Twinkies never enticed me much, but cover them in gold metallic powder and I'm sold! Kind of. Each gold-covered, espresso or buttercream-filled organic chocolate cake made by baker Sara Magid is $6 a piece at Brooklyn-based boutique Jan and Aya, so it won't completely gouge your wallet to try at least one. Does gold make the cake taste any better? I'm going to assume that my taste buds wouldn't care—but hey, it's shiny! [via Gothamist and Brooklyn Based]... More

If you've never had a Portuguese egg tart before, you're missing out on some sweet, custardy deliciousness. Aiyah spotted these trays of Portuguese egg tarts while in Hong Kong. She describes them as, "incredibly light, creamy, warm and sinful." Count me in for a tray...or two.... More

"Florida has the key lime pie, Massachusetts has the Boston cream pie and, hopefully, Maryland will have the Smith Island Cake": The iconic multi-layered cake made of flour, butter, eggs and chocolate could soon become Maryland's official dessert. Originally brought over by the settlers who came to Smith Island in the 17th century, the cake originally consisted of four layers but has gradually grown in size to around eight or 10 layers, with filling variations depending on who you got your recipe from. The Maryland Senate voted 44-1 in favor of the cake – all that's left now is approval from the House... [photo via On the Record]... More

CScout Japan D.C.-based chef Michel Richard, whose "virtual egg" made from yellow tomato (yolk) and mozzarella (white), has nothing on this bowl of "noodles" (right). The broth is actually a caramel mixture, the noodles are pudding, and the toppings are chocolates and such. If you wanna get your hands on one, you either have to live in or travel to Japan, of course, where they're available from IchiMonji. [via CScout Japan]... More

I wouldn't put cheesecake on my list of "Most Favorite Desserts," but when I saw Fanny's very vanilla cheesecake (cheesecake très vanille) on her blog Foodbeam, I got a craving. It doesn't help that Fanny's beautiful photos make me look at my own food and want to cry. After reading her description of the cake, I wanted to cry some more: "rich and thick yet feathery," "fragrant with vanilla," atop a milk chocolate crust with a "pleasing buttery aftertaste." Recreate the deliciousness in your home by following her recipe. I'll just continue to oogle her photos. Previously Step into the Sweetest Kitchen in Paris Cook the Book: Honey-Vanilla Cheesecake Cheesecakes Gone Wild Junior's Apple Caramel Cheesecake... More

While jiggling cubes of Jell-O don't usually catch my attention or make my mouth water, the rainbow Jell-O from Do Better triggered the part of my brain that squeals, "Ooh, pretty colors!" It looks more like clear, colored glass than the bouncy dessert found in Chinese buffets across the nation. [via TasteSpotting]... More

Konnyaku jellies are a wobbly, vegan treat made from the starchy root of the konjac plant, a yamlike tuber that’s also called devil's tongue, voodoo lily, snake palm, or elephant yam. When flavored with hijiki seaweed and sans sugar, konnyaku plays a laudable role in Japanese hotpots or oden. More

Eater is reporting a dessert truck showdown tonight outside New York's Whitney Museum for the opening of the Whitney Biennial, where both the Treats Truck and DessertTruck will be on site from 6 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. So who will emerge victorious? The Treats Truck might have the upper hand in terms of recognition thanks to its ever-changing location all throughout New York City, whereas the Dessert Truck remains at 8th Street and University Place near NYU, but it does offer up some stiff competition with its wallet-friendly gourmet desserts like molten chocolate cake or its bombolonis. And let's not forget that both trucks are vying for Best Mobile Food in Time Out NY's Eat Out 2008 Awards.... More

Gelato from Otto Recently, I had a great meal at Salt in the West Village. Even better than my wild salmon and braised fennel entrée was my dessert: upside-down pear cake with a scoop of homemade rosemary ice cream. It was fragrant, herbaceous, and creamy, with only a slight hint of sugar. Dishes that blur the line between sweet and savory are all the rage in New York right now, from Tailor's black olive clafoutis to P*ong’s stilton soufflé. Mario Batiali's Otto serves an olive oil gelato that is simply out of this world. It’s got me thinking: how long before savory ice cream flavors hit supermarket shelves?... More

Tokyo-based design magazine PingMag has a feature on the history and making of the Japanese snack cake ningyo-yaki, which translates to "fried dolls." These small cakes made by pouring batter into intricate molds—varying from Hello Kitty to a traditional lantern—are typically filled with red bean paste, but may also be filled with chocolate or custard. Grab a box on your next trip to Japan!... More