It’s been a while since I offered up a recipe for my blog-reading pretties. Apologies for that but I haven’t been cooking a lot of normal food lately. I guess that’s the curse of baking for a business – you spend so much time in the kitchen making baked goods that the last thing you want to do when you’re done is cook dinner. But without further ado, please enjoy this recipe for Baked Cheesy Mashed Potatoes. It is quite yummy. Dave and I ate almost half of it – just the 2 of us.
Baked Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
1 tablespoon butter
4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup whole milk 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons plain dry bread crumbs
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of butter and set aside.
Cook the potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until they are very tender, about 15 minutes. Drain; return the potatoes to the same pot and mash well. Mix in the milk and melted butter. Mix in the mozzarella and 3/4 cup of the Parmesan. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Transfer the potatoes to the prepared baking dish. Stir the bread crumbs and remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the mashed potatoes.
Recipe can be prepared up to this point 6 hours ahead of time; cover and chill.
Bake, uncovered, until the topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes. I turned on the broiler for the last 2-3 minutes of baking to brown up the bread crumbs into a nice crunchy crust. Yum!
Monday, February 27, 2006
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Lookin' for some sugar in the Windy City
What do you usually feel like doing on a Saturday when it’s 5 degrees outside? Hibernate, perhaps? Take in a movie, you say? How about conducting a whirlwind 9-stop bakery tour of Chicago? Ha! I thought not. Market research in the baked-goods industry is not for the faint-hearted or unbundled.
So now you know what I was doing last Saturday. My faithful and wind-chill impervious friend Caron agreed to be my chauffer/tour guide/partner in crime for this expedition around the city. Armed with a list of places known for their baked goods (mainly cupcakes), a camera, and multiple layers of clothing – including ear muffs and warm hats – we set out. The goal was to gather samples from all bakeries and take them someplace warm for a taste test. Since my host for this weekend, dear friend Cynthia, was suffering through a bad cold we decided to comfort her with sweets so we headed for her house.
Here’s a summary of our trip. (For the purpose of brevity I will spare you the gossip and witty commentary that Caron and I exchanged throughout the afternoon – despite it being the best part of the trip!)
Stop #1 Alliance Bakery 1736 Division St, Chicago (773)278-0366 http://www.alliance-bakery.com/bakery.com/
Alliance is set in an old bakery building, complete with old neon sign. However, the stuffy old exterior belies a progressive interior – complete with colorful fondant cakes, pasteries….and cupcakes. Alliance’s cupcakes ranged in flavor, however we ended up selecting a Chocolate cupcake with Chocolate frosting and a Carot Cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting. Packaging was interesting – they use cylindrical pre-fab paper wraps that provide a little more cake than your standard cupcake baking papers. They were similar in size to the cupcakes I produce by baking in a ring mold. Packaging consisted of a pink cardboard carton – which was too big for the 2 that we ordered….so there was risk of tippage and commingling of frostings. I don’t have a picture of the Alliance bakery because it was here that I discovered that my digi-cam was in desperate need of a battery recharge. Drat.
Stop #2 Caron’s Two-Flat South Lincoln Square area, Chicago
Ingenious woman that she is, Caron suggested we get her camera and swap memory cards. That way we wouldn’t have to mess with getting the pictures to me. Problem solved, and…we’re off.
Stop #3 First Slice 3744 N. Damen Avenue, Chicago (773 506 1719) http://www.firstslice.org/w.firstslice.org/
First Slice is not a b
akery – but we were famished, so Caron suggested this new little gem. First Slice is a small restaurant that was founded as a vehicle for raising money to provide food to Chicago’s hungry. It is a self-funding charity that gives Chicago’s hungriest access to food that sustains both body and soul. They do so by bringing together community subscribers, homeless individuals and famili
es to share in the preparation of nutritious meals. We had lunch there, and were able to continue our quest for yummy desserts by having one of these. This is a Chocolate Espresso Shot. It’s kind of like a flourless chocolate torte, however it is extremely moist inside. Almost too moist, we agreed, however still tasty.
Stop #4 Cupcakes 613 W. Briar Place, Chicago (773-525-0817) http://www.cupcakesacrossamerica.com/
I had a special reason for wanting to visit this place – I used to live a
block from where they are. It’s a good thing they weren’t yet in business when I lived there because I would probably have become a regular – and my pants size would have become an XXL. It’s a cute little place. All they do is cupcakes – as the name implies. They feature 6-8 varieties that change weekly – and are receiving a lot of national press right now. Caron and I chose 3 to take with us: Vanilla with Champagne buttercream, Red Velvet and Violet with White Chocolate Buttercream. They charge a stiff $3.00 each and packaging consists of a clear plastic clamshell container like you’d get at Kroger/Jewel, etc. When asked why they did not package their cupcakes in the Chinese take-out containers as advertised they explained that they had problem with the cupcakes tipping over in them, and that it was currently being assessed as to whether anything could be done to prevent this. Boo Hiss! I thought it was a very clever packaging idea – however if it ends up impacting the look of the product, I guess it’s time to go back to the drawing board.
Stop #5 Sweet Mandy B’s 1208 W Webster Ave Chicago (773-244-1174)
This is another bake shop that’s getting a lot of press right now – even on a national level. Their schtick is to produce fresh-baked goods that are as close to what mom made as possible. Their store is very charming with lots of room to sit and linger, the selection is broad and the added benefit is their sushi bar-like counter where you can sit and watch the creation of many types of baked goods. In terms of cupcakes their selection was very narrow – vanilla and chocolate. We got one of each, plus a piece of this gooey apple caramel cake for good measure.
Stop #6 The TAG Outlet Store 1730 W. Wrightwood, Chicago
Ok, so this wasn’t a bakery stop – but a girl’s gotta shop. I never miss an opportunity to stop at TAG when I’m in the city, even if I don’t buy anything – which I didn’t this time. That’s not to say that I didn’t want to…..I was just exercising my little-used fiscal responsibility (hi, Sweetie!).
Stop #7 Vanille Patisserie 2229 N Clybourn Ave Chicago (773.868.4574) http://www.vanillepatisserie.com/
This place is beautiful. Beautiful food, beautiful décor, beautiful packag
ing. You name it. Beautiful. They didn’t have cupcakes, but focus mostly on chocolates and beautiful individual desserts. So – we ordered a profiterole tart and an iced sugar cookie. The packaging alone was worth the order. Look at these beautiful boxes. Unfortunately when I asked if their packaging was custom-order the woman behind the counter sniffed and said she had no idea. Interestingly enough – Caron and I looked through their photo books of cakes they have done and they are not above doing character cakes. Kind of an interesting juxtaposition, don’t you think? One more beef here – the cookie I bought – a little purse – had these pearls on them which we discovered to be inedible. Why would you put something inedible on a cookie?? Why?
Stop #8 Southport Grocery 3552 N. Southport, Chicago (773) 665-0100 http://www.southportgrocery.com/
This is not really a grocery, but a conglomeration of trendy table service restaurant, pre-made take-home meals and a few packaged grocery items. They were identified by Chicago Magazine as having the best tasting cupcake in town – out of a dozen or more that they samples. I bought one chocolate and one vanilla (both with vanilla buttercream) and we moved on.
Stop #9 Sweet Occasions 5306 North Clark Chicago 773.275.5190 http://www.sweetoccasionsandmore.com/
Sweet Occasions had chocolate and vanilla cupcakes….and this awesome looking chocolate cake with peanutbutter buttercream frosting. The thing was 5” high if it was an inch. So of course we took all three!
Onward to the tasting. We laid everything out at Cynthia's house and cut the cupcakes into 4 bites. Then we made plates of everything (it took 2 per person to hold all of this) and got to work. Here are some conclusions:
Pricing
The range for cupcakes was $1.75-$3.00 with $2.00 being the most common. Cupcakes, which was the only all-cupcake bakery charged $3.00, which seems a little steep for what you get. On the other hand, Alliance Bakery charged $1.75 and had the largest cupcakes we found. I decided that while Columbus is not familiar with cupcake pricing, so $2.50 might seem expensive, the cupcakes I make are larger than normal, individually wrapped and tied, and are also filled. (None of the cupcakes we tried were filled…just frosted).
Packaging
I wish Vanille Patisserie did cupcakes – because I would love to see how they package them. Their packaging is awesome. They definitely get the big thumbs up. The others were just thrown into a bakery box or plastic clamshell. This is another area where I can differentiate myself.
Overall Taste
The four of us decided that Southport Grocery’s vanilla cupcake with vanilla chocolate buttercream was the best tasting of all that we tried. I would say the Champagne buttercream cupcake from Cupcake was #2.
Frosting
We noticed that some bakeries are still using Crisco-based frosting, which none of us cared for. It gives a gritty feel when chewing. We also noticed that some of the buttercream frosting was a bit too buttery. Note to self: Make sure to balance the butter flavor with other ingredients. Another favorite was the peanut butter buttercream. I think I’ll take a stab at that….and the Champagne buttercream too.
Best of the non-cupcake desserts
Our favorite was the profiterole tart from Vanille Patisserie. Aside from bein
g a work of art, it was delicious. A close second was the apple cake with caramel topping from Sweet Mandy B’s. What’s not to love about caramel apple? My take-away here is that I need to start developing some individual desserts focused on apple. (I love apple-based desserts anyway,)
So there you have it. I suppose this post isn’t so interesting….unless you plan to go to Chicago sometime soon…or of course you live there. At any rate I do have some new ideas for my business….and a couple extra lbs and frostbite to show for it. Thanks so much to my homies who made this possible!!
So now you know what I was doing last Saturday. My faithful and wind-chill impervious friend Caron agreed to be my chauffer/tour guide/partner in crime for this expedition around the city. Armed with a list of places known for their baked goods (mainly cupcakes), a camera, and multiple layers of clothing – including ear muffs and warm hats – we set out. The goal was to gather samples from all bakeries and take them someplace warm for a taste test. Since my host for this weekend, dear friend Cynthia, was suffering through a bad cold we decided to comfort her with sweets so we headed for her house.
Here’s a summary of our trip. (For the purpose of brevity I will spare you the gossip and witty commentary that Caron and I exchanged throughout the afternoon – despite it being the best part of the trip!)
Stop #1 Alliance Bakery 1736 Division St, Chicago (773)278-0366 http://www.alliance-bakery.com/bakery.com/
Alliance is set in an old bakery building, complete with old neon sign. However, the stuffy old exterior belies a progressive interior – complete with colorful fondant cakes, pasteries….and cupcakes. Alliance’s cupcakes ranged in flavor, however we ended up selecting a Chocolate cupcake with Chocolate frosting and a Carot Cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting. Packaging was interesting – they use cylindrical pre-fab paper wraps that provide a little more cake than your standard cupcake baking papers. They were similar in size to the cupcakes I produce by baking in a ring mold. Packaging consisted of a pink cardboard carton – which was too big for the 2 that we ordered….so there was risk of tippage and commingling of frostings. I don’t have a picture of the Alliance bakery because it was here that I discovered that my digi-cam was in desperate need of a battery recharge. Drat.
Stop #2 Caron’s Two-Flat South Lincoln Square area, Chicago
Ingenious woman that she is, Caron suggested we get her camera and swap memory cards. That way we wouldn’t have to mess with getting the pictures to me. Problem solved, and…we’re off.
Stop #3 First Slice 3744 N. Damen Avenue, Chicago (773 506 1719) http://www.firstslice.org/w.firstslice.org/
First Slice is not a b
akery – but we were famished, so Caron suggested this new little gem. First Slice is a small restaurant that was founded as a vehicle for raising money to provide food to Chicago’s hungry. It is a self-funding charity that gives Chicago’s hungriest access to food that sustains both body and soul. They do so by bringing together community subscribers, homeless individuals and famili
es to share in the preparation of nutritious meals. We had lunch there, and were able to continue our quest for yummy desserts by having one of these. This is a Chocolate Espresso Shot. It’s kind of like a flourless chocolate torte, however it is extremely moist inside. Almost too moist, we agreed, however still tasty.Stop #4 Cupcakes 613 W. Briar Place, Chicago (773-525-0817) http://www.cupcakesacrossamerica.com/
I had a special reason for wanting to visit this place – I used to live a
block from where they are. It’s a good thing they weren’t yet in business when I lived there because I would probably have become a regular – and my pants size would have become an XXL. It’s a cute little place. All they do is cupcakes – as the name implies. They feature 6-8 varieties that change weekly – and are receiving a lot of national press right now. Caron and I chose 3 to take with us: Vanilla with Champagne buttercream, Red Velvet and Violet with White Chocolate Buttercream. They charge a stiff $3.00 each and packaging consists of a clear plastic clamshell container like you’d get at Kroger/Jewel, etc. When asked why they did not package their cupcakes in the Chinese take-out containers as advertised they explained that they had problem with the cupcakes tipping over in them, and that it was currently being assessed as to whether anything could be done to prevent this. Boo Hiss! I thought it was a very clever packaging idea – however if it ends up impacting the look of the product, I guess it’s time to go back to the drawing board.Stop #5 Sweet Mandy B’s 1208 W Webster Ave Chicago (773-244-1174)
This is another bake shop that’s getting a lot of press right now – even on a national level. Their schtick is to produce fresh-baked goods that are as close to what mom made as possible. Their store is very charming with lots of room to sit and linger, the selection is broad and the added benefit is their sushi bar-like counter where you can sit and watch the creation of many types of baked goods. In terms of cupcakes their selection was very narrow – vanilla and chocolate. We got one of each, plus a piece of this gooey apple caramel cake for good measure.
Stop #6 The TAG Outlet Store 1730 W. Wrightwood, Chicago
Ok, so this wasn’t a bakery stop – but a girl’s gotta shop. I never miss an opportunity to stop at TAG when I’m in the city, even if I don’t buy anything – which I didn’t this time. That’s not to say that I didn’t want to…..I was just exercising my little-used fiscal responsibility (hi, Sweetie!).
Stop #7 Vanille Patisserie 2229 N Clybourn Ave Chicago (773.868.4574) http://www.vanillepatisserie.com/
This place is beautiful. Beautiful food, beautiful décor, beautiful packag
ing. You name it. Beautiful. They didn’t have cupcakes, but focus mostly on chocolates and beautiful individual desserts. So – we ordered a profiterole tart and an iced sugar cookie. The packaging alone was worth the order. Look at these beautiful boxes. Unfortunately when I asked if their packaging was custom-order the woman behind the counter sniffed and said she had no idea. Interestingly enough – Caron and I looked through their photo books of cakes they have done and they are not above doing character cakes. Kind of an interesting juxtaposition, don’t you think? One more beef here – the cookie I bought – a little purse – had these pearls on them which we discovered to be inedible. Why would you put something inedible on a cookie?? Why?Stop #8 Southport Grocery 3552 N. Southport, Chicago (773) 665-0100 http://www.southportgrocery.com/
This is not really a grocery, but a conglomeration of trendy table service restaurant, pre-made take-home meals and a few packaged grocery items. They were identified by Chicago Magazine as having the best tasting cupcake in town – out of a dozen or more that they samples. I bought one chocolate and one vanilla (both with vanilla buttercream) and we moved on.
Stop #9 Sweet Occasions 5306 North Clark Chicago 773.275.5190 http://www.sweetoccasionsandmore.com/
Sweet Occasions had chocolate and vanilla cupcakes….and this awesome looking chocolate cake with peanutbutter buttercream frosting. The thing was 5” high if it was an inch. So of course we took all three!
Onward to the tasting. We laid everything out at Cynthia's house and cut the cupcakes into 4 bites. Then we made plates of everything (it took 2 per person to hold all of this) and got to work. Here are some conclusions:
Pricing
The range for cupcakes was $1.75-$3.00 with $2.00 being the most common. Cupcakes, which was the only all-cupcake bakery charged $3.00, which seems a little steep for what you get. On the other hand, Alliance Bakery charged $1.75 and had the largest cupcakes we found. I decided that while Columbus is not familiar with cupcake pricing, so $2.50 might seem expensive, the cupcakes I make are larger than normal, individually wrapped and tied, and are also filled. (None of the cupcakes we tried were filled…just frosted).
Packaging
I wish Vanille Patisserie did cupcakes – because I would love to see how they package them. Their packaging is awesome. They definitely get the big thumbs up. The others were just thrown into a bakery box or plastic clamshell. This is another area where I can differentiate myself.
Overall Taste
The four of us decided that Southport Grocery’s vanilla cupcake with vanilla chocolate buttercream was the best tasting of all that we tried. I would say the Champagne buttercream cupcake from Cupcake was #2.
Frosting
We noticed that some bakeries are still using Crisco-based frosting, which none of us cared for. It gives a gritty feel when chewing. We also noticed that some of the buttercream frosting was a bit too buttery. Note to self: Make sure to balance the butter flavor with other ingredients. Another favorite was the peanut butter buttercream. I think I’ll take a stab at that….and the Champagne buttercream too.
Best of the non-cupcake desserts
Our favorite was the profiterole tart from Vanille Patisserie. Aside from bein
g a work of art, it was delicious. A close second was the apple cake with caramel topping from Sweet Mandy B’s. What’s not to love about caramel apple? My take-away here is that I need to start developing some individual desserts focused on apple. (I love apple-based desserts anyway,)So there you have it. I suppose this post isn’t so interesting….unless you plan to go to Chicago sometime soon…or of course you live there. At any rate I do have some new ideas for my business….and a couple extra lbs and frostbite to show for it. Thanks so much to my homies who made this possible!!
Friday, February 17, 2006
I'm such a tease!!
Watch this space, because early next week I will report on some interesting market research I am doing in Chicago this weekend. I'm taking the digi-cam so you guys can see what yummy treats are being concocted in the windy city these days. Prepare to drool.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Is this still on?
Well kids, I’ve really let you down this week, haven’t I? I guess that’s the price I pay for having some actual business! I had an order for a cheesecake (New York style) for Valentines day. Cheesecakes are great because they are relatively easy to make. It’s the decorating that takes a while. I decorated this one on Monday night while my niece Amanda was here visiting. She and I talked while I piped whipped cream and made white chocolate hearts. I strategically placed a strawberry on top of every whipped cream spiral. She then had the dubious honor of witnessing the final decorating fete – where I attempted to insert a delicate white chocolate heart into the top of each of the strawberries. After some salty language and a few failed attempts, I mastered the technique, to rousing applause (which was completely in my mind).
The gentleman at work who ordered it reported in that his wife and everyone in his family loved it. Success!
Last night I was busy making a cake for a baby shower we held at work today. I didn’t take a photo of it because I’m not promoting the fact that I sometimes break down and do something ‘theme-like’. More on that in a minute. This cake was constructed of golden butter cake and strawberry mousse filling with fresh strawberries ,and was crowned with white chocolate buttercream frosting. (I’ll confess that I’m not a big white chocolate fan, but it’s not too bad when you mix it with cream cheese and butter! Ha!)
The frosting was a bit ivory in color so I used that as my base color. I tinted (cringe) some frosting to pink and blue and used that to write the inscriptions. We have 3 babies coming into the lives of folks in our department – one woman is having a girl and one of the guys’ wives is having twins – boy and girl. So I used tinted icing sparingly – just enough to get the message across that this is a baby shower cake. I really do need to work on how I might satisfy that request should I receive one again. I guess I should just tell people that I’m very minimalist when it comes to decorations. Quel dilemma.
So that’s it for now. Well – that’s not it, completely. I’m still working behind the scenes to get the administrative side of the business going, but that kind of stuff is boring. (As if this stuff I’ve just typed isn’t boring!) One exciting thing – I got word from the state of Ohio that I have dibs on the business name “Buttercream” for the next 10 years! Hah!
The gentleman at work who ordered it reported in that his wife and everyone in his family loved it. Success!
Last night I was busy making a cake for a baby shower we held at work today. I didn’t take a photo of it because I’m not promoting the fact that I sometimes break down and do something ‘theme-like’. More on that in a minute. This cake was constructed of golden butter cake and strawberry mousse filling with fresh strawberries ,and was crowned with white chocolate buttercream frosting. (I’ll confess that I’m not a big white chocolate fan, but it’s not too bad when you mix it with cream cheese and butter! Ha!)
The frosting was a bit ivory in color so I used that as my base color. I tinted (cringe) some frosting to pink and blue and used that to write the inscriptions. We have 3 babies coming into the lives of folks in our department – one woman is having a girl and one of the guys’ wives is having twins – boy and girl. So I used tinted icing sparingly – just enough to get the message across that this is a baby shower cake. I really do need to work on how I might satisfy that request should I receive one again. I guess I should just tell people that I’m very minimalist when it comes to decorations. Quel dilemma.
So that’s it for now. Well – that’s not it, completely. I’m still working behind the scenes to get the administrative side of the business going, but that kind of stuff is boring. (As if this stuff I’ve just typed isn’t boring!) One exciting thing – I got word from the state of Ohio that I have dibs on the business name “Buttercream” for the next 10 years! Hah!
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Whew!
FYI - long post ahead. Grab yourself a cup of coffee first. It's worth it!
I’ve been absent from this blog for the past week for two very good reasons….
1) I baked 7 desserts for a party I had last night.
2) It took most of my free time to do so.
But I’m glad I did it for three very good reasons……
1) I now have experience planning for a heavy order volume,
2) I got a chance to take some K-I-L-L-E-R pictures for you, and for my website. (Can anyone out there believe that I actually took these pictures?? They look amazing if I do say so myself. Three cheers to Shawn at work, who taught me everything I know!)
3) I broadened my marketing base by 20 people (I know, not much but it’s a start. I envision it being like the old Wella Balsam shampoo commercials – You tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and so on, and so on….)
4) I have already received 2 orders based on this event!
To set the scene, my purpose was to invite the neighbor ladies over to taste a variety of desserts. There aren’t too many people, especially neighbors, who know I am doing this so I thought it would be a good way to introduce my business, allow me to practice, and get some good social time with the women who live around me.
So….I spent many hours over the past week baking. I even took yesterday off and spent all day in the kitchen. Here’s an overview of the menu:
Tiramisu Temptation
White cake flavored with Kaluah, filled with tiramisu cream and fresh raspberries, topped with Kaluah buttercream and chocolate shavings.
Lemon Crème Fantasy
Light lemon cake layers, lemon curd filling and lemon mascarpone mousse frosting. This cake is light, not too sweet, and has just the right balance of lemon flavor.
Inside-out German Chocolate Cake
Moist, fudgy chocolate cake with sweet, creamy coconut-pecan filling topped with smooth, dark chocolate ganache. Beautifully topped with a pile of chocolate leaves. Everyone asks how I make the leaves. Ancient Chinese Secret.
White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
Ooh and Ahh-inspiring. Comes with a surprise inside - another raspberry!
Chocolate-Peanut butter Cheesecake
A crowd favorite. Filled with a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup!
Devilsfood Cupcakes with Vanilla buttercream and chocolate ganache
This is the unique packaging idea I've been working on....so Shhhhhhh! The key is that you get a bigger cupcake when you bake them the way I devised - which means more to eat and more to hold wonderful fillings. They're individually wrapped with vellum and hand-tied with ribbon.
Mini Double-chocolate Cupcakes
Just a little bite-sized something.
To legitimize myself a bit I made a bunch of marketing materials – a list of ingredients, menus for people to take, and surveys. I received 14 survey responses, but I know that more than 14 women came…..more like 20. I'll have to spend some time tallying the votes and will, of course, share with you.
I learned a few things through the course of this event:
- There's tweaking to be done on some of the recipes.
- I should probably '86' the Lemon Creme Fantasy cake since it got low ratings across the board.
- Working ahead is key. Spreading the work out across several days makes it far less daunting than baking for 2 straight days.
- When making several desserts, compiling an overall ingredient list and checking against 'stock' is VERY important. I thought I had enough eggs and heavy cream on hand, but fell short on both of those items.
- I am married to a dish-washing, house-cleaning, grocery store-running saint! Dave proves over and over again that he is my biggest fan – and I cannot thank him enough for that. Everyone should be so lucky as to have a husband like mine. (Hi, Sweetie!)
- My feet hurt after standing on them for 12 hours in the kitchen. Maybe I should invest in some chef’s clogs.
- Flat Key Lime cheesecake still tastes good – it just looks pathetic. I always have trouble knowing how long to bake mini cheesecakes. Typically I use cheesecake recipes that call for a regular 9” pan – but when you make mini cheesecakes out of it you can’t bake them as long as you bake a 9” version. So sometimes I pull the minis out of the oven too soon – as was the case here – and they deflate. Dave and the kids still ate them though.
- Key Limes are a bitch to juice. Try juicing a Brussels Sprout, because that’s about the same size.
- People do not RSVP anymore. Why is that?
- If you advertise free sugar and chocolate to a bunch of women, most of them will come - even the size 2 soccer moms.
- The ladies of my neighborhood need to loosen up a bit. I had 3 bottles of champagne chilled (because what goes better with dessert than champagne?) and only one was opened. And actually, I think I drank most of it!
- Putting yourself ‘out there’ for public scrutiny can be very stressful. I felt very vulnerable opening up something I love (something I put great care, thought, time, money and heart into) to direct feedback/criticism. All in all I think the risk was worth it.
Thanks for hanging with me through this long post. Now, aren't you jonesing for some chocolate??
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Up to my elbows in butter… and batter
I’m getting ready for the tasting that I’m having for my neighbor ladies next week - yesterday I made 2 types of cake layers. It sure makes a mess in the kitchen. I figure there must be a better way to ‘work clean’ as they say in the food industry. I really have to work on that.
Anyhoo – my menu for the tasting goes like this:
Inside-out German Chocolate Cake
Moist, fudgy chocolate cake with sweet, creamy coconut-pecan filling topped with smooth, dark chocolate ganache.Beautifully topped with a pile of chocolate leaves. A new twist on an old favorite.
Tiramisu Temptation
White cake flavored with Kaluah, filled with tiramisu cream and fresh raspberries, topped with Kaluah buttercream and chocolate shavings.
Lemon Crème Fantasy
Light lemon cake layers, lemon curd filling and lemon mascarpone mousse frosting. This cake is light, not too sweet, and has just the right balance of lemon flavor.
Mini Cheesecakes
White Chocolate Raspberry
Key Lime
There will also be a take-home cupcake for each guest, but I haven’t figured out what flavor I want to make it yet. I want to decorate them for Valentine’s Day so I’m thinking I’ll need a vanilla buttercream. Just not sure what flavor combination I want to use for the cupcake and filling yet. Any thoughts?
I’ve got a schedule of tasks that run all weekend long – so I’m sure Dave and the girls will love the perpetual mess. It’s always tough to bake around the girls because a) they want to sample, and b) they want to watch. For some reason I always get nervous when people watch me cook - especially when I’m decorating a cake.
I plan to take the day off on Tuesday to prep for the event. There should be some last-minute decorating, house cleaning and set-up work to perform. Also I want to spend some un-rushed time photographing these cakes. My website is supposed to be up by the weekend so I’ll need to have some photos pretty quickly. Good photos are critical IMHO so I don’t mind taking the time to do it right.
Speaking of cooking… check this out. You can cook an egg with your cellphone!
Anyhoo – my menu for the tasting goes like this:
Inside-out German Chocolate Cake
Moist, fudgy chocolate cake with sweet, creamy coconut-pecan filling topped with smooth, dark chocolate ganache.Beautifully topped with a pile of chocolate leaves. A new twist on an old favorite.
Tiramisu Temptation
White cake flavored with Kaluah, filled with tiramisu cream and fresh raspberries, topped with Kaluah buttercream and chocolate shavings.
Lemon Crème Fantasy
Light lemon cake layers, lemon curd filling and lemon mascarpone mousse frosting. This cake is light, not too sweet, and has just the right balance of lemon flavor.
Mini Cheesecakes
White Chocolate Raspberry
Key Lime
There will also be a take-home cupcake for each guest, but I haven’t figured out what flavor I want to make it yet. I want to decorate them for Valentine’s Day so I’m thinking I’ll need a vanilla buttercream. Just not sure what flavor combination I want to use for the cupcake and filling yet. Any thoughts?
I’ve got a schedule of tasks that run all weekend long – so I’m sure Dave and the girls will love the perpetual mess. It’s always tough to bake around the girls because a) they want to sample, and b) they want to watch. For some reason I always get nervous when people watch me cook - especially when I’m decorating a cake.
I plan to take the day off on Tuesday to prep for the event. There should be some last-minute decorating, house cleaning and set-up work to perform. Also I want to spend some un-rushed time photographing these cakes. My website is supposed to be up by the weekend so I’ll need to have some photos pretty quickly. Good photos are critical IMHO so I don’t mind taking the time to do it right.
Speaking of cooking… check this out. You can cook an egg with your cellphone!
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