Sift Bake Shop

The best baker in America over at Sift Bake Shop is putting out a caliber of pastry that just blows me away. If you scroll through their pictures and don’t drool, I’m not sure you’re a human. 

Adam Young won the second season of the best baker in America on the food network,  check out some more details about him here. Even though Adam is now a bit of a star, the real star of the Sift Bake Shop is the chocolate croissant. That is just one of many take aways from my recent visit to my now favorite Connecticut bakery. 

My wife and I don’t get out very often without the kids. So, when we had the opportunity to get out for an evening we jumped on an adventure that led us on a short road trip which included this wonderful bakery. 

This wasn’t our first visit, in fact we did a pairing with some majestic Pecan cookies a while back, and we paired up some yummy macarons too. This was from a quick stop that didn’t last long enough and was late in the day, so most of their fresh baked goods were sold out. 

This visit we hung out at a small counter inside and had some croissants and some drinks. Let’s take them one at a time:

• Everything Croissant: This one is exactly what you think. Except more delicious. The croissant is light and buttery and soft with a perfect crunchy shell. I feel like this is the kind of pastry that Parisians eat on a Sunday morning, not the kind you buy in bulk at Costco. 

• Veggie Croissant: The vegetable croissant is the Sift signature croissant wrapped around a nice little veggie treat, some spinach, tomatoes, a little cheese, I think it was feta. My experience with stuffed croissants is there is often a gaping empty space where filling should be, but this was filled right up. 

• Chocolate Croissant: Alright, now this is the show stopper if you ask me. First of all it looks beautiful. Beautifully browned croissant spiraled with chocolate dough that looks like a piece of art. It is crunchy and buttery and flaky and sweet and savory and chocolatey. The chocolate filling was a little dense and substantial, but not overflowing. I’m lucky that I don’t drive by this place on my way to work or something because I would be putting one of these back 2-3 times a week. 

• Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwich: Check our our beer pairing with this yummy cookie sandwich. 

• Pecan Scottie and Maple Frosting Sandwich: This cookie sandwich is made with 2 pecan Scotties which we paired a while back. This one sandwiches some yummy maple buttercreamish frosting. The filling wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. The maple flavor was super subtle almost faint. Which really was a good surprise. The cookies are a tad salty and the filling is a tad sweet which makes for a yummy balance. 

• Almond Cookies Sandwiches with Chocolate  Filling: Although I haven’t eaten these yet, I couldn’t leave them behind. Look out, I’m going to be scouring the CT beer scene for a good brew to pair with these little delights. 

• Shortbread Cookies: We have well established the value of the shortbread cookie as an awesome beer cookie, these are particularly awesome. They have this little sprinkle of sugar on top and the buttery crunch is so on point. The really nice woman who checked us out gave us a BIG POINTER: She said she takes home the shortbread cookies when they are super fresh and puts them in the freezer. Then when she wants one, she will throw it in the oven for a few minutes and gets a perfect warm cookie. That’s some straight WISDOM. 

• Chocolate Chip  Walnut and Sea Salt Cookie: My Dad has declared this one of the best cookies he has ever eaten. It’s got a healthy dose of salt but just enough to balance the sweetness of the cookie and chocolate, the walnut adds a great crunch. We paired it with some yummy APA. Check out the pairing. 

We also both got a drink, my wife got a tea and I got an iced coffee that were both very good, they often have ridiculous special lattes. I wish I indulged, but now I have a reason to go back, as if I needed another. 

Looks like they are expanding too! We saw some sketches while we were there of a pretty ambitious construction project for there to be a lot more, what looks like, interior space. An exciting time for a really exceptional bakery. Check them out if you get the chance. You. Will. Not. Regret. It.