Get Hungarian Sweets like Floden and Rugelach at Andre's Bakery in Forest Hills
This month, we're proud to present the Bread & Grains issue—dedicated to all manner of doughs, dosas and baked desserts made in Queens. To coincide with the print issue (you'll be able to pick up a print copy very soon!), every weekday throughout the month of February, we're featuring a different bakery in the borough. Some are old standbys, and some are new and on the rise, but each one reflects the diverse and independent spirit of Queens.
His name may be on the storefront, but Andre Heimann is quick to attribute his success (and his recipes) to his beloved mother, Rose. In fact, she christened the original Forest Hills bakery for her son back in 1976, so it was only right he ended up taking the reins of the business. And he’s gone on to expand New York City’s access to a wealth of Hungarian sweets, launching a duo of outposts in Manhattan. Yet Queens remains the heart of the operation, and ground zero for specialties like beigli (a traditional Christmastime treat, comprised of yeast cake rolled around walnut or poppy-seed filling); floden (a sort of layered coffee cake, with a strip of prune lekvar); and the justly famous strudel, which Andre teaches staff how to perfect in one-on-one training workshops. Eastern Europeans of all sorts will also doubtless be pleased with the rugelach—cream cheese dough formed into flaky crescents around jelly, raisins or chocolate—as well as the cocoa- or cinnamon-swirled babka, formed into a Bundt shape inside of a fluted kugelhopf pan.
