Best Butter 2010 | Creative Butters | Food & Drink | Phoenix
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Best Butter

Creative Butters

It is hard to imagine making butter any better, but Jennifer VanInwengen has managed to whip up several flavored varieties that raise the bar on the decadent creamy goodness our grandmothers swore by. Her compound butters aren't just for your morning toast (though we love the honey cinnamon butter on a crispy waffle); they can also be your secret shortcut to seasoning success. Spread the sun-dried tomato butter on your favorite crusty bread and sprinkle with a little Parmesan for instant bruschetta. Or sink your teeth into a steak slathered with the garlic herb butter. Whichever way, we can't think of a better way to butter up your fare.

Best Bakery

Karl's Quality Bakery

Karl, who hails from Switzerland, loves his customers. If you're lucky enough to visit the ever-expanding and increasingly upscale counter when the baker himself is surveying his goods, he's sure to offer you one of his famous bran mini-muffins. He'll force it on you, really. And God forbid his baker elves under-fill an éclair. "Would you want to pay for this?" he'll demand.This is a full-service retail bakery where the idea of outsourcing is sacrilege. Everything's made on premises with fresh, seasonal ingredients. Berries are never dried or frozen. Flavoring? Uh, no. That mango mousse is made with mangoes. Must-tries? Alligator coffee cake, pumpkin doughnuts, bread pudding with whiskey sauce, quiche, pizza, said éclairs, and signature hand-dipped or -iced cookies. Do yourself a favor once in your life. Try the blueberry and cream cheese super-muffin. Trust us.

Best Cupcake

Black and White Cupcake at Copper Star Coffee

Lauren Cusimano
We started going to Copper Star because the iced coffee is second to none — and that's because owner Bill Sandweg is a connoisseur and, therefore, knows his way around a nice tidy glass of black java on the rocks. But we ended up addicted to Copper Star's Black and White Cupcakes, baked in-house by the cafe's manager and resident baker, Mindy Porter. Nearly all Porter's recipes were handed down from her grandmother, and these moist, tasty cupcakes — which started out as an occasional special but are now a daily staple at Copper Star, because customers kept asking for them — is among Grandma Porter's best. Moist, cake-like dark chocolate surrounds a cheesecake center that's super-creamy but not too sweet. And that's our excuse for always eating two of them when we're there.

Best Cheesecake

Bertha's Caf�

Talk about unassuming. The cheesecakes at Bertha's Café may not make an appearance on the in-house menu, but their taste is anything but bashful. After years of supplying the delicious indulgence to family and friends, owner and chef Beth Goldwater ran with her reputation for cheesecakes and opened Bertha's Café as a breakfast, lunch, and dessert destination in 2005. From the standout s'mores and baklava flavors to the popular tiramisu and original flavors, Goldwater's daily-made cheesecake creations are creamy goodness cradled in a foundation of rich, brown, sweet crust. They are available as call-ahead orders or by the heavenly slice.

Best Cookies

Sid's Viciously Good Cookies

The name alone makes Sid's Viciously Good Cookies worthy of one of our annual awards, though the Sid in question is actually a former corporate executive named Sidney Miller who turned her back on the rat race in favor of the cookie press when she became a mom. We discovered Sid's cookies at a local AJ's Fine Foods and were wowed by the soft, gooey circles. The best way to get them hot and fresh is by calling Miller directly and placing an order. Currently, she offers four flavors that focus on classic ingredients. Our favorite is the Peanut Buttah: rich, doughy circles with chunks of peanut butter in the batter. It reminds us of licking spoonfuls of peanut butter at summer camp. Not that we'll pass up the double chocolate cookies or the white chocolate and almond "With Love . . . Annie V" variety. At the risk of sounding cliché, all of Sid's Viciously Good Cookies really rock.

Best Marshmallows

Tracy Dempsey Originals

We loved her for years as pastry chef at Cowboy Ciao, and since she's been on her own, we've only gotten sweeter on Tracy Dempsey, whose confections seem to pop up everywhere. We're fans of her homemade marshmallows, which you'll find at the Scottsdale Old Town Farmers Market in rotating flavors that include hot chocolate, vanilla bean, and rosebud. Who needs a campfire? Just give us a bag of Tracy's pillowy, perfectly sweet marshmallows and we'll melt. Visit her website for other locations where marshmallows and her other treats are sold. We also love Tracy for her marshmallow heart. In October, she's co-sponsoring Cupcake Love-In, a fundraiser benefiting Singleton Moms, a local nonprofit assisting single mothers battling cancer, and Safe Haven, a no-kill animal shelter. (More details at www.cupcakelovein.com.)

Best Toffee

Goody Twos

Remember Adam Ant's catchy lyrics, "don't drink, don't smoke, what do you do?" Apparently, make toffee good enough to replace a morning quickie. Mother-daughter team Donna Gabrilson and Stacey Barnes of Scottsdale's Goody Twos Toffee Company wield a double-edge sword of deliciousness. Their handmade confections come in traditional flavors, including peanut brittle, chocolate peppermint, and the crunchy Double-Crossed (almonds and milk, dark, and white chocolates). Daughter Stacey corrupted us with the Nutty-Twist, an out-of-this-world blend of nuts, lime, Cruz Tequila, and chocolate. Considering that liquor lowers inhibitions and chocolate causes the same physical reaction in the brain as sex, we're guessing that Stacey is not the goody two-shoes in this pairing.

Best Chocolate

ib2 Chocolates

When eaten, chocolate causes the brain to amp up endorphin secretions similar to those released when you have sex. That's the fancy, scientific way of saying it makes you tingle all over. Engineer turned chocolatier Sam Filicetti, a.k.a. Sam the Chocolate Guy, definitely makes us tingle with his ib2 chocolates, featuring sensual spices in the tradition of the ancient Mayans. Filicetti has an almost spiritual connection with his newfound career, describing in detail to anyone who'll listen about the painstaking process of getting melted chocolate to do his bidding. His confections include relaxing lavender-infused chocolates and an espresso variety made with Lux coffee beans, but our favorite is an anti-depressant variety that combines rich, 54 percent cocoa solids with spicy chiles that also raise endorphin levels. Serve that to your partner, along with wine in one of ib2's chocolate cups, and you'll be in for one sweet night.

Best Pie

Pie Snob

When your name is Pie Snob (right down to your personalized license plate), you'd better deliver. Not a problem for Traci Wilbur. At the urging of her pie-lovin' pals, Wilbur started Pie Snob a year ago in a small building behind her Arcadia home. With her recipes and a motto ("Life's too short to eat bad pie!") Wilbur whips up more than 20 kinds of handcrafted pastry art, including apple (her best-seller), nutty-good pecan, decadent chocolate cream, and Wilbur's seasonal favorite, lemonade nectarine. Pie addicts with patience can order direct from the website or get a taste pronto at D'licious Dishes or Bertha's Café.

Best Chocolate Egg Cream

Scott's Generations

We don't know whether candy storeowner Louis Auster, the inventor of the chocolate egg cream, ever visited the Valley. But if he did — that is, if he also lived in the early 21st century, rather than the late 19th century — it's likely he'd head straight for Scott's Generations to find out what this ultra-Bronx deli has done with his little brainchild.What he'd find is that this local eatery has made a masterpiece of this delicious mix of chocolate syrup, milk, and seltzer. The chocolate egg cream at Scott's Generations is so perfect that it screams "Brooklyn!"

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