Carvel

Ever have a dessert you loved when you were younger and find your disappointed that it's not quite as good as you remembered? That was my sad feeling tonight when I went to Carvel and got a vanilla ice cream topped with their famous chocolate crunchies.

I don't know if it's from recently having Haagen-Dazs or trying Edy's Samoas ice cream, but Carvel's ice cream tasted just so...dull. Sure I got vanilla ice cream but there was absolutely no flavor what so ever. There beloved chocolate crunchies didn't even have the same appeal as it used to.

In all fairness, I must admit I got a boring flavor to begin with and Carvel's new cookie trio sundae dashers featured on their website look pretty good. The featured flavors are Nilla wafers, Oreo, and Nutter Butter.

Carvel is located on 80 Covert Avenue in Garden City, NY. You can find other locations here.

Haagen-Dazs

If you've never tried Haagen Dazs ice cream, you don't know what you're missing. Today I went to Haagen Dazs in the Roosevelt Field Mall and got a dulce de leche shake.

Dulce de leche is a delicious combination of caramel and sweet cream, swirled with ribbons of caramel. The shake consists of dulce de leche blended with milk and topped with homemade whip cream and warm caramel.

As a caramel lover, this ice cream is my absolute favorite. Though I enjoyed the shake I prefer the ice cream by itself on a sugar cone, which are out of this world. My other favorite flavors are pineapple coconut, strawberry and caramel cone.

Their website boasts, "being anti-artificial is just our natural way of doing things." Haagen-Dazs gets my vote for best ice cream.

Tuesday, May 10, is free cone day at Haagen-Dazs from 4-8pm. Stop by any Haagen-Dazs location and enjoy!

The Ultimate Fruit Ninja, King's

I must admit the best "dessert" of all is fruit. Unlike processed cookies and cakes, fruit is au naturale and a delicious healthy snack that provides essential vitamins and minerals. I've been on a fruit kick since I've noticed it gives me an energy boost without the sugar crash that I get from junk food.

Though I haven't been to a farmers market yet this spring, I've been going to King's Supermarket where they have amazingly fresh fruit. I swear it's as if they have a magical fruit ninja on hand with only the best fruit.

Unlike other grocery stores, King's has proved itself to be reliable in always having freshly sliced fruit in prepared containers. For students like myself cramming in long hours of work these last few weeks of school, King's packaged fruit is the perfect snack.

Pineapples, strawberries, and mangoes, are all in season right now. If you have the time and energy to pick out your own fruit here's a couple of tips to tell when its ripe:
1. Pineapple should have a bright yellowgold color on the skin and visible on the eyes around the base and a sweet smell at its base.
2. Buy strawberries that are bright red, as a dark red color is a sign that they're overripe and a green color indicates they are under-ripe.
3. A mango is ripe when it has a fruity aroma and you can slightly indent it with your thumb.

King's Supermarket is located on 870 Avenue in Garden City.

Cheesecake Recipe

Graham Cracker Crust:
1 cup graham crackers crumbs
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
2 cups sour cream
3 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, room temp.
3 eggs, lightly beten
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Finely grated zest of 1 large orange

Toppings:
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
2 cups fresh blackberries


Preheat oven to 375F.

To make crust, combine the crumbs, walnuts, brown sugar and cinnamon. Add butter and toss to combine. Reserve 3 tablespoons of graham cracker mixture for the top of cheesecake and press the remaining evenly into the bottom and 1 1/2-inches up the side of a 9-inch springform pan.

To make the filling, process the sour cream, cream cheese, eggs, sugar, and salt in a food processor or blender until very smooth (I just use my hand mixer). Add vanilla and orange zest and process just to blend.

Bake the cheesecake for 50 minutes. Sprinkle the reserved topping over the cake and bake until the filing is firm and top is lightly golden, 10-15 mintues more (I also put a pan of boiling water in the oven to simmer so that the top will not crack).

In a large bowl, whip cream until almost stiff. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until cream holds peaks.

Let cool completely. Remove side of pan, top with whipped cream and blackberries and refrigerate until ready to serve.