. It comes in 20 flavors plus seasonal varieties. Find the usual favorites plus more exotics like caramel cinnamon chill, chocolate chip cookie dough and we be jamm’n. I happen to think that you can judge the quality of ice cream by the vanilla, and here it’s tops — rich vanilla flavor and super creamy, a perfect foil for what comes next. That being said, the salted caramel was tied for first. The secret weapon is the combo of the cookies – baked in the store and served warm with the ice cream, making a double contrast of chewy and creamy and warm and cold. Choose among 17 varieties including vegan/gluten free, gluten free, and even mini cookies.Varieties include snickerdoodle, a fave; CREAMfetti with colored sprinkles; and of course, chewy chocolate chip;
Marion brasserie has an impressive dessert buffet at lunch with serious competition, but the star is the yellow cake with Nutella frosting. It tastes like having a creamy, dark chocolate bar melted on a moist bar cake. Yours truly had seconds.
