Every time I visit Philly, I’m astonished by how good their pastry game is! Seriously on par with the best I’ve had in Paris. And that’s saying something. On a recent trip to the converted school building now called the BOK Building in South Philly, we buzzed by my favorite bakery called Machine Shop for a quick hit of morning goodness.
This visit I got a Jammy Egg and Hot Pepper Stew + Feta Pastry with the most insane shattering crunch ever. It was expertly seasoned, super light and the egg was just done enough to still dribble all over me. Perfection in every way.
Michael kicked his day off with a Twice Baked Hazelnut Croissant that he completely devoured. To go we had to get the Everything Croissant filled with melty goat cheese, the Caramelized Onion Danish that looked super dreamy, a Double Chocolate Pain au Chocolate sans nuts, and a Kouign amann.
It was a rainy, crappy day so before we departed we took a seat to gather our belongings and grab the umbrellas near a bulletin board in the hallway that had some interesting adverts. And of course this gigantic cherry pie caught my eye. Lucky for us it was a Saturday and the artisanal bakery Second Daughter was open. So we took the bigly elevator up to check it out.
Four floors later the old slow school doors opened to this sign telling us to follow the amazing aroma of fresh baked goods down the hall to room 403. So we did. Always one to trust my sense of smell I knew this was going to be a winner.
They had a cute little sitting area and mini table with live samples of their selections for the day. Yum. We got the Mushroom Galette which looked packed with veggies and was topped with fresh dill, a Best of Philly Brownie, and a huge Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie.
We spent the day walking around Center City, enjoying the sights, shopping the stores and browsing at the greenmarket near Rittenhouse Square. But I couldn’t stop thinking about the goodies housed safely in the trunk. Later at Michael’s we unboxed the Mushroom Galette and all I have to say is wow!! The mushrooms were so umami and paired perfectly with the everything flaky crust and the cool goat cheese dollops. It didn’t look like such a big portion but the two of us split it for dinner and were stuffed!
For dessert we shared their famous Brownie and it was fudgy and decadent as promised. We loved the flaky salt on top and the dense texture. No wonder it’s an award winner.
The Brown Butter CCC was seriously enormous and three days later we were still nibbling on this sweet treat.
The BOK Building is a great weekend stop if you’re on a path to perfect pastries.
jenslittleblackbook.com 