Carrot Cake -- Lloyd's Carrot Cake, Riverdale, NY
Essential supplies one needs during a global pandemic: Face masks. Hand sanitizer. Carrot cake.
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| We Didn't Make the Rules |
Over
one-hundred days into the coronavirus lockdown, Vodka, in NYC, receives
a text from Ginger, in CA, alerting her that a shipment is about to
arrive at Vodka's front desk.
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| "Happy Birthday, Here's a Fruit Cake," Take 2 |
"Sorry to make
you leave your safe zone," Ginger writes, as Vodka has righteously
declared herself the "Winner of Quarantine." Not only does she not go
outside (literally ever), she only leaves the confines of her apartment
in the middle of the night while sporting a homemade hazmat suit in order to
fetch packages from her lobby.
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| When Your Health Fears Stand in the Way of Your Snacks |
But once it's revealed that Ginger's
mysterious gift is perishable, Vodka decides to risk life and limb to
shuffle downstairs mid-afternoon to claim her prize.
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| Also Convenient, as Her Own Food Supply Was Already Running Low |
Waiting
for Vodka is a box from Lloyd's Carrot Cake, the home of Alex Guarnaschelli's Best Thing I Ever Ate ALL AMERICAN dessert. Inside the cardboard box, Vodka finds an insulation bag... with an entire
carrot cake plopped in the middle.
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| Oh, Hello There |
The delicacy looks virtually unscathed,
considering the fact that it has journeyed through the wilds of FedEx in
little more than a Ziploc.
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| Sturdy Transportation Device? |
Once Vodka frees it from the bag, she sticks
it in the refrigerator to give it a moment to recover from its
pilgrimage.
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| Along with Its Friend, the Now-Melted Ice Pack |
Later that evening, while deep into
a glass of rose, Vodka manages to unfurl the cake's Saran Wrap covering
with only three hand washings, and then debates whether to cut
herself a piece or just dive into the creation fork-first.
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| Will Touch Multiple Potentially Contaminated Surfaces to Procure Cake |
Opting for
the more civilized route, if only for the sake of pictures, she heaves a
butter knife into the cake. Based on the heavy weight of the shipping box, and
the amount of effort it takes to cut a piece, one would assume that the cake would be extremely dense.
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| A Forkful of Sugar Makes the Pandemic... Oh, Never Mind |
However, the cake proves to be surprisingly light
in texture -- it's the half-inch of delectable cream cheese frosting on
top that is weighing the entire enterprise down.
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| Frosting-to-Cake Ratio on Point |
With
orange shards of visible carrot pieces throughout, this is the most
carroty of any carrot cake Vodka has tasted.
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| Peter Rabbit Approved |
Light, moist, and spiced
with cinnamon, the cake is complemented perfectly by the icing, which
would be cloying in its sweetness if paired with a different cake
flavor. But this combination is truly stupendous, and upon polishing off
her piece, Vodka debates procuring a second.
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| By the Next Day, She Has Lost All Sense of Decorum |
Thanks to the wonders of Lloyd's packaging
techniques, their cake-in-a-bag proves that being separated by 3000
miles and a worldwide pandemic doesn't mean you can't still share dessert with friends.
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| Especially When You Don't Actually Have to Share It |
Lloyd's Carrot Cake's Carrot Cake: 5 stars*
*Certifiable Best Thing We Ever Ate
