Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake

The August arrival of Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte is at first an unwelcome harbinger of fall, but as the mornings grow crisper and the evenings grow darker I find myself embracing this coziest of espresso beverages. It seemed only natural to try and express the comfort of the milky liquid in the stability of a dairy solid - so, enter the Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake.

I used this recipe, and followed it exactly for my first pass. I did not triple the cinnamon (gasp), as I could count on the extremely moist cheesecake environment to heighten all spices’ intensity. Also, the pumpkin and latte flavors are more important. I liked Sprinkle’s suggestion for “authenticity” and used the strongest Starbucks Via packets to suggest the latte’s espresso.

I was pleased with some aspects of this first pass. I particularly liked the crust, which is crafted from wheat flour, almond flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter. It was dense and cookie-like, and the almond flavor gave it a nutty little twist. I had never used almond flour before this recipe, and had no idea that it was simply finely-ground almonds! Then, I liked the texture and mouthfeel of the cheesecake. It was smooth and creamy, but not too heavy. I could eat a slice without feeling belly-bombed. However, the original recipe calls for the separation of pumpkin and coffee.

The first issue with this was purely logistical. The pumpkin portion formed the majority / base of the cake, and the significantly smaller coffee portion was meant to be spread on top of the pumpkin layer. This may not be a problem for larger portions - layered cheesecakes are fairly common, after all - but it was difficult to spread the minimal amount of coffee-cheese mixture over the still-fluid pumpkin base. The final distribution was not as even as I would have liked. Secondly, such an approach seemed strange since the inspirational beverage's flavors are evenly mixed. The pumpkin part had a weak taste somewhere between pumpkin pie and plain cheesecake, and could have used something to kick it up a notch. The latte part was essentially espresso cream cheese, with more of a flavor punch than any espresso I’ve sipped. This flavor disconnect was, quite frankly, jarring, so I decided that any future attempt at this recipe would involve one mixture of…pumpkin spice latte cheesecake.

Fortunately, a pre-Thanksgiving potluck provided the perfect opportunity to re-test this recipe! I did not meddle with the already-perfect crust. Then, I threw all cheesecake ingredients together in one bowl while keeping the measurements the same. I am very glad I did this, as the end result was significantly superior to my first attempt. My test subjects...er, potluck attendees...definitely enjoyed it!

The cheesecake is a pretty brown latte color, with visible spice flecks. Flavor-wise, the pumpkin and coffee tastes integrate perfectly, and there's just a hint of spice to suggest the season. The mixture tames the overly assertive espresso flavor of the separate latte part, and is a much better approximation of Starbucks' fall treat. The pumpkin seems less wimpy when tasted in this context. So, the moral of this story is...if the drink is mixed, let its dessert be also!

We will see if these pages chronicle a future attempt at a Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate or Peppermint Mocha dessert...

Julie and Tony's Pumpkin Bakestravaganza

How's that for an event name?

Tony and I had been discussing the possibility of a pumpkin-themed bake-a-thon for some time, and it finally happened last weekend! We may have baked enough items to blanket the entirety of Medford with a cinnamon-and-squash aroma, but even if that didn't happen we surely baked enough items to take care of a week's (and then some) breakfasts and desserts. So, what glorious bounty was produced?

We started with some cutely-named "cinnapastries", which are exactly what their name suggests - pastries flavored with cinnamon. (They use more butter and brown sugar than cinnamon, but those ingredients do not present such superior naming options.) The dough can be made from scratch, but premade pie crust is easier.

• 2 pre-made pie crusts (1 package)
• 1 1/2 sticks butter, separated into 1 stick (softened) and two 2T portions (melted)
• lots of brown sugar
• lots of cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Soften the stick of butter, and mix brown sugar in it until the result is uniform. Divide the mixture evenly among the 12 cups of a muffin pan.
3. Roll out the pie crusts, and let them reach room temperature. Spread each crust with the melted 2T butter. Sprinkle - or cover, if you're spice-obsessed like me - the melted butter with cinnamon, and then brown sugar.
4. Roll the crusts back up. Slice each roll/tube into 6 pieces. Place each piece into a cup of the pre-sugarbuttered muffin pan.
5. Bake the cinnapastries for 12-15 minutes. Let them cool for a while after in the pan, until the sugarbutter has hardened. Don't worry about any overflowing sugarbutter - there's still plenty in each cup to moisten and flavor the pastries.

These little treats, suggestive of miniature cinnamon buns, were quite buttery and sweet. The pie crust may look hard, but it was soft and chewy upon biting and essentially melted in my mouth. Each cinnapastry was 3 or 4 bites, but those bites packed the creamy pastry goodness and cinnamon warmth equivalent to a full-sized bun. I'll keep these in mind as bite-sized breakfast treats or cocktail-party desserts - and really, I can't think of a dessert that's easier to make. I also want to try a puff-pastry version.

Next up was the first recipe I made from the Flour cookbook! Flour's pumpkin muffins were an event-appropriate way to welcome the new book. I won't copy the recipe here, but its intricacies deserve some commentary. First of all, the recipe requests 3 T molasses. Neither Tony nor I had molasses, so we substituted the equivalent measure of maple syrup and threw in some brown sugar. Secondly, the recipe uses orange juice in place of traditional muffin moisturizers like oil or milk. Then, I tripled the cinnamon and added an extra dash of cloves.

The end result was truly unique. The orange juice really brightened the fresh pumpkin flavor and gave a pleasing hint of citrus zing to the squashy cake. The citrus was also great in tandem with the heavy spicing - cloved oranges, anyone? The muffins were beyond moist, but in a light and fresh way rather than the heavy way associated with oil. The syrup/sugar molasses substituion had no adverse effect on the muffins' consistency, but it did not add enough flavor. These muffins would benefit from molasses' robust, earthy heartiness - if only to take them away from the metaphorical farmers' market and closer to a cozy autumn hearth. Even with their fruit-and-vegetable quality, these muffins are still delicious - and the recipe makes a lot of them. The batter yielded 18 total muffins, 50% more than expected. I'm so glad I received an insight into the creative baking conducted at Flour, as well as a week's worth of breakfast delights. I've eaten these muffins for 7 days in a row, and I'm still not sick of them!

Our last treats were Pilgrim Pies - or, to those who don't give seasonal desserts seasonal names, pumpkin whoopie pies. Here is the recipe; remember to add my token tripling of cinnamon.

• 2 eggs
• 2 C light brown sugar
• 1 C vegetable oil
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 15oz can pumpkin
• 3 C flour
• 1/2 t cinnamon, 1/4 t nutmeg, 1/4 allspice - This is my equivalent of the recipe's 1 t of "pumpkin pie spice."
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t salt
• (frosting) 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• (frosting) 1 stick butter, softened
• (frosting) 2 t vanilla
• (frosting) 4-5 C confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat the eggs, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl until smooth. Stir in the pumpkin.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture 1/2 C at a time, blending each time until smooth.
5. Drop a heaping tablespoon of batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet, using a moist finger or the back of a spoon to slightly flatten each mound. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Meanwhile, make the frosting. Beat together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract in a bowl until light and fluffy. Mix in the confectioners' sugar 1/2 C at a time, until the desired consistency is reached. 4 cups of sugar resulted in a surprisingly stiff, but still spreadable, frosting.
7. To assemble the pies, turn half of the cookies bottom side up and spread a generous amount of cream cheese frosting on each one. Top them with the remaining cookies (turned right side up).

The recipe's expected yield is 10-14 complete pies. We decided to make 14 individual cookies, or 7 pies, and pour the remaining batter into two 8"x8" baking dishes to make a giant-sized pie. Fortunately, there was enough batter and frosting to make thick, fully-filled pies of both sizes. The large pie was left in the oven for three additional minutes, which was enough to cook it to completion.
The resultant Pilgrim Pies had moist, fluffy, pumpkin-y cake. The cake was much softer than the frosting, which was stiff and sugary with a faint cream cheese flavor. I would have expected the frosting to be grainier with so little cream cheese and butter to absorb the sugar, but its texture was surprisingly smooth. I preferred to eat my pies slightly chilled, so that the frosting was dense, cool, and refreshing - but, Tony's preferred 15-second microwave treatment resulted in equally-tasty warm pies dripping with gooey filling.

Here are the traditional pies:

And, here is the Macrowhoopie along with all other Bakestravaganza delights. My coworkers polished this monster off rather quickly:

What a tempting spread of autumnal desserts! Now, please excuse me as I help myself to another muffin...

Julie and Joanne?

Flour obsessive that I am, it is somewhat surprising that I waited a few weeks post-release to purchase the new Flour cookbook. Maybe I wanted to wait until I was in a Christmas-shopping mood, since I knew I would be getting one as a gift in addition to my own copy? Regardless, the Moment of Purchase happened this past Veterans' Day. My company had the day off, so I was able to leisurely enjoy Flour's Central Square bakery around 10 in the morning. I was putting the new cookbooks in my bag when a fellow breakfaster struck up a conversation.

FB: Hey, have you baked anything out of that cookbook yet?
Me: ...No, I just bought it. But I can't wait to try!
FB: Maybe you could try baking all the recipes in a row, like that "Julie and Julia" movie. Only I guess this cook is Joanne. You could start a blog!
Me: I actually already have a dessert blog...
FB: Oh, that's perfect. What's your name? You could rename your blog to "Whatever I Am and Joanne."
Me: Julie.
FB: Even more perfect. Julie and Joanne!

I don't know which part of this exchange amused me more - the implication that I would have already made something out of a cookbook in my possession for 10 seconds, or my unknown name being represented as whatever I am (human? dancer?). Still, I have to thank this slightly-off-kilter patron for my newest tagging idea.

I won't repurpose this blog to be solely about Flour, even though I've likely discussed said entity more than any other bakery/desserterie/manufacturer. Instead, I will tag posts about my adventures with this cookbook as "Julie and Joanne" posts. Here's to baking under Joanne Chang's expert guidance - and the resulting book/movie deal, of course! :-P

From Hoboken, With Cupcake

I just spent a fun weekend visiting good friends in the New York City area. Much of this time was spent in Hoboken, where two friends (and their comfortable couches) reside. We enjoyed several leisurely mornings there, with slow walks to and from our chosen brunch locations. (Yes, there were choices to be made - I did not know that Hoboken has the highest density of bars and restaurants per square mile in the US!) These walks took us by several tempting bakeries. I was always too full from brunch to enjoy these treats in passing, but I did take one cupcake from Crumbs Bake Shop back to Boston at the end of the weekend!

The Crumbs cupcakery chain actually has locations in California, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, with plans to open additional locations in other states. I'm sure they'll be welcome wherever they go, because seriously, look at the contents of this display case:

So many tempting flavors, in such decadent portions! I ended up purchasing a Grasshopper cupcake due to my love of chocolate and mint.

This cupcake was different from most gourmet cupcakes. To start, it was massive - at roughly 3 inches in diameter and height, it put all Boston cupcakes to shame. Then, instead of being dense and finely crumbed, the cake was rather airy, with large crumbs that belied its smooth texture. I would liken the Crumbs cake to an unusually successful box cake - it had the appearance and mouthfeel of a cake mix product, but much more flavor than Duncan or Betty usually provide. It tasted of rich, buttery cocoa, and was almost ganache-like in its intensity.

The cupcake had a fudgy frosting injection at its center. I would guess that this was chocolate buttercream frosting blended with cake crumbs or batter, as the injection was not smooth throughout but somehow integrated perfectly with the surrounding cake. Then, the entire massive cupcake was covered in mild, sweet mint buttercream frosting. The frosting, like the cake, reminded me of the storebought product, only with a drop or two of peppermint extract - but, it could be that Crumbs just mixes an exceptionally oily and creamy buttercream frosting. It was cool and refreshing, and maybe a tad slippery. The mint flavor could have been more assertive, but generally speaking the frosting complemented the intensity and smoothness of the base cake. The frosting layer was then garnished with a small dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkling of soft, creamy semisweet chocolate chips.

Crumbs' best-possible-box-mix taste is unusual in today's baking world, and as such it was unexpectedly satisfying. I'm positively stuffed after eating the Grasshopper, but I do wish that I had more cupcakes for the days to come. My purchase survived a 4.5-hour non-refrigerated bus ride plus nearly 3 days in my fridge, so others - like the Espresso and the Half Baked, mmm - could have made the trip as well. The next time I'm in Hoboken, or someplace with a Crumbs franchise, I will have to take more cupcakes on the road, and possibly eat one on location too!

Homemade Oreos

Sigh, fall - or potluck season, as it were! I decided that it was about time I bring something other than brownies to my first potluck of the season, though whatever I brought would (obviously) still be a dessert item. Flour Bakery had taught me the tastiness of a baker's oreo, so I thought I'd try creating my own version of this surprisingly complicated but delicious cookie. Here is the recipe I used, which is cobbled from various online sources with personal modifications. My commentary on the process is in italics.

• 1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 C sugar
• 1/2 C unsweetened cocoa
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/4 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 large egg
• (frosting) 1 stick butter, room temperature
• (frosting) 1 8oz. block cream cheese, room temperature
• (frosting) 4 C confectioners' sugar
• (frosting) 1 t vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2. Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until uniform.
3. Using an electric mixer at low speed, beat in the butter and then the egg. Continue mixing until the dough is a solid mass.
4. Place rounded teaspoons of batter on a parchment-lined baking sheet, approximately 2" apart. Slightly flatten the dough. I spaced the cookies less than 2" apart to maximize the number baked per sheet (25). I should have heeded this recommendation, as most cookies had baked into each other. I cut them apart when they were just out of the oven and still soft, so no harm was done in the long run.
5. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through. Cool the cookies on a rack afterward.
6. (frosting) Cream the butter for 2 minutes. Add the cream cheese and vanilla, and mix well. This is a beautiful blend!
7. (frosting) Gradually add confectioners' sugar until the desired consistency is reached. I used 4 cups, but could have used more. The consistency was more like spreadable cake frosting than the stiff cream of the storebought oreo.
8. (assembly) Put frosting in either a pastry bag with a 1/2" tip, or a ziplock bag with a 1/2" tip cut out. My non-pastry-bagged self had to use the improvised ziplock. I regretted this within a few minutes.
9. (assembly) Add 1 T frosting to the center of one cookie. I couldn't get the frosting to come steadily out of my bag. Intense squeezing ruptured holes all over the ziplock, so that thick streams of frosting shot haphazardly about my assembly area. After sponging frosting off my clothing and cleaning up the spillage, I admitted defeat and took to the holey bag with a knife, using the utensil to spread frosting on my oreos per usual frosting applications.
10. (assembly) Place another cookie on top of the frosted cookie, and press lightly to spread the frosting to the cookies' edges. I had a lot of frosting, so my oreos were robustly filled! The average finished oreo measured 2" to 2.5" wide, and a little over a half-inch tall.

Behold the finished product!

This recipe made 30 total oreos - 60 individual cookies, and enough frosting to stick sets of two together. The cookies were crisp and crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle, which was a surprising variance considering their thinness. They softened over time, probably due to the proximity of moist frosting, which actually helped one take the best possible bite - a bite into a softer cookie does not displace as much frosting! They tasted like an exceptionally cocoa-y, buttery devil's food cake. The frosting was very smooth and creamy, with a cream-cheese tanginess that cut through the sugary sweetness. The flavor pairings were great - the cookie's butter and frosting's cream cheese amplified the perception of the other flavor, and the comparatively bitter cocoa powder was tempered by the powdered sugar. The contrasts in texture and density were also notable - the cookies were light and grainy, while the frosting was heavy and smooth.

My fellow potluckers and I were very happy with the outcome of this recipe, though I wish the execution had not been so troublesome. Maybe I'll have to get some pastry bags and hope for better results! I would make this recipe again in my quest to approximate Flour's quality in baking. :-)

Cupcake Conveyance

As you may have read earlier, my Cupcakes & Cocktails class provided me with plenty of little baked goods to enjoy over the following days. They posed a question to me from the confines of their pastry box: what if you want to eat some of us at lunch? How can you bring us to work without messing up our frosting? Fortunately, I had the answer waiting in my kitchen cabinet.

The Cup-a-Cake container is perfectly shaped to hold one cupcake. Its interior plastic prongs dig gently into the side of the cake portion and hold it securely in place. It snaps shut nice and tightly. You can toss the container around as much as you'd like, and the cupcake won't budge! The frosting remains intact!

I would highly recommend investing $3 in one of these contraptions if you ever think you may want to move about with a cupcake...and yes, I enjoyed this happily-conveyed sangria cupcake at work. Yum!

Cupcakes & Cocktails

I recently attended an exceptionally fun Cupcakes & Cocktails class at the Boston Center for Adult Education! 14 or so students came together in a large, well-equipped kitchen to be guided through the creation of three cocktails and three alcohol-infused cupcakes. I had expected the class to be more of an intensive learning experience than it was, but I came away with a few good tips and more than a few good memories. While each student got their hands in the pot - or rather, the mixing bowls and the ovens - at least once throughout the course, I was unusually lucky by getting to craft all three cocktails in addition to performing the expected baking tasks. I guess that's what happens when you (unintentionally) take a seat by the drink station!

So, what did we make?

• Birthday Cake shots - pineapple juice, amaretto, and vodka shaken to the point of frothiness and then decanted into glasses, topped with whipped cream and sprinkles. This most cake-like of libations was simply adorable, and tasty too.
• Jello Shot cupcakes - strawberry box mix plus strawberries and coconut rum, baked and then drizzled with un-set (liquid) strawberry jello. The frosting was simply pulped strawberries mixed with butter and more than one bag of powdered sugar. The cupcakes were topped with small squares of "mosaic" jello, which was an aggregate of small cubes of different-flavored jellos mixed together with plain gelatin. The cake itself was slightly too moist for the comparatively-thin consistency of a box cake. I couldn't detect any coconut or rum flavors, but the strawberry flavor was out in full force thanks to the incorporated berries and colorful jello drizzle. The frosting was faintly berry-flavored, assertively sweet, and surprisingly stiff. The jello was, well, jello.
• Sangria - macerated apples, peaches, orange slices, and lemon wedges steeped in a mixture of shiraz spiced with cinnamon and cloves, Grand Marnier, and apple juice. The result was a good, dark, winey sangria with plenty of sweet and juicy fruit.
• Sangria cupcakes - melted chocolate chips, cocoa powder, and red wine mixed in to a standard cake recipe, baked, and then topped with wine frosting and wine-soaked fruit compote. The very dense, finely-crumbed cake was robustly chocolatey, and there was a hint of berry jam flavor thanks to the wine. I think this treat had the best cake of the three. The frosting was like eating a concentrated dessert wine (sugar-wise, not alcohol-wise!), and while several fruits were used in the boiled wine compote, only the pineapples retained their shape and distinctive flavor. The strawberries and blueberries were lost to the wine.
• Apple Cider hot toddies - hot mulled cider and a shot of whiskey poured over a pat of spiced butter, garnished with whipped topping, a cinnamon stick, and spiced graham cracker crumbs. The resultant drink was warm and comforting, with just the right balance achieved between a kick (generous spicing, alcohol) and smoothness (whipped topping and melting butter). The highlight of this drink was the butter, which had been softened in its plain state and then blended with brown sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon. I'd love to make my own spiced butter, and use it for more than just drinks!
• Tiramisu cupcakes - vanilla buttermilk cupcakes cut in half, with espresso-Kahlua syrup poured over the cut edges. The cupcakes were then reassembled with a dollop of marscapone-Kahlua frosting holding the halves together. The tops of the cupcakes were decorated with another dollop of frosting, plus some chocolate shavings. This was an excellent cupcake! I love the dense yet creamy-smooth texture achieved when baking with buttermilk and cake flour. The coffee flavor additions really shone against the plain cake canvas, and the marscapone frosting was unexpectedly airy and creamily smooth. It had none of the crystalline, faintly-crunchy texture of the stawberry frosting, though similar quantities of powdered sugar were used. I thought it complemented the cake very well, and I enjoyed the fact that it used so much dairy - it was almost as if I were eating a latte instead of straight-up espresso.

Here are some pictures from the class!

I really appreciated getting to work on several involved baking recipes and trying my hand at mixology. I even got to helm a KitchenAid standalone mixer - the appliance of my dreams! - as it whipped up some delicious frosting for our little treats. While a to-go box of 12 leftover cupcakes and all remaining strawberry frosting were delicious takeaways from the class, I hope the more practical skill- and knowledge-oriented takeaways will have more staying power. What are some good tips that I learned in this class?

• Macerate your fruit. Toss the fruit you plan on using in baking, or a drink, with sugar, and let it sit for 20 minutes or so before use. The sugar, by creating a solvent imbalance with the fruit, draws the juices forth from the fruit and releases the fruit's flavor. I really noticed the beneficial difference made by this process in the sangria and the strawberry frosting.
• Spices are welcome anywhere. I feel like a whole new world has been opened to me now that I am acquainted with spiced butter.
• Use an ice cream scoop when filling cupcake liners. The amount of batter held by the 2oz. half-sphere scoop is usually just right, and if it isn't, it's a lot less messy to correct the amount with a clean-edged scoop than a runny spoon.
• Don't fill your cupcake liners more than 3/4 full. That may be common knowledge, but as a traditionally overenthusiastic filler it was good for me to hear.
• Frosting shouldn't flow. When whipping up frosting with a mixer or beater, you can tell it's ready when you lift the whisk attachment from the frosting. It should stay static, in a column of sugary goodness, between the elevated mixing apparatus and the bowl.

I do wish I had learned more about baking with alcohol, since it's not as simple as arbitrarily replacing a "dry" recipe's wet ingredients with spirits and such. Fortunately, I have a new cookbook that should educate me on that topic.
 
Here's to baking, drinking, and any combination of the two!

So Many Cookies

The Finale desserterie chain recently added a new treat to their restaurant menu, just in time for the fall season and its attendant comfort-food cravings! The menu suggested that the Cookies and Cream dessert offered more, quantity- and variety-wise, than their other plated desserts. I was already familiar with Finale's smaller, fancier indulgences, so I was eager to try something potentially bigger and better. Plus, I knew a plate of warm cookies would feel oh so cozy on an unexpectedly chilly September evening.

As you can see, we have an eclectic cookie assortment, accompanied by a vanilla gelato float crafted with Izze blackberry soda and garnished with white and dark chocolate wedges. This fizzy, fruity float counted as the cream. The cookies, moving clockwise from the float, are:

• Chocolate Chip - a basic cookie filled with melty chocolate slivers. The batter had run rather thin, resulting in a crispy, crunchy cookie - but, this contrasted so nicely with the warm, gooey chocolate bits.
• White Chocolate Cranberry - huge white chocolate chunks, plump cranberries, and small walnut pieces studded a chewy, buttery mound of a cookie. I was really impressed with the robustness and quality of the mixins, as well as the base batter's flavor.
• Brownie - a fairly basic fudge brownie topped with sweet, smooth chocolate ganache.
• Oatmeal Raisin, 3 scattered across plate - alright, I'll admit it. I left these behind. Readers who know my distaste for raisins will understand.
• Linzer - this unusual spice dessert has a cookie base spread with raspberry jam, with dough latticed over the jam layer. This made me think of holiday treats, with plenty of assertive spices that were suggestive of gingerbread.
• Snickerdoodle - a light sugar cookie coated in cinnamon sugar. This wasn't a traditional snickerdoodle in the sense that I know, as the spice was not mixed throughout the batter. Still, Finale's airy version was a welcome respite between bites of heavier cookies.
• Raspberry Shortbread - a thin layer of raspberry jam and evenly-distributed small-crumb streusel topping cover a soft, buttery, salty shortbread cookie. A real winner, probably my second-favorite dessert of the bunch.
• Peanut Butter - a crumbly, dry, and intensely nutty peanut butter shortbread.
• Whoopie Pie - I thought this "pie" might be the best cookie on the plate, so I saved it for last. Goodness, was I correct! Two sizable chocolate cookies - which are stiff but chewy, surprisingly fudgy and almost brownie-like when bitten, and exploding with full dark chocolate flavor - sandwich a thick smear of fresh, tangy white chocolate cream cheese frosting. I wish I had been given 3 of these beauties instead of 3 oatmeal raisin cookies! I made a mental note that the whoopie pies can be ordered individually at the desserterie's to-go counter.

So many cookies, so much dessert! Tasting each cookie was like unwrapping a new present. Dessert as entertainment, even.

Apparently Finale has a prize for whomever manages to eat this entire dessert, but the waitress had not yet seen anybody do so and win it. I put forth a valiant effort and ended up taking home bits and pieces of most cookies. I would definitely order the Cookies and Cream again, as it was delicious; fun; and, considering my little bag of leftovers, two desserts in one! I should also mention that this sweet abundance costs the same as Finale's finer, tinier treats, so it's a great value as well.

Summer Restaurant Week 2010

Where did I eat this Restaurant Week?

 

Masa, on the eastern border of the South End, serves delicious Southwest-style food with occasional New England influences. It's one of my favorite Boston restaurants. Since I hadn't been there for dinner in a while, I thought it was worth going back to try their Restaurant Week menu. With a sangria margarita in one hand and a fork in the other, I enjoyed a great meal! I had a flavorful yellow gazpacho for my appetizer, and ate a smoky, pungent, and moist achiote chicken breast with yucca fritters and corn-avocado salsa for dinner. I ordered a chocolate truffle tamale for dessert, but was presented with a molten chocolate cake (apparently the tamale did not exist?). Fortunately, Masa's MCC was unique and enjoyable. I would describe its texture as somewhere between a flourless chocolate torte and a typical MCC - in other words, it wasn't exactly molten, but was delightfully soft and gooey throughout. It had a deep, creamy chocolate flavor that made me think of chocolate mousse in cake form. The cake was complemented by a generous drizzle of sweet and tangy raspberry sauce, plus a small scoop of vanilla bean ice cream that melted over the warm dessert. Clearly, I'm loving chocolate/raspberry duos this month! A thorough dusting of powdered sugar and a sprig of mint added to the presentation. I may have had a better dessert here once upon a time - a rustic apple tart, perhaps? - but I can't complain about this fresh and tasty molten chocolate cake.

Since I consider myself a Harvard Square regular, I am somewhat embarrassed to say that I had never been to Casablanca before this meal. I look forward to returning to the subterranean Mediterranean restaurant, as I enjoyed their Restaurant Week menu. My appetizer was grilled mission figs with prosciutto, Vermont blue cheese, and balsamic drizzle; I then had salmon with fresh tomato salad and yogurt tahini as my main course. Even though the waiter recommended the local-blueberry creme brulee, I could not say no to the unusual-sounding flourless chocolate-polenta cake with Chantilly cream, creme anglaise, and strawberries. The cake was rather dense and somewhat dry, but it fortunately didn't fall apart or crumble during eating. I could not taste the polenta, but it definitely gave the cake a sturdier texture than flour would have done. The flavor was that of assertive cocoa powder rather than deep chocolate, which I attribute to the relative lack of moisture. I also noticed that there wasn't much sugar in the cake, though its accompaniments made up for its lack of sweetness. The custardy, lightly-vanilla creme anglaise clung to the cake, and the airy, sugary Chantilly cream had a smooth, cool mouthfeel that lightened each bite. I'll keep my eyes open for polenta cakes going forward, as I'm curious about what varieties are out there (moister, sweeter, etc). I'm glad I expanded my dessert horizons with an unconventionally-"leavened" cake!

The Birthday Cupcake Society

To say that my birthday involved cupcakes would be an understatement.

I started the day by having brunch at Flour Bakery's Central Square outpost, which included one of their impossibly rich and chewy chocolate cupcakes with airy vanilla frosting. I'll let this picture do the talking.
I thought my daily cupcake quota - hitherto an unimagined and unnecessary metric - would have been filled after Flour's contribution, but this was not the case. Imagine my excitement when Greg presented me with a box of Sweet cupcakes later that afternoon! I have discussed Sweet here before, but the delights within that birthday box deserve honorable mention. From left to right in this picture:

• Lemon - dense, lightly-flavored lemon vanilla cake was topped with tangy lemon frosting and a lemon candy. I would rather have assertive citrus flavors in baked goods, especially in ones as substantive as Sweet's. The frosting, however, was lemony enough to compensate for the cake's blandness. I could easily eat spoonful after spoonful of lemon frosting!
• Lemon Raspberry - the same lemon vanilla cake was injected with a generous glob of raspberry jam. Their signature vanilla frosting, which may or may not have had a hint of lemon flavor, was the third contributor to a triumvirate of complementary textures (much like their Red, White, and You cupcake). The best bites included cake, frosting, and jam! A raspberry on top was a cute and tasty touch.
• Chocolate Vanilla - cheerfull yellow sprinkles coated the cupcake's first dollop of vanilla frosting, which in turn was topped by an elaborate frosting peak. This frosting was so delicious and creamy that I paid less attention to the chocolate cake beneath. The chocolate cake was as rich as the vanilla cake, though less sugary and somewhat drier.
• Chocolate Chocolate - yes, I loved this cupcake's purple sprinkles. Fortunately, the cupcake's chocolate flavors were equally pleasing. The bakery's dense, sugary frosting is especially delicious with creamy milk chocolate blended in.

So, my birthday's cupcake quota was stretched a bit. I enjoyed the Lemon Raspberry confection that evening, and consumed the others - at a rate of one per day! - later.

Then, I went to New Hampshire for a few days' fun with the family. I knew there would be a birthday dessert waiting for me. I was looking forward to my mom's beloved dark chocolate layer cake with peppermint frosting, so I had a cat's reaction of alarm plus curiosity when I saw a baker's box on our kitchen counter. So much for what I had been told! That's right, I wasn't getting my traditional cake. I was getting cupcakes - the best cupcakes I've ever had.

Windham's Shabby Chic bakery is a recent addition to the New Hampshire dessert scene. Within 6 months of opening, they won all sorts of acclaim, including a feature on New Hampshire Chronicle and a cover mention for Best Cupcakes in New Hampshire magazine's 2009 Best of NH issue. After eating a few of their delightful confections, it is easy to see - and taste! - why. I had four different cupcakes, all variations on the same basic chocolate cake with light, creamy buttercream frosting. For the record, each cupcake measures slightly less than 3 inches in diameter and slightly less than 4 inches (frosting and topper included) in height! Here are the treats in the order they were eaten:

• Chocolate Salted Caramel - this cake had extremely salty, slightly-crystallized caramel swirled within the batter. The saltiness actually shocked me at first until I embraced the union of flavors in each gooey bite - chocolate, caramel, and salt, oh my! - as well as the sweeter caramel frosting. I felt like I was eating a moist, chewy caramel brownie rather than a cake! The light frosting reminded me of dulce de leche, and was only slightly salty; you do have the option of picking flakes of fleur de sel from its exterior. Sweet caramel drizzle ran down the sides of the frosting, and a chewy dark-chocolate-covered caramel marked the top of the frosting peak.

• Chocolate Raspberry - raspberry puree was mixed throughout the chocolate cake to create the most successful dessert of this bunch! The tart, fruity puree complemented the cake's smooth chocolate sweetness, and moistened the batter so that both flavors shone. Each bite was deliciously fudgy, and there was a nugget of puree at the cupcake's center. Of course, the raspberry frosting was equally excellent! The pale pink buttercream had tiny pieces of fruit mixed in, and really tasted like a whisper of raspberries and cream. The topper was a fudgy chocolate with a sour berry coating.

• Chocolate Mint - no mint syrup saturated this base cake. Instead, small pieces of dark mint chocolate and light-green white chocolate studded the batter. The candy bits were dry and hard, so the cupcake had none of the gooey fudginess noted above. The candies' fresh mint flavor lightly permeated the batter. The pale green buttercream frosting featured a stronger, more pungent mint. I prefer sweet peppermint to fresh mint, so I was slightly disappointed in this cupcake. A chocolate-covered malted milk ball with a gorgeous robin's-egg coating topped it all off.

• Chocolate Peanut Butter - when devoid of mix-ins, Shabby Chic's standard chocolate cupcake is moderately chocolatey-sweet and somewhat dry, with a coarse crumb. This basic cupcake was paired with the most decadent of frostings. As you can see from the picture, the peanut butter frosting departed from the usual Shabby Chic buttercream by being thick - so thick that it was more like dense peanut butter ice cream than frosting! The taste echoed the texture, suggesting incredibly sweet and milky peanut butter. Clearly, a lot of actual peanut butter went into it! The frosting became somewhat crusty on the outside after spending a day in my refrigerator, but the inside remained creamy. I was blown away by the frosting's richness and how it paired so well with the chocolate cake. The cupcake was topped with a milk-chocolate-covered peanut.

What excellent cake varieties and frosting flavors! I am so glad that my family saw Shabby Chic's press, realized the cupcakery was only minutes from our home, and decided to give it a try. I look forward to returning to this adorable desserterie to try some more treats - maybe a vanilla cupcake with orange or lemon swirls?

...as if 9 cupcakes in 8 days weren't enough! Happy Birthday to me. :-)

OMG!

I went to Stonewall Kitchen's flagship store in York, Maine this past weekend, and stopped by a nearby farmers' market afterward. This market had the usual assortments of fresh veggies and baked goods, but one baked-good display caught my eye. Kate's Designer Delights was advertising a treat called the OMG. Having used that phrase to a fault, I had to investigate its dessert incarnation. OMGs are essentially 5"-diameter tarts, with a shortbread crust and the filling/drizzle of your choice - either homemade caramel with milk chocolate, or raspberry jam and white chocolate. I chose the caramel-filled OMG since Stonewall Kitchen had satisfied my jam needs just minutes before.

The dessert's name couldn't be more appropriate! The shortbread base was deliciously buttery and soft, yet still crumbly, and much thicker than the usual tart crust. A shortbread lover like myself would be overjoyed. The caramel, in a layer approximately 1/8" thick, was thick and sweet. The minimal chocolate drizzle was smooth, milky, and flavorful, so I wish there had been more chocolate. Each bite melted in my mouth, and the sweet butteriness of it all was oh so pleasing. I wish I had thought ahead to purchase another, as the caramel-shortbread combination is too delicious and too rare.

OMG, indeed!

London Calling: Buns 'n' Biscuits

A few more British treats deserve a blog mention!

With Euston Station's food court – and Underground access! – one block from our hotel, we weren’t going to find a more convenient breakfast stop. Delice de France and Caffe Ritazza both offered an over-the-top version of a revered baked good that I enjoyed 7 mornings in a row. Their triple chocolate muffins consisted of chocolate dough with white, milk, and dark chocolate chips mixed in, and injected chocolate frosting. DDF’s muffin was drier and less sweet, as a muffin should be, but it had far too much frosting. CR’s muffin essentially was a moist cupcake, but with minimal unnecessary goo. Despite their outrageous ingredients, the muffins were considerably smaller than American bakeries' muffins. I may have justified their repeated consumption on this fact.

A tour guide in the original Cambridge recommended Fitzbillies' Chelsea buns, so we had to investigate further. Chelsea bun dough is flavored with orange, lemon, and spices, and rolled with currants and sugar. Once the buns are rolled and cut, much like cinnamon buns, they are topped in a sugary, buttery glaze. I'm glad I tried this local specialty, but in the end I'm more of a frosted-cinnamon-bun girl. The spice and citrus flavor combination recalled winter holiday treats, and it felt out of place on a sweltering summer day. The dough itself was tougher than expected. Also, the currants were too dry, chewy, and flavorless for my liking. I did enjoy the sweet glaze, but it made the bun difficult to hold and eat. Maybe we would have been happier getting the local creamery's ice cream for dessert!

Fortnum & Mason of afternoon tea fame sells a variety of biscuits, or cookies. Knowing my dessert tastes, it was the most natural thing in the world to purchase Chocolossus biscuits, and they were such a success that two Chocolossus tins were flown back over the Pond. The dessert's core is a large (nearly palm-sized) dark chocolate biscuit studded with pieces of macadamia nuts. The biscuit proper is dry but not stale, and is surprisingly robust in chocolate flavor. The nut fragments are small enough that they don't overwhelm the biscuit, yet are still assertive enough on the palate. That biscuit is then enrobed in a quarter-inch-thick layer of smooth dark chocolate. As your teeth sink through the chocolate layer and crunch the biscuit within, as you enjoy the rich aroma and savor the multiple mediums of chocolate, you realize that Chocolossus really is the perfect cookie.

Lastly, I had to try some everday chocolate, British-style! The convenience stores and subway kiosks dazzled me with their displays of countless unknown candy bars. I ultimately selected a packet of Revels since I'll be performing in a production of the same name back in the new Cambridge. I assume they are called Revels because of the unexpected party you may enjoy while eating them. The candies are balls of milk chocolate, filled with one of six flavored centers: coffee, toffee, orange, raisin, malted milk ball, or more chocolate. I was impressed with the rich, creamy consistency of the chocolate. The fillings were dense, sugary, and rather tasty, with the exception of the never-enjoyable raisin. I ate one bag in Heathrow airport and am saving one more for the day my Revels show opens at Sanders Theatre. :-)

London Calling: Afternoon Tea

I recently had the pleasure of traveling to London for a week’s vacation! When deciding which sites to see and activities to do, one food-related splurge became a priority: I had to take afternoon tea in the country where the ritual originated. I made reservations for the St. James Restaurant at Fortnum & Mason, just outside Picadilly Circus. That stunning specialty food emporium did not disappoint – the experience was everything I wanted it to be, and more!

The tea room was warm, sunlit, and decorated in a soft blue. Plush armchairs and low-lying sofas with embroidered pillows surrounded delicate coffee tables set with the tea service’s china and drinkware. After settling in on the comfortable furniture, we cleansed our palate with brightly-flavored sparkling lemonade and ordered our tea. I enjoyed the strength and full body of the Assam Superb offering.

Next came four categories of delicate gastronomic treats – a plate of canapés followed by a 3-tiered display with sandwiches, scones, and cakes. You may behold the glorious tower below:

• Canapes – asiago breadsticks, pesto breadsticks, salmon crostini topped with roe, and sausage in puff pastry
• Sandwiches – egg salad, curry pasta and raisins on rye, cucumber and watercress on white, chicken and watercress on white, salmon on wheat
• Scones – plain and current scones, madeleines
• Desserts – raspberry jam sandwiched between shortbread, light lemon cake soaked in lemon sauce, vanilla cake topped with vanilla cream and white chocolate, brown sugar puff pastry glazed with confectioners' sugar and filled with custard and raspberries, lemon-almond petit four with blue white-chocolate frosting, sacher torte sans jam topped with gold leaf

My favorite treats, predictably enough, were the desserts, but the scones plus toppings were the best surprise.

Scones as I have known them in America can be a tough sell. More often than not, they are large mounds of floury, heavy dough that can barely redeem themselves via glazes or mixed-in fruit. Fortnum and Mason’s scones, however, were light, fluffy, buttery, and slightly tangy. This made them a treat in their own right, though they became even better with choice accompaniments. We could choose from strawberry jam, lemon curd, and clotted cream. I had to try the pale yellow clotted cream, a traditional British spread whose consistency is between whipped cream and butter. It was excellent when spooned over a dollop of jam! The lemon curd was excellently tart, with none of the cloying sweetness that usually turns me away from the spread.

Afternoon tea is a slow, relaxing, and above all indulgent meal. The richness of these treats gave me a fullness I would usually associate with twice the volume of food. We were so satisfied by the afternoon tea that we didn’t even eat dinner – and, we were able to browse the extensive F&M food halls without needing to sample everything in sight! This special time was one of the highlights of my vacation, and I encourage any visitors to Britain to seek out the same. Cheerio!

Dessert at the Mandarin Oriental

The Mandarin Oriental’s M Bar has intrigued me for some time. Its posh hotel setting and swanky décor suggest a certain restricted luxury, while its street-facing window/wall – enabling occupants and passersby to observe one another – hints at a curious openness. So, I found myself on the inside of the wall this past Friday. My good experience was not limited to delicious drinks and an enviable window perch; the bar had a very tempting dessert menu! Take a look at the treats (with interloping cocktails) below.

The dessert on the left is a creatively-executed apple crisp. I usually prefer tight, well-packed fruit desserts, but M Bar’s deconstructed version was remarkable. To start, the apples were cut in cube-like chunks rather than the usual slices. The conventional-tasting fruit (Golden Delicious?) was tossed in a thin cinnamon-caramel sauce, and the resultant mixture made me think of an especially chunky fruit soup. The crumbles covering the apples were large and cereal-like; I admired their remaining crunchy amidst their moist surroundings. Typical crumble flavors (cinnamon, butter, brown sugar) were assertive in the granola-y medium. I really appreciated the generous application of this topping! The remaining dessert components were unconventional and unanticipated. I finally tasted molecular gastronomy in action, enjoying a caramel foam that covered the crisp. The foam was every bit as flavorful as a standard caramel drizzle, but with a predictably lighter mouthfeel. The tiny, pale-cream bubbles stayed intact as I made my way through the dessert. Next up was a dollop of Calvados-flavored ice cream. The alcohol was barely noticeable, but the sharp apple and brandy notes were strong. The ice cream melted quickly and added a perky flavor to the chunky “soup” below. Lastly, three paper-thin apple chips were poised in the ice cream. Brightly-flavored and crisp, I enjoyed eating them dipped in the caramel foam. So, both the individual components and the dessert as a whole were great!

A “bento box” of three flavored crèmes brulees plus chocolate sorbet is on the right. The ginger crème had a sweeter ginger flavor, which was disappointingly diluted – if any dessert medium could benefit from a helping of bold flavor, it would be the already-sweet and milky crème brulee! The hazelnut version tasted average, though its pale-brown color was rather pretty. The orange was by far the best of the three, with a fresh citrus zing that cut through the creaminess. The dark chocolate sorbet was a tasty, if fairly common, palate cleanser.

M Bar’s menu had many other interesting desserts that may require sampling – for example, I had a hard time choosing between the apple crisp and their orange cheesecake. If you’re looking for a fancy night out at a bar with good drinks and sweet treats, put this place on your list!

Portsmouth Pleasures

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Portsmouth, NH two weekends in a row! I love this seaside town for its cheerful downtown, seaside park, cute and eclectic shops, and fun food. Of course, two of my favorite food vendors are dessert shops.

Annabelle’s Ice Cream is served in a cheerful basement off a waterfront side street. Their all-natural ice cream has a certain creamy, thick solidity that really packs a punch in a small volume. Because of its density, I find that it tastes best after being out of the freezer for a few minutes. Flavors are fairly common mixed creations that are made unique by the foundation ice cream’s quality.

• Peanut Butter Fantasy – sweet peanut butter ice cream is swirled with fudge and small chunks of peanut butter cups. The base ice cream is rather like sweet cream ice cream with peanut butter mixed in; I prefer this approach to the more extreme scoop of frozen peanut butter. Thick ribbons of fudge are mixed throughout this flavor, but there are rather few candy chunks.
• Mocha Mud Pie – chocolate chips and crumbled Oreos are mixed into a robust mocha ice cream. The signature Annabelle’s creaminess is great in this base flavor, as it really approximates a frozen version of my favorite espresso beverage. As with the Peanut Butter Fantasy, I wish there had been more mixers, but all in all this is a solid flavor that I would order again.

Our party enjoyed certain bolder flavors as well, like Ginger Fruit (sweet cream and crystallized ginger). I hear it was pungent yet refreshing!

Byrne & Carlson Chocolatier and Confectioner, a relatively recent find, has a one-room, antique-looking shop in a Portsmouth brownstone. The high ceilings, cream walls, dark wood cabinetry filled with candies, and clean, old-fashioned label type make me feel as though I have stepped into a treat shop of yore – a very fine one, mind you. Truffles and dark chocolate bars are their specialty, though in my two visits I sampled a range of their product.

• Chocolate-covered sea salt caramels – a nearly one-inch-square cube of stiff, sugary caramel is enrobed in a thin layer of dark chocolate and dusted with large crystals of fleur de sel. The salt lingered in my mouth after the chocolate coating had melted, so it blended nicely with the sweet caramel. I would have preferred a thicker layer of chocolate, or even a milder variety that would have been less distinct from the caramel; I would have guessed the percent cacao was around 70.
• Chipotle sea salt bar – I was intrigued by the variety of flavors in this bar, but it didn’t live up to my expectations. I think the 75% cacao content is too much bitterness for a bar with two savory components. The fleur de sel was robust and slightly smoky, and the chipotle pepper asserted itself with a spicy burn that lasted long after the chocolate had melted. The chocolate, as with all their offerings, was even and silky, and I may have been able to enjoy it as a pure chocolate bar, but I really needed something sweet to counter the salt and pepper! Lovers of intense dark chocolate, this bar is probably exactly what you need.
• Malted milk balls – I couldn’t get enough of these, they were so delicious! (Please keep in mind, this is coming from the girl who pouted if some unsuspecting neighbor gave out boxes of Whoppers for Halloween – so, praise indeed.) B&C’s Ultimate MMB has a small malted-milk center, followed by layers of dark, milk, and white chocolate. A speckled tan candy shell coats the treat. There were so many delicious chocolates in each bite, arranged in an ideal flavor progression, and the rough malted milk was surprisingly sweet and texturally satisfying against the smooth, bitter dark chocolate neighboring it.
• Truffle eggs – yes, eggs; we couldn’t ignore the corner of Easter remainders. Each miniature truffle egg has a sweet, slightly tangy truffle filling enrobed in creamy milk chocolate. The eggs instantly softened in my mouth, and melted into a buttercream-like chocolate paste that was pure decadence but not nearly enough volume. These treats lasted too briefly! I’ll seriously have to consider supplementing next year’s Fannie May Easter candy with a haul from Byrne & Carlson.

I have already decided that whenever I’m next in town, I will have to sample more milk chocolate, a different type of malted milk ball (there were several!), and maybe even a truffle. Care to join me?

Treats in Transit

Why transport desserts in boring Tupperware or foil containers when you could use a lively cupcake-printed tin? I found this adorable vessel at Borders the other day, and just had to bring it home. It’s the perfect size for a pan’s worth of brownies and would probably hold an equivalent batch of cookies. I can’t wait to bring the tin – filled with my beloved Epic Brownies, of course – to this afternoon’s Marathon Monday party!

Easter Treats

I love Easter candy. In a way, this love is less about its taste and more about its appearance. The Easter palette and decorative motifs – gentle creamy colors, shimmering pastel foil wrappers, flowers, spring – are all so lovely, and are particulary welcome after harsh winters and muddy March deluges. (If I could embellish my life with pale metallic purple accessories, I just might; I already own some [but not enough!] floral-printed/inspired clothing and jewelry.) However, this year’s Easter treats introduced me to some new tastes worthy of appreciation, as well as whisked me back to childhood with a few nostalgic basket fillers.

My family purchased this nest to be the centerpiece of our Easter table; the nest’s advertized purpose, as a home for hazelnut truffle eggs, was purely incidental. Still, the speckled eggs looked just perfect in the nest, and they tasted good too! The pale blue candy coating with darker blue speckles was pleasantly sweet, and it softened in my mouth to produce the faintest crackle at my tongue’s pressure. The coating’s slight roughness was evocative of an actual eggshell. A sweet, smooth layer of white chocolate was immediately under the candy coating, which eventually gave way to the hazelnut filling. The filling had a grainy texture, though I could not identify actual fragments of nuts. I ascribe this more to the use of a powdery, nonassertive milk chocolate, but regardless the centermost part of this treat was pleasantly earthy and substantial. I do wish the milk chocolate had somewhat mitigated the hazelnut flavor, but its nuttiness was tamed by the egg’s sweeter outer layers.

Our official Easter desserts were these petits fours, ordered from California’s Divine Delights bakery. The tiny treats were enrobed in the prettiest icing, which was surprisingly resilient but still smooth. Each petit four involved a rich, buttery cake and a variety of creams or fillings. The purple eggs were a base of dense chocolate cake topped with a mound of thick vanilla buttercream, while the light-green duckling squares were vanilla cake with a central layer of almond paste. Lemon cream and raspberry jam added flavor to other petits fours. Yet the bunnies stole the show by containing vanilla cake, chocolate ganache, and a heap of strawberry buttercream. The cutest treat had to be the nest, which sheltered several chocolate-covered sunflower seed eggs.

And lastly, my Easter basket was filled with the sweet treasures of my suburban-Chicago upbringing. When we lived there, my family enjoyed Fannie May candy at special times. The lack of Fannie May stores in the Northeast caused concern whenever the first holiday rolled around after our move to New Hampshire, but my parents kept the tradition alive through mail order. Each Easter, I look forward to the treats I have known since I was a little girl. Sure, pretty much any candy shop can sell you pretty foil-wrapped eggs, jellybeans, and a solid (yes, solid) chocolate bunny. Some may even have milk chocolate eggs filled with vanilla buttercream, or coconut-cream-coated chocolate buttercream eggs. But only the Fannie May versions of those confections taste “right.” To me, they’re the best-tasting candies ever, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Happy belated Easter!

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!