Baked NYC

I've fallen head over heels in love. Unfortunately, the object of my desire is in another borough. However, this elusiveness only makes me pine away all the more. Lest you start worriedly E-mailing my companion, I'll reveal that both of us are enjoying my new beloved: Baked NYC!

Baked is the sexiest, most adult bakery I've found in NYC, with its Scotch-laced chocolate pudding and fleur de sel-sprinkled sweet-and-salty caramel cake. Other creative cakes are the red-hot cinnamon buttercream with Valrhona cocoa, and the fortune-cookie topped almond green-tea. I've also tried a delectable cornmeal muffin accented with rosemary, a mixed berry scone with a slight tinge of lemon, and the icebox cake: a sort of gourmet Oreo with chocolate wafers and pastry cream.

Unfortunately, Baked is a 20-minute walk from the Carroll Street subway station. If you want to cut that walk in half, just walk down Union Street past the BQE into the Columbia Heights neighborhood - you'll find many Baked goods at Coffee Den on the corner.

Baked NYC: 359 Van Brunt St., (718) 222-0345.