You may have noticed it’s been awhile since there’s been an update to San Diego Sugar, but I assure you that’s not because I’ve abandoned eating sweets and seeking out all that’s good and sugary. I’m still committed to both (and continue to count cookie dough — frozen, or otherwise — among my favorite foods).

Instead of maintaining two food blogs (plus contributing to Serious Eats, San Diego Magazine, and Dining Out San Diego), I decided to streamline all of the links to my content on one blog: EJeats.com .

That’s where you’ll find everything from my burger reviews for A Hamburger Today and pizza reviews for Slice, to posts about desserts and bakery items galore for Serious Eats: Sweets. I also post links to Everyday Eats, my budget bites column on San Diego Magazine’s Food & Drink blog.

In the meantime, San Diego Sugar isn’t going anywhere, so you can continue to browse through the historical posts.

Happy (tr)eating!
Erin

San Diego Sugar - Discover the best sweets in San Diego

Did see the 2-page sweets feature in the November issue of San Diego Magazine? I took a trip to the South Bay to uncover some of the best pastries, frozen treats, and desserts. Check it out on sandiegomagazine.com!

San Diego Sugar - Discover the best sweets in San Diego

Cucina Urbana has a new pastry chef. Jack Fisher, formerly of Nine-Ten, has created a fall dessert menu stocked with so many tempting options, you may need to order two of them. The lemon semifreddo with olive oil cake pictured above is a great option that’s easy to share, as is the caramel panna cotta with a smear of Nutella and a crunchy chocolate and nut topping. Check out all of the new desserts on
Serious Eats: Sweets.

San Diego Sugar - Discover the best sweets in San Diego

One of the new desserts on the fall menu at Kitchen 1540 is a peach and olive oil cremeux. Take a look at how several of the many elements in this elaborate dessert are made in the Serious Eats slide-show.

I also sampled several additional new desserts, including a pumpkin cheesecake and the “Chocolate Milk”, which features a frozen cube of chocolate milk, plus cake crumble and berries. Check out the post on EJeats.com for more details (and photos!).

San Diego Sugar - Discover the best sweets in San Diego

San Diego Sugar - Discover the best sweets in San Diego

If you love starting your day with a healthy dose of sugar, check out my latest round-up of sweet breakfast desserts on Serious Eats: Sweets, featuring everything from (relatively) healthy options like my favorite acai bowl, to saturated with sugar indulgences like a bananas foster belgian waffle.

San Diego Sugar - Discover the best sweets in San Diego

I’ve never met a cake at Azucar that I didn’t love. The Divina is my current favorite. Find out all about this delicious cake on Serious Eats: Sweets.

San Diego Sugar - Discover the best sweets in San Diego

One perk of being a food blogger is the occasional freebie. When I was asked to check out a Martha Stewart enameled cast iron pot, I was all over it. The email came at the perfect time. I’d been dreaming about making doughnuts at home, but didn’t have the right pot for the job.

I got the smallest size: a 3 quart round casserole (in orange) and it worked great. The pots go all the way up to 8 quarts, but for doughnuts, the smaller size worked best because it was big enough to fry a few at a time, and you don’t need as much oil as you would with a larger pot.

When it comes to making yeast doughnuts, you’ve got a few choices: make them from scratch, using a recipe like this one that takes 2 and a half hours, or buy a package of buttermilk biscuits from the grocery store, pop them in the oil, and have fresh doughnuts in about two minutes.

I think it’s already obvious which method I tried.

I found cans of Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits for 2 for $1 at Grocery Outlet. Each can had 5 small biscuits in it, which I ripped in half and formed into balls. You can also get a round cookie cutter and punch out the center, but come on, it was Saturday morning and I hadn’t even had my coffee yet.

Then, heat some vegetable oil in the pot over medium heat, until it reaches just over 300 degrees F. Go over that temperature and you risk discoloring the pan, and burning your doughnuts. Not good. I’ve read that using a non-stick pot isn’t the best choice for deep-frying because high temperatures can damage the coating, so an enameled pan like this one is a good choice. Just make sure you take a close look at the enclosed instructions; these pots are a little more delicate than most.

Fry the doughnuts for about 1 minute on each side, using chopsticks or tongs to gently flip them over.

When they’re cooked, you’ve got a few options. I coated some of the doughnuts in white sugar and cinnamon (by rolling them around in bowl with about 1/3 cup of sugar and a tsp of cinnamon). You can also whip up a quick glaze, using these recipes from Serious Eats. I tried the chocolate version, which was tasty, but it worked better as a dip. You’re going to want to eat these doughnuts right away, because they’re at their peak when they’re still hot. Once they cool, the texture changes and they taste too oily.

Trust me, this will not be a problem.

San Diego Sugar - Discover the best sweets in San Diego

Trader Joe’s has a new snack item: Coconut Bonbons ($3.99). They are evil. After trying a free sample, I couldn’t resist taking home a tub, even though my basket was already full of treats. Once I popped the lid, there was no stopping until every last moist and chewy chocolate covered ball of coconut was gone.

The chocolate coating is a mild dark chocolate. It’s robust but not bitter, and provides a good contrast to the sweet coconut filling. I’d like to say there’s about a dozen balls in the tub, but the happiness overload I experienced on ball three made me black out. This is easily one of the best treats TJs has ever produced. Damn, Joe. You really nailed it this time.

San Diego Sugar - Discover the best sweets in San Diego

There are plenty of options for a tasty treat near the San Diego Convention Center. Here are a few of my top picks, just in time for Comic-Con.

Searsucker
Searsucker has three desserts on their lunch menu for $5, including the sucker bar (a fancy Twix bar, pictured above), a lemon bar, and a spin on carrot cake. There is a more extensive selection at dinnertime, but it’ll be even more jammed.
611 5th Ave (map)

Sprinklesmobile
The Sprinklesmobile will be handing out free superhero-themed cupcakes at select locations around Comic-Con on Friday, July 13 & Saturday, July 14th. Keep tabs on them on Twitter.

Cremolose
With 24 flavors of gelato and 24 flavors of cremolose (a richer, creamier version of gelato), plus a bakery case stocked with pastries, Cremolose is worthy of multiple visits during Comic-Con. My favorite items are the nutty cremolose flavors (especially the pistachio), the fruity gelato flavors (strawberry is always a hit), and the hazelnut cannoli. There’s also a full menu of Italian fare, including pizzas, pastas, and paninis.
840 5th Ave (map)

Chocolat Cremerie
The Gaslamp’s other gelato shop has an extensive selection of flavors, including 10 different chocolate varieties (like dark, milk, and white chocolate, plus flavored options like cinnamon chocolate and ginger chocolate). You can get your gelato straight up, or stuffed into a crepe. Chocolat also serves savory flatbreads, paninis, bruschetta, and other smallish snack items.
509 5th Ave (map)

Cafe 222
Waffles are Cafe 222‘s specialty.  Get ‘em topped with fresh fruit, or try one of the specialty options, like pumpkin, sweet cornbread, pecan, or a peanut butter waffle topped with bananas.
222 Island Ave (map)

Crunch Time Popcorn
Crunch Time is the spot to go for fresh, air-popped popcorn and homemade ice cream. Ice cream flavors include blueberry, banana, peanut butter, and Mexican chocolate. Popcorn flavors include sweet options like caramel and white chocolate, as well as savory flavors like “cheddar fiesta”. Can’t choose? Try the “Chicago style” — cheddar and caramel corn mixed together.
611 K St (map)

Smashburger
You can get a shake from Ghirardelli (and get ripped off), or you can go to Smashburger and get a better shake made with Häagen-Dazs ice cream for just over $4. Classic shakes and malts (vanilla, strawberry, chocolate) are $4.29, and premium varieties (Oreo, Butterfinger, and Nutter Butter) are $4.49. There’s also a tasty “secret menu” option: the PB&J shake, a 50/50 blend of strawberry and Nutter Butter shakes, that’s worth checking out.
801 Market St (map)

San Diego Sugar - Discover the best sweets in San Diego