Salli's Sweet Tooth

Having finished the last chocolate éclair from Payard, I set about exploring the famed sweet shops of Columbia Heights, Brooklyn. Once you cross the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, you will find quite a few goodies in this rapidly transitioning neighborhood.

If you are disappointed with the famed Junior's (as I am), you will set upon Helen's Fabulous Cheesecake (Note: Closed as of Dec. 2004) like a pack of wolves. I bought a thick slice of sweet, buttery caramel cheesecake with a graham cracker crust. Also on display were several kinds of fresh-baked scones in flavors like chocolate hazelnut. It should be noted that Alma, the nearby Mexican restaurant, lists Helen's coconut cheesecake on the menu.

I remembered seeing a van emblazoned with the logo Margaret Palca Bakes, and I decided to follow the driver to his lair on Columbia Street. Margaret Palca Bakes is a small, unassuming bakery/deli across from a used-car lot, which bills itself as baking the best cinnamon rugelach in New York. They also do a mean raspberry brownie and chocolate-chip coconut bar! The cashier and I fell into a discussion about apartments in the area, and he mourned the astronomical rise in rents. I nodded sympathetically, but I thought to myself: Doesn't he realize that people want to live right next to his raspberry brownies?

As usual, Ferdinando's Italian Restaurant was closed, so I crossed the bridge to Cobble Hill and stopped off at Mazzola Bakery. Today's items on the agenda were sfogliatelli; flaky pastries filled with cream and nuggets of candied orange peel, and hazelnut biscotti. The biscotti at Mazzola are not formed in the traditional dipping shape, but they are far superior to the cakey spears you find at most cafés!

Helen's Fabulous Cheesecake: 126 Union St., Brooklyn. Margaret Palca Bakes: 193 Columbia St., Brooklyn. (718) 802-9771. Mazzola Bakery: 192 Union St., Brooklyn. (718) 643-1719.