Cakes That Reveal The World, But Start With Local Ingredients

LARCHMONT, NY — Looking at the finely detailed and imaginative picture-perfect cakes created by master baker Seth Greenberg, it might seem there is nothing he can not craft in his kitchen, but he sometimes has to say no.

"I don't work with fondant," Greenberg explained. "It's easy to work with, but for me, the cake being delicious is the number one job. You can do things with [fondant icing] that you can't do another way, but I'm not willing to sacrifice a great cake for a pretty photo."

Greenberg's insistence on using local ingredients, whenever possible, at Seth Greenberg's Just Desserts bakery in Larchmont makes his storybook-come-to-life creations that much more impressive. He crafted a one-of-a-kind ski slope wedding cake, complete with ice skaters at the ski lodge, for a couple who met on a holiday in the mountains. A postcard-worthy Manhattan skyline cake celebrated a successful real estate career and a not-quite-to-scale replica of Giants Stadium took a bar mitzvah and birthday celebration to the big leagues.

SEE ALSO: NFL Team's Now Famous Name-Reveal Cake Created By Local Bakery

Greenberg assembled President Bill Clinton’s 50th birthday cake live on the Today Show. He recreated a special New York Times front page for Walter Cronkite. He once gave the maven of all things home and garden, Martha Stewart, baking tips on her television program.

Most recently, Seth Greenberg's Just Desserts was tapped to create the name-reveal cake for the NFL's Washington Commanders, making Greenberg one of the first people outside the franchise to know the team's new name.

"The secrecy was no joke," Greenberg said of the experience. "We had to sign serious non-disclosure agreements. I even covered up sightline so customers couldn't see what we were working on. "

He said the impressive-looking Washington Commanders team cake took about 14 hours to complete and required baking and layering several cakes with dark chocolate before eventually carving the whole cake into a giant W. The now iconic cake was then covered with dark chocolate and decorated with the highlight, the classified new team name and logo.

Greenberg's love for baking is very much in his blood. He recounts happy childhood memories of stopping by to help at his father's bakery on his way home from school when he was just 10 years old. William Greenberg Jr. Desserts was famed as the go-to place for special event cakes, classic cookies and brownies.

"I don't think I was that much help, but I learned a lot," he recalled.

In many ways, Greenberg models his current bakery after the Manhattan bakery he remembers from his youth. Seth's Just Desserts is very much a traditional bakery with a flair for the avant-garde.

"We aren't a cafe," he said. "We don't have seating. We don't sell coffee. I don't know anything about being a barista."

Despite his fame, Greenberg says he isn't much of a fan of the recent rash of television shows and internet memes that celebrate extreme cake decorating. He admits, when pressed, that this partially stems from his aversion to fondant in cake making.

"The cakes always look great," he said, "But no one is ever talking about how great they taste and there's probably a reason."

Ironically, while Greenberg has earned a reputation for crafting grand cakes for celebrations, Seth Greenberg's Just Desserts is better known in Larchmont for his more traditional baked goods. His apple tarts have become the talk of the village in the short time since he hung out his shingle on Palmer Avenue.

Greenberg said picking the right local apples is the secret to the addictive nature of the sought-after pastry.

"If you use an apple that's too tart, then you need to add way too much sugar," Greenberg said. "The right ingredients are key for creating the right balance of flavors."

Before opening his brick-and-mortar location in Larchmont, Greenberg first started selling his baked goods in a regular rotation of farmers markets in Larchmont, Scarsdale and Rye. He said his time at farmers markets only increased his appreciation for the farm-fresh ingredients found only in the Hudson Valley. Greenberg notes customers can "taste the value" in using Hudson Valley butter, heavy cream and free-range eggs, apples from local orchards and only organic sugar.

Greenberg said plying his trade at the farmers markets also helped convince him that Larchmont would be the perfect place to set up shop. That decision paid off, when shortly after opening the new bakery, the global pandemic brought the economy to a near standstill. He described the business climate in Larchmont, however, as "very welcoming and supportive." A fortunate situation he believes he might not have found himself in had he decided to open his bakery elsewhere.

"There's a discerning clientele here that shares my baking aesthetic," Greenberg said of the village that he fell in love with. "I learned my trade at an old-school New York bakery, trained by my dad and some of the best bakers in the city. I have a fundamental commitment to quality, beginning with the best ingredients. My customers appreciate that."

Seth Greenberg's Just Desserts is located at 1887 Palmer Ave. in Larchmont, NY.