Today I thought I'd do something a little different and write about this amazing bakery my wonderful fiancé discovered in downtown Mooresville called Cyntuccis. We first realized our love for Italian pastries and sweets on our vacation to the Jersey Shore last July, when we found Del Ponte's Bakery in Bradley Beach. We visited that little spot every night of our trip and always came back to the hotel with multiple boxes of goodies, yet still didn't even come CLOSE to trying everything! Needless to say, we were both extremely excited upon finding Cyntucci's, which is the most authentic Italian bakery we've come across down south. In the past few months we've made every effort to stop in and try new things, and I'm going to tell you about some of our favorites (see collage below).
Clockwise from top left: Strawberry banana cake pop; pasta ciotti; Napoleon; assortment of goodies including chocolate torte)
Starting at the top left, those strawberry banana cake pops were definitely the best cake pops I've EVER had. My fiancé the chef told me that the secret to those is to pre-make the cake, crumble it up, and then form it into balls. One bite into these cake pops and it's obvious that Cyntuccis does it the right way. These are extremely dense and moist (the benefits of making them this way, rather than baking the cakes into the round molds from the get-go). The icing on top is sweet but not cloying, and the flavor of the cake itself had the perfect balance of both strawberry and banana - ideal for summer! I noticed they had several other flavors of cake pops and will definitely be trying them sometime soon.
Next is my new favorite dessert ever - pasta ciotti. I had never tried them before but upon hearing the description I knew they had to be delicious, and believe me, they were! Pasta ciotti are essentially custard-filled dessert tarts, a sort of cupcake/cookie hybrid with sweet pastry cream in the middle. (What part of that doesn't sound good?!) Every time we visit the bakery we try to get 3 or 4 of these little gems. The best part of Cyntuccis' desserts is that they are not overpoweringly sweet, and they also keep their cabinets chilled, so the custard in the middle of these is always cool and creamy.
The photo in the middle is of a Napoleon. I had never had a "real" Napoleon before going to Cyntuccis but feel like theirs is definitely a prime example. The puff pastry layers are light and flaky. The cream in the middle is, again, not too sweet, and melts in your mouth. Even the decorative flowers on top aren't too sugary. We try to get one of these every time we visit the bakery, and have never been disappointed. If you have ever been a fan of Napoleons you simply MUST try one from here!
The last photo is from just a few weeks ago and, as you can see, we got all of our favorites, as well as a chocolate torte. If you are big on chocolate this is perfect for you: chocolate cake with chocolate mousse inside and chocolate ganache on the outside. Now, let me say that neither Chris nor I are huge chocolate people, and would typically NEVER order something with this much chocolate. Upon his first visit, Chris asked the girl working the counter what her favorite item was and this was what she told him, so he figured it was worth a shot. Let me tell you, for not being big chocolate fans, we get one almost every time we go - it's THAT good. The cake is always moist, the mousse is creamy, and the ganache is rich and buttery. But it's not too overwhelming - and absolutely delicious with a glass of cold milk!
That being said, I am extremely glad we took a chance on this little mom-and-pop bakery. The place is small but inviting, the staff is friendly and helpful, and we have thoroughly enjoyed everything we've tried. I definitely recommend Cyntuccis to anybody who loves Italian pastries!
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