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.
continue reading »
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.
continue reading »
November 09 2009 | Cake and Dessert and Recipe and Thoughts | 8 Comments »
As I looked at the tantalizing desserts and stood amidst the urban wild, cabin decor of Baked bakery, I began to think that the long trip to Red Hook, Brooklyn would become the first of many. It was extremely difficult to narrow down the menu, especially after reading reviews here and flipping through their delicious cookbook. Finally my friend and I decided to order two cupcakes, a whoopie pie, two brownies, and apricot rosemary bar to go. Yes, it was kind of a beastly thing for two girls to do, but in our defense, we did not finish everything, it took us an hour and three transfers to get there, and we spent a fair amount of time working our way through. Excuses, excuses, I know.
We started off with the sweet and salty cupcake. It was definitely a winner for me. The chocolate cake had a upper crust like a brownie and the inner workings of a molten chocolate cake. Inside was a soft, almost melted chocolate filling that worked well with the mouse-like, airy frosting. Despite the layers of chocolate, it was a very delicate cupcake that gave a hint of salty caramel. In contrast to my opinion, my friend found the cupcake boring and cliche. I agree with the cliche, but the speckles of salt really saved it from being boring for me.
continue reading »
September 07 2009 | Dining out and New York and Thoughts | 6 Comments »