Oh Duchess...

On my first Saturday off in over a month I scheduled a trip to Duchess Bake Shop.  We arrived around 11:45 on this snowy February day. It was quite full but we managed to get one of the tables for two and borrowed a chair from another table to seat our party of three.
I already knew I wanted to order the ham and cheese croissant and have it warmed up, but wasn't sure what sweet ending to go with. After devouring the wonderfully tasty croissant I decided to go with the bakery's signature dessert, the Duchess.

Garner sold me on it by explaining they use marzipan imported from Germany. I also ordered a Buckingham Palace tea, which is my default beverage choice every time I go to Duchess ever since my sister recommended it to me. The Duchess was so beautiful that I almost felt guilty to eat it. The white cake was moist and the layer of raspberry along with the layer of pastry cream was quite sweet - but the marzipan provided a pleasant zing.

There was a steady flow of people coming and going the entire time we were there and I was pleased to give our table up to a familiar face when we finally decided to leave over an hour after arriving.
Duchess never disappoints and offers a wide selection of reasonably priced, beautifully crafted cakes, cookies, croissants, and of course, macarons. A visit to Duchess is sure to bring joy to anyone's day!