Coconut pudding at Puddin’ by Clio. Photo provided by Puddin’ by Clio.
The women of Sex and the City have left their trail of cupcake crumbs, and now New Yorkers are breathing life into the newest dessert trend: pudding.
“I love making it because, not only is it delicious, it’s nostalgic,” says Clio Goodman, owner of one of Manhattan’s latest pudding shops, Puddin’ by Clio, in the East Village. “People have pudding stories.”
Goodman notes that many customers reveal their childhood pudding memories while gulping down her signature flavors, which include caramel machiatto, butterscotch (with real Scotch), banana cream dream, coconut and coffee.
But passion for pudding-making extends beyond Goodman’s signature locale on St. Mark’s Pl.
Just two stops away on the 6 train, Rice to Riches on Spring St. teases taste buds with 21 different flavors of the classic, creamy concoction, including sex, drugs and rocky road, chocolate chip flirt, it takes two and peach mango.
Then there is Sugar Sweet Sunshine, a bakery on the lower East Side that serves a decadent banana pudding. Meanwhile, the Dessert Truck Works’ warm chocolate bread pudding may give Bill Cosby, who popularized Jell-O pudding in the 1980s, a run for his money.
Rice pudding from Puddin’ by Clio. Photo provided by Puddin’ by Clio.
In addition to serving up tasty desserts, pudding shops also can be good for the local economy.
“I try to use local products, like organic milk, eggs and fruit.” says Goodman. But “I went on a search for chocolate—because I’m not a huge fan—and found a great chocolate from Iceland.”
At Puddin’, any signature cup of chocolate is made from 70 percent dark chocolate, sourced from Icelandic confectioner Noi Sirius. Other staple ingredients come from a farm an hour north of the city. And as they say, the proof is in the pudding.
“My hope for Puddin’,” Goodman says, “is that it remains a fun place with a great dessert and a great product.”
DessertTruck, various locations around NYC, 212-228-0701, desserttruck.wordpress.com
Puddin’ by Clio, 102 St. Marks Pl., East Village, 212-477-3537, puddinnyc.com
Rice to Riches, 37 Spring St., SoHo, 212-274-0008, ricetoriches.com
Sugar Sweet Sunshine, 126 Rivington St., Lower East Side, 212-995-1960, www.sugarsweetsunshine.com
