[Photo: Kathy Chan]

So very Japanese, that one perfectly round ploof of whipped cream. It could easily have passed as fake food, but tasted as good as it looked. A single layer of thinly sliced apples on a buttery crust—not the flaky American sort of pie crust, but something more mild, less obvious. The filling was a delicate cross between your typical pumpkin pie and sponge cake, resulting in cake-y creaminess. To finish, the cream and a dusting of cinnamon powder.

I've been slowly poking my way through the bakery case of the recently reopened Panya in the East Village, so expect more to come! The sweets here are slightly pricier than the nearby and very comparable Cafe Zaiya, but the difference is justified.

Panya

10 Stuyvesant Street, New York NY 10003 (map)
212-777-1930