I’ve always been quite reserved when it comes to picking favorites. When people ask me what my favorite restaurant, movie, book, or ice cream flavor is, I’m always stumped for an answer. I definitely have long lists of likes (and very short lists of dislikes), but it’s hard for me to pick just “the one.” It’s probably because I take it too seriously. After all, “What is your favorite blank?” is used mostly during small talk conversations and with acquaintances. I highly doubt my opinion would make a profound impact on someone I just met, or that they would even think twice about it. I know it’s not a big deal, what I say today can change tomorrow, tastes evolve, and trends will turnover, but for some reason I still feel the need to be brutally critical and a little bit too thoughtful when it comes to this favorite business.
With that said, it can be duly noted that when I say carrot cake is my favorite cake, I truly mean it.
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April 28 2010 | cake and dessert | 23 Comments »
When it comes to dinner parties, I like to make dessert first. In general, baking takes more time and careful precision than cooking. So, before the kitchen becomes loud with banging pots and chopping knives, I like to have dessert completed. The great thing about cakes is that it can be started a day in advance. Usually, cake layers taste better the next day because the flavors are given time to rest and settle. While baking is done the day before, I always frost and assemble my cakes in the morning of the day of the party. I think frosting always tastes best the day it’s made.
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April 03 2010 | cake and chocolate & sweets and dessert and recipe and thoughts | 15 Comments »
Even since it has been made known that I love to bake I have been getting a few birthday cake requests. I am by no means a professional (yet!) and my skills quite limited that I was shocked that someone would ask me to perform such a task! However, I felt very flattered and was most of all excited to have the opportunity to play-ette the role of “baker” to a “client.” I had so much fun planning and researching recipes that I think I probably enjoyed making the cake more than everyone who ended up eating it.
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January 26 2010 | cake and chocolate & sweets and dessert and thoughts | 12 Comments »
Hypothetically, the best thing about Thanksgiving is the amount of choices you have when it comes to your plate. Yams or potatoes? Cranberry sauce or gravy? Cake or pie? However, does anyone ever choose one over the other? I sure don’t. I pile my plate with full servings of everything and finish it clean. Then, when my pants are unbuttoned and I place my hands on the six month food baby I’ve created in my stomach, I start to think, maybe I should’ve cut back. That’s why you have to bake all your desserts in the mini. It’s faster, cuter, and you feel less guilty if you decide to sample all of the desserts.
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November 17 2009 | cake and dessert and recipe and thoughts | 7 Comments »
I picked up Gourmet at the airport last month when I was flying over here and felt a pang of sadness as I carefully flipped through the penultimate issue. Even for me, a foodie and blogger newbie, I felt that great sense of shock and disbelief to be witnessing the end of an era. The legacy and recipes will live on, but all in all the food world has lost one of its greatest pillars.
In honor of Gourmet, I thought I’d do a round of recipes from the magazines archives. So, for the next couple of weeks be on the lookout for those Gourmet recipes you always wanted to try, but never got around to!
To start, I picked the brown butter pound cake recipe in the October 2009 issue. It hit a chord with me because I love almond meal and thought that brown butter could be pseudo alternative for those who have nut allergies. I have a friend who’s highly allergic to peanuts and almonds and have always felt like I was wagging a bone in front of a dog whenever I raved about it. So this is for her and all those other nut allergic individuals.
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November 09 2009 | cake and dessert and recipe and thoughts | 8 Comments »
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