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January 2010
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New reviews: Woodfire Kirby's and Twisted Root Burger Co. Urbano Cafe dinner sold out; second date added Yikes! Bella boyz bilked after all Kim McPherson update: Making wine for Pappasito's and more Woman beaten, robbed at Whole Foods Don't forget to catch Kent at 10 p.m. on NBC Hot ticket: Sigel's wine dinner at Urbano Cafe Recent Comments
People think that the persuasive term p Awesome job at the Stephan Pyles event His new cake Crillon rocks! He delivers His mousse based cakes are my favorite. We had the Raspberry White chocolate ba He's great! what I like about Zach is that he asks This week we ordered one of the charlot Awesome stuff! we just tried his strawberry bed for ou Categories
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It was made by Zach Townsend, a budding local baker who doesn't have a brick-and-mortar retail location but does have a website from which you can peruse and order. The cake we tried is called Intense, for sound reasons: Four ultra-thin, superbly moist layers of flourless chocolate cake alternated with dense, not-too-sweet chocolate buttercream and were finished with ganache and caramelized cocoa nibs. Almond paste forms the base for the cake, and the whole has a pronounced (but not, to my taste, obtrusive) nutty flavor. Townsend uses 70% Scharffen Berger, though he also makes a version of the cake using Askinosie, a small-batch chocolate out of Springfield, Mo. That's the one I plan to try shortly. Despite how augmented that slice looks in the pic, the cake is small, about 6 inches in diameter. But more than a modest sliver would be overkill. On his website, Townsend suggests the Intense serves 10 to 12. The Scharffen Berger variation costs $38, the Askinosie $45. The friend who threw the dinner party matched the cake with Lustau Pedro Ximenex San Emilio sherry, which nicely accentuated both the cake's chocolate and almond aspects. Townsend's website offers handsome shots of other desserts, most of which are choco-centric. In an email exchange, Townsend told me he's developing a yule log for the holidays to be filled with chocolate and nutmeg mousse. Report back if you try it or any of Townsend's other creations. What did I bring to the dinner party? Fromage, bien sur. Here's my report on Scardello Artisan Cheese that ran in the paper yesterday. E-mail entry: |
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totally wow
I ordered the Celebration cake from Zach for my boyfriend's birthday and it was a huge hit. It was delicious and beautiful.
Zach's desserts are amazing - I ordered the Strawberry Bed for an anniversary my husband loved it. Not only was it delicious but, it was beautiful to look at.
Zach's cakes are wonderful. I had the pleasure of tasting his Paradiso cake and it was moist and delicious. I would highly recommend.
I LOVED this cake...he has more than one type of the Intense cake.
I've not tried his Intense cake yet, but I had a chance to try his chocolate nutmeg bouche de noel for a party and it was wonderful. I loved how straightfoward and contemporary it was in appearance. It has a very very thin chocolate grain shell that surrounds the soft mousse. Very nice. I know someone who knows Zach and she has mentioned how nice he is and that he's very accommodating and attentive to his customers. I heard from another friend that Paradiso is definitely a cake to try.
I have tried his Sensation cake and his Chocolate Nutmeg Bouche de Noel, and I LOVED them both. I am ordering the Paradiso cake for my husband's birthday and am really looking forward to trying it. Zach's cakes are wonderful and you can really tell the quality of ingredients he uses for his desserts. I would HIGHLY recommend him!
The framboise torte I had last year for a valentine's day birthday was delicious, not too sweet, which is what i like in a good dessert. i find it interesting (and good) that he doesn't use tap water, which I also appreciate. his things are very high quality and I think the price is very reasonable for that.
My husband got me the Delice cake for Valentine's Day. Wow. The cake looked beautiful. I agree with the other posters in that you can tell high quality ingredients are used. The cake is very rich (in the good way). The cake portion is moist and has a very pleasant texture (a smidge crumbly and melt in your mouth moist). The truffle layer is to die for. It tastes like the most divine mousse you have ever eaten. I highly recommend for any dessert affectionado or special occasion.
Paradiso was fantastic and so is Piccolo. I'm a white chocolate lover.
Best chocolate dessert/cake by far I've had in the city because you can tell the quality of everything. Zach says he's a chocoaltier who bakes - a great combination in my book. My wife and I had one of the Intense cakes plus the Delice and they were fantastic. My wife's a huge chocolte lover, and I love chocolate, too, so I get her chocolate fix from Zach.
we just tried his strawberry bed for our dinner party and it was fabulous. Fresh and sweet, but not too sweet, probably the best type of cake with white chocolate we've tried. the flavors were very well balanced, great texture too. I agree with poster Dina above about it being beautiful to look at too.
Awesome stuff!
This week we ordered one of the charlottes and it was awesome. Our whole family loved it. -- Linda in Farmer's Branch.
what I like about Zach is that he asks you about your tastes and helps you decide what you should order when you can't make up your mind. He worked with my sister to find the right chocolate for my mother's birthday, which she loved.
He's great!
We had the Raspberry White chocolate bavarian charlotte for the 4th and everyone loved every bit of it - fresh and flavorful.
His mousse based cakes are my favorite.
His new cake Crillon rocks! He delivers on weekends, too, which really helps.
Awesome job at the Stephan Pyles event Zach!
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