Happy New Year! If you’ve made New Years Resolutions to eat healthier in 2015, hopefully you’ve allowed yourself at least one cheat day in the next few weeks. Columbus Underground is gathering all of the city’s top dessert makers together for one night of delicious indulgence at our second annual Best Bites: Sweet Treats event on Tuesday, February 9th at The Athenaeum.
This Mardi Gras themed event will feature 28 businesses providing samples of everything from pies to ice creams to donuts to marshmallows to donuts and everything in between. Attendees will also cast their votes to name one dessert the Best Bite in Columbus!
Here’s a quick preview of several of the treats that will be featured at the event:
Donut Holes: The Velvet Underground, Ozzy’s Bat Head & Lime in the Coconut
From Lyric Donuts
Newcomer Lyric Donuts was launched as a pop-up in Fall 2015, bringing artisan donuts to Impero Coffee in the Short North. The trio of flavors that will be featured in donut hole format during the Best Bites event include: The Velvet Underground (with lemon zest, dredged in cinnamon and sugar and injected with banana custard), Ozzy’s Bat Head (chocolate cayenne with chocolate espresso glaze) and the gluten free Lime in the Coconut (coconut cake with a lime zest glaze).
Salted Chocolate Fudge and Vanilla Chocolate Duo Ice Cream
From Velvet Ice Cream
Utica-based Velvet Ice Cream has been serving up Central Ohio for over 100 years with their unique high-quality products. At Best Bites, Velvet will be showcasing two flavors from their All Natural line of ice creams: Salted Chocolate Fudge and Vanilla Chocolate Duo. Both flavors are made without high fructose corn syrup, using all natural ingredients, and are gluten free.
Cream Puffs
From Schmidt’s Sausage Haus
For 130 years, Schmidt’s has been a Columbus institution, and their name has become synonymous not only with their iconic Bahama Mama Smoked Sausages, but also with their cream puff desserts. At Best Bites, Schmidt’s will be featuring their vanilla cream puffs, giving you the perfect opportunity to try them if you never have, or get reintroduced if you haven’t had one in awhile.
Lemon Basil Pops
From J-POPS Gourmet Ice Pops
J-POPS was launched in 2011, introducing Columbus to the world of gourmet ice pops. The Lemon Basil Pop is a signature flavor from J-POPS, made from fresh squeezed lemonade blended with locally-grown basil from Jorgensen Farms in New Albany.
Mississippi Mud Cake
From Eban’s Bakehouse
Eban’s has been serving up gluten-free desserts locally since 2011, with products found at many local farmers markets and gourmet grocery stores. At Best Bites, Eban’s will feature their popular Mississippi Mud Cake, which is made from an organic chocolate fudge brownie, topped with toasted marshmallows, roasted salted buttered pecans and a chocolate ganache drizzle.
Advance tickets to the event are $30, which includes unlimited sweet treat samples and a cash bar featuring Crafthouse Cocktails as well as beer and wine options. Tickets are expected to sell out. A portion of the proceeds from all ticket sales will be donated to the The Columbus Foundation’s Gifts of Kindness Fund.
Participating treat makers include Three Kids and a Kitchen, MMELO, J-Pops Gourmet Ice Pops, Graeter’s Ice Cream, Lyric Donuts, Katy’s Kandies, 1803 Bacon, Red Velvet Cafe, The Table, Mika’s Cupcakes & Creams, Pattycake Bakery, Rime Time Pops, Copious, Velvet Ice Cream, Kroger Bakery, Sugardaddy’s Sumptuous Sweeties, Cherbourg Bakery, Eban’s Bakehouse, Schmidt’s, Gallerie Bar & Bistro, Four and Twenty Blackbird Bakeshop, Cakes and More, The Angry Baker, Eagle Family Candy, Laughlin’s Bakery, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, Capital City Cakes and Sunday’s Cakery.
The Columbus Underground Best Bites event series have collectively raised over $7,500 for local charities since August 2014.
CLICK HERE to purchase your tickets in advance to Best Bites: Sweet Treats on February 9th.
This is event is presented with support from Kappus Company and Shipt.
Poster design by Anne Evans with donut design by Lillian Dent.