Portlandia!, East Coast Edition

It's a weird and long story as to how I ended up in Portland, Maine the other weekend. Suffice it to say that I (finally) made it there, and I reaped delicious rewards for doing so. The trip was inspired by Maine's exploding craft beer scene, but I had several sweet treats alongside the Belgians and saisons. This travelogue will speak as much (or more) about the meals (and brews) as the desserts!

I have a weakness for - or, perhaps more accurately, obsession with - Belgian-style frites. Portland has a restaurant specializing in frites fried in duck fat. The appropriately-named Duckfat, therefore, was the first place we ate, and wow, were the frites amazing! Take a look at them in their cone, accessorized with garlic and Thai chili mayos as well as a hefeweizen from Belfast.

The Maine potatoes were substantive and earthy, and their frying medium imparted a rich, fatty flavor as well as a delightfully consistent, crisp coating. The cone was depleted in record time, washed down by the refreshingly light, orange-tinged hefe. Duckfat also offers panini sandwiches, so I enjoyed their house-cured ham and local Gruyere pressed on bakery bread.

That filling meal did not obviate dessert. Two Fat Cats Bakery specializes in pies, but they also have smaller treats. We split a chocolate whoopie pie with chocolate filling while walking back across the city. The cake part had a tough surface, with a soft and airy interior. Its chocolate flavor was very rich, analogous to that of Flour's homemade Oreos; I'd love to know what cocoa powder they used! The intensity was disproportionate to how light the cake was, which made for a very strong impression in relatively few bites. The filling was subtly flavored, somewhere between white and milk chocolate, and light on the tongue while being more solid than standard whipped offerings. There was a lot going on here, and I loved it! (I apologize for not having a picture; I did not want chocolate cream on my phone.)

Next came the pilgrimage-worthy Novare Res Bier Cafe. You could spend hours, days, weeks in that bar - it's a fascinating hybrid of cellar-style beer geek hangout, German-inspired biergarten, and hipster dive. Anyone and everyone fits in! I went there to access Maine brews as well as something rare and European (their list of Cantillons had me drooling), both of which were easily found. Maine came in the form of Oxbow's Freestyle #15, a light saison with Centennial hops that had an odd (but delicious) Fruit Loop quality...and Europe appeared as Brasserie de Cazeau's Saison Cazeau.

It's a dry, rustic saison that's brewed with elderflowers. I have likened elderflower to the mythical nectar of the gods; its honeyed, floral sweetness is among the most transcendent flavors (and aromas) I have ever encountered. Now a hint of that glory manifested in a favorite beer style, and I wept. Well, not really. But my appreciation was deep and sincere.

Eventually, it was time for a nightcap. An imposing edifice along Commercial Street promised "haus-brewed beer"...

...so in we went. In'finiti Fermentation and Distillation opened 2 months ago, and I wish them every success! The atmosphere is great - think dark, shiny wood tables and chairs; lighting fixtures made from barrel staves and hoops; portholes in the wall; visible brewing apparatus; and a sweeping view of Portland's industrial harbor. Their drinks and food are similarly excellent. I sipped the dankly floral Headstash DIPA, brewed in collaboration with Maine darling Oxbow, and snacked on a soft, sweet pretzel dipped in mustard.

The following morning brought a return to Two Fat Cats - but not for another whoopie pie! Instead, this cheerful chalkboard sign dictated our eating.

Here's my slice o' blueberry pie on the bakery's outdoor picnic table.

The pie, predictably enough, contained tiny Maine blueberries. Those small fruits are sweeter than their larger cousins, which made the filling rather sugary; I'm sure the actual sugar in the filling didn't help. However, the filling also had a Julie-approved (read: excessive to most) quantity of cinnamon. The spice cut through the sweetness nicely! The flaky yet substantive pie crust was near perfection...and the coffee? Two Fat Cats' proprietary blend, of course!

Lunch was a waterfront lobster roll and clam cake, courtesy of Portland Lobster Company. Their lobster roll's filling is simply lobster meat, tossed in butter - none of the 'lobster salad" embarrassments often seen elsewhere. Delicious! Also: lemonade with maple syrup is fantastic.

After lunch came The Reason I've Wanted to Go to Portland All These Years. I've been a fan of Allagash Brewing Company since 2009's Interlude triggered THE moment of my beerwakening. Their Belgian lineup is both accessible and creative, offering standard abbey ales as well as inspired experiments in yeast, flavors, fermentation, and storage. I was eager to get closer to their processes and products via a tour and a tasting! Their tour took us through their expanding operation, which involved shiny new fermentation tanks, barrels...

a foudre... 

and this cheerful definition.

This apparatus lover was in heaven. Post-tour, our guides offered pours of Allagash's four flagship beers - White, Dubbel, Tripel, and Curieux. I left the brewery with a bottle of Coolship Cerise (a lambic-style cherry beer, brewed in an open fermentation vessel [the coolship] inoculated with naturally-occurring area yeast) and FV 13 (a sour ale brewed in the aforementioned foudre). I also have a cookbook of dishes inspired by Allagash's beer. I can't wait to try the recipes!

I knew it would be hard (read: impossible) to top the Snallavisit, but dinner and dessert back at In'finiti was a solid way to end my time in Portland. Their pilsner wasn't as noteworthy as their DIPA, but I appreciated its calm drinkability after all the Allagash hullabaloo. My fish 'n' chips were fried in a delicious and substantive beer batter; the batter was solid enough that I could eat the fish as finger food, dipping the pieces liberally in a tangy, spicy sauce. Then, our dessert defied all expectations.

The Gingerbread & Bacon dessert features a gingerbread cake and black pepper ice cream, both of which are drizzled in salted bourbon caramel and joined by granola and candied bacon. The cake was soft and moist with an assertive ginger flavor, while the ice cream's pepper was subtle and complementary. The salted bourbon caramel won by having some bourbon flavor, but none of the boozy zing I dislike - much like the Curieux sampled earlier! The bacon's candy coating was sweet and grainy, though the bacon bits themselves were a tad fatty and chewy. I've never had a dessert that combined so many unusual or savory elements together; the fact that it disappeared in 5 minutes or less is a testament to how well it worked. I can't wait to see what In'finiti is up to whenever I'm in town again.

...and with that, I was on my way back to Boston.

Oh, I almost forgot a treat I saved for the trip home! Bam Bam Bakery sweetened last summer's business trip; now, I had a gluten-free treat on my own time. The chocolate chip cookie dough bar was an immense square - at least 3"x3"x1.25" - of blondie-style dough, baked and interspersed with chocolate chips, that in turn was topped with heaping chocolate chip cookie dough crumbles. A bittersweet chocolate drizzle decorated the top of the bar. Part gooey, part crumbly, and all so good, I highly recommend this treat (and bakery) to the gluten-free crowd and omnivores alike.

Lastly, some words on the city itself. I had assumed it would be a larger version of the standard seaside village - quaint streets, neatly manicured buildings and gardens, cute shops, creative eateries, waterfront parks, and so on. Portland has all those things, but in limited quantities; the city as a whole is grittier, and more dilapidated, than I anticipated. There's an edginess and tiredness to the place that you don't see or feel in the seacoast's other havens. Also: so many hipsters! The whole thing almost felt out of place in the larger context of New England. Still, I appreciated the exposure to something so unusual - and as this post attests, there's plenty to enjoy and go back for.

Until next time...

Maple Cranberry Pecan Breakfast Cake

Are breakfast baked goods desserts? Well, they are in this blog! They're also my biggest food weakness. I probably get more satisfaction from a fluffy, chock-full-of-something-tasty muffin than almost any dessert. However, such indulgences are not practical - so, I usually settle on cereal or Greek yogurt. Unless it's a week when I do a lot of running...

...or there's a potluck brunch at work.

A year ago, we had work brunches fairly regularly. All team members contributed something, and we'd have "team meetings" while noshing on all manner of morning treats. An ideal meeting scenario, correct? I was so excited when my manager put a brunch back on the calendar in 2013. I jump at any opportunity to try another Flour recipe, so I thumbed through my baking Bible, hoping for inspiration. Inspiration came in the form of a maple cranberry pecan breakfast cake.

The recipe is in Joanne's cookbook, so I won't copy it here. This post's title lists its flagship ingredients, and Joanne's instructions, though verbose, are easy to follow. That said, I have two suggestions.

• Thaw, then chop, the cranberries. The frozen fruit rolled out from under my knife, which nearly sliced the fingers holding the fruit in place. Next time, I'll either thaw the fruit to room temperature before chopping, or I'll use fresh cranberries. The chopping is necessary to keep the fruit incorporated throughout the batter; the whole cranberries floated to the top of the loaf as it baked.
• Line the loaf pan in parchment paper. As the berries floated to the top, the caramelized pecans sank to the bottom. I was not prepared for how sticky they'd be, frustrating all efforts at removing the cake from the pan. I finally got the cake out in chunks, with the base of the loaf separated from the crown; fortunately, it wasn't too hard to reassemble, and it held fast once set. Still, none of that would have happened if I had lined the loaf pan in parchment paper for easy removal. Lesson frustratedly learned.

Here is the reassembled cake, ready to go in its glazed glory! (Yep, that's a drizzle made of powdered sugar and maple syrup. Whoa.)

Inconsistent distribution of contents aside, I was really pleased with this cake. First of all, it looks extremely festive. Secondly, it has a taste to match! It has a syrup-soaked flavor without a syrup-soaked texture; just the right amount of syrup, apparently, goes in the batter. Its texture varies from top to bottom; you start with something fluffy and buttery, and end with something dense and moist. The overall effect is like a buttermilk pancake, stuffed with tasty fruits and nuts, that has been exposed to varying degrees of maple syrup. Another way of saying that is that it's a Friendly Toast pancake, in actual-cake form. (Cantabrigians and New Hampshirites will understand the praise in that analogy.) The cranberries provided pleasant bursts of tart juice that cut through the sweetness, and the caramelized pecans enriched the batter with their dense chewiness and earthy flavor. Oh, and that maple glaze? It was literally icing on the cake!

The baked good went over well at our potluck brunch, alongside the chocolate chip pancakes, French toast casserole, miniature quiches, maple sausage meatballs, donuts, bagels, and fried chicken with waffles ( ! ) that rounded out the spread. But really, would you have expected a lesser reception for anything from Flour? I hope not.

Here's to the next brunch, whenever it may be!

New Orleans, New Desserts

I know, I know. It's been 3 months since my last post. Let's imagine that, in those months, you read about:

• the German chocolate cake I made for Christmas,
• Flour's maple cranberry pecan bread, and
• the 2013 edition of this wintry vacation.

You might still read about them, but for now, you get to read about your blogger's first trip to New Orleans! I traveled there for a conference, which didn't leave much time for Julie-style exploration. What little taste I did get of the city, outside of the mile-long convention center (no joke), came in the form of nightlife and restaurants. I learned a few zydeco dance steps. I listened to live jazz on Frenchmen Street. I walked through the French Quarter on a balmy evening. I had the best pulled pork sandwich. And I discovered Boucherie. 

As soon as my coworkers and I set foot in the restaurant, I had an idea of what the experience was going to be like - and said idea came to be true. Bostonians will understand when I describe Boucherie as "the Craigie of New Orleans". I'm a huge fan of Cambridge's Craigie on Main, and Boucherie has a similar friendly welcome, casual yet refined feel, appreciation of local gastronomic traditions, and pride in its food that made me question for a moment - before the warm night air and accented speech brought me back - whether or not I was back home. Think: smiling staff; simple, modern, yet rustic decor; snout-to-tail menu items; herbal cocktails; wine, wine, and more wine; and a groaning table ready to hold 16 eager eaters. In other words, Boucherie is a slice of restaurant heaven.

My group sampled most of the small plates on the menu, which gave me a wide insight into creative Louisiana cooking. I researched more terms on this menu than any other restaurant's, and as a result I can confidently tell you what boudin is as well as how it tastes! (Pork rice sausage; fantastic. And I don't even like sausage!)

We also split several entrees to maximize our tasting options. Here is the Wagyu beef brisket with parmesan fries. I can't think of another piece of beef, or any gastropub's fries, that are better than this.

We ended the meal with desserts for the table. It was a good decision.

I rarely order bread pudding, since bread's taste and texture is too savory and rough for a satisfying dessert. However, there's an easy way to get around that issue: use a sweeter bread or cake in the pudding. Boucherie implements that workaround with a Southern level of excess by replacing the bread with Krispy Kreme donuts. That's right - this is a Krispy Kreme bread pudding.

It would be hard for me to not love this, considering the ingredients and process - donut pieces, an abundance of sugary glaze, and caramel, all baked into a square of deliciousness. My few forkfuls were very happy ones.

Next up was a type of dessert I had never seen. Wikipedia defines it as a single crust filled with a mixture of eggs, butter, white and brown sugar, vanilla, and cornmeal. I'm sure Boucherie honors those ingredients, but they add hot spice and chocolate to their spin on the Southern classic. Behold the Thai chili chocolate chess pie.

The pie's texture was very strange, somewhere between brownie batter and a (fully baked) buttermilk muffin. The exposed part of the filling had crusted into something resembling a dense, dry brownie; thinking back on it now that I know the ingredients, I wonder if it had a hint of cornbread flavor. The chocolate wasn't as strong as I would have liked, but the Thai chili sure poked through - especially a few seconds after starting to chew a bite! You can see that whipped cream was on hand to help with the heat, and the actual crust provided a nice, mild, buttery base. I'm not sure if I'd order a chess pie again, but I'm glad gave the regional specialty a try.

Who knows when I'll be back at Boucherie, and if they regularly change up their desserts to entice repeat visitors. Perhaps a meal at Craigie will suffice until then?

Several folks suggested I try the cafe au lait and beignets at the French Quarter's famous Cafe du Monde. I had every intention to do so, really - but I didn't get up in time before my departing flight. (The alarm was already set to an unseemly hour!) I'll make them a priority if I'm ever back in town.  

POSTSCRIPT

I connected through Chicago's Midway airport when heading back to Boston. It wasn't until I was looking for lunch that I remembered - I could find Fannie May candy here! As a Chicago-born daughter of Midwestern parents, I grew up on this regional chocolatier's sweets. Heck, it's still such a part of the family candy consciousness that I get a Fannie May chocolate bunny every Easter. So, I had to come back with something. None of Midway's convenience stores had the boxed assortments I was hoping for, but I did find a row of colorfully-wrapped chocolate bars! (Please excuse this promotional image in lieu of a photo taken while hauling luggage.)

A bit later, I got on my plane with a few raspberry dark chocolate bars! My family and I enjoyed the bars the following weekend. Fannie May, at least in this range of bars, does not buy into the irritating "percent cacao" trend. (Phew!) They use a simple, solid, and delicious dark chocolate that has an extremely smooth texture and just a hint of sweetness. A raspberry bar has 6 sections, and each section is filled with chocolate raspberry fudge. This surprised me, as I usually see bars filled with raspberry jam or glaze; the different medium ended up being just as tasty. It had a smooth creamy texture, sans seeds (a definite win over jam!); the raspberry flavor was tart and assertive. It held its own against the similarly strong chocolate, resulting in a satisfying flavor combination.

Each section melted in my mouth, and when I saw the empty wrapper, I wished I had another one to open. Still, I shouldn't get too mopey. Easter's right around the corner!

Dessert Dump, Summer 2012 Edition

Dessert Dumps are going to become a fixture of summer blogging. It takes much less time to photograph and eat a dessert than it does to write a post, so that I'm overflowing with bloggable desserts in no time but am less full of words for them. So, here's some "blogging lite" on select delicacies from June and July!

Drunken Dutch Delicacies

Have you ever had stroopwafels? I hadn't heard of them until a happily hopped group of us stumbled up to the Bocoup Loft after the American Craft Beer Festival, where a stroopwafel manufacturer had dropped by and left a boxful of product. This pizzelle-like Dutch treat, made of two incredibly thin cookie-sized waffles with caramel pressed between, is intended for enjoyment with a warm beverage - if you set the stroopwafel on a mug of steaming something, that warmth will soften the stroopwafel and melt the caramel, turning it into a gooey, chewy treat. Here is an image of stroopwafels in their ideal use case.

Alas, I was not so careful in my consumption. I snarfed mine rather quickly like it were any old cookie, as befits post-Fest fun and hunger, only pausing to say "yeah, this is good". However, I'd gladly give them a "proper" try. (Bocoupers, are there any left?!)

Italian Finger Desserts

Another summer, another patio party at Dante! This summery fete was a blast due to the company of fellow foodies, literal splashy decor (beach balls and kiddie pools filled with water), local media coverage (yours truly was "Spotted in Boston"!), and, of course, plenty of delicious eats.

I was impressed with the dessert pictured at left. It probably has an official Italian name, but I'm going to call it a genoise cake ball. The two vanilla cake pieces were stuck together with amaretto cream, and the entire ball was then coated in amaretto chocolate and crushed almonds. Delicious and heady, the amaretto-chocolate combination was really winning. Genoise cake is usually so accommodating of creams, ganaches, and liqueurs. At right is an eclair filled with light peach custard and covered in an even lighter peach glaze. The chocolate dipping was sturdy and flavorful.

A Pre-Retreat Repast

It takes four hours to drive from my company's headquarters to our retreat center in Maine. Our caravan of 10 turned it into a day-long excursion, enabling the purchasing of, er, "retreat supplies", a waterfront seafood lunch, and gluten-free desserts along the way! The dessert in question came from Portland, Maine's Bam Bam Bakery. I never would have guessed that my peanut butter bar was gluten-free, it was so full of the usual baked goodies and then some:

The bar had a crumbly shortbread base that was then layered with fudge and marshmallow Fluff. Crisped rice that had been mixed into peanut butter came next, and chocolate chips topped it all off. Ooey, gooey goodness, and just as much of a treat as anything made with standard flour. I only wish I had more water on hand to wash it all down; that peanut butter / Fluff / fudge combination really sticks to your mouth!

Sunday Sugar...and Seafood

What do you do when you go to the North End for a meal at The Daily Catch, only to find that they're closed for the next half-hour? Why, cross Hanover Street to Mike's Pastry, of course, and enjoy an appetizer of dessert! I was glad to revisit this favorite college haunt to try their newer cannoli flavors. When I was in school, the chocolate mousse cannoli was a big deal; now, though, you get an ice cream shop's worth of varieties! Here is my Oreo cannoli, minus a bite or two.

Mike's now crushes Oreo cookies and mixes them with standard ricotta cream cannoli filling. I'm not the hugest fan of ricotta cream - hence that mousse cannoli back in the day - but I absolutely loved it with the Oreos added. (I guess I need my cookies with cream, eh?) The Oreo filling was in a standard cannoli shell dusted with powdered sugar; the fun touch was that both ends were dipped in cookie crumbles! Yum. I didn't sample this espresso cannoli - darn! - but I am told it was delicious.

Also, for the record - The Daily Catch has the. best. scallops. I have ever had!

Thanks for putting up with this blog's on-schedule Dump! Next up will be a full post on an unusual and interesting dinner, with desserts to match...

A Whirlwind of NYC Food

I still owe you the details on London's Afternoon Tea, but let's momentarily divert our attention to a closer metropolis and its plentiful food offerings!

Several of my college friends converged upon New York City this past weekend! Carr and I came from Boston; Linda traveled up from Philadelphia, and Mary and Steph already lived as close as you can get in Hoboken. This happy mini-reunion involved catching up, urban exploration, and - surprise, surprise - delicious food. Let's go through the many and varied eats of Saturday, July 14!

Stop 1: Sugar Sweet Sunshine

We had 30 minutes to kill before our lunch table would be ready. We were near a renowned cupcakery. We all like cupcakes. What did we do? Stop by Sugar Sweet Sunshine, of course, and get cupcakes to go! Ok, those reasons may not qualify for SSS' top ten, but we felt they were more than valid.

I really enjoyed my last visit to SSS, so I was glad to return and introduce others to their delights. I left with the Goodie Goodie (dark chocolate cake with whipped peanut butter buttercream) and carried it back to lunch, then to the High Line, down the length of said park, and around Chelsea Market, until (a) it was a warm mess of a dessert with frosting smeared and melted all over the wax paper bag, and (b) I thought I might have room for it. Talk about a well-traveled dessert! Fortunately, it tasted much better than it looked at that point. The frosting was extremely light, like a whisper of what frosting usually is, with a very subtle and sweet peanut flavor. The chocolate cake had a stronger cocoa flavor, though it was a bit dry. I blame the heat!

Stop 2: The Meatball Shop

Lunch at The Meatball Shop was one of the best meals I've had year-to-date. The shop's premise is simple enough: take meatballs, drench them in sauce, and serve them with or over a side. What's astounding is how impressively good each component is, and how much you get! Take it all in with your eyes, and then imagine me taking it all in with my eyes and stomach..

I ordered the classic beef meatballs with parmesan cream sauce over freshly-milled polenta. The meatballs were hearty and flavorful, consisting of all-natural beef mixed with prosciutto, ricotta cheese, and oregano. The sauce was thick and fragrant with tangy Parmesan cheese, much better than the average alfredo or cheese sauce. The polenta, a true food of the gods with its mashed-potato-meets-cornbread quality, was an ideal consistency - smooth and creamy, with occasional distinct cornmeal grains that gave it texture. As if that weren't enough, shaved cheese was sprinkled over the top of it all. Each bite was the very height of savory decadence.

The deliciousness didn't end there! The presence of the aforementioned cupcakes-to-go did not prevent us from ordering the Shop's signature dessert. They offered customizable ice cream sandwiches, made from store-made ice cream and cookies. They even let you choose two different cookies for the "bread" of the sandwich! So, here is my espresso ice cream with chocolate chip and brownie walnut cookies.

The ice cream was light, more like frozen milk than cream. I appreciated that after the heavy lunch, and it also let the bright espresso flavor assert itself rather than be overwhelmed by the cream. The brownie walnut cookie was moist, chewy, and chocolatey, with (fortunately) fewer nuts than expected; the chocolate chip cookie, though, was dry and forgettable. Now that I've tried the ice cream sandwich, I don't feel the need to repeat it; however, I would gladly re-indulge in a meatball lunch/dinner at the earliest opportunity!

Stop 3: Blue Bottle Coffee

We were quite thirsty after walking the length of The High Line, so we found refreshment at Blue Bottle Coffee. Their cold-brew single origin iced coffee was positively bursting with flavor! I detected the usual cocoa and caramel notes, as well as something fruitier and tangier that I couldn't quite place. Could it have something to do with bean terroir and roasting protocol? (Why didn't I ask the former barista among us?!)

Stop 4: Chelsea Market

Chelsea Market is in a vast building under The High Line, right across the street from Blue Bottle. We naturally moved toward it. It's an indoor labyrinth filled with miniature shops (in store form, not stalls or carts) selling everything from pastries to lobster. Look at the pretty main hall, with its colorful lanterns!

We were still full from the Lower East Side's ballstravaganza; otherwise, I'm sure we would have indulged in a Market treat while there. Instead, I got a brownie to go from the Fat Witch Bakery!

Yes, I bought a brownie advertising an overrated musical. But it was the mint chocolate brownie! And it proved its worth when I snacked on it two days later. As you can see, it's sprinkled with green sugar crystals. They added a nice, sweet crunch. Less visible are the equally green mint chips mixed throughout the brownie, but clustered more toward its bottom.They were soft and creamy, and their mint flavor thoroughly imbued the surrounding batter. The brownie reminded me of a cake bite, having the same fudgy texture as those little treats, but its chocolate wasn't as strong or mouth-coating as fudge. Even though my preferred chocolate threshold was unmet, I'd recommend this Witch for its texture and assertive, sweet mintiness.

At this point, we washed our cupcakes down with whatever coffee was left, and headed back to the East Village.

Stop 5: Maharlika

Believe it or not, it was nearly dinnertime! We chilled at Yuca, sipping on sangria for an hour or so...

...before moving on to Maharlika, a modern Filipino restaurant. I was SO excited to try Flilipino cuisine after learning about the culture in college. We split appetizers of chicharron and lechon kawali, flavorful pork rinds and belly, respectively. (To quote one thread of conversation: "You gotta love a culture that knows what to do with pork!") We also sipped on calamansi juice, a refreshing beverage made from a citrus fruit native to the Philippines. Imagine a delicate juice subtly tasting of lime, lemon, and orange, with just a hint of tartness and sweetness, and none of the usual citrus bitterness. It was the perfect summer drink! Then, I had the tender and flavorful chicken adobo for dinner.

Plump pieces of chicken marinate in soy-based abodo sauce before being simmered in the same sauce and browned afterward. The chicken is served in more sauce, with steamed rice on the side. I enjoyed the soft, moist meat; the peppery, garlicky adobo flavor; and the fragrant white rice's soaking up the sauce. I got busog rather quickly, to use the restaurant's Tagalog word of the day. If only I could have taken leftovers home for the following night!

Stop 6: Momofuku Milk Bar

Our walk toward nighttime birthday festivities took us past the East Village outpost of Momofuku Milk Bar. I've been kind of obsessed with this bakery since I browsed their cookbook in a bookstore a while back, and wanted to bake or try most things from it. How did I satisfy a dessert dream while being too full for dessert? By getting something for later, of course. I enjoyed their birthday cake truffles the following day during the trip back to Boston. The truffles got smushed in transit, losing all photographic potential - so, here's a bakery shot from their press kit.

The truffles were really cute. Imagine small, round cake bites, made from yellowy-brown cake and crushed rainbow sprinkles. Their exterior was coated in drier crumbs of the same cake, plus some intact sprinkles. Adorable! All other characteristics matched their cheerful appearance, bringing any number of childhood treats and moods to mind. The cake was moist and chewy, much denser than, say, a Funfetti cake. The sprinkles added another kind of chewy texture to the mix. Then, they were flavored to the max with vanilla - and sugar. They were almost too sweet, which I could not have handled in a larger amount of truffles or an actual cake slice. Still, I loved that Milk Bar was able to pack so much dessert into a tiny package. It gave me enough of a taste of their wares that I wanted more! Maybe a Cereal Milk latte and candy bar pie from their Brooklyn flagship bakery...or, something I make when I finally buy that cookbook?

*cue unprecedented food coma here*

I hope you enjoyed that New York day in the life of a Boston foodie. Here's to my next trip - and whatever I sample next at any of the above establishments!

London's So Sweet

I recently spent 9 days in London, my favorite place in the world! The vacation - or "holiday", if I'm being a proper wannabe Brit - included numerous architectural and historical wonders, museums, gardens, and parks. But I'm here to tell you about the food.

Snacking Bars

Marks & Spencer's Simply Food stores are ubiquitous, but that doesn't mean they sacrifice quality in their quantity. Far from it, in fact. These convenient stores sell surprisingly fresh grab-n-go eats, making them a favorite of lunch-eating professionals and tourists looking to nosh on the move. I'd get their apple beverage as part of breakfast every morning - imagine a drink somewhere between juice and cider, made from the island's sweet, refreshing Pink Lady apples - and a snacking bar whenever the hunger so moved me.

One bar was the flapjack with Belgian chocolate. In America, a flapjack is a pancake. In Britain, it's an oat-based bar, with a texture somewhere between a granola bar and an oatmeal cookie, that's sweetened with honey or golden syrup. M&S' flapjack seemed a tad too soggy with fluid sweetener, and the flavor was...bland, at best. I missed the presence of cinnamon, and brown sugar's molasses notes; I guess the Brits don't really spice their oats. The chocolate chunks mixed throughout were tasty, but they didn't really blend with the oat mixture. Overall, I'd say the flapjack was forgettable. Maybe I would have had a different opinion if I weren't so set in my comparatively spicy American ways?

Millionaire Shortbread, however, is a dream!

This king of bar cookies has 4 layers: a shortbread base, milk caramel, milk chocolate, and white chocolate drizzle. All textures and flavors are spot-on, and mix so well together that I can't really think of a better snack. The shortbread is buttery and flaky; the caramel tastes of sugar and salt; the milk chocolate bursts with cocoa and cream; and the white chocolate is smooth, essential vanilla. One bite gives you all those flavors, as well as crumbs, some crunch, and some melting in your mouth. It even looks beautiful!

This is one Oxford bakery's take on the bar. Taylors' Luxury Shortbread differed from the M&S standard in two ways - the shortbread cookie was packed with brown sugar, and the caramel was more of a sugary, milky peanut butter. I also plan to mirror Taylor's ingenuity and make my own, though my ideal end product will more closely resemble M&S'! Until that happens, I have three Millionaire bars to tide me over.

Chocolate Bars

British chocolate is formulated differently. Americans can't use vegetable oil in the product and legally label it chocolate; in Britain, that oil routinely replaces some fraction of cocoa butter. The resulting "chocolate" feels unusually smooth, if not a tad slippery, and has a slightly tangier taste. Another difference is how the chocolate is processed. Our candy bars primarily use solid chocolate, while our friends across the Pond enjoy aerating and rippling the confection into all sorts of unusual configurations. I have Wispa and Ripple bars on reserve for future enjoyment; I'm sure they'll be discussed in these pages soon!

Regional Pastries

England's many "shires" have retained distinct accents over the centuries; it's no surprise that their cuisines are similarly resistant and unique. I was fortunate enough to sample a regional pastry at the London Bridge neighborhood's Borough Market! Here is one vendor's assortment of such treats. (And no, I don't think their name, The Flour Station, is mere coincidence. My theory, that any bakery named "Flour"-something has to be excellent, remains uncontested.)

This Eccles cake was significantly tastier than last trip's Chelsea bun. The top of the cake was crusted with turbinado sugar. The dough was flaky like a croissant at the edge, but it became fluffier and cake-like toward the center. The cake's sizable interior was filled with a mincemeat-style assortment of currants and candied citrus bits, all tossed in a buttery, spicy sauce. The overall effect was a very pleasant combination of sweet, spicy, and butter flavors, cased in that chewy and crunchy dough and sugar.

Also, in case you can't tell - these things are huge, approximately a palm's width across! One cake became my lunch, and kept me full well past the half-life of the average Pret a Manger boxed sandwich.

Jubilee Pastries

The 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's reign inspired many things across this happy land, including food items. Take Harrods' food halls, for example. I didn't plan to enter Harrods, but their fanciful storefront displays drew me in. Not only had various couturiers designed elaborate crowns commemorating the Jubilee, letting one walk down Brompton Street in line with royal razzle-dazzle, but their food and party people had created festive, elaborate spreads, recalling everything from formal banquets to exuberant street parties, all in the space of a few shop windows. Oh, sure, I thought, why not go inside and see these items up close? I should have known I'd be leaving with a sweet treat! Behold, a donut from Harrods' bake shop.

This is no ordinary donut, though. It is a chocolate raspberry Jubilee donut! The dough was sweet and chewy; the filling was syrupy, tasting of raspberries and cream. The donut was coated in a sugary vanilla glaze, topped with a dollop of hardened chocolate raspberry sauce, and dusted with edible red glitter! I'm assuming that last touch is what made it a Jubilee treat; the country as a whole seemed decked out in sparkles for the occasion. :-)

Lastly, I will leave you with some eye candy - or rather, eye cake? - from Oxford's Cake Shop. Not only do we have the Radcliffe Camera rendered in cake and fondant...

...but several festive Jubilee desserts as well!

This last dessert depicts a traditional British street party. I love the miniature fondant cakes decorating the larger cake! I now know where to get a cake in Oxford, should I ever have such a need in such a place.

Are you sugared out yet? I hope not; there is plenty still to come. This sweets-focused post is one of three total London posts I have planned; stay tuned for articles on savory delights and the ultimate dessert indulgence, afternoon tea!

Nutella Cake Pops

Another Superbowl, another excuse to bake something fun and creative!

This year's unfortunate Patriots/Giants rematch fell on World Nutella Day, so I wanted to make a dessert incorporating that glorious chocolate-hazelnut spread. Then, I thought cake pops would be a perfect finger food for a party, and just like regular cakes they can be made in any number of flavors. I put my own recipe together from anecdotes of past "cake-poppers", which I have written down below. It's very straightforward, but multiple cooling and heating steps mean it takes several hours.

• 1 box chocolate cake mix (I used Betty Crocker's SuperMoist Chocolate Fudge)
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 C vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 C water
• 1 jar Nutella
• 2 bags Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips
• paper lollipop/candy sticks

1. Make the box cake as instructed on the packaging, with the next three ingredients. Bake it in a 13"x9" pan, and let it cool completely once it's out of the oven.
2. Take a fork and fluff the entire cake into crumbs.
3. Spoon the majority of the Nutella jar's contents into the crumbs, and blend the Nutella and cake crumbs together. The fork works well for blending, but I finished the task with my hands.
4. Form the mixture into spheres. Mine are about the size of golf balls, or a little smaller; I ended up with 31 balls.
5. Let the balls chill in the fridge for a half-hour.
6. While they are chilling, get a double boiler ready for melting the chocolate. Melt one bag of chocolate chips along with half of whatever Nutella is left in the jar.
7. Take the chilled balls out of the fridge.
8. Dip one end of a candy stick into the melted chocolate, and insert the dipped end into a chilled ball.
9. Dip the ball into the melted chocolate, coating it with the milk chocolate / Nutella mixture.
10. Once the ball is covered, set it on wax or parchment paper to dry.
11. Partway through this process, you will run out of dipping chocolate. Melt the second bag of chocolate chips along with the remaining Nutella - and continue coating those balls once the dip is ready!
12. Transfer all cake pops into the fridge for further cooling; the outer chocolate layer should harden.
13. Enjoy!

First, let's talk process. I rarely if ever use box cakes, since I pride myself on from-scratch baking - but, since this was only going to be torn apart and refashioned into something completely different, I didn't feel much remorse for taking a shortcut. It did feel odd to destroy something I just baked, but helping the cake transform from unruly crumbs into a soft, pudding-like mixture was rather satisfying. Nutella is a thick spread, so I'm guessing the blending part took significantly longer than it would when using regular frosting. I got a rudimentary assembly line together for sticking and coating the bites, but that last step took a long time! The melted chocolate/Nutella mixture is thick, so it did not easily run over the chilled cake as I had envisioned. I ended up manually spooning the mixture over the cake, and twirling the cake around and around in my spoon to make sure it was evenly coated. I had considered embellishing the bites with colored decors, but the coating hardened quicker than I had expected. They still look very pretty, though! 

And now, how did they taste? In a word, marvelous. The moist, almost pudding-like cake center was bursting with Nutella and deep chocolate flavors. The creamy coating was oh so smooth; with Ghirardelli milk chocolate, already a silky and even treat, and Nutella mixed together, how could it not be?! I especially loved how refreshing that chilled exterior was, like biting into cooled, hardened fudge. I'd definitely do cake pops as a party treat again, provided I had an entire afternoon to devote to them in advance.

So the Pats may have lost...but my baking definitely won. We kept on reaching for more pops throughout the game. Did you enjoy any exceptional Superbowl desserts?

Julie Makes A Carrot Cake - or, Finger Food

I made my first carrot cake this past weekend! It was one of my more eventful baking sessions.

Bon Appetit's recipes are rather rewarding, since they force me to grow my kitchen skills (by requiring a new ingredient or technique in the preparation) and never end up less than delicious (a readership of foodies would expect no less!). So, I knew this carrot cake recipe was worth a try.

Preparing this cake felt more like cooking than baking.

• I had to use more counter surface and kitchen implements than the standard two-bowl baked good.
• You use oil, no butter. The initial mixture of oil, sugar, and eggs had a peculiar consistency, at once both gooey and stiff. They blended together effortlessly into a slick, grainy liquid base for the cake.
• I washed, peeled, and grated multiple carrots and ginger roots! Grating is a very satisfying and productive repetitive motion. I had three cups' worth of bright orange vegetable bits in no time, and a gloppy pile of ginger too. The ginger was an unexpectedly off-putting yellow.
• I chopped nuts with my beloved chef's knife. I couldn't find chopped walnuts at Whole Foods (?!), so I got to work with a cutting board, piles of entire nuts, and the 8" Wusthof. I was making good progress against the recipe's goal of 1.25 cups, and about ready to call it quits, when I decided the batter looked like it could use maybe a few more nutty bits. (Why would I ever think that? Stupid girl.) So, I put a few more nuts on the board and thrust the knife downward...

...into my left middle finger.

I didn't feel any pain at first. But then there was blood flowing onto the cutting board, and I understood that something bad was happening - because, why, look, that was a sizable flap of flesh hanging away from the finger itself. Cue running water over the wound. applying pressure to it, and holding the whole thing above my heart. After 20 minutes of that did nothing to staunch the flow, I switched to a hack-ish apparatus of bandaids, paper towels, and tightly wrapped rubber bands. While this ultimately did the job it was intended to do, it made my left hand useless. Your impatient blogger loved that! Buttering and flouring the pan, pouring the batter, and cleaning up the dinner-scale mess were all challenges. But I got it all done, with my finger throbbing out a frustrated heartbeat in accompaniment.

I also managed to whip up the maple cream cheese frosting! I especially love how the maple syrup replaced some powdered sugar.

So, how did it all turn out?

I was very happy with the output, as was its birthday-celebrating recipient! The cake had a pleasantly autumnal, slightly toasted taste. The toastiness came from the nuts, which surprised me a little; I did not roast them at all prior to baking. The spices I used - fresh and ground ginger; cinnamon, tripled - were pungent before I put the cake in the oven, but they mellowed out while baking and made a pleasantly even, subtly aromatic contribution. The carrots softened considerably, and weren't too noticeable in the finished product. The cake's edges were a tad crispy, while the insides stayed soft and chewy. I would not attribute this to overcooking - instead, the results were consistent with other oil-based baked goods I've seen (1369's peach granola muffin, anyone?), and I actually like that oily kind of crunchiness! The frosting wasn't too sweet, in keeping with the somewhat savory nature of the cake. It was very soft, both at room temperature and when chilled. The maple syrup only gave it a hint of maple flavor, which was just enough of a distinctive, sweet taste to offset the tang of the cream cheese - but, I would have liked a little more. You can't have too much maple syrup! 

The finger is also fine, healing marvelously. Consider my lesson learned re careful use of extremely sharp knives.

Lastly, I have recopied the recipe here in case anyone is interested in repeating it, with my minor modifications in italics. Happy (safe) baking!

• 2 C flour
• 2 t baking soda
• 1 t salt
• 1 T cinnamon
• 1 C sugar
• 1 1/4 C canola oil
• 4 large eggs
• 3 C grated peeled carrots
• 1 1/4 C coarsely chopped walnuts
• 2 T minced peeled ginger
• dash of ground ginger
• (frosting) 10 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• (frosting) 5 T unsalted butter, room temperature
• (frosting) 2 1/2 C powdered sugar
• (frosting) 1/4 C maple syrup

1. Butter 2 9"-diameter cake pans. Line the bottoms of the pans with wax or parchment paper. Butter and flour the paper.
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ground ginger together.
3. Whisk the sugar and oil together in a large bowl until well blended. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time.
4. Add the flour mixture to the oil mixture, and stir until blended.
5. Stir in the carrots, walnuts, and fresh ginger.
6. Divide the batter between the pans, and bake them for 40 minutes at 350 degrees F.
7. Cool the cakes in their pans for 15 minutes; then, turn them out onto cooling racks and remove the wax or parchment paper. Let them cool completely.
8. (frosting) Beat the cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy.
9. (frosting) Add the powdered sugar and maple syrup; beat until well blended.
10. (frosting) Chill until just firm enough to spread, roughly 30 minutes.
11. Frost and assemble the cake. Keep it chilled until 30 minutes before serving; the flavors do best at room temperature!