A Restaurant Week Write-Up

Another Restaurant Week session has come and gone, and I have three new desserts to share with you!

My first meal occurred at ArtBar, in Cambridge's Royal Sonesta hotel. The restaurant's location, in a corner of the hotel's lobby, and innocuous "art" did not impress, but the food was definitely memorable. I enjoyed a rather creamy lobster bisque, well-populated with lobster chunks and garnished with truffle creme fraiche, as my appetizer, and a medium-rare petite filet mignon served with lobster risotto and red wine reduction as my main course. According to the menu, my dessert was simply a key lime ricotta cheesecake with fresh berries, but said dessert was more complex than the description suggests. The plate was drizzled with a sweet peach glaze, and a square of vanilla genoise cake was in the center. A dome of sweet, whipped ricotta cheesecake with a faint key lime flavor sat on the cake, and a dimple at the dome's crown held a reservoir of thick, tart key lime syrup that also flowed down the ricotta. The intense citrus flavor was tempered by sweet, creamy white chocolate, which fully enrobed the cheesecake dome. The smooth white dome was further embellished with a limey white chocolate drizzle, and two wafers of pale green chocolate. Plump, juicy berries dotted the rest of the plate. I was very impressed by this innovative execution of a common cheesecake variety - the counterpoint of sweet, smooth ricotta and tart, tangy citrus syrup was delicious. I also appreciated the use of complementary yet offsetting fruit flavors as garnishes. The berries and peach glaze occupied the flavor range between the cheesecake's extremes. I was happily smacking my lips and hoping for more at the conclusion of this dessert!

I next dined at Davis Square's Gargoyles on the Square. This hip newcomer's simple decor - the minimalist dining room is accented with a small number of dark, heavy drapes and classic film posters - was an ideal setting for for the restaurant's classic dishes with an uncommon twist. My appetizer was a hearty salmon cake served over white bean and ham soup, which was followed by moules frites served in lobster bisque. I ended my meal with the salted caramel cheesecake with blackberries and creme fraiche, which was the star of this particular dinner. This dessert was a very dense New York-style cream cheese cake evenly imparted with a subtle caramel flavor. Even more subtle was its saltiness, which I'm guessing was reached by adding a mere pinch of salt to the cake mixture. The cake's thick milkiness plus caramel sweetness reminded me of dulce de leche. It was hard to fit the substantial slice in after a filling meal, but I couldn't let this unexpectedly complex twist on an old standby go to waste. I did, however, push the berries and creme fraiche to the side - the dessert really didn't need sour dairy in its flavor palette, and the berries were far too seedy with hardly any juice.

My last Restaurant Week dinner was at Grotto, a warm, intimate cave of a restaurant in the basement of a Beacon Hill brownstone. Their Italian kitchen brought me a fresh salad of mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, and pecorino cheese tossed in olive oil, as well as crab ravioli bursting with lumps of meat and topped with asparagus and almonds. Their dessert menu did not excite me at first - being neither a panna cotta nor bread pudding fan, I settled on the ubiquitous molten chocolate cake - but as soon as I bit into the cake, I knew I was in for a treat. Unlike the typical MCC, which I would characterize as a thin, burnt-brownie-like outer shell filled with grainy, somewhat-coagulated chocolate sauce, Grotto's was a quality, fudgy cake that evenly transitioned to a rich molten center. I enjoyed the subtle textural differences throughout the cake, and the rich bittersweet chocolate really popped against the French vanilla ice cream that accompanied it. I could really sink my teeth into this one!

I have no idea if this was intentional or not, but I couldn't help but notice a trend of simple or common desserts being kicked up a few notches. Did you try any exceptional restaurants, or similar desserts, this Restaurant Week? I always appreciate suggestions on where to go next. :-)

How It All Began

Many people have stories about how they became interested in their hobbies. My baking story is rather simple, but why not share?

The first Christmas after my college graduation, my Aunt Janet gave all her nieces a red heart-shaped NordicWare Bundt pan. My only prior bakeware had been a 13x9" metal pan, used regularly for brownies and box cakes - so, the arrival of a new format, generally associated with baking from scratch, inspired excitement and no small amount of apprehension. Could I succeed? I was also amused by the pan's segmentation, which is not how one would normally interpret an affectionate heart. In fact, I was reminded more of bicoid expression gradients from my developmental biology classes than the international symbol of love. Nerd alert!

Aunt Janet included a recipe for her Death by Chocolate cake in the pan. With a new pan and a recipe to go along, what choice did I have but to use the pan to bake the recipe? Somehow, a baker was made alongside the dessert. The rest is history, much of which is chronicled in this blog.

I bring this up now since my beloved heart Bundt was used two times in the past two weeks - first, to make this apple spice cake for a dinner party...
...and then to make the Death by Chocolate cake for Valentine's Day. I'm going to keep the DbC recipe a secret, so if you want to experience this dessert beyond this post I guess I'll have to bake it for you! However, here is a slice topped with vanilla ice cream and drizzled in Milat Winery's port chocolate wine sauce.

Death by Chocolate incorporates three expressions of chocolate - cake, pudding, and individual chips. The end result is very moist and fudgy at the center - thank you, pudding! - and slightly drier but still soft and chewy at the perimeter. Semisweet chocolate chips are scattered throughout the cake, and have incorporated well with their surrounding batter while maintaining their integrity. The edge of each chip softens from the cake's moisture, but a pleasing crunch remains as you chew the smooth baked chocolate. This treat is best at room temperature or slightly heated, and I usually top it with ice cream (vanilla or mint) and hot fudge. While the cake is chocolate perfection on its own, the additions make it an even better Death.

Thank you, Aunt Janet, for a delicious recipe and the countless treats that your gift has inspired!

Bacon Bakin'

I really enjoy combinations of sweet and salt. So, why not have bacon chocolate chip cookies join the Sweet/Salt Shortlist of peanut butter cups, chocolate covered pretzels, and sea salt caramels? Call them a meat/sweet violation…OR call them delicious!

I thought I’d stick to a simple chocolate chip cookie adaptation to test the meat’s mettle. Here is the recipe, with my commentary in italics.

• 2 1/4 C flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 C (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 C granulated sugar
• 3/4 C packed brown sugar
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 C cocoa morsels
• 10-12 slices bacon, cooked to a crisp and then finely chopped. I underestimated the amount of bacon I needed, not realizing that the 7 huge-looking slices in a package would cook down so much. At slightly less than double what I put in, 12 slices is probably an ideal amount of bacon.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
3. Beat butter, sugars, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Add the eggs and beat well. Gradually stir in the flour mixture.
4. Add chopped, cooked bacon and mix in to the batter. Stir in the chocolate chips.

5. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes, and then remove. 8 minutes was actually sufficient in my case, knowing that the oven in question has a history of blackening anything by the recommended cooking time. Watch your cookies closely to determine when you should remove them.

I was impressed with the end result. The actual batter was rather sturdy – it was never runny, not even while in the oven, and it held the chocolate chips and bacon well – plus, it baked into thick, chewy cookies. The maple bacon gave off a delicious syrupy aroma while cooking, and retained a hint of maple taste once done. Its crunchiness, saltiness, and, well, bacon-iness go without saying. The bacon softened somewhat in the baking process, and imbued its neighboring batter with its flavor. I can’t stand this softening / absorption when nuts are involved, but it was most appreciated with the bacon. Any way to further convey the opposing flavors within the cookie is appreciated. I should have used quality milk chocolate chips rather than Whole Foods’ house-brand semisweet chips: the chips were rather waxy, and a sweeter chocolate would have been a better counterpoint to the meat. However, I still enjoyed every cookie bite…and dough ball! Each bite gives you substantial yet soft dough, melted chocolate, and salty, somewhere-between-crispy-and-chewy bacon. It’s even more tempting than a hilariously horrible cult film, as this picture attests.
The recipe made 36 cookies, which would have been 40 if I hadn't snacked on the dough. I clearly enjoyed this taste of "extreme" baking. If I bake with bacon again, I’ll kick the adventure factor up a notch, maybe by incorporating another salty ingredient.

A Very Flour Valentine

Flour's Fort Point outpost whipped up all sorts of tasty Valentine’s-inspired treats this past Sunday. I managed to be lured away from their red-and-white-frosted chocolate cupcake by a variety of donuts. Greg has extolled the virtues of Flour's donuts for some time, and I finally experienced why.
The donuts are rolled in slightly-sticky sugar. This guarantees that your fingers, lips, and tongue get a helping of grainy sweetness right off the bat. I may have even tasted a hint of vanilla-y lemon, though that could be the faint flavorings of the donut proper being more noticeable in the pastry’s crust. The pastry part of the donut is unusually sturdy but spare in terms of density and flavor. It is more similar to a slightly-sweet roll than a breakfast pastry; however, there’s a sugary chewiness to the dough that reminds you that it is, in fact, a donut. Such a roll is a great canvas for the sugar…and filling! The filling is plentiful and well-distributed throughout each donut. The same raspberry jam that gives the pop tarts such character fills the donut on the left – the intense raspberry flavor, robust seeding, and thickness still apply. My donut on the right is filled with rosewater raspberry cream. Imagine a very light, whipped frosting that tastes like a creamy bouquet of roses and smells even better, with raspberry jam evenly mixed throughout. The floral-fruit combination is absolute bliss!

However, this Very Flour Valentine doesn’t end with the donuts. How could we resist these adorable conversation-heart sugar cookies? I knew they'd be much tastier than their chalky inspirations. The thin, crunchy vanilla cookie is covered in a layer of hard confectioner's-sugar frosting. Each crisp bite delivers equal parts cookie and icing, though the cookie softens and melts away in your mouth before the icing. The sugar lingers in your mouth like a Valentine's kiss. So good!

Lastly, I had to bring this miniature chocolate cream pie home. It reminded me of the pies I’d find everywhere growing up in the Midwest, down to the shaved chocolate on top! Chewy semisweet chocolate shavings, in the cutest curlicues, sit on a bed of vanilla whipped cream. This cool, refreshing treat covers the heart of the pie, a thick chocolate cream of admirable richness. The chocolate's cacao content lies somewhere between those of milk and semisweet chocolates, and heavy cream keeps the mixture smooth. However, my favorite part of this pie was the crust. The crust’s restrained flakiness – substantive and sturdy on plate and in fork, flaky in mouth – is its standout characteristic. It is also less buttery than many pastry crusts, and more flavoring agents, potentially cinnamon and brown sugar, make up for any butter I may have otherwise missed.

Bravo, Flour!

Petsi Treats

Petsi Pies, as their name may suggest, is known for their excellent pies and tarts. This Somerville bakery also offers a variety of other treats, which a few us sampled after lunch today. I may have found the best cupcake in Boston, as well as other inspiring cakes and cookies.

• Whoopie Pie Cupcake - this cupcake was better than any whoopie pie I have ever had, and could be better than the products of most cookie-cutter cupcakeries in the area. (Yes, the excellence of this item makes me question my earlier devotion to Sweet!) The cake part proper is dense and fudgy, with moist crumbs. I could see the rich semisweet chocolate used in the batter being equally at home in fudge, or a dense chocolate sauce. The cake eclipses average cupcake content and could be served as a torte in the finest restaurants. The center of the cupcake is injected with a refreshingly light, whipped vanilla cream. This cream comes as a surprise, though, since the cupcake's top is covered in a thick layer of smooth dark chocolate ganache. The union of these three flavors and textures is just perfect, and I found myself sad after taking the last bite.
  
• Carrot Cake Cupcake - this confection pushes the boundary of what a cupcake can be. Most carrot cakes are sweetened, or deprived of certain savory ingredients, to better pass as a traditionally sugary and dainty cupcake; Petsi Pies does not take that step. A hearty helping of carroty, nutty, raisiny cake is frosted in a dome of barely-sweet cream cheese icing. The requisite carrot accent of orange and green icing is the only concession to cuteness this cupcake makes. I respect them for not compromising the integrity of their standard recipe; though, as someone who doesn't go for nuts or raisins in baked goods, I won't order this one myself.
  
• Ginger Molasses Cookie - This large, thick cookie is crunchy at the edges, but becomes chewier towards the center. The taste of light molasses, reminiscent of a generous helping of brown sugar, is the dominant flavor, while ginger serves as an accent. Each bite includes a bit of sugary crunch and sweetness, thanks to the cookie's sparkly coating of turbinado sugar. In other words, this cookie is a great interpretation of a winter classic.
  
• Sweet Potato Crumb Cake - I thank this bakery for introducing me to my first sweet potato cake. A moist sour-cream-based crumble coffee cake conceals a center of mashed sweet potato mixed with hearty brown sugar crumbles. What an unexpected treat! You may see an attempt at recreating such a treat chronicled in this blog come fall.

I had visited Petsi once prior, and thoroughly enjoyed a lemon scone that was pertly flavored with zest and topped in a strong, tart glaze. I will also be enjoying one of their blueberry muffins, purchased to go during today's visit, for breakfast tomorrow. After that, I might have to go back for a fruit or chocolate pie!

A New Use for Goat Cheese

I added a springform pan to my bakeware arsenal this past weekend. What better way to inaugurate it than to make a cheesecake, and an unconventional one at that? A love of goat cheese and cranberries inspired the latest dessert to emerge from my kitchen. The recipe was begging to be tried for several reasons:

• The from-scratch crust requires a food processor. Is there a new food processor currently sitting in my kitchen? Yes!
• You get to candy your own orange peel. I am now slightly more experienced in making garnishes; also, why not apply this skill toward making orange chocolate in the future?
• The cranberries become an enticing drizzle when coated in warm honey. I’ve wanted to use some Napa Valley honey, obtained in October 2009’s California trip, for a few months, and here was my chance. My cranberry love goes without saying.
• Goat cheese in a dessert – need I say more?

Here's the finished cake, along with the orange and cranberry garnishes. Highlights of the production process include making the sugared and spiced graham cracker crust, something I have always enjoyed eating yet have not made until now; mixing turbinado sugar in the cake over granulated sugar, with the goal of giving the cake a grainier sweetness; peeling oranges with a vegetable peeler and sauteeing the julienned peel in melted sugar; and removing the pan's side after refrigerating the cake overnight – yes, it actually worked!

Most of the resulting tastes and textures were unexpected. The cheesecake itself looked runny, but it held its shape. It then melted instantly on my tongue. This strange state did not last – the cake has dried out since its weekend baking, and its texture and firmness have come to approximate "regular" cheesecake. The goat cheese flavor was not very distinct, with the finished product resembling ricotta cheese and cannoli filling more than the cheese I used. The turbinado sugar initially added graininess to the cake, but that roughness disappeared as the granules dissolved in the days post-mixing. Both versions of raw-sugar sweetness were enjoyable. The candied orange peel looked great on the cake, and it was pleasantly tangy for the first few chews – however, after that, the innate bitterness of the peel revealed itself. I don't know if we should have peeled thinner swaths of zest, or if the julienned strips should have been boiled longer. Either way, I was disappointed in this garnish and would like to improve or refine the process going forward. The honeyed cranberries were a delight, and were the one outcome of this recipe that tasted as I had expected. The extreme sweetness and tartness was perfect with the cheesecake, whose flavor profile sat squarely between those extremes.

This dessert gets a high score for creativity, though I plan on exploring traditional cheesecakes with my newly-initiated springform before I return to the goats' pen.

Flour Bakery vs The Snack Aisle

In eating lunch at Flour Bakery's Fort Point location this weekend, we decided to break away from our usual cupcake-and-muffin baked-good order and try their take on two snacks known to grocery shoppers everywhere: the Pop Tart and Oreo cookie! Needless to say, both were infinitely tastier than their processed-food counterparts.

Flour's pop tart is a thick shell of puff pastry dough folded around a pile of thick, seedy, flavorful raspberry jam. The baked tart is then covered in a thin confectioner's sugar glaze with a barely-perceptible taste of lemon. It sounds so simple - and it is! - but I had never had a filled fruit pastry that was so successful in fruit, pastry, and overall taste. The flaky, buttery, vanilla-flavored pastry was a delight on its own or with the glaze, but the best bites included the robust jam. You won't find this kind of flavor in the breakfast aisle! I only wish that the jam had been spread more evenly throughout the tart.

Flour's oreo is a sandwich of two thick, dry, yet chewy cocoa-powder cookies and vanilla filling that tasted equally of buttercream and cream cheese frosting. As for the cookies, the traditional oreo taste was kicked up a notch due to more cocoa powder than the mass-produced inspiration, as well as a good amount of butter to hold it together. The slight chewiness was also appreciated. Why? (1) 'Tis a sign of freshness! (2) The buttery cocoa flavor could be more thoroughly enjoyed. (3) The moist filling would have slipped out upon biting two harder, cardboard-style cookies. The filling was a delight - while I initially thought it was the whipped buttercream frosting used in Flour's cupcakes, I detected a taste of cream cheese in later bites that served the filling well. Cream cheese would have thickened the frosting and therefore made it more stable for inclusion in a cookie, and it also added a slight tang to the overall flavor that blended marvelously with the bitter cocoa in the cookie. I'll definitely order some oreos again - if not for immediate eating in the bakery, then to go as a snack for later!