Social Butterfly

My adoring fans who read this blog regularly must be incredibly envious of my jet set lifestyle. I mean I am baking for event after event. It is so hard being this popular and keeping up with the needs of the people. On Thursday night I was a baking fiend. FIEND. And if you recall, Thursday night was pretty humid here in New York City.

My friend Carlos was coming over at 6:30 and I got home from the day job at 5:30 so I had T-minus one hour to make as much as I could before our hang. Oh man. First, I went to work on the Blondies for my Fire Island adventure. Btws, I am really into making bars these days. I haven't really ever gotten into them so I have decided that this summer is the summer of bars. You know, lemon squares, raspberry bars, peanut butter heath bars, brownies... Sorry visions of brownies and bars were dancing in my head!

Where was I? Oh yes, the blondies. I have made these once or twice before and they always go over well. I like to use both semi-sweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips. It gives it a little more oomph. I made sure that they were super ooey gooey when I took them out of the oven. Cooked through, but not too through so that they were chewy. They were golden brown and smelled like heaven. The only challenge I had was getting them out of the pan looking good. They were a little crumbly which I wasn't expecting. However, they made it to Fire Island in one piece and upon arrival were devoured by my friends who were super excited to have a homemade sweet treat.

Blondies with Semi-Sweet and White Chocolate Chips

I then moved onto the chocolate chip cookies. I had about 30 minutes left before my friend arrived and I am a master of this recipe. I think you recall me writing about my famous cookies in an earlier blog. I haven't made them since I was in Baltimore so it was time. And what better excuse than game night? I got to it and in no time I had delicious fluffy chocolate chip batter. That is one of the secrets - if you really want to know - whip the hell out of your butter before you cream the sugars. TRUST. It makes a difference. So those went into the oven. Yummers.

As those were baking I thought about my friend Cecily and her love affair with cinnamon raisin cookies. She craves them. I believe she told me once that there was a period of time when she went to Starbucks everyday for a cinnamon raisin cookie. I can't have that!

I haven't made a quality cinnamon raisin cookie in a small lifetime. Last year when I was baking cookies for Curly's Luncheonette I came up will a great vegan oatmeal craisin cookie, but I wanted to go the straight ahead route this weekend. So, I did some research, found a good recipe, and started in on it when I heard my buzzer. I was literally pulling cookies out of the oven when Carlos walked in. I thought he was going to swoon.

He immediately went for the Blondies. Had a taste of those then went for one of my just out of the oven FAMOUS chocolate chip cookies. That is when I heard it..."these are amazing. I think I am in love. Will you marry me?" He usually only has my experimental baking so he was floored when he had the choco-chip cookies. We hung out while I was running back and forth making the rest of the chocolate chip cookies and onto the oatmeal raisin.

He really liked the oatmeal raisin cookies, but I thought they were too sweet. I wanted them to be spicy. You know, have a little bit of a kick to them? So I think next time around instead of cinnamon and allspice I am going to use cinnamon and either cardamom or nutmeg. Yum.

As I said before, the chocolate chip cookies were made for a game night I was attending. I always bring baked goods and usually cookies. I find that the my chocolate chip cookies are the most popular at game night, but since I made oatmeal raisin cookies too why not change it up a little and bring both?

The cookies went down on the table and before the first game - running charades - started they were ALL gone! AMAZING. That is when I heard, "who made the cookies?" My friend David responded, "Alison" and then I hear, "these are amazing. Will you marry me?" What? Two marriage proposals in two days. Who knew it was just that easy?

My famous Chocolate Chip Cookies that lead to marriage proposals











My Experimental Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I head home on Thursday for a weekend of beach and sun? I am keeping my fingers crossed. There will be a couple of events for the Fourth; the requisite BBQ, the fireworks, the late night karaoke sessions, and probably a brunch. I am thinking some vegan raspberry bars, some lemon squares, and some vegan blueberry muffins. I will let you know how they go...

One for the road. The Chocolate Chip Cookies & Oatmeal Rasin Cookies in all of thier glory

Celebrations Galore

Wowza. It has been way too long since I wrote last. I am so sorry to all of my adoring fans who sit with bated breath for me to post a new story. It has been a crazy week. I mean CRAZY. With auditions and having to transform myself into a 16 year old girl when was there time for baking? I will tell you, Friday all day.

Yes folks, I woke up early on Friday with one task in mind - BAKE. Thank the sweet baby Jesus that I have my Fridays off. Ah summer... I got crackin' right away. There was a fabulous chocolate birthday cake to be made. Some cupcakes were requested for a movie adventure I was going to embark on and smack dab in the middle of the day I had to go to an audition. Gorgeous.

Now I think I have told you about Sethers. He is my oldest friend. We have known each other for 20 years and his love affair with chocolate is no secret. I knew that I had to make a delicious and beautiful cake as this cake was not just going to be for a couple of people. No. This birthday cake was for 20 of his nearest and dearest at a fab party on Long Island. But here is the most ridic part: one of the hosts owns a BAKERY in town. Um yeah. So I had to get serious folks. I start making my delicious and super secret chocolate cake recipe. All is well, the apartment is smelling glorious and when I go to pull the two cakes out of the oven I notice that one did not rise as much as the other and the color isn't the same. What?!?!? How in the world did that happen? In a time crunch, due to the looming audition I frantically make more chocolate cake batter to be be sure the cakes match. I thought about making it a three layer cake, but that sunken cake was not seeing the light of day.

While the cake was safely baking, I turn to my white cake recipe. This is a vegan recipe that I am trying to perfect. It just doesn't come out at spongy and delish as I would like it to. It is almost exactly the same recipe as the vegan chocolate cake, but the consistency is totally different. A dash of this a splash of that and voila white cake mix. I fill those suckers and pop them in the oven.

I am certain I told you that I recently moved. One of the things I was praying for in my new amazing kitchen was a dishwasher. No such luck. So keep in mind that in between batches I am washing incredible amounts of dishes/bakewear. Thank goodness I use Palmolive dish soap otherwise I would be battling with dish pan hands an no one wants that.

It is now rounding noon and I have to leave my house at 1. I start making the chocolate frosting. I decide to use my new fav recipe that I wrote about before. It uses half margarine and half vegetable shortening. The consistency is perfect. I whipped this sucker within an inch of its life. It looked and smelled so delicious I wanted to stick my face in the bowl even though I am allergic to chocolate. Go figure.

Something smells delicious... Oh, that would be the white cupcakes and the Devil's Food cake in my oven. They are ready. I pull them out of the oven, toss the buttercream in the fridge, throw on some make-up, grab my dress, and my bag and hightail it to my audition - which by the way took FOREVER.

Upon my return I find the most gorgeously cooled cakes ever. They were ready to be frosted and considering I had T-minus 2 hours to frost the cake, cupcakes, eat dinner, and get ready for a night of salsa dancing and a movie I had some major work to do. I know I never show you the before pictures. And considering this is my first cake since I started my blog, I figured what a great opportunity.

My little Devil's Food cakes
at the ready
Here I am putting the layers together. I piped an even border of buttercream icing around the edge then filled out the middle. This is to make sure that the cake is even. I often have problems with the leaning tower of cake. It is really hard to get a cake to be even because they rise differently and when you shave the top off you aren't always all that accurate. This is the best way that I have found to get the cake even.

I am obsessive when it comes to my cakes. I want them to look like Little vintage ice box cakes. You know not too perfect, but look amazing and taste even better. I can spend forever just trying to perfect the icing. The only problem is as the icing gets softer it gets harder to work with. I also had, um, not much time left on the clock. So after about a half an hour of icing the cake and decorating it this is the final product.

Look at it! It is GORGEOUS! Devil's Food Cake with Chocolate Buttercream
Frosting and Purple Royal Icing Violets made with my own two hands.

When I arrived this super fabulous party, one of Sethers friends told me that the host- ahem, the owner of the bakery - made a comment about how he wished the girl who made the cake at Seth's holiday party would bring it again for this soiree. That cake is like crack. I would have made it for Seth, but he is such a chocolate addict that it didn't feel right. When I was introduced to the host he said, "if this cake is as good as the cake you made for Seth's other party I will not be sharing!" Ummm, that was a BAKERY OWNER! Who's your daddy?

I am so proud of this cake that I have even MORE pictures for you. I am not sure you can handle this!
The unveiling of the cake. Sethers wanted to document the moment.

White Cake with Coconut Filling and Marshmallow Meringue
Frosting a.k.a the "crack cake"

Moving on. After I was done making that complete work of art I had to scramble to get the vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting - waste not, want not - frosted, in a box and ready to go for my night of salsa dancing and movie watching. While I love chocolate frosting and clearly so does Seth, I always have trouble finding the right decoration for it. Yellow isn't quite right, white is too white, blue - meh. Maybe the right color pink? Really the only colors I like with it are purple and green. I didn't want to do leaves because well that is boring so I went the traditional route...SPRINKLES. Yummy, delicious, and not nutritious sprinkles. Now they liven up any occasion. I mean funfetti cake? Come on now, there is nothing better except perhaps ANY of my cakes?!? These cupcakes were made for my friend Chris. This guy weighs about 100 pounds soaking wet and can eat an entire 20 lb turkey on his own in one sitting and NEVER gain a pound. Ah, to be a man. So I was asked to make cupcakes to "feed the beast." Enough said. I thought these would be a nice change from the vegan chocolate cupcakes with vegan mocha buttercream frosting I made him last time. I brought them to the studio and he horded them away. Did not share a single one. He said they were amazing. He has actually offered to bare my children. Not sure how that will work, but you know...

Old-Fashioned White cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting and Rainbow Sprinkles. Fab, no?

So I know I made you wait forever for a post, but with all these pictures I think it was worth it. I have another big week. My other Cancer friend is also obsessed with chocolate and I have to come up with some delicious treat for him this week. I am also going to a game night where I always bring the baked goods that fly off the table as we duke it out, and I am off to Fire Island for a fun little get-a-way where we need at least some sort of treat to have by the beach. I am thinking bars. You know, coffee and bars? Stay tuned for more pictures and tales...

Pound Cake Follow-up

A busy baking week for me. Two of my best friends are celebrating their birthdays on the SAME day! So cool right? I am not sure if it is a cancer thing, but both are absolutely obsessed with chocolate. I am on a mission to come up with two of the best chocolate cake recipes ever to exist on the planet. But since they are two separate people and having two different celebrations they get two distinct cakes. While I was thinking about their cakes this weekend - post apple crisp total domination - I remembered that I promised pictures of the birthday pound cakes. Lucky for you I remembered. I know you were worried you would never get to see version 1 - the failed one and version 2 - the one that will give Sara Lee and Entenmann's a run for their money. Well fear not, here they are. Enjoy!

Version 1:

The pound cake that was never served. Don't worry it is still in my freezer for tea parties.
Look at how delicious the golden top is and the airated cake. YUMMERS

Version 2:

Can you say GORGEOUS!?!? Watch out world.
This cake is going to kick ass and take names!

Bad Ass Baker

Huzzah! I am a master baker this week. Yes it is true. I made a gluten-free, yeast-free, sugar-free apple crisp on Sunday that was not only to die for, but just off the top of my head!

I perfected my mother's apple crisp recipe many years ago and I used to make it all of the time. In fact, when I was working in Ohio - one of the many times - through all the major holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas) it was a mainstay in the CoHo a.k.a company house.

I love this recipe so much that I found myself doing a vegan variation for my sister who has been vegan for at least 15 years. I know right?!? How does she live without CHEESE?

Anyway, a couple of years ago I found out I was addicted to sugar so I weened myself off during tech of a political musical farce. Probably not the best idea considering I was an immediate replacement and had a week to learn the show and I wasn't eating sugar. Sometimes I am the most smartest. I was DYING for something sweet and was tired of just eating plain old apples. So I did some research and found out that I could bake with vegetable glycerin. Yes, I know what you are thinking, "isn't vegetable glycerin what they use to make SOAP!??!" Why yes, my friends it is. But it also happens to be a natural sweetener. The thing with vegetable glycerin is that it can get bitter so too much turns your sweet treat into a bitter apple betty.

I have been experimenting with the gluten-free, yeast-free, sugar-free recipe for a long time. Mostly with the flours. First it was rice flour - both brown and white - but the texture wasn't right. Then it was Quinoa flour which gave it a meatier consistency, but still not quite right. Straight up glycerin without any other sweetener didn't work either. So I started adding stevia to the mix and sometimes it worked and sometimes not so much. I also wondered what the consistency would be like if I used oat bran instead of rolled oats. That was good, but not great. I liked the apple crisp a lot but I started to get tired of that one recipe and I started experimenting with other gluten-free, yeast-free, sugar free confections turning my back on my crisp for some time.

Well, this weekend I was jonzing for apple crisp, but I couldn't find the recipe anywhere. When I went to all of the usual places for it, it wasn't there. I recently moved and reorganized everything could I have thrown the sacred recipe away? Say it ain't so. Thankfully, it was my mother's recipe so I got on the horn and begged her for it. Much to my chagrin, my mother was on the beach and not near her tried and true recipes. I was on my own...

So with all of the apples cut what was a woman to do? Make it up! 4 apples, some veggie glyc, 4 stevia packets, 3/4 cup of flour - half brown rice flour, half white bean flour - a little bit of unsalted butter, 1/4 cup of water, a pinch of salt, a generous amount of cinnamon, and 3/4 cup of oatmeal. I set the oven at 350 and crossed my fingers. It started to smell GLORIOUS in my apartment in no time and about half way through, I added some extra water to really get it gooey and delish.

Let me tell you something folks: this apple crisp is OFF THE HOOK. The apples are tart and sweet. The dough is crumbly, yet dense and not even a hint of bean flavor. It is sweet, but mildly so. MAGIC, especially with a scoop of rice dream. So until I make Seth's birthday cake at the end of the week, I will bask in the glory that is the perfect gfyfsf apple crisp.

Gluten-free, sugar-free, yeast -free Apple Crisp.

Slackin'

Well, it has been a crazy week for me already and it is only Wednesday. I have had 4 auditions, my acting class, I have taught a million beginners how to dance salsa, and I have traipsed all over New York City in order to get my headshots reproduced for said auditions. Crazy. Oh and did I mention I did all of this in 100 degree weather? Amazing, I know. The plan was to take pictures of my first ever pound cake and post them, but I haven't had time so I will tell you about it instead.

On Saturday, my friend Cecily and I went to Central Park to sunbathe. It was a lot of fun, but it was also crazy hot. At one point we got up and I showed her some quick salsa moves. It was pretty fun and a little silly. We had planned on going out to some cute roof deck bar for ice cold beverages, but when we both got home we were pooped. I wanted something refreshing so I went into my fridge to find my fantasmic Iced Jasmine Green Tea - 2 tea bags, one package of mild stevia and you are good to go. I had a sip or two (pitchers) and some tortilla chips. They are my go to snack. I was not moving off that couch and the glorious fan cooling me off. Cecily wasn't either, so my cable-free self was forced to watch the chick flick "Under the Tuscan Sun." I actually have great affection for this movie because I recently went to Tuscany for a wedding and we stayed at this Agriturismo where the HOTTEST guy - Eduardo - lived. I was like well it isn't Positano - incidentally where my grandfather is from - but he will do! Ha no. But my friends and I sure can dream can't we? Well after about an hour of the movie the caffeine from the green tea kicked in and I was like time to bake, time to clean, time to try a new recipe. But for what occasion? Oh, I know! Max's birthday.

Now, I wrote about Max a couple of weeks ago. He doesn't love frosting, but he loves a sweet cake. I recall him telling me this time last year that his favorite cake ever is pound cake. Nothing like a birthday pound cake, right? At the time I had too many things going on so the pound cake went by the wayside, but this time? It was on. So I go into my trusty cookbooks: the first stop - Better Homes and Gardens. This has by far the best old school recipes like pumpkin pie, pie crust, chocolate cake, and I thought POUND CAKE. They had lemon poppy seed pound cake and a cream cheese pound cake, but neither seemed simple enough for Max. So I went into my binder. Now this binder is a compilation of recipes I have collected over the years from my various temp jobs - ah boredom. I found one! Simple and at 11 p.m. that was definitely what I was looking for. I hit the kitchen, highly caffeinated, with "Some Like it Hot" on the tele and get to work. Sing that torch song Marilyn, mix, mix, mix. The batter smells amazing and the texture is to die for. I grab my loaf pan spray it down and fill the pan. Upon first glance I think it is pretty full. Maybe it is a double recipe? But I decide to ignore my instincts a la Sheila and Ron and place it in the oven.

I watch the rest of "Some Like it Hot" then I clean my bathroom during some superhero short, then I fold and put away all of my clothes while watching the PBS ask campaign, then I start watching CAMP - which as the HUGE musical theatre dork that I am, I was so thrilled about watching. Then I checked on the pound cake. A good 35 minutes in - which is when the recipe said it would be done - the center is like water. Ugh. Now I clean my kitchen sing a long to Promises! Promises!, try to figure out where to hang some more pictures on my super bare walls, watch the drag birthday party with glee and then check on the pound cake again. Did I mention I was highly caffeinated? I stick a knife in the center and it is a hot gooey mess. Man oh man. Especially because the outer ring is done. Almost beyond done. At this point I am exhausted and it is time for the big showcase when Stephen Sondheim himself appears on screen. Sigh. Considering I just did one of his shows and it was rumored we were going to transfer I was transfixed.

1 a.m. CAMP is over and I am over the baking of this magical birthday pound cake that I envisioned would come out like the entenmann's pound cake my "grandma" Mary would use when making her version of strawberry shortcake - entenmann's pound cake, sliced strawberries, and redi-whip. AMAZING. No, it was a half, dare I say it, burned - eek - pound cake. I went to bed and when I woke up the next morning I cut of the edges to find this GORGEOUS cake. The only problem is you can't present someone with a sliced off edge pound cake for their birthday. So I stuck it in my freezer and will take it out when I want to make my "grandma" Mary's version of strawberry shortcake with creme fraiche.

As for Max's cake? Tonight I try again with a new recipe in hopes that I can make his birthday truly a happy one with an incredible and moist birthday pound cake.

Vegan Schmegan

Vegan Chocolate Cupcake with Mocha Vegan Buttercream
and Royal Icing Purple Pansy

I am newly obsessed with Netflix and more importantly Entourage. So last night as I was cramming the second season in - as to take full advantage of my one month Netflix free trial- I suddenly felt the urge to bake. Strange, but true. As I was watching I thought two things: 1. Is Hollywood really like that? I mean I am in the "business" and the New York scene is just so different. If I had an agent like Ari, I would have 7 TONYS by now! But I digress, the second thing I thought was what kind of cupcake would LA-ers like. I know they have their beloved Sprinkles, but they are expensive & designer, but not new agey. I know it is a gross generalization that the good people of LA are all into yoga, green tea, ashrams, and life coaches, but that assumption is how I came up with this brilliant vegan cupcake.

It is a chocolate cupcake with mocha vegan buttercream frosting and a royal icing purple pansy. This was definitely an experiment. I knew that I wanted to make a rich and delicious cake that seemed much more decadent than just a simple vegan cupcake, but what would put it over the top without sending it over the edge? Mocha frosting.

Growing up, there was a Friendly's on my way to the theatre where I spent all of my summer days. There were only a handful of things that I would get there; Loaded waffle fries, cheese quesadillas - for which my friend Katie made up a song that still makes me laugh today - Reese's peanut butter cup sundae (aka crack) and mocha chunk ice cream. I was young when I started digging on mocha chunk. I mean not the typical flavor a 10 year old requests, but it had an edge. I had added oomph that made the chocolate chunks pop in my mouth and completed the ice cream experience. So I thought why not make mocha frosting how hard can it be with instant cappuccino just begging to be used in my pantry - thanks Lizzie.

Here is the thing. I am allergic to chocolate. Like allergic. So I can't taste test my experiments which proves to be fascinating. So as I was measuring out the chocolate to make the frosting I thought I wonder how much insta-cap I should use? Well, if I remember correctly, Lizzie told me a little goes a long way. So for a 1/2 a cup of cocoa 1 heaping tablespoon should do. I hope. I have a brilliant "buttercream" recipe that I live and breathe by because it is so great to cake decorate with, but I wanted something creamier that would match the flavor so I looked into a vegan baking book for some insight. Now the go to when making a vegan buttercream is margarine, but it doesn't hold up. It gets all melty and doesn't keep its shape so I decided to use half and half. 1/2 cup of margarine and a 1/2 cup of vegetable shortening. Now you can guffaw all you want, but when you are eating the delicious cake with off the hook frosting you won't remember a thing.

It did the trick! It gave the "buttercream" a super shiny look, but still was able to hold up and look GORGEOUS. So much so that my meat eating, salsa dancing friend Carlos came over and was freaking out that I had such amazing looking and smelling cupcakes just sitting around. I offered him one, but instead he had a small teaspoonful of the mocha "buttercream" and was in heaven. He said it was rich and flavorful and the coffee was not too over powering. YAY!

The real test is tonight when I bring them to salsa and my friends have one. I am not going to tell them they are vegan and see what happens! I will do my best to get pictures tonight! Wish me luck.

This is the glass domed cake stand I wrote about last time

Tea Time with an Old Friend

Gluten-free, Yeast-free, Sugar-free Carob Chip Cookies with
White Bean Flour on a super cute vintage china plate

This weekend I was bound and determined to make my gluten-free, sugar-free, yeast-free carob chip cookies. This is a recipe I have been fiddling with for a couple of months now. Originally I made it with the gluten-free "all purpose flour" but I found that the texture was too dense. Then I used tapioca flour and that made them mushy, but the flavor was better. Then I mixed half tapioca flour and half "all purpose" flour and that seemed to be the best at the time. When I got back from Baltimore, I was out of my "all purpose flour" so I went to my stash. Brown rice flour? Too grainy. Whole wheat flour? Defeats the gluten-free goal. White bean flour? Yes! That just might work. So I get to making the cookies. A little agave nectar, a little white bean flour and some tapioca flour, a couple of other ingredients and voila cookies. Not so fast... They were bricks. They tasted OK, but not great. Ugh, back to the drawing board.

So, on Friday night I thought why not just use the white bean flour? So I did. I mixed it all together and BAM! gluten-free, sugar-free, yeast-free carob chip cookies. I tried them and the texture was on point, but what was the flavor? That smell that was well, beany? The white bean flour although great in texture is not great in flavor. The only thing I can liken the flavor to is lotus bean pie from a Chinese bakery. I love me some lotus bean pie, but you know that you are eating bean paste. This takes you by surprise because you think you are eating a delightful carob chip cookie and then all of a sudden it hits you - BEAN.

A little dejected, my oldest - in years not in age - friend Seth came over for some iced tea and a little catch up. Sethers is a SUCKER for anything sweet. When we were kids he used to eat handfuls of chocolate chips and my personal fav was when he would make an entire batch of the family buttercream and mix chocolate chips into it that we would then eat by the SPOONFULS! Ah, youth...

I have a domed cake stand in my apartment that I like to use to show off my baked goods and there my gfyfsfcc's were for Seth to salivate over. After we chatted for some time Seth asked the dreaded question, "Alikatter, do you mind if I have a chocolate chip cookie?" Now I pride myself on my regular chocolate chip cookies. They are a thing of perfection and would gladly pimp them out to anyone who will have them, but these? These beany carob chip cookies? I didn't dare. I said, "yes? I mean if you are feeling daring. They are gluten-free, sugar-free, yeast-free, chocolate chip-free cookies..." His face contorted a bit and I quickly offered him a chocolate cupcake. A much better option for my sweet and rich addicted besty.

Upon further thought, it sort of amazes me that I had another homemade option to offer. Who am I?

Gluten-free, Yeast-free, Sugar-free Carob Chip Cookies with White Bean Flour
on a super cute vintage china plate (they really do look delicious)