The Mystery Pie Is...

There's nothing more exciting than discovering a new dessert.

So when I found myself leafing through the book Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible: The New Classic Guide to Delicious Dishes with More Than 300 Recipes, I was delighted to come across a recipe for a pie that I'd never seen before, and furthermore, it prominently featured an ingredient, that while very well-known, is not strongly associated with pie or dessert. 

Thanks, P-Deeny!

And as it turns out, I have a very special person in my life who is just crazy about this ingredient. He always orders it as a side, and his speeches about what makes the ideal version of this dish can get quite involved and somewhat dramatic. 

So I told him to make the pie.

So he went to the grocery store, picked up some ingredients, and made the recipe that had so enchanted me...

Southern Grits Pie.

Basically a custard pie held together with grits, I personally was curious to hear what a grits lover would say about it. The final thoughts were:

"The finished product was very interesting. In the piece I had for breakfast, I could really see the texture working as a bar cookie, perhaps with a shortbread crust. The texture calls to mind a thick coconut pie, but the taste is different. Adding flavoring would be welcome--as it is with grits as a side. I am curious about how this pie might work with maple syrup added to the filling instead of sugar, or how it might taste with a sauce such as caramel or chocolate, or any fruit topping. But it was strong enough to stand alone--the first piece begged me to have another. A good dessert for someone who doesn't want way-out sweet."

A few more baking notes:

• I used Quaker Grits Quick 5 Minutes 
• The idea of whisking for 20 minutes was daunting, but I decided I'd just do it til they were done--less than 10 minutes. But at that point, the mixture was fairly solid so I stopped it there. Once the butter was in, it was easier to work with. But the mixture definitely wasn't pretty. The flour clumped when mixed in; I tried to use a whisk, but it was too thick. I had to mix quite a bit. It might be a good idea to sift the flour before mixing it in. 
• The baking was straightforward; I had to put foil around the edges to keep the crust for baking more rapidly than the filling. I baked mine for 38 minutes.

Southern Grits Pie (Printable recipe here)

Adapted from Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible: The New Classic Guide to Delicious Dishes with More Than 300 Recipes

Total time: 1 hour. Makes 8 servings.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup quick-cook grits (not instant)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup butermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 unbaked pie crust
• whipped cream, fruit, or whatever topping you'd like.

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 325.

In a small saucepan, bring 3/4 cup water to a boil. Slowly, whisk in the grits and salt. Cook for 20 minutes (see note, above), whisking constangly. Add the butter and cook for an extra minute. Set aside to let cool slightly.

In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Stir into the cooked grits. Pour the grits mixture into the unbaked pie crust and bake until set, 35 to 40 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

Baker's Dozen: A Batch of Sweet Links!

Unicorn plus ice cream cone = UNICONE! In pin and tote form, available in my online shop.

I like: The Cashew Cookbook. It's free online!

30 Uses for Leftover Birthday Cake. In case it ever happens, you know.

Just look at this brown sugar pear pistachio cake. Oh man.

Give me a slice of this strawberry cake.

I want: to go to the Makinaw Island Fudge Festival.

I never even knew Pawpaws existed until a few days ago. Now, I have a collection of recipes for when I get my hands on one.

Nutty: Peanut butter creme cookie cups.

Something I like to stuff my face with: spiced pecans.

You guys! A lampshade made from candy and fruit roll ups!

Pretzel toffee! Need some now please.

Speaking of pretzels, I also want some of this ice cream pretzel cake please.

And OK, I will take some popcorn cake, too.

It's almost National Pie Day. Treat yourself with a pie recipe book by a trusted source, the head of the American Pie Council: America's Best Pies: Nearly 200 Recipes You'll Love.

Cake Byte: Deathcake Royale Is Back

Deathcake is Back! 

It's that magical time of year when the Deathcake Royale comes to play at Cupcake Royale. As they describe it,

In a laboratory explosion of sheer genius, the Cupcake Royale scientists created the cult fave Deathcake Royale: Theo Chocolate decadence fused with Stumptown Espresso Ganache and accessorized with a pinch of fleur de sel.

Personally, while I loved the scale of the big version, the smaller version is still crazy delicious, and probably better for your health. I'll just eat three to make up for the dainty size, ok?

But it won't be around forever. Available 1/18-2/14. Not in Seattle? Happily, you can ship a 3-pack of Deathcake Royale to anyone in the US! 

Find out more on the Cupcake Royale website.

Batter Chatter: Interview with Ashley Foxen of Reality Bites Cupcakes

Reality Bites, but Cupcakes Are Sweet. Sounds like a wise proverb, but truthfully I just made it up to illustrate the fantastic sweetness with a humorous edge (see trompe l'oeil "pancake" cupcake, above) that goes on in the kitchen (which is then documented on the web) of Ashley Foxen, proprietress of Reality Bites Cupcakes. This sweet blog and small baking business is based in NYC, where Miss Foxen focuses on making the big apple just a little sweeter each day. 

Recently, we decided to learn a bit more about each other by conducting some e-mail interviews. Here is the link to her corresponding interview with me; and now, here are the scintillating questions I asked her, punctuated with images of her sweet cupcake creations:

First things first. Who-what-where-when-why?

Who: Ashley Foxen

What: Reality Bites Cupcakes

When: Est. September 2012

Why: I found my artsy self in the corporate world, desperately trying to find a way to fulfill my creative needs while working a full time job. For fun, I began baking for coworkers' birthdays, and it all snow balled from there! I hadn't even thought of defining myself as a "food artist" until reading CakeSpy, but I think it's perfect. I have found a way to combine my art background with my deep desire to make people happy.

How: That is a wonderful question! I work out of my apartment, which you may realize cannot be all that big in NYC. But, I have found a way to make it work by both maximizing the use of the space I have (from the counters to the windowsills) and traveling to my family's home in the suburbs for bigger, more complicated projects. Which leads me to mention my sister and mother who have been incredible helps in this whole process. They are the brains and brawn of Reality Bites.

What (in your opinion) is the finest trompe l'oeil cupcake you've ever made, and why? Hands down, it is the "bagel" cupcakes. They are an original idea, inspired by a food New York does best. These cupcakes even fool me, as I tend to crave the doughy goodness of a real bagel, when seconds earlier I was ready for dessert! They tease the taste buds more so than any other cupcake I have made.

Tell me about a life changing cupcake you've eaten. Oddly enough, I don't think it was a cupcake, but an entire chocolate cake. It was my first birthday, and instead of having to share it with everyone, my mother put the whole cake in front of me. It was a yellow cake with chocolate frosting- plain and simple- and it was all mine. I have never looked so happy as I do in the photos from that day. There is cake everywhere, particularly all over my face, hands and in my hair, but the smile on my face is priceless. How can anything top that? Clearly, I found joy in baked goods at a very young age.

If you went back 200 years in time, how would you describe the modern-day cupcake craze to our forefathers? This is a tough one. How do you explain to anyone of that time that people wait in line for hours for baked goods? I guess I would explain that the cupcake craze has caused wars in the future- go with a topic they may be familiar with. Claiming one's cupcake territory is important, and while no one has died, Cupcake Wars gets pretty intense!

What are the biggest differences between the baked goods of NYC and Paris, another place you've lived? I studied abroad in Paris and made a valiant attempt to eat my way through the City of Light. From macaroons (which NYC has since imported) to chocolate croissants, to a crepe with Nutella, I taste tested everything- a few times. There is something about the baked goods of Paris that makes them unlike those anywhere else. Everything tastes so fresh that it somehow becomes guilt free (or so I told myself). Maybe it is because things don't appear to be as mass produced there, but the treats of Paris all feel as if they are made just for you- particularly the crepe vendors on every other street that make them in front of you.  

What is your biggest dessert dream? A cup of frozen yogurt that does not melt, refills itself, and cannot give me brain freeze.

For more sweetness, visit the Reality Bites Cupcakes website; there's also a twitter feed!

Sweet Treats: White Wine Cookies Recipe

I am not a wine expert. Occasionally a birthday cake or Twinkie expert, but for me, wine is something I enjoy without necessarily having a great deal of knowledge. In fact, if I may, let me share a funny anecdote which illustrates just how much the opposite of a wine expert I am.

One day, I was at a store picking out some wine. As usual, I was scanning the shelves for cool-looking labels and then doing a cross-examination of the bottle's price. If it has a cool label and is under $10, it's great in my book. Choosing one that fit my needs, I plucked it from the shelf, only to turn around and see some dude looking at me. He then said, "you just picked that because of the label, didn't you". Note that it wasn't so much a question as a statement. Yup--busted.

That tale is meant to amuse you, but also to lead into the fact that when I received some sample bottles from SkinnyGirl wine, I wasn't 100 percent sure how to feel about them. My sister wanted to open and try some, so we did. To me, it just tasted like wine. It didn't taste lower calorie or anything, although technically, it is.

But there was one thing I was sure of, and it was that if I was going to use it for baking, I'd definitely have to fatten it up. Really, there's some logic to this: after all, if you're depriving yourself of all those precious calories in the wine, you'll have to make it up some other way, right? So now, you can have your wine and eat your cookies too.

And after a quick google search on the subject, I knew exactly how I wanted to do this: by making Italian Wine Cookies. I found a great-looking recipe here, and was happy to discover I already had all of the ingredients on hand, except anise. I don't like anise that much (personal thing), so I used vanilla extract instead.

While it's possible that mixing with a stand mixer instead of by hand made the texture of my cookies a little different, I've got to tell you that taste-wise, they came out very well. This is an intriguing cookie--not extremely sweet, 

Ciambelline - Printable recipe here!

Adapted from Olive and Owl

Makes about 30

• 3 1/2 cups of flour 
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon of anise
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 1/2 cup of white wine
•  a little extra wine and sugar for topping

Procedure

In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.

Then pour in the wine and oil and mix by hand or on low speed with an electric mixer until it becomes a dough. It will be a fairly stiff dough. Roll the dough out to about 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into strips about the thickness and length of your index finger, about 3 inches long and 1/2 wide. 

Wrap the strip of dough around your finger and crimp the ends shut.

Then place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes at 350 until golden and crisp. Note: these will be fairly hard--they are a dunking cookie.

Not necessary, but if you'd like, mix some more wine and a little confectioners' sugar to make a glaze; also not necessary but cute, why not top with sprinkles?

Cake Byte: New Play in NYC, Food Acts

Bonjour, sweeties! Here's a food byte that may be of interest to those who love to eat--a limited run play about FOOD, in NYC! Here's the 411 from the press release.

FOODACTS: A New Play Conceived and Directed by Barbara Bosch. 

FOODACTS is a culinary stage adventure which explores our primal connections to food and its power to unite. Through an entertaining encounter with established novels, colorful poetry, historic essays, personal letters and other literary works by Langston Hughes, Proust, Homer, and Dickens, among others, FOODACTS serves up the joys of food and eating.  It goes beyond the mere palate, revealing how human beings relate to and obsess over food from as far back as The Bible to today.  In this era of myriad reality television shows devoted to virtuosic food preparation, and vast amounts of newsprint concerned with the latest cooking innovations and restaurant reviews…now is the time for FOODACTS!

Sounds like fun to me, doesn't it to you? Here are the deets, in case you're interested:

Where: The Lion Theatre – Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street, NYC

When: February 6-24, 2013 – 16 Performances:
Wednesday-Saturday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm & Sunday at 3pm
(no performances on Sun. 2/10 or Wed. 2/13) The run time for FOODACTS is approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.

Cost: Tickets are $18 (+fees) and can be purchased by visiting Telecharge.com or by calling 212-239-6200.

More info:www.FOODACTS.com

Yippee: Discover the Apee Cookie

Have you ever heard of an Apee, or AP? 

Although I respect the organizations, it has nothing to do with the grocery store A&P, or the Associated Press (AP). 

Nope: the Apee is a cookie I recently discovered. 

Curious, I hit the web, and the books. Here's what I discovered.

First, the The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America: 2-Volume Set, which notes: 

"A recipe for apees, a rolled cutout cookie made with caraway seeds, sometimes called "seed cakes," first appeared in Eliza Leslie's Seventy-Five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats (1828). Another version, known as "apeas," was based on German Anis Platchen (anise cookies), and Philadelphia bakers commonly sold them on the streets. Apeas became associated with Ann Page, a popular baker who stamped her initials, A.P., on the cookies. Anise is still a common flavoring used in a variety of cookies, ranging from old recipes for apeas to simple cutout cookies and ethnic specialties like German Springerles..."

Encyclopedia of Food and Drink by John Mariani, describes it like this: "Apee. Also "apea" and, in the plural "eepies." A spiced butter cookie or form of gingerbread. Legend has it that the word derives from the name of Ann Page, a Philadelphia cook who carved her initials into the tops of the confection. This was first noted in print in J.F. Watson's Annals of Philadelphia (1830) to the effect that Ann Page, then still alive, "first made [the cookies] many years ago, under the common name of cakes.'" 

Oddly though, the recipe I found for Apees does not include caraway seeds or spices. Nor did it call for stamping the letters (although I guess it wouldn't if that was one person's signature move). Nor did it include standardized measurements.

"Apees (Ice Cream and Cakes) 1 pound of butter 1 1/2 pounds of flour 1 pound of sugar 1 gill of milk Cream the butter and sugar; sift in the flour, then the milk, and stir it to a dough; turn it out on the moulding-board, and work to a fine dough again. Roll into sheets, as thick as a dollar piece, cut into small cakes, lay them on tins, and bake in a cool oven." --- Mrs. Rorer's Philadelphia Cook Book, 1886

Nonetheless, I decided to give it a try. So I evolved the old recipe into this recipe. Here's another that looks like they probably hit the mark more accurately, though!

Not Necessarily Historically Acurate Apees

• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon milk

Cream the butter and sugar; sift in the flour and mix, bit by bit, until incorporated. Roll into sheets, and cut into small cakes (I just dropped rounded teaspoons-ful onto a baking sheet). Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, or until crispy on the sides and bottom.

I made the cookies as drop cookies, but perhaps I should have done them as rolled or bar cookies. Who knows, dude. But either way, even though they weren't quite evenly crispy on the sides and middle, they still tasted good. Basic, but plenty buttery, they actually glistened with butter when taken out from the oven, and there may or may not have been the most tantalizing slight butter-sizzle as they were removed from heat. They became crisp as they cooled; when I garnished a nice bowl (not cup; bowl) of ice cream with a couple of these crispy cookies, I had absolutely no complaints. No complaints whatsoever. 

Either way, I think it's always fun to discover a "lost" recipe!

Five Interesting Baked Good Patents That Actually Exist

Not so long ago, finding myself in an extended airport layover, I did what any normal person would do: I started looking up unusual patents pertaining to baked goods. Trust me, there are a ton. Imagining everything that goes into pursuing a patent for a method or invention absolutely boggles my mind--there's a lot more to it than simply having an idea and saying "OK, patent me!". Months--sometimes years--of work go into the process. That is to say--these people really wanted to patent their idea.

The thing that I wish I had more information about is documentation of how and when the patents might have been applied to products; sadly, this information is not immediately available. Please, let me know if you might have any thoughts!

But in the meantime, here are just a few patents that caught my eye:

US Patent 5,374,438 (1994): QUICK-SETTING SANDWICH BISCUIT CREAM FILLINGS.

Held by: Nabisco

What it is: quick-setting sandwich biscuit cream fillings that resist misalignment, smearing and decapping. 

More info than you needed: Sandwich cookies and crackers occupy a significant place in the world biscuit market. Typically, two identical biscuits (the shells or basecakes) contain a layer of sweet or savory fat cream filling....

The fat component of sandwich cookie and cracker cream fillings affects not only the eating character of the product, but other important aspects of process and quality. The sandwich cream filling should be firm at ambient temperature to maintain product shape and not squeeze out on handling or when bitten, yet have organoleptic properties allowing rapid melting in the mouth to release ingredients giving maximum flavor sensation without greasiness. The sandwich cream filling should adhere to the biscuits so that the basecakes do not become misaligned or smeared, and the product does not fall apart (known as splitting or decapping) in production or after storage. 

It would be desirable to have sandwich biscuit cream fillings that accomplish these goals without the use of bonding agents or specialized manufacturing equipment. 

- - - - -

US Patent 5,532,017 (1996) MELT RESTRICTED MARSHMALLOWS

What it is: a marshmallow confection product having melt resistant properties. 

More info than you needed: Typical marshmallow products cannot be used in high temperature processes, such as baking, due to their inability to retain identity and texture under elevated temperatures that are standard in baking conditions, i.e., 350.degree. F. for 20 minutes. Upon exposure to heat, marshmallow air cells expand and the gelatin destabilizes causing the air cells to collapse and reducing the marshmallow to a syrupy liquid state that dissolves into the bakery medium. This property has limited the use of marshmallows as a baking ingredient due to loss of product attributes which identify the marshmallow ingredient. 

- - - - -

US Patent 5,860,358 (1998): CONE CAKE BAKING APPARATUS. 

What it is: A cone cake baking apparatus comprising: a horizontal baking tin having a plurality of circular openings, a vertical first side wall, and a vertical second side wall; and the first and second side walls each having a securing portion.

More info than you needed: While it is well known in the prior art to utilize cup cake trays for baking cupcakes, the public domain does not contain an adequate apparatus for baking cone cakes. In particular, in order to cook a cone cake having a pointed bottom with available apparatus, it is necessary to fill the cone with cake material and place the cone cakes in a vertical position, lying down, on a cookie sheet. Moreover, while standard cupcake trays will more easily facilitate a flat bottom cone, baking such cones in cupcake trays often results in spillage or tipping of the cones during the baking process. 

- - - - -

US Patent 3,649,304 (1972): REFRIGERATED SOLID BATTER .

What it is: A refrigerated solid batter for making flour based products, such as cakes, cookies, muffins, bread and the like, and the process for making same generally consisting of mixing gelatin or other stabilizing agent of similar characteristics with fluid and dry ingredients to which is added chemical leaveners, such as a basic and an acid leavener, mixing same in liquid state before solidification of the stabilizer, sealing the batter in a container and refrigerating the same at a temperature below the melting point of the stabilizer to solidify same for marketing same as a refrigerated product.

More info than you needed: Packaged dry mixes for making bread, pancakes, cakes, cookies and other like food products have become very popular by reason of the convenience afforded the housewife in preparation and cooking such products. These convenience products have all the ingredients therein necessary to the cooking or baking of the finished product with the exception of the fluid such as milk or water, and in many instances fresh eggs must be added thereto and the product stirred and mixed in suitable form for grilling or baking. In the case of rolls or biscuits the dough must be rolled out and cut before placing it in the pan and in the case of cake the batter must be beat for a predetermined period, either by hand or by mechanical mixer, thus requiring a considerable amount of time and effort and the cleaning up of kitchen utensils, such as mixing bowls, spoons, beaters, mixers, etc., after the preparation of the product, which results in considerable effort and inconvenience on the part of the housewife. 

No satisfactory means has heretofore been provided for stabilizing premixed cake batter to give it commercial value. In the process and product hereinafter described premixed cake batter is solidified with a reversible stabilizing agent to achieve bacteriological, chemical and physical stability to provide a prepared, packaged, ready-to-cook batter which may be preserved for a prolonged period of time and when cooked provides a product of good texture and palatability. 

- - - - -

US Patent 6,410,073: MICROWAVEABLE SPONGE CAKE, and US Patent 6,410,074 (2001): Method for making a microwaveable sponge cake 

What it is: a mesophase-containing sponge cake which rises and forms a palatable, light sponge cake when prepared in a microwave oven, yielding a snack food-type products which can easily be prepared by the consumer. 

More info than you needed: Sponge cakes are a desirable dessert products. Generally, oven-rising sponge cakes are limited to those for use in a conventional oven and are not as convenient as desired. Microwaved cereal products such as breads and cakes are generally not pleasing to the palate. Microwave heating is generally uneven and, therefore, promotes the rapid onset of staleness and toughness in such cereal products. 

Microwaved sponge cakes and products are especially desirable as snack foods (e.g., after school snacks). Such sponge cake batters could be sold directly in, for example, cupcake cups and stored in the freezer until until prepared in a microwave oven. Such products would be attractive to the consumer and convenient to use. Indeed, such sponge cake products could be easily prepared by children. 

Pastry Profiles: Muffins at Linda's Seabreeze Cafe, Santa Cruz CA

Normally, there is not much ado about muffins for me. I mostly consider them ugly, inferior and worst of all unfrosted cupcakes.

But every now and again, I am impressed. When I recently got breakast at a place called Linda's Seabreeze Cafe in Santa Cruz (also called "Linda's" by locals, I observed), I was offered either toast or a homemade muffin with my omelette. Well, a homemade muffin certainly sounded more interesting than toast, so I ordered one to see what it was all about.

Apparently they have a different flavor every day; on the day of my visit, it was butterscotch. A good start.

Now, I have to tell you, that in spite of my not-so-great photos, this was a truly fantastic muffin. It was served piping hot, and gently steamed when I cut it in half. The butter melted as I spread it, such was the warmth. 

Like a quick bread studded with butterscotch and topped with a delectable streusel topping, this muffin was completely satisfying, and, true to my instinct, much more interesting than toast. In fact, it was absolutely delicious, sweet and just a touch salty on the streusel topping--an addictive and highly enjoyable flavor combination. Mostly consisting of top with a little tiny bottom, it had an ideal ratio of "stuff on the top" to sort of disinteresting bottom.

Final word: if you go to this beachside cafe, you've gotta get the muffins.

Seabreeze Cafe, 542 Seabright Avenue, Santa Cruz CA; online here. 

Three Cakes that Seriously Made My Day

You know what I love best about the weekend? Lounging in my pajama jeans and browsing the interwebz for pretty pictures of cake, that's what! And on this dreary-weather Sunday, here are three that made me smile:

First up, a Lisa Frank-inspired Unicorn cake, by Amanda Oakleaf Cake Designs in Massachusetts. It's pictured above. I mean, seriously!

Cake by Whipped BakeshopSecond, I'm in "LOVE" with this Philadelphia-themed cake by Whipped Bakeshop! It was created for a corporate event, but it's anything but cookie-cutter, featuring some of Philadelphia's sweetest landmarks!

Thirdly, though this cake isn't new, I came across it again today and it made me smile. A gorgeous pattern, done by Eat Cake! in Newburyport, Massachusetts. And may I also use this space to congratulate them on their move to an even more fantastic location? The cakes are still to die for, though!

Pastry Pen Pals and Fudge-Filled Dessert Strips Recipe

I have a friend. A very special one. To prove how special he is, I'll show you something that he made me one day. Dear god were they good. The bottom part is a brownie, and the top part kind of tastes like the inside of a Cadbury Creme Egg. When I asked for the recipe, he said kindly but firmly, NO. 

Well, I never. But luckily, he has other good qualities. One of them is that he enjoys the life of a Cake Gumshoe, and when he visits Philadelphia, he's willing to go on long bakery jaunts with me.

And on a recent tour of the East Passyunk area of Philadelphia, we tried this cookie at Varallo Brothers Pasticceria. While it may slightly resemble a Fig Newton, I need to tell you that it was a million times better because it was filled with chocolate. 

And as a side note, we also got a cannoli. 

I should further mention that this was all after a slice of pizza from the weirdest pizza place in the world, La Rosa Pizza. Let's just say David Lynch would love this pizza place.

But I digress. Back to that cookie. That beautiful chocolate stuffed cookie. At the bakery they just said it was a "chocolate slice", but it seemed to resemble one called cuccidati (though it is traditionally filled with fig, and I don't think there was secret fig in this cookie...or was there?).

At any rate, it was a highly enjoyable experience.

So when my friend returned back home, we were delighted to play a little bit of pastry pen pal. I found a recipe (via the book Taste of Home Baking: 125 Bake-Sale Favorites!) for something called "Fudge Filled Dessert Strips", which sounded similar enough to call to mind that tasty chocolate slice. I sent him the recipe, and he made it and sent me pictures so I could share it with you, dear readers.

The cookies are reported as being "extremely dense and decadent", but surprisingly easy to make. The dough was rather easy to work with, he reports, and the finished product perfect with ice cream for dessert, or rather tasty for an indulgent breakfast.

You see, in this pastry pen pal relationship everyone wins, because he got to have a baking adventure and a delicious dessert, and I got a great recipe to post. But wait...where's my dessert? Well, ok, maybe not everyone wins. 

But you can be a winner by making a batch! Here's the recipe with some adaptations from the original.

Fudge-Filled Dessert Strips - Printable Recipe here!

Adapted from Taste of Home Baking: 125 Bake-Sale Favorites!

Makes about 3 dozen

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups chopped pecans (original recipe called for walnuts)
• confectioners' sugar, optional

In a large bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually add flour and mix well. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth, about 3 minutes. Divide dough into fourths; cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours, or until easy to handle.

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips with milk; stir until smooth. Stir in the nuts. Cool to room temperature.

Roll out each portion of dough on to an ungreased baking sheet into an 11x6.5 inch rectangle. Spread 3/4 cup of the filling down the center of each rectangle. Fold long sides to the center; press to seal all the edges. Turn over so the seam sides are down.

Bake at 350 degrees for 27-32 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Cut into 1/2 inch slices. Dust with confectioners' sugar if desired. 

CakeSpy Undercover: Dragonfly Cafe and Bakery, Taos NM

Not so very long ago, I visited a magical place called Taos, New Mexico. It's a place famous for a few things

It also has a bookstore called Moby Dickens and another store called Unicorn School Supply. And it is the home of Taos Cow. So naturally I liked it there.

I also heard it is the occasional home of Julia Roberts, but she's not always beloved there. But I digress.

While there, I heard over and over that I simply had to visit a place called Dragonfly Cafe and Bakery. Well, if you tell me I should go to a bakery, chances are, I will--immediately. So over I walked.

Here's how it looks from the outside. It looks kind of enchanted, behind all of the desert plants, doesn't it? I'm sure it's even more so in the summertime. 

When I walked in with a friend, it was very quiet, and we thought maybe it was closed. It's more a restaurant in the front part. But as we walked back, we found the pastry case. Oh, hello.

They had a lot of good-lookin' stuff, and while we browsed the offerings, we were offered free dragonfly-shaped cookies. Very nice.

Of course, it soon was revealed why the cookies are complimentary--because everything else is so expensive! We got a slice of the chocolate cake with red wine-soaked cherries, and a chocoalte salted caramel tart. And a coffee. And the bill came to nearly $20. Yowch!

But gosh-darn were they good. If the picture doesn't give you the idea, let me tell you that this cake was a pure chocolate-filled bite of heaven. And since it has cherries on the top, it's probably OK to consider it health food.

But as for the salted caramel tart.

I'll tell the truth, I found the crust pleasant, but it was the filling, oh the filling, that made it memorable! The perfect marriage of dark, bittersweet chocolate with smooth, velvety caramel. Topped with salt to bring that beautiful flavor combination home, all in your mouth. This was one of those "oh can I please eat my weight in it" sorts of foods.

Oh, one more shot!

Based on the price, I would not call Dragonfly Cafe and Bakery an everyday type of bakery/dessert spot. Consider it more a fancy dessert place, or a place to get dinner and dessert in style. But most importantly, enjoy!

402 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, Taos, NM; online here.

Baker's Dozen: A Batch of Sweet Links!

I do not care that Christmas is over. I still enjoy seeing this post about Gingerbread cookies hanging, and seeing my ornament featured in the post!

Sweet spot I wanna visit: Mae's Cafe in Maine.

Best winter desserts? A nice list here.

Um...you had me at butter sauce.

How to cream butter.

Lychee butter cake? I am intrigued.

Ravioli that's totally sweet...cos they're actually cookies!

The Nora Ephron cookie.

A candy bowl...made of...candy.

What to do with leftover egg yolks. 

Sweet: a new iPad magazine that celebrates the beauty and sweetness of life.

Tasty cake: made with olive oil, no less!

Dessert trends in 2013. What do you think?

In case you missed my awesome news, something amazing is coming on May 7!

Sweet Snackadium

I don't so much watch the Super Bowl as I go to the parties to eat the food and watch the commercials.

But when I was offered the opportunity to make a "Snackadium", or a sports stadium comprised of snacks, I thought...well, that's the kind of sports I can embrace, because this project would involve sweets and cuteness.

I decided that for my Snackadium, I would make it the most interesting sport I could think of: How to Catch a Unicorn. 

I think it came out pretty cute, although if you have follow up questions such as "how is the unicorn scoring a goal if the object of the game is to capture a unicorn?", well, I am going to answer your question by saying "no follow up questions, please."

So, don't focus on the inconsistencies: focus on the cutness.

And the tastiness. The "field" is actually Pillsbury pizza dough, topped with green-tinted coconut which is held in place by sweetened condensed milk. The result is something like "coconut toast", a sweet I enjoyed in St. Louis, MO. 

Lining the goal-posts are little nuggets of pure tastiness made using Pillsbury Crescent rolls, but instead of using them the classic way, I cut them into strips and rolled them up with a delicious cream cheese, cinnamon and sugar mixture. Nom nom.

The "benches" are really devil dogs, and the viewers are mostly teddy bear snaped snack crackers. Now if that's not cute and tasty I don't know what is!

I guess before I tell you how to make it I'll put in the disclaimer: I have partnered with Pillsbury through DailyBuzz to help promote their Crescent Roll and Pizza Crust products. I have been compensated for my time commitment to work with this product. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments. Thank you Pillsbury for this awesome opportunity to create a Snackadium!

Snackadium Royale

For the field

• 3 cups sweetened shredded coconut, tinted green
• 6 ounces sweetened condensed milk (more or less)
• 1 tube Pillsbury classic pizza dough

For the end zones and score sign

• 1 tube Crescent Rolls
• Cream cheese
• Cinnamon and brown sugar

For decorating:

• 1 devil dog, sliced in half
• 1 (empty) box Funfetti cake mix
• Cutouts (downloadable here)
• Character crackers for viewers

To make the field

Preheat oven to 400.

Meantime, spread the pizza dough into a jelly roll type pan. 

Pre-bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven, but keep the heat on. 

Place 1-inch strips of parchment paper at intervals on the dough. This will "mask" it so that it will reveal white dough for the "end lines". 

Gently, so as not to disturb the parchment, spread a small quantity of sweetened condensed milk on top. Sprinkle with tinted green coconut. 

Bake for 8 more minutes before removing from the oven.

Let cool completely before removing the parchment strips. Remove any excess bits of green from the "lines".

To make the score sign

Preheat the oven to 375.

Remove and unroll crescent rolls from the tube. Cut one of the pre-scored "rectangles" out from the four that you'll see (each comprised of two triangle halves). Cut off 1/3 of the rectangle. 

Using your fingers, smoosh the score marks together so that you have one rectangle a little smaller than a pop-tart. 

Smear cream cheese over the rectangle, leaving about 3/4 inch clean on all sides. Score using a dull knife so that the cream cheese is in a "frame". This will keep the center part from puffing up too much.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes or until golden.

Decorate with gel icing or with cutouts which can be adhered with frosting.

To make the end zone liners

Using the remaining dough, score the remaining three rectangles into three long strips each. Spread with cream cheese, and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Roll up like little jelly rolls. Do the same for the short pieces of dough remaining from the rectangle you cut to make the score board.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes, or until golden. Some of the filling may ooze out. It's OK.

Once cooled, slice in half horizontally. Place halves, facing up, along the edges of the "field". You might have an extra one. Eat it.

Assembly

Cut an empty cake mix box in half vertically. Shorten each side so it is your desired height. You can use the strips you snipped off to shorten the boxes to add a divider within the seats (so you can have two rows of viewers).

Fill each empty box with tissue paper or rice to add height, and add "viewers" of your choosing--cutouts, animal shaped crackers, etc.

Place either half of your sliced devil dog in front of the seating box, cut side toward the back. These will be your "benches". Place more viewers on top; place a toothpick behind them if necessary to keep them in place.

Create your goal posts--I used a straw to make mine. Skewers would work, too.

If you would like to use my idea of the unicorn chasing game, I have created a downloadable PDF of my artwork here. You can cut them out and use them, too!

Pastry Profiles: Carrot Muffin, El Tesoro Cafe, Santa Fe NM

I've never known a muffin like this before.

I met this muffin at a place called El Tesoro, which is located in the Sanbusco Market Center in the Guadalupe District of Santa Fe. Per the Sanbusco Center website, "This treasure, as the name El Tesoro implies, has been serving food to Santa Feans for the past ten years.  Breakfast and lunch are served daily.  The menus are a beautiful blend of New Mexican, Central American and American entrees; it is a local’s favorite for fresh guacamole, great green chile, pupusas, salvadorean tamales, salads and salmon tacos.  The food is prepared fresh daily with items made to order."

Now, a New Mexican-Central American eatery wouldn't be the place I'd expect to find a top-tier muffin...or to have a muffin on the menu at all...but that's just what they have here.

It's a carrot zucchini muffin you see in the picture above, and while the taste is just fantastic--spicy, lightly sweet, very moist--what is really intriguing about this muffin is the texture.

It's soft and cakey on the inside, but has a firm yet silky-smooth crust on the exterior. It's almost like the exterior of a popover. It makes you want to keep eating just for another bite of that perfect texture. How on earth did they do it? I would love to know!

But mostly, I'd like to eat another, and soon!

El Tesoro, 500 Montezuma Avenue, at the Sanbusco Center; online here.

Trophy Cupcakes now offering Gluten-Free Red Velvet Cupcakes

If you're gluten-free, and you're in Seattle, then it's time to let out a big cheer.

Why? Because Trophy Cupcakes is now offering their splendid Red Velvet cupcake in a gluten-free variety!

As they put it,

"We've got lots of gluten-free friends. So we've been busy developing, testing and tasting recipes for a truly "Trophy worthy" gluten-free cupcake. And we've finally done it! Gluten-free Red Velvet is here.

Traditional Red Velvet has always been our top selling cupcake, so we wanted it to be our first gluten-free flavor. Available throughout January, these g-free masterpieces feature moist gluten-free Red Velvet cake, topped with our super yummy cream cheese frosting. They're gluten-free and fabulous!"

Available at all Trophy Cupcakes locations; visit their website for more information.

CakeSpy Visits Hershey, Pennsylvania

Can you guess where I got this sweet treat?

If you guessed Hershey's Chocolate World, you'd be correct. I followed in Milton Hershey's steps for the journey, starting out in Philadelphia, which just so happens to be where he opened his first store:

...but then, unlike Milton, who probably had a different mode of transport in his time, I hopped in a car with a friend and headed westward to Hershey.

On the way, I couldn't help but stop for a store called Dutch Haven:

This is a magical place where, upon walking in, they give you a small slice of complimentary Shoofly Pie:

...and then we continued on to the Hershey attractions. When you get there, the first thing you'll notice is that the streetlights are capped with decorative Hershey's Kisses on them.

And the streets have names like "Chocolate Avenue". Forget Electric Avenue, this is the street I wanna rock down to. That's the Hershey factory in the back, by the way.

Now, it's time to walk into the Welcome Center. You'll see a big desk where you can sign up for activities such as "Create Your own Candy Bar", "Chocolate Tasting Adventure", and "Dessert Creation Studio". Most of the activities, you have to pay for.

While deciding which activities to do, we hit the gift shop. There, you'll find an amazing array of Hershey's products, with dramatic displays. It's very special to have a chance to walk around a land so laden with candy.

We decided on the (free) intro tour, officially called "Hershey's Great American Chocolate Tour" followed by the (pay for it) trolley tour.

The intro tour was sweetly hokey, and very fun. I mean...singing cows. I love it!

Oh, and they give you candy at the end!

Between the tour and the trolley ride, we hit the bake shop in the welcome center, where you can get sweets made using various Hershey products, such as cookies, parfaits, and more. Mental note: let's come back here after the trolley tour.

And on to the Trolley Tour it was. Unfortunately, the museum (a more historical attraction) wasn't open on the date of our visit, but we were able to take the Trolley tour, which is a kind of song-and-dance tour around town wherein actors perform and between songs and gags, explain some of the history of the town and show you some of the sights, including the school Milton Hershey founded, his private house, his birthplace, and of course the factory.

Off the trolley with our ears ringing from all that singing, we decided it was time for a sweet treat before heading back home. We settled on a cookie and a frozen hot chocolate. The dark chocolate cookie, which the employee informed me was made with Hershey's Special Dark cocoa, was a pleasant cookie. Fueled with sugar, we were ready to head back to Philadelphia.

Oh, but before I forget... if on your trip you've gotten your clothes covered with melted chocolate, you could go here to have them cleaned. Even the dry cleaner's logo looks like a candy bar!

Have fun--go visit Hershey! Find out more here.

CakeSpy Undercover: Rebel Donut, Albuquerque NM

When, with a rebel yell, she cried mo', mo', mo'...I'm pretty sure she was talking about donuts.

And if she was in Albuquerque, she was probably talking about Rebel Donut, a very cool place for donuts in the Land of Enchantment.

As their website entices, "Rebel Donut is Albuquerque's premier artisan donut and pastry shop specializing in designer donuts, baked goods, coffee and more. We pride ourselves in using quality ingredients to create worthwhile indulgence. Our menu consists of over 30 flavors that change daily. Come in and try our Maple Bacon, Rocky Road, Red Velvet Rebels, Raised Glazed, Fritters and much, much more. Come on....be a rebel."

Avec plaisir!

And it's not hard to love them from the get-go, with a donut counter filled with holey treats as bountiful as this:

Ranging from the old standards to the new and funky, Rebel Donut has a lot of choices.

And of course, because it's New Mexico, they have a flavor inspired by the Official State Cookie, the biscochito:

As well as a donut containing green chile, a staple food in the state.

And with a nod to the famous TV show which takes place and is filmed in Albuquerque, a "Breaking Bad" themed donut, complete with blue rock candy to resemble crystal meth (it's actually pretty cute):

Well. After much deliberation, we decided on a few flavors: a "birthday cake", glazed vanilla cake, and maple walnut. The donuts were affordable--I forget exactly how much each one was, but the total was less than $4 for everything.

These donuts, while not so rebellious in the taste department, were quite good and fairly traditional donuts. And that is a good thing, people! Slightly on the soft side (not as much of a crispy "crust" as some donuts). Nice and cakey and soft inside. Delicately vanilla-scented dough. Very nice icings and frostings.

A very nice pit stop for holey treats if you find yourself in Albuquerque, and the shop's decor is fun, too.

Rebel Donut, 2435 Wyoming Blvd., Albuquqerque NM; online here.

Sweet Cause: Sell Girl Scout Cookies to Molly Moon's Ice Cream!

What a sweet (and fun) way to support the Scouts! This Friday, Molly and her staff will be buying a ton of cookies right from the scouts--but if you want to sell, you'd better have a good pitch for why they should buy yours, because the better the reason, the more boxes they'll buy! Per the Molly Moon's Ice Cream newsletter:

This Friday, January 11th, Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream is stocking up on a year's supply of Thin Mint cookies for delicious Scout Mint ice cream!  This means all Western Washington Girl Scouts have the opportunity to sell cookies directly to Molly and her team at three Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream locations: Capitol Hill, Wallingford and Queen Anne.  Molly Moon's will buy 84,000 Thin Mint cookies to support sending girls to summer camp!  Once a scout, always a scout, Molly looks forward to this fun-filled cookie buying spree each year!
Girl Scouts - prepare your best pitches and we'll see you after 3pm this Friday!   

A few fun facts:

Moon's most recent cookie purchase was more than $21,000 of Thin Mint cookies.  Moon always buys this delicious ingredient directly from individual scouts, which recently helped 35 girls earn "Camperships" to Girl Scout Camp.  

Molly Moon's "Scout" Mint ice cream is our most popular flavor for kids.  Blending Thin Mints with local dairy from happy, health, hormone-free cows and organic peppermint from central Oregon.  

Moon, a Girl Scout herself, attended camp for 11 years and values her time at camp as some of her most empowering life experiences. 

Two-thirds of female members of Congress and 80% of American women business owners were Girl Scouts! 

For more information and locations, visit the Molly Moon's website.

Sweet Story: Andree's Waffalloons

Photos: Andree's WaffalloonsSweet carbohydrates to eat are awesome. Nobody is arguing that. They are things to be loved.

But there is something that makes me, personally, love some a little better than others: a great story.

Photo: Andree's WaffalloonsIt can be a little story, like "this is a cookie recipe my grandma always used to make"...or it could be a BIG story, like the one behind Chiffon cake. Either way, it just makes your food taste better to know its story. Or at least, it does for me.

So when I accidentally discovered "Andree's Waffalloons" while doing some research about interesting sweet treats in Connecticut (yes...that's what I do), I was delighted to discover a Belgian Waffle operation in the Hartford area, but that delight was tripled when I discovered the fantastic story behind those syrup pocketed rounds of tastiness, as seen on their website:

It's post-war 1946.  After surviving the invasion of her hometown, Andrée Henrion falls in love with and marries a US Soldier, Richard Fantin. Now she is traveling by ship, alone, from Belgium to New York City, to reunite with her husband. Andrée was born and raised in Belgium’s WALLONIA sector, has never traveled, and speaks only French. Among her few belongings she carries her family’s legacy…a compilation of incredible Belgian recipes. 

Fast forward five children and 53 years later... its 1999 and Richard has been at rest for 16 years. Andrée’s youngest, Claudette, who now has all the treasured recipe books, relocates from New Jersey to Florida, to be with her new found love. Tragically, in the chaos of the move, the recipes are lost! Thankfully, Claudette and her siblings have committed to memory the ingredients and process for making their mother’s delectable authentic Belgian waffles!

Fast forward again nine years later…it’s 2008, and Claudette, owner of Andrée’s Creations LLC (a floral design business named for her mother who passed five years prior), decides to share Andrée’s waffles with the world. But what to name them???? Well, what do you get when you combine a waffle and a Walloon??? And so, the Waffalloon was born!

Andrée’s Waffalloons are unlike any other Belgian waffle you will ever eat. They’re sweet and scrumptious and really do taste best undressed. The Waffalloon’s rich history of far away loves, losses and childhood memories are secret ingredients that simply can’t be duplicated.

So sit back, and taste the love! Ooh, La, La!!!!!

I'm sorry...but isn't that just the sweetest story ever?

I don't know about you, but it made me want to have a mouth full of their waffles (yes, I just paused to give the sound and look of that phrase a good hard look). Well, I can, and you can too, by visiting their website. While they will do special orders in the Hartford area, others can order online: find them here.