Living in New York can get a little pricey, especially if you have a habit of going out to restaurants two or three times a week. But it turns out that you can actually recreate a lot of their staples in the comfort of your own apartment. All it takes is a little know-how and the right equipment. With the correct knowledge, you can build your repertoire of cooking skills and create something genuinely delicious. 

So, let’s take a look at some apparently pricey New York desserts that you can whip up for much less at home. 

Gin And Tonic Lemon Tart

Creating a decadent dessert is all about generating certain flavor associations. Why is it that champagne, for instance, tastes expensive to us? It’s not because it feels like eating dollar bills - it’s because of the associations that we have with it. 

That’s why gin and tonic lemon tarts are genius. Because they taste a little bit like our favorite high-brow drink, they remind us of the high-life and, therefore, feel more luxurious. Add some candied citrus to the mix, and you’re laughing all the way to the bank. 

Turkish Delight Cake

You can also make your desserts feel more expensive by using exotic or rare flavors. Making a Turkish delight cake is a great example of this in action. It’s essentially a regular cake but with a rose jelly and pomegranate flavoring. The result is something that makes you feel like you are in a wholly different part of the world. 

Mille-Feuille Pastry

This Napoleon dessert is exactly the type of thing that you typically find selling for over $20 in New York restaurants. Establishments feel confident in charging customers this much because they think they can’t make it at home. The entire dessert seems so hopelessly complicated that there’s no way you could replicate it yourself, right? 

Well, that’s not entirely true. It turns out that all the little layers of pastry you get in this dessert happen naturally when you bake the puff pastry correctly. Once you have your sheets, it’s just a matter of topping them with your filling and presenting them on the plate. There’s not much more to it than that, to be honest. 

No Bake Cheesecake

No bake cheesecakes are also a common, trendy feature of hip restaurants looking to create a big impression. These desserts are typically made of a mixture of oats/almonds for the base, and then some sort of yoghurt or cashew-based topping. What’s amazing about these desserts is that you never put them in the oven. You just rely on the ingredients themselves to do the talking. In a sense, therefore, they’re actually easier to make than regular cheesecakes, once you know how. 

Margarita Tarts

Margaritas are also fancy drinks that cocktail bars love to sell in NYC. So including the flavors in the tart can be a great way to transform a dessert. Tarts served at restaurants are usually small, delicate and individual. And, sometimes, quite alcoholic.