When I look back on my trip to Barcelona, a magnificent city with delicious food and breathtaking…read morearchitecture to match, I often reminisce fondly (and, might I admit, enviously), at this beloved bakery. Now I say "enviously" because, while I long for the Spanish-style bakes of dreamy soft bread, what I get instead, living in New York City, are the pastries following the French style. That is, lots of croissant and croissant iterations and flaky desserts with not a touch of that gentle soft dough common to Spain. But I digress.
Mistral Forn offers many of those said soft breads, most prominently this treat called ensaimada. It is made of this delicate thin dough, coiled into a spiral and, once baked, dusted with powdered sugar. They also come with fillings, including pumpkin jam (delish) or custard. Here, I tried the ensaimada with the latter filling, and it was everything I wish New York City bakes would be. Soft dough, sweet but not too sweet. Comforting. Cozy. None of that crusty bread scratching the roof of your mouth.
I do wish New York City would open a Spanish bakery. I don't know if that will happen any time soon, but a girl could dream.