Boston: Dessert @ Modern and Flour

Oh vacations. Short or long, they are a great way to get away, recharge, try new food and more than anything eat dessert. Or at least that's my thinking. Not that I stay away from desserts in my regular life!

After a lobster roll in Neptune Oysters and a bit of walking around the North End neighborhood, my plan was to check out Mike's Pastry, but a local Bostonian whom I asked for directions said to go to Modern Pastry instead. And I listened.

Actually both bakeries had lines. So I'm sure both are equally popular and must have great pastries. You make your own choice when you go.

Once inside, I saw a cute poster telling me the various options for cannolli. It's a good thing I had something to look at because there was more waiting in line to be done.

I know the photo below is blurry, but I just had to include it: can't you just see this old man coming to Modern on regular basis for the past 40 years? I find it so touching!

I knew I was going to get a chocolate covered cannolli with whipped cream filling. But the other choices were incredibly tempting as well:

I finally got through the line, ordered my treat and got to sit down with a cup of coffee and enjoy seeing families trying to decide what to order and how much of each variety to get.

The shell of this cannolli was fresh and crunchy, with the added protection of dark chocolate. The beauty of the Modern Pastry is that cannolli don't get filled until you place your order: freshness all around! I did not need to eat anything else the rest of the day (other than a snack of hummus and chips!).

Modern Pastry wasn't my last dessert adventure in Boston. The next day after brunch with Dan and Katie, visiting ICA museum and walking around, I just had to check out Flour Bakery because my friend Megan used to work there.

The inside of the Flour Bakery was bright and cheery with a huge blackboard, art on the walls, and clever reminders such as eat dessert first.

I had a hard time deciding amongst many dessert options. When everything looks so good, how do I choose just one?

In the end, I opted for a sticky bun and a glass of mint iced tea. I took my food outside and enjoyed the gorgeous Boston weather and chatted with an older couple who gave me a few suggestions of what to do around the city.

I liked that the sticky bun wasn't overly sweet. It was sticky, messy and quite indulgent. I finished the whole thing as soon as I took this photo.

Hope everyone's had a great weekend. After a few more Boston posts, I'll let you all know about my awesome POM harvest trip!