Black Cake for Dad

My father is the only person I know who actually likes fruitcake. He used to share the love of it with my grandmother (my mother's mother), and the two of them would share fruitcake in the winter and mocha almond ice cream in the summer.

A few years ago, when my friend Annabelle of Calamity Shazaam in the Kitchen game me a sliver of black cake (literally a sliver, but it was so rich, I ate it over a few days - ok, it was probably more like a few hours), I knew I had found a kind of fruitcake that I could get behind, and one that I wouldn't mind baking.

And then I promptly forgot about it.

The idea of black cake popped back into my head for some reason this summer, and so I decided I would embark on the task of making some for my father for his birthday. I got the fruit soaking in rum, and then I had a hard time finding enough time to bake the cake, so the fruit ended up sitting for 3 weeks or so. The recipe says 3 to 5 days, but from what I've read, it's really a the-longer-the-better thing. The recipe also calls for soaking the baked cakes in more rum, but I personally don't like cakes with too much of a strong rum flavor, so I left that part out. The cakes have been fine in the freezer/fridge without the extra alcohol to keep them.

Since giving these cakes to my father a little over a month ago, he's already finished two of the four and is currently making his way through the third. Guess I'll have to bake him some more for Christmas.

Black Cake from Trinigourmet via Bite Me New England

Fruit Base
1 lb pitted prunes, chopped
1 lb raisins, chopped
1 lb currants
1 bottle dark rum
(I also added a few chopped apricots I had laying around)

Combine these in a large glass bowl at least 3 days before baking the cake. Cover and store in a cool, dry place.

Cake
1 lb brown sugar
1/2 cup boiling water
1 lb butter
1 lb sugar
8 eggs
2 tsp lime zest
2 tsp almond extract
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 lb flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 tsp mixed spice (I used something like 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cloves)

Blend fruit base in a blender or with an immersion blender. It should be thick and just a little chunky, like tomato sauce.

In a large pot, heat brown sugar over medium-high heat until caramelized (it will take on a darker quality). Add hot water carefully and mix well. Set aside to cool. This product is called browning. (I worked quickly so I didn't worry about it hardening, but apparently that can be an issue - watch out for it so you can get it out of the pan!)

Preheat oven to 250° (yes, I said two-fifty). Grease and line with parchment 4 8-inch round cake pans (you can play around the sizes and shapes as you'd like - I think this would be great in a bundt shape).

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs gradually, mixing to combine, then add zest and extracts. Sift together dry ingredients, then slowly add them to the creamed mixture. Mix in pureed fruit base and browning.

Pour batter into prepared pans (you don't have to worry too much about them rising). Bake for 3 hours (yes, 3 hours - it's only 250°, remember?). Cool in pans slightly before removing. If you're going to soak them in rum, now's the time.

Mmm Cake

That is all.

Farewell Dollhouse

My friends and I enjoy throwing pop culture-themed parties. First there was the all-day Firefly viewing party, then the Lord of the Rings weekend (those movies drag a little when you watch all three extended versions back to back to back), and of course, the party for the ill-fated Drive, complete with Matchbox cars for everyone. So what better way to celebrate (perhaps mourn is a better word?) Dollhouse then with themed food and drinks.

Ann made a rich chocolate cake, and the plain frosting seemed like a perfect place to get in a little Dollhouse. We drew on the dolls' beds, with the dolls nested safely inside. When it came time to eat the cake, I felt odd asking for the piece with Echo on it, but I liked how she came out the most. It was like asking for the slice with the frosting rose, only... you know, a person.

Activities were planned for the evening as well (besides watching the episodes Epitaph One and Epitaph Two): bonsai trimming, fingerpainting, and yoga (all of which the dolls do in the dollhouse). We also printed out these awesome paper dolls and had some fun taking pictures of them. Above, some of the dolls are posed with our Dollhouse-themed drinks. My favorite, though, may be Topher and his drawer of inappropriate starches. All the pictures are here.

Plans are underway for a Joss-verse-themed birthday party for a friend in May. I'm already itching to bake some Fruity Oaty Bars and drink from my Kiss the Librarian mug. What else should we make?

Dollhouse Cocktails

The Wedge
3 parts vodka
1 part Midori
4 parts Sprite
lemon and lime wedges
Combine over ice in a pint glass.

The Imprint
3 parts gin
2 parts PAMA (pomegranate liqueur)
1 part pineapple juice
3 parts seltzer
Combine over ice in a pint glass.

The Attic
2 parts vodka
2 parts gin
1 part blue curacao
1 part pineapple juice
3 parts seltzer
1/2 lime
Combine over ice in a glass, then cover with plastic wrap and drink through a straw.

Girl Scout Cookie Creations 2010

As I mentioned last year, I am a Girl Scout. Like, still a Girl Scout. Like, a lifetime member of Girl Scouts. So when Girl Scout cookie time rolls around, I'm always excited to buy a box or twelve. (It helps that my niece is now a scout and gave me a box of Thin Mints for Christmas - like a drug pusher, she is. First taste is free...)

Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts has, for a few years now, put together an event called Girl Scout Cookie Creations. They ask local chefs to create recipes using Girl Scout cookies, and then they throw a big bash where people consume inordinate amounts of sugar. This year, they split the event into two nights - one in Salem and one in Boston. I only attended the Boston event, but from looking at the recipes, the night in Salem sounded just as delicious.

My friend Melody, who went through all 12 years of Girl Scouts with me, and I arrived right at the beginning of the event and quickly got to tasting. Our first bite was the Peanut Butter Terrines (featuring Peanut Butter Sandwiches and Shortbread) from Turner Fisheries (above). And from the first bite, it was clear that this was the dessert to beat. With the Shortbread as a base and the peanut butter puree on top, this was a perfect little treat. The puree was just sweet enough, and I loved the textural difference between the puree and the shortbread base.

Next up were Kickass Cupcakes' Caramel Delites Cupcakes. They were, like all of Kickass' cupcakes that I've tried, fine - a little dry and with waaay too much frosting. They used crushed Caramel Delites as a filling to the cupcakes, which added a nice crunch to the cake.

I was already feeling like I'd had too much sugar, and we were only 2 tables in! Some water cured me, though, and we proceeded to the Au Bon Pain table. Frankly, I wasn't expecting much of anything from the bakery chain, but their granola bars were fantastic. I tried the Caramel Delites bars, which were hearty, filled with granola, almonds, coconut, honey, and cookie chunks. I would most certainly buy this at an Au Bon Pain, and I might even make these at home. I didn't try the Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana bars (featuring Peanut Butter Patties) because I don't think bananas have a place in dessert, but Melody didn't like it as much as the Caramel Delites bar.

While enjoying our granola bars, we both thought we smelled something savory, like chicken wings. We took a swing by the cheese table in the front of the room, but there was nothing that looked like it would be giving off such tempting aromas. So we headed back to try the next sample, and lo and behold, Locke-Ober had ribs! Served with grits and sprinkled with crushed Shortbread, the ribs were delicious, but a bit of a cop-out. The cookies had almost nothing to do with the dish, making them an odd choice for a cookie-inspired event.

Ready for more sugar, we headed on to Aura's table, where they were offering something called the Layered Lemon Ice Box. The layered dessert was served in a push-pop, which made it all that more fun to eat. It consisted of layers of lemon curd, pureed blueberries, whipped ricotta, and crushed Lemonades cookies. The push-pops were fun, but they made it difficult to taste the layers together - instead, I really only tasted one at a time as I pushed the bottom up. Definitely tasty, though, and this has me wanting to make some citrus curd sometime soon.

Aquitaine was up next, and although I don't like bananas, I bravely tried their Boston Banana Cream Torte, featuring Peanut Butter Sandwiches and Daily Go Rounds. I can't say much beyond that it was good despite the bananas, and if this is your kind of thing, it looks very simple to make at home. But I do normally enjoy Aquitaine's desserts, so this is really just a personal preference thing.

Finally, we visited Tremont 647 for some Peanut Butter Cheesecake with Butterscotch Sauce, featuring Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies. After the first bite, I had a problem on my hands. Turner Fisheries had been on the top of my list the entire evening, and then suddenly, with a different take on peanut butter, Tremont 647 was turning everything on its head. I enjoyed the cheesecake, but the butterscotch sauce really tied the whole dish together.

Melody and I needed another break from the sweet, so we enjoyed some cheese and discussed whom to vote for. It seemed clear that we would vote for either Turner Fisheries or Tremont 647, and in the end, we went with Turner Fisheries because their dessert was something completely different. While Tremont 647's cheesecake was very tasty, it was cheesecake, which can take on any number of flavors, whereas the cookie puree in the Turner dish was something out of the ordinary.

And it looks like we picked a winner. Turner Fisheries got the crowd votes, and Aura won the judges over with their lemon curd push-pops. I was surprised that none of the chefs went for Thin Mints, the most popular of the cookies, but after stating that one of the mint offerings last year tasted like toothpaste, maybe I'm not so surprised. Is it sad that I'm already looking forward to next year?

And don't forget to buy Girl Scout cookies! If your local scout doesn't knock on your door, you can search for booth sales here. Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts also collect boxes of cookies for soldiers overseas, so buy an extra box to send to a soldier.

Cake, Lexington

Apparently the cupcake trend won't go away. This summer, the Back Bay's Sweet expanded into Harvard Square, and Todd English is about to open a cupcake bakery on Beacon Hill sometime soon. Quietly entering the cupcake market, on the other hand, is Cake in Lexington center.

Cake opened a few weeks ago on the first floor of a Victorian on Mass Ave, and their focus is meant to be on actual cakes, "made from scratch... using only the purest, finest, freshest ingredients available." But they seem to be doing a brisk business with their cupcakes. At $2 a pop, the cupcakes are a reasonable treat - a good size at a good price with delicious flavors.

For the sake of "research" (ah, the lengths I'll go to...), I picked up one of each cupcake when I was on my way to my brother's house for a full day of Beatles' Rock Band (we ended up playing for 8 hours, because the game is THAT awesome). We cut the cupcakes up into little bites so everyone could get a taste, but I still think I OD'd on sugar a little bit.

My favorites were the Midnight Delight (dense fudge cake filled with sweet chocolate pastry cream topped with Ghiradelli cocoa icing), the Berries & Gold (rich gold cake filled with fresh raspberry preserves and a whipped Chambord buttercream), and the Minuteman (moist gold cake layered with strawberries, fresh from Wilson's Farm, light whipped cream and topped with vanilla buttercream). The Midnight Delight was a powerhouse of chocolate - sweet, with just enough bitterness to highlight the cocoa flavor. The cake really was dense and super chocolatey. The Chambord buttercream on the Berries & Gold may have been my favorite aspect of any of the cupcakes. And the Minuteman was just a beautifully composed strawberry shortcake - yum!

I was not so fond of the Karat Topped (pineapple cream cheese icing set on a moist, full-bodied carrot cake), which I thought had way, way too many nuts (but really, I prefer my carrot cake with no nuts at all), and the Red Carpet (smooth, deep red velvet cake laid out with a decadent cream cheese icing), because I always find red velvet cakes to taste fake, no matter where I get it.

In the picture above, clockwise from the top, are the Karat Topped, Red Carpet, The Minuteman, Mocha Express (bittersweet chocolate cake iced in a cappuccino buttercream and garnished with a mocha espresso bean), Berries & Gold, Midnight Delight, Black Tie Affair (sweet vanilla bean cake filled with pastry cream and dressed in ganache), and in the center, chocolate with vanilla buttercream.

The full-sized cakes at Cake seem a little pricy (I think the sign said that they start at $20 for a 4-inch round), but the cupcakes are a fantastic deal at $2. Cake is located at 1628 Mass Ave in Lexington and is open Tuesday-Thursday, 10am-6pm, Friday 10am-8pm, Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday noon-5pm, and closed Monday.

Bread & Chocolate, Newton

When you find a good bakery, it feels like you've struck gold, especially when you bake fairly well at home. It's easy for bakeries and restaurants to make desserts that are sufficient, but to make them extraordinary takes a lot of talent. I had heard good things about Bread & Chocolate in Newtonville, but I certainly wasn't expecting to find such a boon of deliciousness.

When my friend and I arrived, we wanted to jump right into eating the desserts, but we were slightly more virtuous and ordered a sandwich first. The Pesto Chicken Salad Sandwich was light and flavorful and thankfully light on the mayo. The chicken was good-quality white meat chopped into chunks. I really liked the addition of pesto to the mix, as it made the whole sandwich taste less mayo-y. And the bread was fresh from Iggy's, chewy and crispy and a nice foil to the soft filling.

For dessert, I went with a canelé - a small French pastry that I had heard about but never tried before. From the first bite, I was in love - chewy and crunchy on the outside, creamy and custardy on the inside, delicious all the way around. The canelé was small enough that I didn't feel like I was eating a huge pastry, but large enough to be satisfying. If all canelés are this good, I may have found a new favorite dessert...

I had heard the most about Bread & Chocolate's cupcakes, and luckily, I ran into a classmate outside, who recommended that we let the cupcakes warm up to room temperature before eating (they are kept in a refrigerator case). We chose a few different types, then headed home. After dinner, we pulled out the box, and oh my god, the cupcakes were amazing. I chose a chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting, topped with ganache - I may or may not have ended up with it smeared all over my face in my exuberance to shove it into my mouth. The cake itself was soft and moist, not dry like almost every other cupcake shops', and the peanut butter frosting was perfectly flavored - and they didn't leave out the salt! However, the ganache had cracked by the time we got home, so no pretty picture. Instead, you get a pretty pic of a pre-Easter coconut cupcake, which was equally delicious and perfectly baked.

Over all, I was tremendously happy with Bread & Chocolate. I'm ready to go back to try more things (although I'm sure I'll have a hard time not order a canelé and a peanut butter chocolate cupcake).

Blogger Dinner at Sandrine's

Prior to starting this blog, there were many foods and cuisines that I rarely ate. French was definitely one of them, and for no particular reason. I went to France a couple of times when I was a teen, but I mostly subsisted on crepes, baguettes with ham and cheese, and poorly-prepared hotel salmon - oh, and whatever (and I do mean whatever) wine was nearby. I've expanded my French repertoire since then, and I'm always happy to try another restaurant.

So when I received an email from Chris Lyons of Lyons Communications about a blogger's dinner at Sandrine's in Harvard Square, I knew this would be an excellent chance to experience the real deal. Chef Raymond Ost is a Maître de Cuisiniers (Master Chef of France); the group's mission includes "to preserve and spread the French culinary arts," so I know I got a good representation of French cuisine. Sandrine's doesn't just do a more generalized French cuisine, however; Chef Ost focuses on the food of Alsace, so many of the foods (and wines) we tried were specialties of the region.

This was also a great chance to meet some of my fellow bloggers, all of whom I've been reading for a while now. Along with Chris, I got to enjoy the company of Richard from The Passionate Foodie, Jacqueline from The Leather District Gourmet, Adele from The Basil Queen, and Megan from MenuPages. We sat for three hours, talking not only about what we were eating, but also what we have eaten and what we'd like to eat - just my kind of company :)

We started with two Flammekueches (one was traditional, with bacon and caramelized onions, and the other featured mushrooms and Swiss cheese). With a crispy, brick-oven-cooked crust and just the right amount of toppings, these were fantastic. They're a great bar food or a perfect way to start a nice long meal.

While most of the table moved on to the foie gras for their appetizers, I went with the endive and roquette (arugula) salad, with black grapes, goat cheese, cherry tomatoes, and a champagne vinaigrette. The mixture of bitter and sweet, fresh and tangy, crisp and soft, all made for an incredibly well-composed salad. This is definitely not just a bunch of ingredients thrown together in a bowl. Each bite was a different combination of flavors, and it never got old. I'd probably eat more salads if they were all like this.

For the main course, we had lots of great options, and I had a hard time making a decision. The Alsatian Choucroute Garnie is the house speciality , but I'm not always wild about sausages, and the Lobster Risotto sounded right up my alley. I ended up going with the Rack of Lamb, however, since I rarely cook meat at home, and rack of lamb is something I tend to leave to the professionals. I'm so glad I made that choice, too, because the lamb was intensely satisfying. The meat itself was cooked perfectly (not that you can tell in that picture), with a crispy Herbes de Provence crust and a warm but medium-rare middle. The accompanying roasted potatoes and butternut squash were what everyone hopes for from roasted veggies - a good mix of crispy edges and creamy interior (I probably could have just eaten another serving of the squash for dessert, in fact).

But I didn't, because they brought out this behemoth for us. The platter took up most of the table, and we managed to stuff ourselves silly by trying each of the fabulous desserts. My favorite was the kugelhopf, which puts most Boston-area molten chocolate cakes to shame. But really, they were all good - even the banana sorbet and the pear meringue (neither of which I would ever order). The six of us did a disturbingly good job of cleaning this plate - another reason to love eating with foodies is that they're not shy about going back for another bite!

So overall, I highly enjoyed my time at Sandrine's. At it's mid-range price point, it would be a great place to go for a nice night out with friends, but really, I'm already dreaming of sitting at the bar for some wine, a flammekueche, and a kugelhopf. See, my knowledge of French foods really was expanded!!

Ye Olde Boston Food Toure

Last night, the wonderful Lily von Schtoop from Calamity Shazaam in the Kitchen and I embarked on a tour of our shared Yankee heritage, which we quickly dubbed the Ye Olde Boston Food Toure. (See Lily's report here.) It was like playing tourist in our own city (especially since most of our stops were pretty touristy). And despite having lived in Boston my whole life, I had only visited one of these restaurants before. For fun, we had Phyllis Meras' The Historic Shops & Restaurants of Boston along for reference, which we used to amuse ourselves (and our waitstaff).

Our first stop was Durgin Park in Quincy Market. A mainstay of Yankee cooking, Durgin Park is known for surly waitresses and huge meals catered to tourists. Since this was just our first stop, we didn't go for a whole meal (although I have heard good things about the Prime Rib). Instead, we started with clam chowder, baked beans, and cornbread. The chowder was a lot like what I grew up with, with a thinner broth and extremely tender clams. The beans were surprisingly tasty (especially since I don't even like baked beans) - I doubt I could eat a whole bowl of them, but it was still good. The cornbread was a definite no - bland and uninteresting.

For dessert, we went for the Indian pudding and the coffee jello. The pudding was served piping hot with melty vanilla ice cream on top, and it was delicious. With all that molasses, it tasted like New England in the fall. And the coffee jello - we ordered this pretty much because it sounded so odd, and the serving we received definitely didn't disappoint. I dubbed it "astronaut coffee" because it was like a good ol' cup of coffee, only in solid form. The gelatin was very stiff with a strong, unsweetened coffee flavor, and it was topped with overly sweet, overly whipped cream. It was very odd, and yet, I couldn't stop myself from eating it. Gross and delicious at the same time.

Overall, Durgin Park offers better food than I thought it would, especially with the desserts. I doubt I'll be eating there regularly, but I wouldn't hesitate to take visitors there.

Next up was the Union Oyster House, where we sat at the semi-circular oyster bar for oysters and more chowder. My companion enjoyed her bivalves quite a bit (I'm not a fan, so I passed), but the chowder was delicious. It was quite different than that of Durgin Park - thicker and creamier, with more chunks of clams and potatoes. But while the chowder was very good, the atmosphere, with flies buzzing around, piles of oysters sitting around in slushy ice, and a bar that's not quite level, was... unique, to say the least. It was a little slice of Boston, with locals and tourists crammed in side-by-side, and we even caught a glimpse of Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi on his way in for dinner.

After all that chowder, we were ready for a little break. We wandered over to Cafe Marliave, the only restaurant of the bunch that I had been to before. The Marliave closed a few years ago after over 100 years of business, and it was just reopened about a month and a half ago by new owner, Scott Herrit (of Grotto, which I love). We sat at the bar and enjoyed a few cocktails. Keeping with our Ye Olde Theme, I opted for the Molasses Flood 1919 (Sailor Jerry's Rum, molasses, lime, and bitters) and the Boston Tea Party (tequila, Earl Grey tea, house-made ginger beer, and lemon). They were both very well mixed by Robbie, our great bartender, although I liked the Molasses Flood more (the Tea Party was sweeter than I was in the mood for). We also had a little sample of pumpkin apple soup, a delicious blend of fall in a cup. I'm eager to head back to try more of their food, which smelled amazing.

Our final stop for the night was at the Omni Parker House for their famous Parker House rolls and Boston Cream Pie (recipes for both can be found on the hotel's website). And while sitting in the bar, overlooking the old city hall across the street, on a cold evening was enjoyable, the food was less than spectacular. The rolls seemed like an imitation of what they should be - buttery with a hint of sweet, and soft with a slightly crispy crust. These specimens were, however, oily and dense and just not right. The Boston Cream Pie was another disappointment - the sponge cake and the pastry cream were both very good, but it was all ruined with a coating of limp, slivered almonds, an almost solid chocolate topping, and fake whipped cream. I know, I know, both of these items were invented at the Parker House, but they are so beloved in our fair city (especially the Boston Cream Pie, which is the official dessert of Massachusetts) that they pale in comparison to what can be had at other spots.

Our Ye Olde Boston Food Toure ended up being a fun adventure through (mostly) tourist-land. Durgin Park, the Union Oyster House, and the Parker House all have their places among the culinary history of Boston, and while they are often overlooked by us locals, they are sometimes the only places visitors stop to get a taste of local food. The Marliave only hints at its past, especially since it has been refigured for a more contemporary crowd, with gourmet comfort foods and terrific cocktails.

Any thoughts on where Lily and I should visit for our next Ye Olde Toure?

Durgin Park
Union Oyster House
Cafe Marliave
Omni Parker House

Ice Cream Cakes from JP Licks

My friend Nathaniel, a fellow August baby, also shares a fondness for ice cream birthday cakes. So, to celebrate his birthday this year, what could be better than an ice cream cake from JP Licks?

We went for a medium Oreo cake - two layers of well-packed oreo ice cream with a layer of fudge between, crushed oreos on the sides, and oreo halves decorating the top. The medium is an 8-inch round - six of us ended up eating half of it, so there's plenty left for the birthday boy to graze on over the next week. The ice cream itself was, as usual, fantastic, and the layer of fudge - pure chocolate - was a much tastier alternative to that waxy frosting that is on so many other ice cream cakes.

JP Licks keeps other flavors of ice cream cakes in stock as well, or they will make a custom cake with 48 hours notice.

More Cakes from Rise Bakery

So it appears that Rise Bakery in Ashland has become our family bakery. It started with my brother's birthday cake last October, a week before the World Series. The latest, pictured above, is what we got when my sister-in-law asked for "something beachy" to celebrate our summer birthdays at our Cape house. Their designs are always unique and expressive, and the cake... yum! Dense and delicious, you can cut small slices, so that cake could have fed about 20 people with no leftovers.

Rise really needs a website to showcase their awesome work...

White Dog Cafe, Philadelphia

I spent this past weekend in Philadelphia for work, listening to archaeologists talk all day. We had a great reception at the UPenn Museum on Friday, but on Saturday, we took most of the attendees to the White Dog Cafe for dinner. Our group was so much bigger than we expected that a couple of us staff ended up at our own table (where I didn't feel so awkward about photographing my food). The restaurant takes up three adjacent brownstones, and the tables are distributed throughout a bunch of little rooms with eclectic decor, leading to a homey and intimate feel.

As we browsed our menus, the waitress explained that White Dog is focused on using fresh, organic, and local ingredients, and this ideal makes all the difference to the food they serve. Some restaurants do this more as a gimmick, but that's not true in this case.


I started off with the heirloom apple salad. It consisted of matchsticks of red delicious apple, mixed microgreens and herbs, cubes of local Amish cheddar, candied walnuts, garlic chips, and a bright cider vinaigrette. The ingredients couldn't have been fresher, and there was a great balance to the dressing that made all the flavors taste very even. I really loved the addition of the garlic chips because, although there weren't too many of them, they gave a nice flavor zing every few bites. I'm going to try recreating this at home sometime, but I'm not so good with dressings, so I don't know if I'll be able to get that right.


I had a hard time choosing a main because they all sounded so good, but my eyes kept coming back to the description of the strip steak. My steak was cooked perfectly (although my tablemate had a few issues with hers) and incredibly tender. The dish was served with a rosemary and burgundy glaze, chive mashed potatoes, garlicky kale, and two huge beer-battered onion rings. The potatoes and kale were a perfect pair, and the onion rings had lots of beer flavor without it being overwhelming.


I was very full after I cleaned my plate, but the desserts sounded so intriguing that we felt compelled to split one. We went with the rosemary olive oil layer cake (sensing a theme?) with grapefruit mousse. The cake was very moist, and despite the olive oil and rosemary, it was still a sweet (but not too sweet!) dish. The mousse was delicious, but the grapefruit taste didn't come out until I tasted it on its own. This was a really fantastic cake, and I feel the need to find a similar recipe now.

Overall, this was the best meal I've eaten in Philadelphia. Granted, I've only been there twice, both times for work and without much free time. Still, the quality of the ingredients and the care they were cooked with was fantastic, and it's clear that this restaurant knows what it's doing.

On Religion and Cupcakes

I'm not a religious person in the conventional sense. I don't believe in a specific god, but I'm all for a higher power. And yet, growing up in Boston, I knew the meaning of faith.

Baseball is an out and out religion in this town. Out-of-towners or people who "just don't care for sports" don't understand it, but that's fine by us - just let us watch our games in peace. And it's not about how many home runs one guy can hit (although it's nice to count those up too). It's about believing.

So why have I bothered with three Red Sox-related food posts in 2 weeks? Well, most traditional holidays have foods that symbolize them and are meaningful - pomegranates at Christmas, eggs (and Peeps - wait a minute...) at Easter, apples and honey at Rosh Hashanah, etc. And so, a Red Sox holiday should have some celebratory foods as well... cake, rally cookies, and cupcakes!


My boys, the Boston Red Sox, are World Champs for the second time in 4 years.... 82 years earlier than some people cynically believed. As Sunday rolled into Monday and my heart thumped away with each pitch, I was already dreaming of what I could make and share with my friends in celebration.


True, they're not the prettiest cupcakes ever, but I was working on short notice with few ingredients. I mean, I didn't want to jinx anything by buying the ingredients ahead of time!


The cake is vanilla, tinted an insane red shade. A coworker asked what I used to get them that color. My response? "Ground-up Cleveland Indians. My next batch will use purple Rockies dust."


And how did those cupcakes taste? So good!! So good!! So good!!

Let's Go, Red Sox!

My brother turns 40 this month, and his wife threw him a fantastic surprise party this weekend. Any guess what the theme was? And yes, there was plenty of peanuts and Cracker Jacks, as well as a popcorn machine and a hot dog steamer.

The cake (fantastic, by the way) was from Rise Bakery in Ashland. I hope to be able to try more of their cakes in the future :)

As a side note, I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that I'm so busy, I can't watch the games. I want to know what's going on, but I like having fingernails. But I feel clueless wandering from work to my internship or class and not knowing the score...

Not bad for my first try

I'd never made a layer cake before this weekend. I know, as much as I love baking and cooking, I'd managed to go 25 years without ever having to use two pans for a cake - crazy! But my friend Mel's birthday was this week, and I couldn't let her have a supermarket cake...

(And I only used that hideous fall leaves plate because it was plastic, and I was bringing this to a bar... I didn't want to carry something nice with me.)


So I don't mean to toot my own horn ("I'm not a tooter"), but this was a fantastic cake. The recipe was easy to follow, and the ingredients weren't expensive (especially when you know that the Pound Plus chocolate bars at Trader Joe's are really Callebaut brand). The cake stayed moist, and the frosting was to die for. This recipe's definitely a keeper...

Ice Cream Cake is Better than Regular Cake - Discuss

My wonderful coworkers got me an ice cream cake today for my birthday (which was followed by a sugar-fueled conversation about America's Stonehenge, the best pseudoarchaeological site in New England). It wasn't a special cake, food-wise, but the fact that they remembered my preference for ice cream over regular cake meant the world. Thanks guys!!

So I'm off to the Cape to celebrate. When I return, there will hopefully be lots of posts filled with lobster carcasses, because I always say the best meals end with a plate full of carcasses...

Food for a Summer Cold

Out of the blue yesterday afternoon, my throat started to hurt. I knew what was coming - the most fun of all the different kind of colds, the summer cold. It's that cold you get when the air conditioners first get turned on strong, and it's that cold that is impossible to ameliorate with tea and soup because it's so friggin' hot outside.

So I stayed home from work, and all I could think about was diet Sprite and soup. Yes, steaming hot soup. I scoured my cookbooks and the internet for a while, but all I could find were recipes involving whole chickens and hours and hours of simmering time. Finally, I found something in Cooking Light magazine that looked doable.



This recipe probably took me longer than it would have if I hadn't been sick. Shredding the chicken was an especially difficult task that took more coordination than I actually had at the time, and I wasn't coherent enough to notice that the burner the soup was on wasn't actually heating up. The results were good; this is tasty soup, and I can feel myself getting better already (ah, placebo effect). I really don't think you need the 3 pounds of chicken in the recipe, though; 1 pound of chicken breasts and 1 pound of thighs would have been plenty. The recipe also suggested using the same pot to cook the noodles, then the soup, to save clean up time, hence the noodles cooked well ahead of time. I now have enough soup to last me roughly three weeks.

Cooking Light Rosemary Chicken Noodle Soup

4 cups cooked wide egg noodles
1 Tbsp olive oil
8 cups water
4 cups chicken broth
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
2 Tbsp dried rosemary
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast
1 10 ounce package petite-cut carrots (or 1 1/2 cups chopped carrots)
1 6 ounce package fresh baby spinach
juice of 1 lemon
black pepper and salt to taste

After cooking noodles, toss with olive oil and set aside.

Combine water, broth, onion, celery, rosemary, and chicken pieces in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove chicken, cool slightly, and shred with 2 forks. Add carrot to the soup and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes or until carrot is tender. Add shredded chicken and spinach and cook until spinach is wilted. Stir in noodles, lemon juice and salt and pepper.



Since I was so with it while I made the soup, I cooked all my noodles instead of the 4 cups I would need for the soup. What to do with the leftovers? Cover them in cheese! (In my head, that sounded like "I'm covered in bees!!" ) There's nothing better than egg noodles covered in mozzarella, dotted with butter, and baked to form a wonderful crunchy, gooey, oily mess.



Think I was done there? No way. I needed some more comfort food, and while I was at the market, the baking section spoke to me. Quite literally, I think, since I wasn't completely with it after walking to the store. Lemon cake mix and lemon pudding mix combine to the tastiest, moistest cake. Even my roommate approved.

A few days ago, I was browsing Tastespotting and saw the most amazing picture: a crepe cake made by Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice. I found myself coming back to that picture, wanting to take a bite out of my computer screen, and I knew I had to make one.

Lucky for me, my roommate gets out of work early on Fridays, and he used the afternoon to do all the hard work for me... making the crepes and the pastry cream. He used a different crepe recipe, since we hadn't made the batter the night before. With our electric crepe maker, he made about 30 crepes that were all ready when I got home.

The cake was incredibly easy to assemble. I decided to use the filling to "ice" the whole cake... our friends didn't know what we were making, and we wanted it to be a surprise when we cut the first slice.

The cake turned out to be very delicate. I spread the layers very thin in order to have enought to cover all the crepes. The presentation was fantastic, and this would prove to be a perfect dessert for a dinner party, since you could make it earlier in the day. This cake looks much more difficult to make than it actually is, and it's incredibly elegant.

A Different View of Mike's Pastry

I've never been a big fan of Mike's Pastry in the North End. It's not that I have anything against their food. It's the fact that, on any given night, there are about a million people shoving their way inside, trying to buy pastry. There's no semblance of order in the place, just a mass of bodies pressed up against the glass case. And God forbid if you actually want table service!

And it's a little strange how the box is something of a status symbol around town. I'm not sure if Mike's would be quite as popular if you couldn't find people, especially tourists and students, carrying their boxes around all over town, like it was a blue Tiffany's bag or something.

For a birthday party at work this week, one of my coworkers brought in a cake from Mike's. I had never had one of their cakes; I expected it to be decent, but not great. This cake was fantastic, plain and simple.

The cake itself was soft and moist, not dried out like I expected. The mousse-y filling was creamy and not too sweet, well balanced out by the overly-ripe strawberries. The chocolate flakes on the exterior provided a nice textural balance to the soft mousse. The only part that didn't work for me was the uber-chocolate piping along the top of the cake. It was way too sweet and dense, and it drew away from the cake as a whole.

Overall, though, I was quite happy with this. I think I wouldn't have as many problems with Mike's if I went during off times and didn't have to deal with the crowds. The problem now is getting down to Mike's at some random time...