Claire Sauerhoff started her company The Exceptional Brownie in 2005 with hopes to someday expand to produce kosher products. At the time, Karen Chazan had been running a kosher gift basket company called Kosher Care Packages. Both of these talented ladies have a love for baking and after working in similar markets and doing business with each other, the two came to the decision that they should collaborate. Using their combined knowledge of marketing and business management, Claire and Karen founded The Exceptional Dessert LLC in 2007, a delicious line of all-natural kosher cakes and treats. The line includes brownies, blondies, oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies, ginger cookies, hamentashen fruit tarts, and specialty cakes including Honey Cake, Applesauce Crumb Cake, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake and their newest entry, Honey Almond Crunch Cake.

Originally Claire baked at an incubator kitchen in Long Island City, The Artisan Baking Center. When Karen and Claire merged they were in need of a kosher co-packer. Fortunately, they were able to find a home at two bakeries in the Bronx (one kosher dairy and the other kosher pareve) where Claire and Karen supervise everything, ensuring top quality baking and packaging. Their ingredients are 100% all natural, kosher certified and contain absolutely no preservatives. Karen says, “We would rather produce really fresh, delicious all natural products than have baked goods that can sit on the shelves for months!” In addition, if customers want to save some treats, all of the products can be frozen and will still maintain the same integrity and scrumptious taste.

Excellent customer service is extremely important to both Claire and Karen, which is why you will always be able to speak to a person when you call The Exceptional Dessert.Baking is truly their passion…by adding a creative twist to Claire’s grandmother’s traditional recipes and selecting the best, all natural ingredients, you can understand why their tag line is a “Bite of Happiness.”Currently, you can find The Exceptional Dessert products at the Garden of Eden Gourmet Market, The Amish Market, Delmonicos, Murray’s Sturgeon Shop, Kosher Marketplace, Garden Gourmet, Pomegranate, Bagels and Co. and other markets throughout the Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Claire and Karen are also hoping to expand to the Whole Foods Market since the retailer has expressed an interest in increasing their kosher product offerings.