Best of NH 2017 Desserts, Ice Cream Stands, Coffee and Bakeries
 The key lime pie from Editor's Pick Chase the Dream Baking Company. (Courtesy photo) |
Key Lime Pie: Sarah Burt at Chase the Dream Baking Company in Nashua offers a slice of the Tropics with her not-too-sweet “Better Than Key West” key lime pie with just the right amount of tang. You can find it at Whole Foods in Nashua and Bedford and at Harvest Markets.
Cheesecake: Mary Wicenski at Pleasant Lake Cheesecake Company in New London bakes a rich, New York-style cheesecake in more than 30 seductive flavors. Think crème brûlée, chocolate rum, lemon zinger and coffee with espresso whipped cream to ease all your problems. Available in 2-inch minis too. How many calories could that be?
Handcrafted Chocolates: Three-year-old Vicuña Chocolate really embraces the concept of “bean to bar.” The cocoa beans that become the shop’s candies and desserts are ethically sourced from just five farms spread across South America. Once they arrive stateside, the team in Peterborough roasts, cracks, winnows and stone-grinds them — a process you can watch at occasional factory tours — into rich dark chocolates, left alone or inventively flavored in bars, melted into drinking chocolate or baked into sea salt chocolate chip cookies and cocoa nib brownies.
Swedish Bakery: Betty Schneider’s Scandinavian Baking in Chocorua began with a card table in her front yard, moved onto the front porch of her house, then came inside to the tiny front-room bake shop. In summer, sit on the porch and enjoy your fika of cardamom raisin cake or spicy Pepparkarkor, cookies with a complimentary cup of fresh-brewed coffee.
Exotic Ice Cream: It’s hard to choose just one of the unexpected flavors at Bloom’n Cow in Newmarket, but if you must, then choose the coconut stracciatella. Its unique texture and flavor make it irresistible. One possible wrinkle — with more than 300 varieties of ice cream, gelato, sorbetto, coconut creams, popsicles and paletas dreamed up by the chef and “chief ice cream concoctionist,” flavors do vary from week to week.
Dessert Tray: Regulars dining at the Blue Bistro of The NASWA Resort in Laconia never have to be told to save room for dessert. The finale of the meal appears on a tray, personally presented by a bona fide Lakes Region legend, Hope Makris. She can tell you everything that went into creating each of the items on her lavishly loaded tray because she personally makes them all. Makris was an owner/operator at the resort for 60 years then began a second career as master baker at age 72 — 20 years ago.
Readers' Poll Winners
Bakery
Harvey's Bakery and Coffee Shop
Dover
Bakery
Multi-location Regional
Frederick’s Pastries
Amherst, Bedford and N. Andover, Mass.
Bakery Concord Area
Bread & Chocolate
Concord
Bakery Dartmouth/Lake Sunapee Region
Lou’s Restaurant & Bakery
Hanover
Bakery Great North Woods
Polish Princess Bakery
Lancaster
Bakery Lakes Region
Laconia Village Bakery
Laconia​
Bakery Manchester Area
Triolo's Bakery
Bedford
Bakery Monadnock
Kristin's Bistro & Bakery
Keene
Bakery Nashua Area
Black Forest Cafe & Bakery
Amherst
Bakery Salem Area
Klemm’s Bakery
Windham
Bakery Seacoast Region
Popovers on the Square
Epping and Portsmouth
Bakery White Mountains
Leavitt's Country Bakery
Conway
Cakes
Jacques Fine European Pastries
Suncook
Cakes
Multi-location Regional
Frederick’s Pastries
Amherst, Bedford and N. Andover, Mass.
Chocolatier
Van Otis Chocolates
Manchester
Coffee Roaster
A&E Coffee Roastery and Whole-leaf Tea
Amherst and Manchester
Coffee Shop
Breaking New Grounds
Durham and Portsmouth
Coffee Shop Concord Area
True Brew Barista
Concord
Coffee Shop Dartmouth/Lake Sunapee Regon
Schoodacs Coffee & Tea
Warner
Coffee Shop Great North Woods
Polish Princess Bakery
Lancaster
Coffee Shop Lakes Region
Wayfarer Coffee Roasters
Laconia
Coffee Shop Manchester Area
A&E Coffee Roastery and Whole-leaf Tea
Amherst and Manchester
Coffee Shop Monadnock Region
Prime Roast Coffee
Keene
Coffee Shop Nashua Area
Union Coffee Company
Milford
Coffee Shop Salem Area
The Grind Rail Trail Café
Derry
Coffee Shop Seacoast Region
Adelle's Coffeehouse
Dover
Coffee Shop White Mountains Region
Metropolitan Coffee House
North Conway
Cupcakes
Queen City Cupcakes
Manchester
Ice Cream Spot
Lago's Lone Oak
Rye
Ice Cream Concord Area
Arnie’s Place
Concord
Ice Cream Dartmouth/Lake Sunapee Region
Sanctuary Dairy Farm Ice Cream
Sunapee
Ice Cream Great North Woods Region
Moose Alley Cones
Pittsburg
Ice Cream Lakes Region
Jordan’s Ice Creamery
Belmont
Ice Cream Manchester Area
Puritan Backroom
Manchester
Ice Cream Monadnock Region
The Walpole Creamery
Walpole and Keene
Ice Cream Nashua Area
Hayward’s Ice Cream
Nashua
Ice Cream Salem Area
Moo’s Place Homemade Ice Cream
Derry
Ice Cream Seacoast Region
Memories Ice Cream
Kingston
Ice Cream White Mountains Region
Slick's Ice Cream
Woodsville
Pastries
Popovers on the Square
Epping and Portsmouth
Pastries
Multi-location Regional
Frederick’s Pastries
Amherst, Bedford and N. Andover, Mass.
Pie
Black Forest Cafe & Bakery
Amherst
Pie
Multi-location Local
Red Arrow 24 Hr Diner
Manchester, Milford and Londonderry
Pie
Multi-location Regional
The Pie Guy
Manchester
