M'honey Bakes

33 not to be confused with 52

2011-07-25T17:08:00.001-04:00

Oldest Dearest Friends.

My oldest friend, in years, not in age - although he is older than me turned 33 last week. Now Sether's birthday is always a momentous occasion, but this year was particularly special. I have to admit that I didn't know why until I got the call on the bat phone.

RING! RING!

AM: Hello?
AP: Alissson?
AM: Hi Andrea! I was just about to call you to find out what you had in mind for Sether's birthday party.
AP: Well you know three is Seth's favorite number. So I was thinking that maybe you could make something with three's.
AM: Silence. Ah, okay... How about a bunch of brightly colored cupcakes in the shape of two 3's?
AP: Yeah... I was thinking something more like a cake with 3's on it, or like in the shape of 3's, but if you can't, cupcakes would be great.
AM: ... ... ... clickity, clackity, search, search, search
AP: Are you on-line?
AM: Yep, found it! Done and done. See you Sunday. Call me if you need anything. BYE!
AP Ciao! Ciao!

For the record, I have been friends with Sethers for 22 years and I NEVER knew that 3 was his favorite number. Apparently, he feels it is his magic number and therefore 33 is going to be a super special fantasmagorial magical year.

Well, how could I refuse such a challenge? A birthday cake in the shape of 33. All I had to do was find a template and let the games begin.

Now I am certain I mentioned that I have been rehearsing for a new play. Normally I have time in between things to have a quick baking session, but not lately. I had to make time to actually bake and construct this cake. I decided that I was going to do vegan chocolate cake with vegan chocolate butter cream frosting, because Seth LOVES chocolate, and then a white cake with vegan chocolate buttercream because I wanted the three's to match.

I also wanted the three's to be big. There were going to be at least 15 people at the birthday brunch. In order to make them the proper size I needed to bake sheet cakes. One problem: I only have one sheet cake pan. Which meant that I had to bake a cake, put it in the freezer to cool, then figure out what to put the cake on to construct the three's. I was freaking out a bit until I realized that many moons ago I made an American Flag cupcake cake for my father's retirement party. He retired at 56 with 36 years of government service under his belt and he served in the Army. Pretty awesome. I will have try and find a picture of that cake. I even made white chocolate stars to top the cupcakes in the blue section. No joke.

The amazing vegan chocolate cake coming out of the oven - recipe available upon request

Anyway, I digress. I remembered that my mother bought giant sheet cake boards for the American Flag and she gave the rest to me. They made it through a move and 5 years of baking without being used until this fateful evening. I took one out and lo and behold it was PERFECT. The cake gods were smiling on me.

First cake in and out, and into the freezer to cool. While that sucker was cooling I made the next batch of vegan chocolate cake. Come on COOL dammit! The last thing I wanted was for the cake to come out of the pan too hot and break. That would have been a TOTAL disaster. So then I started making the buttercream because I didn't want the cake batter to sit for too long.

The cake in my freezer cooling. And if you look closely you will see that I have buttercream, French macarons, and 4 freezer bags filled with baked goods. Yeah...

When the first cake was officially cooled, I carefully put it on the cake board with parchment underneath it thinking this is a good move so I can get some mobility and move the cake or make adjustments as needed. Then I had to think about how to frost the cake. I had limited frosting and I needed to make sure I was getting maximum results. So I cut out the 3, placed it on the cake and then piped the three onto the lower layer. When the second layer was ready, I carefully and breathlessly placed the cake on top of the lower layer. I then placed the three template on the cake and prayed that I didn't break the cake. I have never carved cake before so I was super nervoso.

Outlined cake

The carving of the cake

With a nervous grin I hacked into the puppy taking large chunks of GORGEOUS looking cake off. Looking pretty good!


Post carving and pre-frosting.

The remnants. Don't you wish you were at my house that night? Yummers!

Now onto the white cake!

Perfection!

While I was waiting for the white cake to cook I attempted to move the chocolate cake a little. MISTAKE. CRATER GATOR! Crapola. Lucky for me I was able to ever so slowly move it over and then push it together and use some of the frosting to cement it together, but let me tell you I almost had a heart attack of epic proportions.

Then the freakin' white cake decided it didn't ever want to come out of the cake and cracked on the way out of the pan. WHAT? Why? Why? - read as exaggerated weeping.

Look carefully on the left hand side and you can see the fracture.

Lucky for me the cake gods were truly watching over me because it ended up that where the cake cracked was cut off the cake in the carving process. Phew, phew, and phew.

The first layer with a slight crack. Hoping my carving skills with get rid of the problem.

So I got to frosting the cake. It isn't easy when both cakes are side by side, weigh a ton, and I don't have a revolving cake stand to get the nooks and crannies. But slowly and surely I got the 3's frosted.

The frosting process.

The cake remnants. I know you are really wishing you were at my house that night. Have no fear! I froze the left overs and plan to make a trifle for a dinner party coming up soon.

Now there was just the issue of moving it into the refrigerator for the night. Now I know what those contestants feel like on extreme cake challenge when they have to move their cake from the work table to the presentation table! I made room in my fridge and held my breath as I placed it inside for the first time. As I stood there I thought and actually said aloud, "FLOWERS! It need giant white daisies. That will complete the look."

Sitting pretty in the fridge waiting for something to make it look even more amazing.

Exhausted, I retired to face the 33 the following morning. And when I did, I realized that the flowers weren't going to be enough. So I started to think about what else I could do to the cake to make it look really finished and that is when I had the thought: chocolate chips! Chocolate chips will make this right. So one by one I placed them on each cake.

Post Chocolate Chip placement and pre flower beautification.

Meanwhile, I put out a call to my friend Brent to find a banana box for transit and to come and get me on his way because I would not be able to pack up the cake, wrap it, open the door, and get in and out of a cab without help. Being that he didn't even know what a banana box was I went out scouting for one - ended up with a blackberry box instead - and flowers. Daisies, oh daises, where are you? It was June the perfect time for daisies - my favorite flower (ahem, please take note) - and yet, they were no where to be found. My vision was being foiled. Until I saw these bright magenta daisy/mum hybrid flowers and I thought done, and done.

Brent got to my house, we wrapped the cake, and off we went to the party where I spent the first 30 minutes happily dealing with the flowers and all that. Cause if you know Sethers you know he LOVES his flowers. We joke that his house is like a funeral home.

Finally it was the moment of truth. Andrea pulled the cake out of the box, we placed votives around the cake, and as we were lighting the candles the three with the crack started to crack a bit more! So we figured out if I squeezed it you wouldn't notice it.


The cake being squeezed together with all my might with the gorgeous flowers and candles awaiting the unveiling.

Sheepishly walking in singing happy birthday to my best friend.

Seth was so delighted and surprised. Grateful and honored, but honestly I was honored to be asked to make something so special for him.


Seth so surprised and delighted.

The cake and the cake maker.

Everyone was talking about the cake and freaking out about how good the chocolate cake was so I couldn't resist telling them all it was vegan. They freaked. They absolutely could not believe it. Seth said he thought that these cakes were the best looking and tasting that I have ever made. Quite high praise indeed.


Gorgeous even with the crack and all.

Cutting the gorgeous and delicious cake.

Yes, we did call each other to coordinate out outfits, plates, and cutlery.

Yummers.

A wonderful birthday a wonderful day for a wonderful friend.

Chicagoland

2011-06-25T11:57:00.000-04:00

The Chicago Skyway at 4 a.m.

So I may have mentioned my 14 hour drive to Chicago in my last post. I rode in a Uhaul with my friend who is relocating. I love road trips and it sounded like a blast so I said why not?

After getting 4 hours of sleep, going to two auditions, and getting lost for a couple of hours I was on long weekend getaway! First stop, yummy taco stand with the boys. I actually got to go there by riding on the back of a scooter! It was super fun. Although I was told to lean into the turns and I said, "how about I hold on and hope that I don't die instead." I have a flair for the dramatic. Of course they brought me to a delicious spot in the middle of hipsterville. It was amazing people watching.

Totally cracked out from the drive and lack of sleep, we turned in early. That and the fact that my friends in Chicago apparently do not sleep past 6:30 a.m. and by 7:30 they were at the Anderson Green Market in Lincoln Park. I made it there by 8:30 - who the hell am I? It was gorgeous. Lots of delicious looking strawberries, rhubarb, yummy crepes, and a cooking demos. And to top it all off, it was next to the zoo! Lions, tigers, and polar bears oh my!

After that we headed to the Greek Festival where my friend Laura was playing with her band. The spanikopita was ridic! And the baklava was perfect. Gooey, but not too sweet. We also played a game of corn hole and I have to say I was AWESOME! I mean the last time I played I was embarrassingly bad, but this time I was pretty amazing. That night I had a delicious dinner with my girlfriend at this delightful organic restaurant near Wrigley Field where some Cubs fans told me that "[they] liked my style, but liked my boobs better." Ah, how charming.

On Sunday chef Jake

Chef Jake preparing our delicious brunch.

hosted a brunch at chez Kelly. He made a delicious quiche with Capriko (a yummy goat and sheep's milk) cheese, asparagus, onion, and potato with a bitter green salad, orange, pink grapefruit, flash cooked peas, lemon vinegrette, and edible flowers.

The Quiche. It was rich and delicious. It didn't feel heavy at all. Infact two of us could have easily eaten the whole thing ourselves! The light bitter greens salad was a delightful foil to the creamy richness of the quiche.

The main event was homemade waffles with with roasted banana bourbon sauce, strawberry rhubarb sauce and homemade cinnamon whipped cream. Yum! There were also mimosas and delightful coffee. A lovely brunch.

Gluten free? Who is gluten free? These waffles were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and the whipped cream was to die for. Seriously delicious.

That evening for dinner, prior to the Game of Thrones season finale, we had tacos. I made the beans, Laura did massive amounts of prep, God bless her, and Jake cooked the meat and cleaned around me while I made a mess and baked, and Andrew worked. There was a lot of sauce left from brunch so we wanted to make a dessert that would be really good with said sauces. So, I immediately thought Angel Food Cake. It pretty much goes with anything especially delightful homemade sauces.

Here is the thing, it takes a dozen egg whites to make one angel food cake. Yowzers. What can I do with all those egg yolks. If there was one thing I learned from all of my failed French macaron tries it is that egg yolks make a delightful lemon curd. And funny enough tastes awesome with Angel Food Cake. BINGO! We also got some chocolate ice cream for the banana bourbon sauce because I haven't figured out how the hell to make ice cream without an ice cream maker yet.

I haven't made an angel food cake from scratch in a long time or perhaps ever. It is wild to see the egg whites get stiff. I mean it takes up the whole mixer bowl. I was also afraid of over folding when I added the flour, et. al. I guess I am gun shy from the French macaron debacle. But honestly, it is actually super easy to make a delicious and spongy angel food cake.

And lemon curd is pretty easy too. You just have to be there, be present, and stir until the mixture gets thick. I also like to add a teaspoon of corn starch at the very end, which is a total cheat, to make sure that it really stands up. And before you even refrigerate it you have to strain it and then put it in a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap touching the surface to avoid creating a grody film. The great thing about lemon curd is that as long as it is in an airtight container it lasts for a long time in the refrigerator and it is so refreshing and delicious especially in the summer.

When I took the angel food cake out of the oven it looked gorgeous! Golden, beautiful, and spongy. I almost forgot, and thank you Kate for reminding me, that you have to turn an angel food cake upside down for an hour before you take it out of the cake pan.

The cake upside down while we ate yummy tacos!

When it came out it was perfection. Total perfection.

Ready and waiting.

We cut into it and it was so perfectly white and spongy and ready to be accessorized! Everyone did something a little different, but my favorite combination was angel food cake, lemon curd, and the strawberry rhubarb sauce garnished with a black berry. Yummers!


Before

Angel food cake with lemon curd, blackberries, and strawberry rhubarb sauce. Thanks to Laura for the food styling!

Angel food cake with chocolate gelato, strawberry rhubarb sauce, and the roasted banana bourbon sauce.

Such a lovely weekend of friends, food, and frolic.

Stress Test

2011-06-24T13:33:00.001-04:00

Vegan Chocolate Espresso Brownies and 4 Chocolate Blondies.

Last week was one of the most insane weeks I have had in a long time culminating with a 14 hour drive to Chicago, yeah... So what does Alison do when she is stressed? BAKE. Yep. I bake. I don't work on my sides, practice my songs, or start working on my character analysis for the new show I am in, I bake. I mean why not really?

So after a particularly stressful day and rehearsal I went home and wanted BREAD. Well, I am recently gluten free so bread was not an option. Unless... I bake my own damn bread. So I get on my trusty iphone, because I don't have a computer at home - yes, I am Amish - and start looking for an easy gluten free bread recipe. Where did I end up? At good 'ole Elena's Pantry. She is so great and makes her recipes so simple. I mean all it called for was almond meal, arrow root powder (a great replacement for baking soda), agave nectar, 4 eggs, and some salt. Mixy, mixy pop in the oven and 30-40 minutes later? BREAD!!! Gluten free bread!

Freshly made gluten free bread!

Now, this is not like your regular bread that you buy at the store, but for someone who is looking for some serious carb loading it was perfect.

It could use some delicious marmalade or jam because it is a bit dry, but until I can find a good sugar free recipe, gluten free bread and ghee sounds delightful to me. Yeah, I am a poet...

Spongy just like bread!

I also knew that I was going to be embarking on an epic road trip to Chicago in two days and I wanted to be sure that there was significant snackage for the driver and some delights for my friends in Chicago. In fact, there was a request for my vegan espresso chocolate brownies from my friend Mr. Graves who is allergic to Omega 3's. What kind of life is that? No eggs, no almonds, no fish - ick, truly. So why not bring him some serious joy with a vegan delight?

I went to the market and purchased some soy milk, cocoa powder, flour, and sugar and got down to it. I decided to make the espresso brownies and my blondies, which are quickly becoming my especiality. They have milk, white, bitter sweet, and dark chocolate chips in them. Um, yeah they are awesome. And I thought why not make some chocolate chip cookies while I am at it? I mean we are going to be in a Uhaul for what I thought was 12 hours, but was more like 14.

I have to say that the blondies and the chocolate chip cookies were really a no brainer. It was the espresso brownies that seemed foreign to me although I have made them many times before. Instead of using a bain marie, aka a double boiler, I followed the recipe and microwaved the semi sweet chocolate. It immediately felt wrong. I was also using this new cocoa that was half dutch processed and half regular. I normally only just use regular cocoa, yep, I am ghetto. The texture was thicker than I remember it being, but I thought perhaps that meant chewier. But something about it just didn't seem right. I lined the brownie pan with aluminum foil, sprayed it, and hoped for the best.

The cookies came out of the oven and they were perfection; crispy on the edge and soft in the middle. How do I do it? A Silpat. Yep, I finally broke down and got one and it has drastically changed the quality of my cookies. I mean they were always pretty off the hook, but a bit inconsistent. Now, they are always good, all the time. I really suggest getting one.

Silpat cookie. BAM!

The brownies came out of the oven and the edges of them looked a bit whacko. I was bummed because I knew I didn't have enough time to make another batch and they were specially requested from my friend in Chi-town. Crapola.

The specially requested vegan espresso brownies.

Then the blondies came out. They looked awesome. Here is the thing with the blondies, the edges get hard, but when you cut away the edges the blondies are moist and delicious. And with all those different chocolate chips in them, forget it!

I mean...

I also cut away the edges of the espresso brownies and they looked okay, although not the ooey gooey brownies I know Sir Graves was dreaming of. Ah well, I had to go to work on some sides, pack my dress for the concert I was singing the following evening, and maybe get around to sleeping so they will have to do.

Well, thank goodness I made the bread, cookies, brownies, and blondies because that 14 hour drive was something. My friend Scott was such a trooper for driving the whole 14 hours on THE most boring highway on the face of the earth. I mean I have never been on a highway that only has truck stops the whole way. Like the WHOLE way. Now truck stops are fascinating. They have everything you could possibly want, need, and maybe desire, but truck stops are a little scary too. Like horror movie scary. So we were in and out in no time. Scott needed sugar sustinance to make it through the drive and I needed bread to satiate me.

I arrived in Chicago at 4 a.m., 5 a.m. GMT and my dear friend Jake welcomed me with open arms. Four hours later we were up, he was eating the brownies and blondies for breakfast, and I was getting ready for an audition. He was reaping the benefits of Mr. Graves brownie request.

He and Sir Graves said the brownies tasted smoky. Smokey? Why smokey? Huh. The different cocoa? Perhaps the coffee? I have no idea why they tasted smokey, but they smelled smokey now that they mentioned it. They said that they tasted good, but I know they were just being nice. So sorry the brownies were smokey and not as delightful as they last time, but the cookies, and the blondies made up for it I hope.

Smokey brownies

Delicious delights all made in a moment of stress. Really is there any better stress reliever? Okay, don't answer that.

It's TONY Time!

2011-06-24T13:19:00.000-04:00

TONY Night Delight.

Well, if you know anything about me, or have read this blog even once, you know I am a HUGE musical theatre dork. I mean I am a singer/actor in New York City. You do the math. But oddly I have never attended a TONY party. Not a super fance one thrown by a nominated show nor a small time apartment style party. So this year I decided I would make my own party, ahem of two.

I was super excited because although I often know many people nominated I had a bff in a nominated show, that won best new musical, a good friend nominated in another show, that won best revival of a musical, and my mentor and friend was nominated for best supporting actress in a musical. It was sure to be a fun night!

I was completely slammed all weekend with auditions, callbacks (which I booked, what, what!), rehearsals, coachings, and my yoga challenge, but I was bound and determined to have this little dinner party. My friend Anne and I had been attempting, rather unsuccessfully, to go gluten free and sugar free and this was our chance to cook our way to sugar freedom! There was no damn way I was canceling this dinner date and TONY "party."

Anne came over and I of course didn't have half of the ingredients I needed, cause I am awesome and NEVER cook, but she was super prepared and we actually managed to make some really tasty gluten free main dishes. Like really tasty. But since we are both seriously addicted to sugar I knew I needed to represent in the carb/sugar side of things. The first thing I wanted to make was gluten free popovers which would have been awesome, except I didn't have any soy milk. Oops! But! I did get an e-mail from my favorite gluten free home cook, Elena, for an apple/blackberry crisp. Um... yummers. Luckily enough I had everything I needed: almond flour, agave nectar, granny smith apples, blackberries, sea salt, and a little bit on lemon juice. Done and done.

This recipe was SUPER easy. Really who knew that gluten free baking could be so easy? Two things about this recipe. The first, the topping wasn't as loose as I would have liked. It didn't spread easily across the whole top. Next time I make it I am going to add a little bit of soy milk to just loosen it a bit. The second, you have to cover the crisp halfway through the baking process to ensure that it doesn't dry out.

And while it didn't look that great it was AMAZEBALLS! The tartness of the blackberries, the sweetness of the apples, and the earthiness of the almond topping made this dessert complex and delightful. And it only called for 1 TEASPOON of agave nectar!

Don't judge a book by it's cover. This blackberry apple crisp is ridic!

Anne and I were having an amazing time watching the TONYs. They were super fun, our friends performed and won, and we found a delicious sugar free, gluten free dessert. As far as I am concerned it was a perfect night.

Andrea's Birthday Parte Tres

2011-06-03T13:52:00.000-04:00

I get a phone call from Sether's the night before Andrea's actual 30th birthday asking if I will be coming over the following day and if I had planned on making anything because if I hadn't he was going to BUY a cake. Ahem, what? First, what about tomorrow night? And excuse me, buy a cake? He responded with, "Andrea told me he invited you to the out of town guests' dinner and if you weren't prepared to make a cake for the dinner I am happy to BUY a cake." There is that word again.

Now this was coming out of left field. I thought there would maybe be something small for Andrea's actual birthday, but then I thought perhaps they would have a nice evening just the two of them - even though I was on call for the whole weekend. What's more, Sether is my bff from way back. We have been friends for 20+ years - and we are only 22 - and Andrea has quickly become one of my closest friends in this city. Of course I would whip something up for a small dinner party of international guests. No problem.

The issue is that Sethers number one favorite cake that I make is my carrot gingey number. I already made minis of those for the next night so what to make that would be equally as delicious and look fantastic? How about my white cake with strawberry frosting? Done and done.

So on my way home from work the day of the dinner I pick up a couple of items and head home to my laboratory and start cooking. Everything is going so well! I have made this recipe a million times before what could possibly go wrong? Well for some reason this time the cake smells a little eggy coming out of the oven which made me a little nervoso.

The white cake that had a really delicate sponge to it.

I let them cool in the fridge while I crossed my fingers and made the strawberry frosting - special skills and talents... Now this recipe is super easy: shortening, butter, 3 tbsp of strawberry puree, 1 lb of confectioners sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla. Done and done, but lately for some reason the frosting has been separating which is highly annoying when you are frosting a cake. And a 30th birthday cake at that.


Getting frosted and ever so slowly separating. (and yes I crocheted that pot holder!)

I put the frosting in the fridge and added a bit more confectioner's sugar, but I didn't want it to get too sweet and whipped it again hoping it wouldn't separate so much that it slid off the cake. ARGH! I popped it in the fridge to cool a bit and got ready for the party. I was going to be, shocker, close to an hour late and had no cute homemade royal icing flowers to put on the cake so I resorted to the fab gold star sprinkles I procured the week before.


Certainly not my best work, but for separating frosting no my worst.

Not too happy with the presentation I thought I will package it beautifully and hope it tastes friggin' awesome and well, it did. It tasted like total, utter, and amazing deliciousness. Light, and sweet, but not too sweet. Refreshing and delightful. Too bad it looked a little sad. But everyone gobbled it up and Sethers was sure to have two pieces ;) Yay for birthday extravaganzas!

The cake in transit.

Andrea's Birthday Extravaganza Part Deux - For Adults Only

2011-06-03T13:24:00.000-04:00

I know I told you that I made not one, but three different kinds of cupcakes for Andrea's fancy rooftop birthday party, but I also made another sweet treat.

Over Christmas Seth and Andrea were traveling. And when they got back they had a farewell to 2B party and bestowed upon me a most generous holiday gift:

That is right folks a penis cake pan. Golly they know me so well (blush). Of course I go to so many hen's nights, passion parties, and debaucherous dance parties that naturally I would have endless use for this gift. At that moment I was bound and determined to find the perfect occasion to make these sweet treats. And boy did I ever.

Once I heard the birthday plans I knew that these babies would make their debut. I decided I would make them penis twinkies because then they would be cream filled... Yeah.

So I started to look up twinkie recipes and much to my chagrin there weren't any from scratch. They all used boxed cake mix - WHA? - with some egg whites, shortening, and marshmallow fluff. Now I am so hardcore that I usually make my own marshmallow fluff, but I figured since I was making a twinkie I should make them ghetto style as instructed.


The dreaded box cake and egg whites

I followed the recipe I had word for word, but the texture of the cake seemed really dense and strange so naturally I started to mess with it. If there is one thing I know it is twinkies.

An aside: When I was a little girl, and even now, my father would take me and my sister fishing - yes I fish - and we would stop off for "instant pick me ups." Which consisted of a sugary juice drink and any Hostess product we wanted. My sissy always chose the Hostess cupcakes and would peel the frosting off the top and save it for last and I would change it up a bit, but my fave was always the Twinkie - and sometime Snoballs. Don't you judge!

The texture was more like pudding than cake batter so I went to my trusty cupboard and pulled out the vegetable oil and a bit of milk. I got it to the texture I wanted and popped those puppies in the oven.

Lubed up and ready to be cooked. I hope these puppies come out in one piece!

Thankfully they did. They were golden brown and good enough to be swallowed in one bite.

The Penises waiting to be filled

I let them cool and moved on to the filling. Which consisted of vegetable shortening, vanilla, and marshmallow fluff. Once I made the filling I just had to figure out how to fill them effectively. Now naturally I wanted the cream to be through the whole Penkie - Penis Twinkie? - but the tip was too delicate - omg - so I had to think of another way. So I went with one long poke through the scrotum and mini pokes along the shaft. *blushing* But how? How would I penetrate it without making the hole too big and without compromising the cake? CHOP STICKS!?! Yes! Lizzie I am certain you didn't think I would be doing this with those fancy chop sticks you gave me:


Hilarity. Pure Hilarity.

I mean in all honesty I felt a little like Marge Simpson in that episode where she has a job making dirty cakes. So funny.


Mission Accomplished: Penkies

The best part is that my dear friend works at the U.N. and he decided that he was going to reserve some of these loverly penises for the upper level diplomats. So funny. Ahhh, now what is a birthday without some good old fashioned Penkies?

No words.

The Beautiful and the Damned

2011-05-13T14:50:00.001-04:00

French Macarons in all of their bite-sized splendor

I just got back from London last week. It was my first time there. Well, in truth I have been there many times before, but just passing through on my way to another country. Sorry UK, I was doing you a disservice. I LOVED London. Like loved. I mean part of it could be that I was there during all of the wedding hoo ha - more on that later - and I was there with my bff. But I noticed two things: CUPCAKES galore a la New York City 5 years ago and something that is just now catching on here: French macarons.

Now, I have been wanting to tackle macarons for over a year now, but they always seemed so daunting and I needed almond flour, and patience and time and, and... so I just never did it. Until Ms. Lizzie and I wandered into the most delightful little bakeshop on Ebury Street - where Mary Poppins was filmed, Tommy was written, and where Kate Middleton was staying prior to the wedding.

This patisserie had the prettiest little baked goods, cakes, and macarons! They came in every flavor and color in the rainbow: chocolate, hazelnut, blackberry, boysenberry, blueberry, pistachio, vanilla, raspberry, the list goes on and on. Each macaron was decorated differently and was light and crisp on the outside, but melted in your mouth. The flavors were so bright and distinct that it was literally an explosion of flavor in every bite.

Such pretty little things. She had a black forest cupcake that looked like heaven!

I decided when I returned stateside that I would finally tackle the French macaron. So last Friday after work - 4 - and before teaching salsa - 8 - I decided to whip up some macarons. Yes, folks this is how I roll. I know I have a limited amount of time, but when I set my mind to something I must do it then and there. So I go to Martha, look-up a recipe, and head home for a macaron making extravaganza.

Egg whites check. Confectioners sugar, check. Almond meal will do just fine, check. Mixer vacationed and ready to whip, check. Oh! Cream of tartar and sugar, check. Let's do this. A little hocus pocus and some flourishes and here is the result of my first go at a French macaron:


Yeah... Perfection.

Well what was I so worried about? I mean this was a piece of cake! So the wheels started turning and I thought what kinds of buttercream do I have in the freezer and what will go well with it? Hmm... So I start to make espresso and chocolate macarons. I mean the first batch was easy. Why the hell not?

This is why not:

Epically Failed Macarons

Holy Cannoli! Not only were they flat as a pancake, but they tasted like bitter Betty on her worst day. Yikes. I had to run out to teach, but I decided that I would commit to researching macarons to really master them because I think they are such a lovely, and gluten free, treat.

So I research. I buy books. I watch You Tube clips, and I think hey this is TOTALLY cool. I got this. All I need is the correct macaronage. If I can reach that I will have dominion over these little pillows of deliciousness. Research and information equal power after all right? Wrong-o bongo!


A hollow, hard, macaron chip anyone?

Now here is the thing, I can try recipe after recipe, but it doesn't have anything to do with the recipe, but with the macaronage. If that is not exactly right then you have no chance of getting the bite sized delights I had in London. So frustrated, I turn the old FB - which I NEVER do - and wrote the following:

Damn you French macarons. Why do you taunt me so? The first batch was total perfection and now? Now you taunt me with your wicked ways. But I will reach total macaron domination. Or I shall die trying. - Tuesday at 9:52 p.m.

So the challenged has been made. I will reach total French Macaron domination or I shall die trying. Stay tuned for my summer French Macaron challenge. And if any of you out there want to join me in said challenge I welcome it! Then we shall dance and sing and eat brightly colored macarons with happiness in our hearts and in our tummies.

A Royal Reunion

2011-05-09T20:57:00.149-04:00

LONDON!

When I first started this blog it was so I could keep people abreast of my baking misadventures. And let's be real there have been many. But honestly it was mostly for my best friend Lizzie to see what I was up to in my kitchen now that she was literally a half a world away in Australia.

One of my first entries was all about her and how my baking would never be the same without her:

http://mhoneybakes.blogspot.com/2008/05/my-australin-baking-challenge.html

When Lizzie moved to Australia three years ago we knew we would be friends forever, but that being apart would be really hard. She was my aristophanic other. When we are together it is like a crafty/culinary meeting of the minds. Where my thoughts end, her's begin. If I am stumped about how to finish a veil or what kind of vanilla to use Lizzie is my girl. If I am looking for sinemay or I want to buy a set of vintage glasses Lizzie is my girl. Basically she is me on steroids.

Now Lizzie is a crazy foodie. I mean like crazy. The way that girl talks about food, recipes, and the meals she has made, or eaten, is like poetry. So when she told me she was coming to Europe for 2 weeks I booked the first flight - through ICELAND (what, what) - to London and made sure I was there to spend precious and much needed quality time with Miss Lizzie.

The Girls back together again

The first three days were filled with me seeing every sight that I could possibly see, as well as a couple of shows in the West End and managed to take my own little musical theatre tour and went to Convent Garden to see where Eliza's flower stand was. I saw the Old Globe Theatre, I wandered along Fleet Street and blissfully sang Sweeney the whole way, I saw where the Who's Tommy was written and where Mary Poppins was filmed! Yes, I am a HUGE musical theatre dork. Don't you judge.

Covent Garden Food Market. Instead of Eliza's flowers, it is cupcakes.

I knew when Lizzie met me in town the trip would change from tourist town to food, vintage, and habadashery town. The first night we set-up an itinerary, snacked, and slept head to feet because the bed in my hotel was so small! We woke up and had a delightful breaky. Then off to shop!

Fascinators!

We went to Soho, and Leicester Square, Oxford Street where we scored some amazing commemorative Tea towels, Covent Garden, Bond Street, and... All the while stopping for snacks.

My new favorite word

The first, a hilarious little cupcake with the soon-to-be married - in one day - royals:

A commemorative cupcake in front of Buckingham Palace. Perfection.

Then there was the english sauage with cornishan and picallily for Lizzie and olive tepenade and other delightful mediterranean treats at the food market at Covent Garden:

The English Sausage

Mediterranean Deliciousness. Yes, please!

Then there was the spectacular bakery in Soho that had pretty little royal cupcakes and incredible looking merengues.

These discs were made with white chocolate. Gorgeous.

Hormone induced merenges. I have never seen such a thing!

Then there were the pasties. No, no not pasties a la Coco Riche the opera singing burlesque dancer, but Cornwall pahsties. They are made mostly with meat, but I have to say we have nothing like it in the states. It has like a pastry crust and is filled with meet and potatoes and the one we shared was indian spiced vegetables. Yummers.

Mmm Pasties!

Then there was the amazing little bakeshop I told you about in my last post which happened to be two blocks from where the now Duchess of Cambridge, then the commoner, was staying the day before the wedding. They had the most amazing little royal cakes.

Celebrate with a cake. Traditional fruit cake with royal icing. Absolutely precious. Notice the marzipan crowns dusted in gold luster dust. Positively exquisite.

After that we wandered to the Palace and took a couple of photos.

On our way to Victoria Station we happened upon another AMAZING souvenir shop where I procured a commemorative plate (pictured above), a tote bag, and some other ridic royal wedding kitsch. We aslo saw these cakes which we thought should be submitted to cake wrecks:

Once we got out to the country it was curry, crumpets, pudding which is actually not pudding according to American standards anyway, crisps - chips, chips - french fries, digestives, some super delicious licorice treat, and of course Jamie Oliver's restaurant.

I was fascinated by this. Hash, a hard-boiled egg and pastry. Hmm...

Food! Yummy food! We also managed to do some major shopping damage. I mean I had to buy new clothes after all of the over indulging I did that week.


Puddings Galore!

And we did manage a bit of baking ourselves because when we are together we laugh, eat, shop, cook, and bake. As it should be!

Not bad with limited resources

A wonderful and much needed vacation with my dearest friend.

Bittersweet goodbye.

Andrea's Birthday Extravaganza Part I

2011-05-09T15:25:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Andrea!!

Andrea is my dear friend Seth's partner. I met him about two years ago at a fab "standing" brunch Seth was hosting in his former Murphy Bed apartment we lovingly called 2B. We became fast friends. We are both mildly scandalous, love major scandal, dance parties, and we are Italian! So naturally when Andrea's 30th birthday plans were being discussed I knew I had to go big or go home.

Originally we were all going to go on some outrageous vacation, but as the months crept on time got away from everyone. So instead Andrea had an Indian wedding style birthday: it spanned several days and there were multiple events/venues. There was the dinner, the tea, the big party, the brunch and I think there were a couple of other smaller events I was not party to. He had people flying in from Australia, Italy, and London. He had half of the UN there - literally. About half of the hot and successful New York Gay Community, and a couple of super gorgeous, fabulous, and really successful women there too - ahem.

I knew immediately that I was going to be making minis for the big shindig. I wanted them to be bite sized so that no one would mess up their fab ensem and wouldn't need a utensil to eat it. I decided I wanted to do three different kinds of cupcakes. Obviously I was going to make my signature/award winning carrot cake. While Sethers is a HUGE chocolate fiend I am certain he will tell you my carrot cake is his absolute favorite of all my cake recipes. I also wanted to do a straight up white cake with vanilla frosting - vegan and then I decided to go little crazy and try a chocolate hazelnut cupcake with chocolate hazelnut buttercream frosting. I mean Andrea is Italian after all.

So the week before I got to making the chocolate hazelnut cupcakes. I used my famous vegan chocolate cake recipe and added 1/3 cup of nutella into it. The texture didn't change too much and I spooned it into the minis and put the pan in the oven.

The first round going in!

In 10 minutes my entire apartment was smelling of Bacio. It was magic. Until... I opened the door. MON DIEU! What has happened? How could this be? (all to be read in a bad French accent) The nutella made the cupcakes so dense that they had sunken in the middle. Oh no!

So I quickly added a 1/4 of a cup of AP to the rest of the batter and crossed my fingers for batch two. Again the aroma hit me and reminded me of that little agriturismo I stayed in in Tuscany that summer and the hot guy who ran it, Eduardo. Ah Eduardo.

Oh sorry, where was I? Right. The second batch of my experimental chocolate hazelnut cupcakes. I went to take them out and...Muffins. Yep. Too dry. Hmm... I packed them up in my zip lock bags and I hoped that the steam and the freezing would help make them become more moist and that the crater minis would come through in the end.

I moved onto the chocolate hazelnut frosting. I added both cocoa and nutella - 1/3 cup of each to the frosting...and it was awesome. It was then that I decided that going forward I would only add nutella to the frosting and perhaps inject it into the center of the cupcake to really send it over the top. *note for next time.

Ready to be frosted. They look pretty good, the crumb is nice, and the little I tasted was pretty delicious.

Too late. The cupcake are made. The party is coming closer and I have to make two more batches of cupcakes, frosting, special twinkies, AND a last minute birthday cake - that is why this blog posting is in parts.

The final product: chocolate hazelnut cupcakes with chocolate hazelnut frosting and roasted hazelnut garnish. Truly delightful!

Ode to Sir Jake Kelly - The Oatmeal Cookie Curse

2011-04-01T15:23:00.002-04:00

The Band is back together. Keith, Jake (the oatmeal cookie savior), and Mahoney

I don't eat chocolate. Why you ask? Because I am sadly allergic to it. - SHOCK, HORROR, and AWE - I know, I know. Every once in a while I will tempt fate and have a small morsel of dark chocolate or some vegan chocolate chips - which are AMAZING - but I always manage to pay the ultimate price. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago after attending a Burlesque class - yes - my girlfriend and I wanted to have a coffee - which I am also allergic to. Okay, okay so we wanted to get a warm beverage and she suggested Max Brenner. Oh sure! Why the hell not? I just took a burlesque class. I was feeling cheeky. Why not throw caution and allergies to the wind and have a dark chocolate hot chocolate? B-A-D idea my friends. Bad idea. I paid the price for not one, but TWO weeks. Sad.

Oh! So that rant brings me to my baking triumph. I wanted to make myself a treat. While I am completely obsessed with the Trader Joes' Vanilla O's - my newest guilty pleasure - I thought perhaps it was time to make something that I can eat. So why not some oatmeal cookies?

Why not? Because every time I make oatmeal cookies they are quelle tragique. They look bad. They taste bad. The texture is funny. And well, I just plain gave up on them. But last week I wanted them and why the heck shouldn't have them? So I look at Martha and I have to have this and that craziness so I think I want down home old style oatmeal cookies: Better Homes and Gardens. BAM!

These cookies were awful! They were like, as my Italian grandmother would say, strunz. They were CRAZY sweet - which is one of the reasons I dislike making oatmeal cookies, and they were teeny tiny. I was demoralized, not to mention the fact that I had a MILLION of these damn cookies that I couldn't serve or give away cause they were craptastic. What to do? What to do?

So the following morning I e-mail my high school bff - hardcore straight edge partner in crime - Jake. He lives in Chicago and has recently become quite a culinary god. Jake, I say, I need a good oatmeal cookie recipe. I am dying over here. I just can't seem to get one that I like. So he sends me one with butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, and walnuts and I think, wha? I just want an unsweet, spicy, straight ahead oatmeal raisin cookie. Jake assured me this recipe was where it was at so I trusted him.

Ah, look how cute we were going off to Junior prom. I am the one in the Jackie O. Inspired ensemble and Jake is in the center. Those were the days...

That was a wise choice because I made them last night and I substituted all the chips for raisins and added a teaspoon of cinnamon, at Jake's suggestion, and I have to say they looked great. I was worried they were going to be too sweet because the recipe called for 2 cups of sugar, but miraculously they weren't. The texture was doughy and crunchy. The perfect bite every time!

Delicious Oatmeal Cookies

I am super excited because now that I have a oatmeal cookie base and now I can experiment with the spice factor and come up with a really fantasmigorical oatmeal cookie!

So thank you Jake. Thank you for breaking my Oatmeal Cookie Curse.

Brent and Andrea's Birthday Cake

2011-03-25T16:40:00.000-04:00

Seth and Andrea hiding for Brent's big surprise.

So one of my oldest friends, Brent, and one of my newest friends, but feels like we have been friends for lifetime, are both turning 30 in the next week. Since this particular group of friends is a group of fabulous jet sets – me included (ha!) – no one was going to be around for their actual birthdays. So we decided we would through a little surprise dinner party for them. And I would host.

Now let’s get one thing straight, I am an amazing baker, but I am NOT a great cook. Like at all. I can make a great eggplant parm, vegan shepherd’s pie, and a couple other things and that is it. So hosting a dinner party is a little dicey. So my friends said they would pitch in with some small bites and I would take care of snakies and the dessert.

I decided that I would make gourmet pizzas, stuffed mushrooms, a salad, and well dessert. Since Andrea is having a ticker tape parade for his birthday I decided I would make 3 different kinds of minis for that extravaganza. But for this I wanted to do a traditional cake. Honestly, it has been so long since I have made a cake.

What to make? What to make? I was so uninspired with all the recipes I was finding. And then suddenly I thought: yellow cake with chocolate icing. Done and Done. Here is the result:

The yellow cakes hot and steamy right out of the oven.

The pizzas: A standard Margarita and a whole wheat crust pizza with ricotta, mozzarella, artichoke hearts, and caramelized red onions. Delightful.

I decided I didn't want to decorate the top. I always decorate the top so I thought about it for a little an decided that white chocolate chips might be a cute idea. I started with three tows, but it looked whacko so I added two more rows and I have to say I LOVE the end result. Oh and I also made the silk flowers surrounding the cake plate.

Apparently Sether's loved it too. Notice the piece of cake everyone else got and the piece he got. The cake looked just as gorgeous being cut into as it did waiting to be eaten.

Pies and Tarts

2011-03-25T16:14:00.001-04:00

The Pies and Tarts:

For Thanksgiving this year my baking mojo was a little off, but I was inspired by a friend of mine who told me their favorite American dessert, being from the UK, was pecan pie. I have never been a fan of pecan pie, but I thought what the hell!? Why not try it? The Big Man, aka my dad, is also a HUGE apple pie fan and I felt like I couldn't disappoint on that front so I made him an apple pie with a cheddar crust. The pie was AMAZING. The crust was ridic, but I didn't have a pie plate so I had to make it in a tart pan. So it looks a little whacko, but man, oh man was that pie delicious.

Alright. I was sold on this. It was super easy to make. The crust was flaky and light, and the pecans were roasted to perfection. And the shocker of all shocks was it wasn't too sweet! Good on ya Gregory for your mention of pecan pie!

This is the gargantuan apple pie with cheddar crust. Don't you just want to reach into the screen and grab it? This crust was OFF THE CHAIN! No, seriously. So, so good. I will definitely make this again for a thanksgiving party next year. Amaze.

One of my best girlfriend's got married in September - YAY! I flew out to Chicago for the first wedding and then for the New York celebration I hitch hiked to Rockland County. No, really it was a tricky location so I asked my friend to be my date and he picked me up, after my singing gig, and we went out to the wedding. I know that pumpkin pie is his favorite so as I thank you for schlepping me and accompanying me to the party I made him this:

As a result of baking him my famous pumpkin pie I got this:

A PROPOSAL! That is how good my baking is! (No one was actually proposed to or engaged in the making of this photograph)

The Fruit Tart:

I decided when I met the exbf's uncle, who was like his father, for the first time I wanted to really impress him with something summery, refreshing, tasty, and spectacular. So I thought, why not make a fruit tart? I looked up a bunch of recipes and thought, "how hard can it be?" I made my own pate sucre no prob and then moved onto the pastry cream. Ah, pastry cream. Why do you taunt me so? I thought it was thick enough what with the MASSIVE amounts of corn starch I added ever so carefully, but it still managed to thwart me. Firm, but as I would learn, not firm enough for a 30 minute train ride to Penn Station ,followed by an hour long NJ Transit ride, and a leisurely dinner in AUGUST. Like in the pictures, the tart was GORGEOUS, it tasted amazing, the crust was buttery and crispy, but the damned pastry cream did not stand up and it was like pasty cream ooze EVERYWHERE! But it did look amazing. I haven't made another one since then. I am scared. Oh so, scared.

Cookies and Bars

2011-03-25T15:54:00.000-04:00

The Cookies and Bars

So this year for Valentine's Day I decided that I would try something a little different so I made X's and O's for my nearest and dearest. I thought it was a cute change of pace and I have to say they looked fantastic. I messed up the royal icing a bit by putting merengue powder in it so they were coffee dunkers. But they looked so cute!

All ready to be shipped off. I mean really? How cute.

Last year for Valentine's Day I was crazy in love so I wanted to make crazy awesome Valentine's and boy did I! I saw this great recipe on Martha and I went out and bought alphabet cookie cutters, fondant, and some cute and different adornments and made these...

Yes, they were personalized for all the people that I truly loved in my life at the time. Yeah... I am that awesome

For every holiday I love to bake and bake and bake. I usually make most things in my apartment in New York and transport them on the bus - super glam - or in the sissy's chariot, but this year I decided to throw caution to the wind and try to use my parents' ELECTRIC oven. GASP! I made the dough ahead of time because my parents don't, for shame, have a mixer. Then I decided to try something new: COOKIE TREES. I have to say that these are quite easily the best sugar cookies I have ever made! They were like a cross between sugar and shortbread cookies. I mean ridic. You could smell the buttery deliciousness just by standing near one of the trees. I sent some of the cookies to a friend in Chicago who was spending the holidays alone - he had to work. He called freaking out about them and has asked me to make them for him several times since! The problem is I have no clue what I did differently.

Here are the trees. They are put together with layers of royal icing and one is supposed to give the illusion of a tree covered in snow and the other is just whimsical. They looked so great on my mother's vintage buffet

The final product. They make amazing holiday gifts and hostess presents.

These are a family tradition: Tharalis - pronounces Thadahli. My grandmother made them for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and if we were lucky, Easter. My aunt used to make them for said occasions and they were HUGE and off the hook, but lately my mother has been making them. They are still really good with Anise goodness and a royal icing frosting. Honestly, these are the first thing to go in my house during the holidays. These and the pizalles. So, so delicious. I tried my hand at them this year and I have to say Nana's recipe is amazing.

Try two at my vegan black and whites:

The first go was a mess. The cake was chewy and weird, but the flavor was delightful so over my holiday break, when I wanted to be in Paris, but was snowed in in New York - ah the blizzard of 2010 - I made these. The texture was perfection, but the lemony flavor wasn't quite there for me. And yes, even the chocolate is vegan.

Fresh out of the oven

Glossy, cakey, and beautiful these are as close to the real thing without having butter, eggs, or chocolate in them.

The Homemade Oreo:

The first time I made these was on a whim and they were the best damn things I have ever made. Chocolaty, flaky, crisp, and the frosting was firm and delicious. The second time something happened to the batter. Oh! Now I remember! I read 2 cups of butter instead of two sticks. Yeah... They ended up being good, but they looked like they where hormonally induced.

These are the SICK peanut butter sandwich cookies I made for a pool party I attended. It felt like the parents were away and we were sneaking an end of the summah ragah. So why not make peanut butter sandwich cookies. These cookies were CRAZY good. CRAZY.

Oh and...

2011-03-16T15:38:00.000-04:00

If you are wondering what other things I was up to for the last two years here is a little taste:

The Cakes and Cupcakes

2011-03-16T15:33:00.000-04:00

The Cupcakes

I made these prickly cupcakes for my sister's bridal shower. My mother heard about these really popular cupcakes at a local bakery and asked me to make them. They are of course completely vegan cause the sis is vegs. They were chocolate and white cake with vanilla buttercream frosting.

I made these for two friends with July birthdays. They are vegan tequila lime cupcakes with vegan tequila lime frosting. I heard they were tasty, but since I am a teetotaler I did not try them. This are my summer classic.

I made these suckers for my two bff's birthdays which happen to be on the same day! Since they are both chocolate fiends, I made vegan chocolate cake with mocha frosting - one of my signature recipes - garnished with chocolate chips, and vegan chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream frosting and fresh raspberry garnish.

My dear friends Andy and Jovana had a little bambino soon after they got married. I went there to visit, and meet the bam, and I brought with me some celiac friendly cupcakes. White cake with raspberry frosting and chocolate frosting.

Homemade carrot cake - one of my signature recipes - cupcake with yellow cream cheese frosting and homemade yellow royal icing daisy. This was for my friend Cecily's birthday party. They were super moist and delicious.

For my friend Brent's housewarming/Halloween Party, where I dressed up as a 1980's Eastern Airlines Flight Attendant, I made my carrot cake cupcakes with orange buttercream frosting and vegan chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting and garnished with my favorite thing ever: BRACHS Candy Corn

The Cakes

I was asked by my friend Chase to make two birthday cakes for his husband's 40th birthday bash. Quite an honor. He asked that one be vegan - since he is vegan - and one "normal" cake. This is the vegan cake: Chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting and handmade royal icing violets.

This was the "normal" cake: White cake with fresh strawberry frosting - a signature recipe

This is what my fridge looked like one night. Just cakes!

Fir Christmas, my sister and brother-in-law got me a really cool baking book. I was drooling over all of the recipes so I decided for my dear friend Sandra's birthday on New Year's Even that I would try my hand at one of them. This is the chocolate cake with a chocolate custard filling/frosting.

After struggling with the corn starch portion of the recipe I managed to make the custard pretty smooth. It was basically an all chocolate Boston Cream Pie, but the cake was too bready. If I make it again it will be with my vegan chocolate cake recipe.

I made this for the exbf's friend's birthday. It is a white cake with vanilla buttercream frosting. I thought it looked super plain jane so I decided to give it a retro feel with the chocolate chips. It was a huge hit.

It has been a family tradition since I can remember that we make a bunny cake every year for my father's birthday - it is always a couple of days/weeks away from Easter. So when my parents came to New York to celebrate Easter with us this year I made him a bunny cake. It is white cake, and one cupcake, with yellow vanilla butter cream frosting covered with coconut and jellybean eyes and nose. I think this is the CUTEST thing ever!

The Wedding Cakes

2011-03-16T14:50:00.000-04:00

Andy and Jovana's Gluten Free Wedding Cake

I made this for a commitment ceremony. This is a vegan chocolate cake with vegan buttercream frosting, and gum paste flowers.

She's Baaaack

2011-03-16T14:42:00.000-04:00

I made this wedding cake for my friends Andy and Jovana's Wedding. Andy is a celiac so this a gluten free white cake with gluten free butter cream frosting and gum paste flowers. It literally tasted like vanilla ice cream!

Well Hello!

I know, I know. It has been a solid - ahem - two years since I made a blog entry.

After my walk about in Australia I felt I needed to concentrate on the most important things in my life: singing, ARIA by alison, and my love life. In that two years I baked my ass off for weddings, bachelor parties, bridal showers, holiday parties, birthdays, pms binges, and thought to myself, "self, you should post this on m'honey bakes!" But managed never to get around to it.

In case you are wondering ARIA by alison is hugely successful. I was featured in three magazines in the same month! And I am hoping to be places in a very well-known retailer very soon. All of which you can check out at: www.alisonmahoney.com/press/

My singing is going swimmingly. Thanks for asking.

And my love life? Well...

How do I make up for all my years of neglect. How about a million mouthwatering photos of what I have been up to for the last couple of years. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me? Plus now that I don't have an SO I need any and every excuse to get back to baking.

And now for your viewing pleasure M'honey Bakes 2010 Baking adventures...

Lizzie and I made her wedding cake and cupcakes. This was one of my duties as bff. I made the navy blue royal icing flowers the night before I left for my trip. They matched perfectly. They were white cake with white chocolate frosting and vegan chocolate cake with vanilla butter cream frosting.

Lizzie and I making a million cupcakes for the nuptials.

The cake topper

The white cake cupcakes with white chocolate frosting and homemade flowers

The Land Down Under

2009-04-08T19:55:00.002-04:00

I know, I know, you haven't heard from me in a while. It has been a very busy winter and not much baking has been happening. I am happy to report that I am currently writing this entry from Australia. I have been here for about a week and have been happily eating my way through the country. While I am here I am throwing food allergies to the wind and eating bread, sugar, and anything else I can manage to get in my gullet - speaking of gullets I saw pelicans yesterday! -

I have managed to try my first savory pie from a famous pie shop in Sydney called Harry's Pies de Wheels. I walked to what seemed like timbuktu and back to get one. It was a pie with carrots, potatoes, and peas and then on top they put mushy peas (mashed peas) and mashed potatoes. YUM. Yesterday I tried a pink Lamington. Due to my jet lag it seems the synapses can't fire when I actually say the name of these. It is always wrong. It has become a bit of a joke. The traditional Lamington is with sponge cake, which a denser angel food cake, a thin layer of chocolate icing and then coconut. They sound great, but I don't do chocolate so I stuck to the raspberry Lamingtons which taste like snowballs sans marshmallow. If you don't know this about me, I LOVE snowballs so the raspberry Lamingtons were my jam. I have also been eating delightful fresh bread and really enjoying delicious cheeses and fruits like Tamarillos and Passion Fruit - which actually looks like a shrivelled up beet until you cut it open and then is is bright orange and delightful.

Today by dear friend Lizzie and I head out to buy the ingredients for her wedding cupcakes. We are jazzing up two of my tried and true recipes: vegan chocolate and white cake. I made gads of navy violets with silver dragees for the center for half of the cupcakes and brought them over from the US. They look great and they are the exact right color - I matched them to the invitation. So tomorrow we commence the baking portion of my trip. It is Good Friday so everything is closed so it should be perfect.

I will attached pictures at a later date of my adventures in the United Arab Emirates and Australia. Until then, happy baking!

Excuses, excuses

2009-01-30T14:21:00.011-05:00

The economic down turn holiday gift for everyone this year. Homemade hooch a.k.a limoncello, frosted gingerbread cookies, and hazelnut tea cookies. All equally delightful and festive.

Yes, I it is true I have been VERY lax with the blog updating these days. Funny that when it is cold and people stay in and cook, bake, and eat I don't manage to do much of it at all. I seem to enjoy baking waaay more in the summer. Go figure. I guess it is something about 100 degree temps that get me in the baking mood.

So much has been going on. I mean my accessories line is off the hook and is featured in this months Bridal Guide Magazine. I have been auditioning a bunch, singing a bunch - just got back from Idaho - teaching a bunch, and in between trying to relax.

Since Christmas and New Year's came and went without a peep from me I thought I would show you some of what I was up to baking wise.

Ron concentrating really hard on the task at hand (left). Ron and I in full decorating mode (right).

The day before I left for the holidays I had a million cookies to decorate and package as well as bottle and label the limoncello. I asked my bestie Ron to come over and help. He was great and we rocked out to Christmas Carols and I believe had a dance party too. Way to celebrate the holidays!

Fresh plain and spinach pasta in homemade pesto. Delightful.

Inspired by the two Italian holiday feasts I had when home for the holidays and the stories of my grandmother's amazing homemade pasta, I decided to dust off the old pasta maker I got to roll out fondant and try my hand at making some fresh pasta. I made both plain and spinach pasta with homemade basil pesto. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. If I was my nana without a food processor this never would have happened. The great thing is it tasted good, Dan loved it, and it freezes well. Winning all around.

I spent the new year with a group of people I didn't know all that well, but I wanted to contribute so I thought why not some cupcakes? Mini ones. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to make. I thought one classic and one not so classic. I came up with vegan red velvet cupcakes with vegan cream cheese frosting and vegan cafe latte cupcakes with a vegan royal icing glaze and cocoa, cinnamon, and powdered sugar on top to look like the top of a latte you get at a cafe. They were delicious. I have to admit though that they weren't an eating crowd as much as a drinking crowd so I lost a little bit of my baking mojo when they weren't devoured. They tasted great and looked amazing though. Check them out.

My New Year's delights. Vegan red velvet cupcakes with vegan cream cheese frosting and vegan cafe latte cupcakes with vegan royal icing and sprinkled powdered sugar, cocoa, and cinnamon. They really do look frothy.

THE HOLIDAYS!

2008-12-17T16:05:00.010-05:00

This looks like a page out of a magazine - if I do say so myself.

I am crazed with my ARIA by alison hoo ha - which btws is going really well - so I haven't been able to post lately. I wanted to show you my delights from Thanksgiving. Here they are in all their super profesh glory.

Carrot ginger cake with cream cheese frosting and toasted almonds, Almond, cinnamon, cranberry tart, and an old fashioned apple pie. Umm... It looked amazing, but it tasted even better. Just ask AD.

And if you are wondering what I have been up to check out these pics.

My Personal House of Pies Part I

2008-10-30T12:36:00.014-04:00

I took a much needed break after the endless parties through August and September - I am just so popular it is exhausting -from baking. There was so much build-up, craziness, and anxiety surrounding those events that I decided I should step away from the Kitchen Aid for a while. My own personal intervention if you will. It helped that I had a gig and some classes to keep me busy, out of town, and away from the oven. It took two weeks for the urge to bake to return and when it did, it was full on Stephen Segal style - with a vengeance.

All of a sudden I had the need to make delicious fall delights. You know, apple pie, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, apple cake... The list could go on and on and on. I think what sent me into a frenzy about baking was the idea of going apple picking and what fun I could have with all of those apples I picked. The possibilities were endless. The sad fact was since all of these events and the gig ate up most of my fall I had one weekend to get it all in: apple picking, apple pie baking, and pumpkin carving. Man oh man. Kate suggested we go apple picking - since it was the only thing I had been talking about for 2 months. We made the early and convoluted plans that would get me to the apple promise land and then it happened: RAIN. Yep. That Saturday was a total wash - according to Chris Cimino. No apples for me.

Well Kate, undaunted, suggested we do "apple picking" at her house and invited me to come over to bake and eat and play games. I said sure why not and so it began. Before I left my house I decided I wanted to try a new pumpkin custard recipe that I saw a couple days earlier. It is Gluten free and sugar free and sounded absolutely delightful. I read the directions and although it said not to use canned pumpkin and use roasted pumpkin I said rules be damned and raged against gluten guru Elena's recipe. I thought that if I cooked the pumpkin for a little prior to putting the mixture in the food processor it would dry it out. NOT THE CASE. It got more gooey and watery. Oops. I was running late - shocker - to meet Kate so I through it all in; the agar, agar, the agave nectar, the cashews, the water, the watery pumpkin and I crossed my fingers. The plan for this custard was to be in the center of some gluten-free, sugar-free choux I wanted to make.

Kate and I met up and we bought 3 pumpkins, a whole host of ingredients, and set off to the apple sale at Manhattan Plaza. Kate and I were just supposed to get a half a peck of macouns - my favs - but then Kate went crazy. She got apple cider, she got apple cider donuts (Boston style spelling) she was so excited to see a little bit of fall in the city I think she would have taking the whole stand, but we had too much to carry as it was.

When we got to Kate's, I immediately started on the pie crust a la Better Homes and Gardens cook book. It really is the best crust recipe I have tried. Since Kate's kitchen is not fully equipped with all the baking accoutrements I was making pie crust Carolyn Ingalls style. I felt like I was living in a prairie house. Look at me the early settler...

When I was done mixing my pie crust with my hands I placed it in the fridge and I moved onto the choux. As I was making it I was like how in the hell is this going to rise to be puff pastry if there is no leavener (is that even a word) in it? This isn't a glue like consistency like the recipe says! Hmmm, VERY suspect. There was so much butter in this recipe I thought my arteries were clogging while I was stirring it. No joke. I piped the batter onto the cookie sheets and sheepishly placed them in the oven. I check on the custard that was not setting up - drat that canned pumpkin - and place it in the freezer. Now I am known in these parts for being a superior baker. It would have been very embarrassing to have not one, but two recipes fall flat.

A little dejected I turned to the apples to lead me out of this failed day of baking in a foreign kitchen and new recipes. Apples, sugar, butter, lemon juice, and salt. Does it get any easier? Mixy, mixy and done. Delightful. When I took the pie crust out of the refrigerator and floured the surface I was ready to roll - literally and figuratively- but then I realized that Kate doesn't have a rolling pin. I thought, what would Caroline Ingalls do? I rummaged a little and found a beer stein and rolled out the dough. The pie looked delightful. I mean absolutely wonderful. The last apple pie I made looked and smelled delicious, but tasted like absolute dirt. Could be the same? Could pie be my biggest baking shortfall?

Pre-bake Apple Pie. Sometimes looks can be deceiving. Let's hope this time that is not true.

While we anxiously awaited the final pie product we carved pumpkins. I was really intense in my pumpkin carving - or so I am told - and made a Frankenstein pumpkin creatively named Frankie. After about an hour the pumpkin was done and so was my pie. It smelled delightful, but the true test was the taste test.

Frankie my Jack 0' lantern. He is pretty righteous.

We waited a 20 minutes and then cut into that sucker. It was a little watery, but lawd was it good. The crust was flaky and rich, the apples were sweet, but not too sweet and a little tart - just the way I like them. It was a true pie TRIUMPH. I mean I think the House of Pies in LA would carry this pie that is how good it was.

Delightful, delightful pie! I have conquered my pie demons! WooHoo!

I am going to DC to visit Liza in a couple of weeks and think in her apple pie I will add some vanilla bean. I think that will impart a kind of richness I can get behind. Yay! I made a delicious pie!

Cocktails Anyone?

2008-10-28T15:47:00.007-04:00

Assorted mini cupcakes for the engagement party

My sister got engaged a while back - yay for her and the Spaniard - and her friends decided that they wanted to throw her a little soiree to celebrate now that everyone's schedule had died down. Since I am the maid of honor I immediately offered to help in anyway that I could. Her friends promptly asked me to make the desserts.

Vegan Lemon cupcakes with vegan vanilla buttercream (left). White Vegan cupcakes with vegan strawberry frosting and Chocolate vegan cupcakes with vegan mocha buttercream frosting (right).

Hmmm... what to make for my sister's engagement party that is delicious and festive that she can also eat being that she is an vegan and all. CUPCAKES! I was no joke on these suckers. I made white, lemon, and chocolate cupcakes and vanilla, strawberry, and mocha vegan buttercream. They were spectacular and everyone really enjoyed them. Here are some great pics of them. Enjoy and congratulations again!

Little bites of heaven.

Cecily's Birthday Extravaganza

2008-10-15T16:15:00.010-04:00

Cecily and her birthday extravaganza cake - White cake with Strawberry frosting

Cecily has been planning her birthday party since May. No seriously May. My one task regarding the birthday was to make the cake. Now she specifically said cake. When I asked if I could do cupcakes she said she really wanted a cake. She also told me that she wasn't a fan of chocolate. So in May the wheels got turning. Cecily always does things in a big way so I wanted her cake to reflect that. At the time, I thought it was going to be a small group of people - 15 at most - and I would make a fab layer cake. The vision: white cake, white frosting with fondant polka dots in pale pastels.

As the months passed she ordered invitations and I wanted to make the cake look like the cake on invitation, but she said that was too busy. So I started to think something more understated. Perhaps white cake, white frosting with swiss dots and a beaded border? Then she said that she wanted strawberry in the cake. If there is one thing I HATE more than anything in a cake is fruit in the middle of the layers of cake, UNLESS it is in the layers of a delightful Dominican cake. So then I felt like my vision for the cake was screwed.

I decided to make the cake layers early in the week and freeze them for two reasons: 1. I wanted to get the baking out of the way and 2. The cake is more moist when you freeze it right after baking. I used this new recipe that I also used for my birthday lemon cake. This recipe calls for reverse creaming where you mix all of the dry ingredients in with the butter until is it pebbly then you add all of the wet ingredients. It makes for a very fluffy almost - dare I say - box consistency. I made one ten inch, one eight inch, and one six inch cake. I meant business. The cakes came out perfectly and I had just the right amount of cake flour for the project. I felt really confident about my time line for the cake decorating process and I was excited to finish the cake.

The day before the party I started nosing around for a strawberry icing recipe because I was not going to put fruit in the layers PERIOD. I came across a Sprinkles Bakery recipe and as you recall I thoroughly enjoyed their buttercream when I was in LA. I decided that was the buttercream I was going to make. Saturday rolled around, I removed the cakes from the freezer - I learn from my mistakes - and I started to have an anxiety attack about the cake. Suddenly it seemed like it was not going to be enough, after all she was expecting 50 people. SHIZA!

So, because I am a TOTAL freak attack I end up running to my super chi chi grocery store without aisles to get more cake flour and a couple other last minute items. Of course my exclusive and majorly over priced local grocer does not have plain old cake flour, they have self rising flour. I search and search and then read the back of the self-rising flour box and it says that you can interchange the two. But how is that possible really? Desperate I grab it and head home to make even more cake. While the new cakes were baking in the oven, I moved onto the buttercream. I made 2 full batches of straight up vanilla - for the layers - and two of the strawberry. Which incidentally only required 3 tablespoons of strawberry juice - from frozen strawberries - and really infused it with a lot of flavor.

The cakes smell ready so I open the oven to door to find...CATASTROPHE! WHAT!?!?!? The cakes fell. The center of them were sunken in. Never in my life... Well this would not do. How the hell can I add those to the most amazing cake I have ever made in my life? Not going to happen. So all this time wasted not decorating and assembling the cake waiting for these damned sunken cakes to sink. Shoot. I literally wanted to scream.

At that moment Ron arrived to a very harried towel wearing freak attack and I promptly told him, "talk me off the ledge." My vision was thwarted and this cake was going to be small and lame-o. Ugh. I was running around like a mad woman - which seemed to be a theme around these various birthday parties - putting in earrings, throwing on a dress, frosting a cake, putting on some make-up, throwing on another layer of cake rushing to the finish line almost in tears that this cake was going to be a DISASTER. I went into my stash of royal icing flowers and grabbed some daisies, threw them on and threw the swiss dots idea out the window. I had to run.

My stash of royal icing flowers. Yep, I made them all with my own two hands.

In 3 inch gold stilettos, a black cocktail dress, and a 3 tier cake in hand Ron and I set off for the bar.

Thankfully, it was dark in that bar because the cake was a little lopsided and the frosting was not perfect by any stretch. When the candles were on it it looked really pretty, but I was still not thrilled with the presentation. Then the rumblings started... people were saying it was the best cake they have ever had in their lives. That is was moist and dense and fluffy all at the same time and the frosting was amazing and I suddenly felt at ease. Cecily was thrilled and her mother - who is very hard to please - was gushing. So after a stressful day it ended up being quite a success - who knew?

The birthday cake and the birthday girl in all of their glory

Next... a cocktail party. Wowza. Does it ever end?

Birthdays Galore

2008-10-10T16:45:00.013-04:00

Kate and her birthday cake

Kate is one of my besties and her birthday was coming up. After my surprise party that I found out she was planning for literally MONTHS I felt like she really deserved a fun birthday too. She wasn't feeling it this year, but I felt like we had to do something to commemorate the day of her birth - DAMMIT! So after a little but of coercion Kate decided to have a dinner party with just her nearest and dearest.

That is when her friend Carey and I took over: a surprise potluck. Funny right? Carey is obsessed with themes. I am more of a fly by the seat of my pants kind of gal so I left the theme thinking to her. She came up with some really great ideas like a casserole dinner party as an ode to Kate's mid western roots. That one got a big OMG she can't be serious - although I did find it pretty amusing. But casserole? The theme I could handle was an Argentinean feast. Kate and her bf are heading to Argentina this winter - can you say jealous? - so we thought it would be a perfect theme to get them even more excited about their trip. I decided I would make the cake -duh- and some tostones to go on the side with the empanadas and rice and beans - delish.

Here is where my conundrum came in: Kate's favorite cake of all time is carrot cake with walnuts and raisins and cream cheese frosting. Now that cake is OFF THE CHAIN and it is award winning, but Kate expected it and she recently fell in love with my coconut cake. In fact, at one point she said she didn't know which one she preferred for her birthday. I wanted to make two little cakes. Cakelettes if you will, and hell I will. HA! But the coconut cake is very time consuming and I thought you know? Why not shake things up bit?

I hit the ground running with the coconut cake and let me tell you that cake was GORGEOUS! I put it in the freezer after it came out of the oven - one of my tricks to keep the cake super moist - but I decided to leave the bottom of the springform pan on the cake. At the time it seemed brilliant. I mean I figured I would take the cake out of the freezer the day of and it would thaw and I would be good to go. I then moved on to the coconut filling that is so delicious. I mean think the coconut filling for the best damn black forest cake you have EVER had - yep that good.

Fast forward to the day of Kate's party. I had the day planned within an inch of its life. I started on the cake around 5 knowing I had to be at the party at 7. The meringue frosting takes a little bit of time and tlc, but 2 Hours is MORE than enough time, except when you forget to take the cakes out of the freezer and the cake is frozen to the bottom of the pan. YIKES. I realize this AS I am in the shower so I jump out towel in hair, no make-up, and 45 minutes before I have to leave freaking out about how I am going to pull this off.

Post thaw. Phew...

The question was how in hell was I going to get those cakes thawed out in time for frosting and getting to the party? EUREKA! Turn on the oven, place the cakes on the back burners and thaw it that way. While I was anxiously awaiting the cakes I slapped on some make-up, did the hair and turned my attention to the cake. Thank goodness I am BRILLIANT because otherwise there would have been no birthday cake. The cakes were defrosted and I cut into them with a vengeance, then placed layer upon layer with coconut filling and then it came time for the meringue frosting. When I was a kid I was OBSESSED with fluff and this is basically fluff so it is all I can do to not shove my face in it and start eating it like it is my job. I put some coconut on the sides tossed it in a box and headed out the door.

Dinner was amazing and kudos must go to everyone who pitched in. Kate got a light pink candle candelabra for her birthday so we put that on the cake and it looked AMAZING. The cake was good, but it wasn't great. Why you ask? Isn't it one of your specialties? Um, why yes it is. The coconut I used on the outside of the cake for aesthetics was B-A-D. It was like candied. Ick, It was messed with the texture and the flavor of the rest of the cake.

The Cake that almost wasn't

Next I have a 3 tiered birthday cake for Cecily's crazy birthday party. There are going to be 50 people there! No joke. Wish me luck...

Surprise! Surprise!

2008-10-09T09:34:00.011-04:00

My Birthday Protrait

Let me just start by saying that I have the best friends EVER! It is true. I truly have been blessed with amazing friends. How in the world did I get so damn lucky? Where is this coming from? Well let me start from the beginning - as Maria says, it is a very good place to start.

After I returned from my weekend on the Cape, my two girlfriends announced they were taking me out for my birthday that next weekend. Cecily decided she was going to pick out my outfit: an AMAZING black Marc Jacobs dress. We were going to pre-party at Kate's ridic new apartment, and then they were going to kidnap me for the night. All they told me was be prepared to have fun and bring stripper ones - no joke.

Leading up to this mystery evening I was excited and a little nervous. I mean stripper ones!?!?!?! Kate said she was going to make me whatever kind of cake/cupcake I wanted and since it was the end of summer -sigh - I opted for yummy lemon. So many things were going through my mind: When will we partake in cake? What if the dress Cec chose for me was over the top? I mean she would wear a prom dress to get milk at the deli on the corner so was I sure she was the best judge? What shoes should I wear? Were we going dancing or to dinner.

The day of my secret evening out was also the same night as a hurricane - Woo hoo! My sister and I had some wedding errands to run. Ahem, the gun at Williams Sonoma - BACK off it is mine lady! So I was a little water logged when I got home and already running late for the evening's festivities. The plan was to get in a cab, get Cecily and go to Kate's. I was, per usual, late and when I got to Cecily's house she was like "YOUR LATE, I mean happy birthday" and handed me a corsage. Yes, I said CORSAGE! It was quite lovely and I can't remember the last time I had one. She said it was my night and I should look like a princess.... I mean who can argue with that?

We roll up to Kate's abode and we get wind blasted - ah hurricanes so good for hot dresses, hair, and a night out on the town... Now what happened next should have tipped me off. Cecily asked if her hair looked okay as we were entering the elevator and it was just us going to pre-party at Kate's sho could fix it when we got there. We got off the elevator and I walked into an AMBUSH! Yep. All of my closest friends in one room screaming surprise, SURPRISE!

Tricky, tricky friends.

It was an amazing night. I had my first birthday circle, all of my favorite food - thank you Ron - a pinata, and my very own tower of cupcakes. They put ten million candles on the tower o' cupcakes - including my age (thanks Cec) - and thanks to my enourmo lung capacity I was able to blow out everyone and make my wish. * I hope it comes true.

Kate ended up making lemon cupcakes with a cream cheese filling and confectioner's sugar topping and black bottom cupcakes - which I believe are her specialty. Since I am allergic to chocolate and my actual birthday had passed, I passed on the black bottom, but I thoroughly enjoyed the lemon cupcakes. In fact, I had 2 - amazing. They had a light lemon flavor and the was a cream cheese center which added a nice touch of sweetness. I hoped someone got pictures of me blowing out the candles, but it seems we missed that. I am totally bummed that I can't show you Kate's baking triumph.

I was so overwhelmed and excited by the generosity and love that went into planning this party. Ron, Kate, and Cecily I can not thank you enough for making my birthday truly memorable and for making me feel so loved and special. And to all of my friends who were there or wanted be there, but were called to work or in Australia thank you for celebrating with me. YOU ROCK! Did I mention this was the best birthday EVER!?!?!?!

Birthday Bonfire Bonanza

2008-09-18T16:36:00.020-04:00

Cape Cod at sunset right before the bonfire started.

I am an old fashioned girl. I like pretty things, vintage kitsch, yummy delights, tradition and Cape Cod a la Patty Paige. My parents purchased a very sweet cottage on Cape Cod in a little Village the year I was born - ahem 1992 - and while we have moved to another home since then, that is less like camping, the Cape has been in my blood since the womb. I have managed to get myself there - my most favorite place on earth - for almost every birthday I have ever had. Of course there were a few summer stock years that I couldn't get there, but in those cases my momma would come to me.

It has become tradition that my mother and I go thrift shopping on the actual day - see I do love pretty vintage things, then we have lunch somewhere (usually Chatham Bars Inn), followed by a bonfire on the beach on the bay side where the sunset is truly spectacular. It really is glorious and every year it is a little different.

Growing up it was tough to plan birthday parties because my birthday is the second to last day in August. Everyone on the Cape would pack up and head home for school well before that. All my winter friends would forget cause I wasn't around - who can blame them really? So often there was something small. However there was that surprise party for my 16th birthday which was particularly memorable: strep throat, kidnapping by friends, a party outside a winnebago, and card made with foam core and glow tape...ah those were the days.

The plan this year was just a quiet weekend with my parents and some cousins that live on the Cape and perhaps a bonfire. The day before I left New York for Cabo Cod I started to hear rumblings that Seth (the friend who I made the vegan chocolate birthday cake for in June) was going to be there, then Brent, then Sandra, then Gina! OMG! This is a party. These kids have been my friends for upwards of 20 years and our friendships are magical to say the least. Then my bestie Ron decided at the last minute he was going to take the trek with me. WHAT!?!? This birthday was going to rock. Lucky for everyone I made a ridic cake that was going to knock them off their feet.

Lemon Layer cake. White cake with lemon curd and old-fashioned 7- minute icing. TO DIE FOR!

I woke up on my birthday to some delightful melt-a-ways that are made at this one bakery in Harwichport - Bonatt's - and are FAMOUS and DELICIOUS. They are like a cross between donuts, brioche, and a danish. I can't explain them really, except that they are amazing. Yum. It was overcast, but undaunted my mother and I set off on our thrift shopping escapade that also included a stop at at a new chocolatier where we were lucky enough to do a tasting - btws food allergies be damned on my birthday! - a couple of antique shops and a little visit to my 94 year old great aunt who was a vaudeville dancer and headlined in the circuit. Some of her openers: Frank Sinatra, Lawrence Welch, and Dean Martin. Whenever I see her she asks me if I have gone to the William Morris Agency and asked for her agent - yep, she rocks.

After that we met up with papi chulo and headed to one of my favorite places on the Cape: Chatham Bars Inn. This is a super old FANTASTIC Inn that is on the water in Chatham. You can order lunch and drinks on the veranda and just look out at the ocean. It is so serene and spectacular. That day there were two weddings going on. Busy, busy. Lunch was fantasmic. My mother and I had these tasty roasted veggie wraps and my father had a Cuban sandwich - ftr he had his first one in the city 3 years ago and still raves about it! At this point it was raining. Dammit. No bonfire. My dream of a super fun, relaxed, and silly evening was gone. Over. Kaput.

But if you know the Cape you know that one town's weather is different than other's and every place we drove the weather changed. So we decided what the hell, let's do it. A couple bags of junk food or as my father calls them "instant pick me ups," some wine, some beer, and some wood and we had ourselves a party. What was intended to be low key ended up being a group of almost 20 people. It was a total blast. We cooked hot dogs, roasted marshmallows, and Seth even brought all of the fixin's for margaritas on the beach - he is legendary for being over the top.

A little later in the evening I decided it was time to unveil the cake. Yep, I wanted to make something DELICIOUS after all it was for my birthday and my mother's - only a week before - so it had to be good. I made a white cake with lemon curd filling and old fashioned seven minute frosting. At this point the cake had been on a million trains, buses, and automobiles. While the cake stayed in one piece the frosting didn't fair as well. The best parts of presenting the cake were when Ron lit the candles and everyone sang happy birthday as the candles were blown out by the wind and after the entire cake was served there was a very small piece left and Ron asked if Gina, Seth, and I wanted to share it with him. Gina said, "if by sharing you mean eating the frosting I am in." Then Ron and Seth and I dug back in. This cake was GLORIOUS. I can't even explain how delicious it was. I could hear people rumbling about the taste and the texture and how well it all went together. Then I look over and Ron is basically licking the cake round. I mean that is how good this cake was.

The presentation of the cake. While it did not travel well it tasted like HEAVEN!

Post cake the fam left and it was just me and my friends and my cousin Lauren. We looked out into the ocean and we saw it sparkling. Like there were fireflies in the water. Seth ran to the edge and reminded us of a story when we were 15 at the beach and we saw dinoflagellates in the water and how we decided skinny dipping. In about 5 minutes flat we were all bounding toward the water screaming with excitement and anticipation of hitting that infamously freezing cold water. It was worth being in ice cube temperature water because every time you moved in it, it was like Tinkerbell was swimming around you and above there was a meteor shower. It was incredible. I mean that is what movies are made of.

After we got out and dried off we headed to the parking lot where a dance party ensued followed by the cops coming and not so subtly escorting us off the beach.

Ah yes, the parking lot dance party. Some things never get old...

What a magical and memorable day. Delicious food, delicious friends, and a new delicious recipe. Thank you to my friends and family for such a incredible birthday.

LA -er Santa Barbara - Baby! Part Tres - The Bachelor

2008-09-17T15:30:00.009-04:00

Tuscany? Nope, just Santa Barbara

The rest of the vacation was spent in Santa Barbara. It is so gorgeous there. There is this surf town called Summerland which is so great. My sister and I have a good friend who was on the WB series and we thought it was just a clever name for a TV show, but no it actually is a town and it rocks.

We spent one whole day driving through the mountains on our way to lunch with Mr. Andrew Firestone. It was a gorgeous and treacherous ride. It reminded me of when my girlfriends and I were driving to the walled cities in Tuscany, except there weren't cars zooming past us on hair pin turns. The little towns we were passing through were so quaint and seemed like they were out of a John Wayne movie. One, Solveng, is like a Norwegian Village smack dab in the mountains of Southern California. The oddest and most interesting thing I have seen in some time.

On our way to lunch we were both kind of dreading the idea of having to hang with the Bachelor. We thought it was going to be the low point of the trip, but as we approached Curtis we knew we had to make the best of it. First of all, Andrew Firestone is WAY cuter in person than on TV or in People, US Weekly, In Touch, or the Enquirer. He was also extremely knowledgeable about wine and the wine making process and took us on a full tour of his winery and then brought us out for a tasting. He was so enthusiastic about his product and explained everything so clearly that is was totally pleasurable to actually learn about wine. After the tasting we had lunch on the grounds and it was lovely. He told us about his wedding, he freaked out when I told him I was an opera singer and launched into a story about how his father sings for the Santa Barbara Chorale and will be so disappointed that he missed the opportunity of meeting me, and we shared our love of baked good while eating mondo cookies that were amazing. What we thought was going to be kind of a nightmare ended up being one of the best parts of our trip!

My vacation was a much needed getaway and pick me up for the craziness that is my life in New York. I didn't get discovered and I didn't meet - sigh - E. but I did have an amazing time with my sister and got to try some great baked goods. Thanks Jenna for a fab and much needed birthday vacation.

LA Baby! Part Deux Sprinkles - Yum.

2008-09-17T15:11:00.006-04:00

Our last day in LA Jenna and I were headed out for brunch at some sceney bar where they had an infinite amount of delicious looking baked goods that looked stolen from Magnolia, a stroll on Robertson with a quick gander at the folks at the Ivy, then off to Beverly Hills 90210 to get me a cupcake at Sprinkles. I was excited to try Sprinkles cupcakes because I have heard so so much about them, but I was even more interested in their operation. They ship and box and cater and, and... so I thought it would be great to go and see. The store front is TEENY. It is a well oiled machine in there. They have a menu that shows you what they have on which day, there is an army of people there to wait on you - it is NOT self serve - and you can take as may cupcakes as you want at one time unlike many of the places here in the city. They are also really well branded. EVERYTHING has the Sprinkles logo on it. I guess that is why a cupcake costs $3.25 - WHAT!?!

I had trouble deciding what kind of cupcake I wanted. There were so many to choose from - almost too many - so I narrowed it down to 3 flavors that I have mastered to compare: carrot, coconut, and lemon.

http://www.sprinklescupcakes.com/flavors.html

Since I had a coconut pie the night before I went with the lemon. I ordered it from the helpful little man behind the counter, got my cupcake to go in a fab little wax paper bag, and went outside to partake the in the legendary cupcake. So many times places like this disappoint because well they have a lot to live up to. Let me tell you something folks, this was the best store bought cupcake I have ever had. EVER. The cake was moist and delicious. It was resilient and spongy, but dense. The frosting was buttery and sweet, but not too sweet. It complimented the cake so beautifully. If I were to say one bad thing about the cupcake it would be that it needed to have more lemon flavor. It was like a vanilla cupcake with a hint of lemon and if I am eating a lemon cake I want to be hit over the head with lemon flavor. But I mean that is all I can say about it that was bad. The cupcake taste and texture - barring the lack of a strong lemon flavor - was perfection. Huzzah to Sprinkles!

What to Choose?

LA Baby! Part 1 Margarita Bus and the House of Pies

2008-09-03T18:57:00.023-04:00

Yes folks I was in the great state of California. The land of the grapes, Steinbeck, surfer dudes, the MA (model/actress), Ed Hardy cheese bag clothing, and of course Arnold and Maria. Before I left I was in a FRENZY. I had friends in and out of town, life changing events, one of those acting classes when you ask what is it all for, and an impending birthday. I was ready for a vacation and who knows, maybe I would meet E or Ari on the margarita bus and never come back. I mean anything is possible.

My sister and I travel VERY well together. I mean so well that we have considered, more than once, auditioning for the Amazing Race. I am the driver and she is the navigator. My sister can read a map like a champ. It is awesome really. I look at a map and I have to turn it to face the same way I am and then I STILL go the wrong way. The only thing that holds us back is that I am vegetarian and she is vegan. Not a good combo when you have to eat a 1/2 lb of caviar in order to proceed to the next rest stop.

This trip was going to be great on so many levels: 1. It is the first vacation I have been on in 2 years - disgusting I know. 2. I was going to really see LA. 3. I was going to get to go to the FAMOSO Sprinkles Bakery. AND 4. I was going to have LUNCH with Andrew Firestone. Yes, the Bachelor Season 3. This was also a pre-birthday celebration and my sister planned a vintage dress shopping trip - AMAZING - and a day on the margarita bus (7 years running). This bus is organized by one of our good childhood friends and a bunch of my sister's college friends. It is no joke. There is a dj and margaritas on the bus and then you go to 5 different Mexican dive bars throughout LA. But here is the best part: You are on a double decker bus and you go on the freeway. I mean it was hysterical. The most incredible moment was when we drove past this furniture store and this man looked up and said "dios mio" in what looked like slow motion. It was a fantastic way for me to see LA and it was so hilarious. After our rousing day of the margarita bus a few of us rallied - 2 a.m. east coast time - and went for dinner at the subpar and very trendy restaurant Ketchup. Following Ketchup, we went to the most AMAZING place ever: The Rainbow Room.

In New York the Rainbow room is what legends are made of: super chic, super exclusive, super fab. Well in LA it is also what legends are made of - 1980's hair band legends. Now don't get me wrong I loved me some hair bands - Guns n' Roses, Warrant, Cinderella, White Snake, Def Leopard, Skid Row, the list goes on... We walked into something I have never experienced in my life. I actually think that I got my picture taken with Rob Z'nuff who was playing a show earlier that night across the street. RIDIC!

Rob Z'nuff Anyone?

In the mornings I would wake up early and head to the local Equinox to work out and there I saw Bradley Cooper, David Cook, and a couple other no name model actresses. Then I would head back to our super exclusive resort across from the Chateau Marmonte - LiLo anyone - and think this is LA - SCENE.

My sister and I did a lot of adventure seeking and spent a lovely afternoon at the Getty. In the evening we went to Los Feliz where Mike D - with your bad self runnin' things - and Gwen Stefani live. Apparently it is the hipster part of town so duh we had to go. I mean we - and by we I mean more my sister than me - are hipsters from way back. It was a small strip of trendy restaurants and some cute shops that were closed and we walked into this diner for dinner and got looks from the tattoo clad customers. Of course the menu was all organic and yummy, and there was a sandwich named after Mike D. so we knew we were in the right place, but when I was done I needed more. I needed something to put me over the top. That is when I saw it... The House of Pies! Yep. It is a huge Pie shop and that was where we were headed. Jenna, Kevin, and I headed over to the House of Pies and I was bound and determined to taste me some good pie.

Now I am not a big pie eater. I enjoy my apple pie at Thanksgiving and that is about it so when it came to picking a flavor I was at a loss. I didn't think that I would like peach pie or or pineapple and since there were so many - as you can see from the menu below I deferred to the waitress. She suggested the coconut creme.

My father is the ONLY person in my family that is a pudding fan, but I figured that I was on vacation and why the hell not? Kevin got the Key lime and Jenna, since she is vegan, just watched. The pieces of pies were the size of Texas and while I was worried about not liking the pie it still called to me. Come to me my angel of music... The pie was AMAZING. AMAZING. It was light and fluffy. Not too sweet and had a really clear toasted coconut flavor. The crust was crispy and delicious. I suddenly became a believer in pies. The key lime was okay, but the coconut creme? Forget it. I will forever remember House of Pies and how it introduced me to the fluffy goodness of the Coconut creme pie.

Treat Your Taste Buds To The Creamy Richness Of Our Famous Cheesecakes

Blueberry, Cherry, Sour Cream, Seasonal Fresh Strawberry, Raspberry, Marble, Pumpkin, Chocolate Chip, Cappuccino, Southern Pecan Cream Pies $4.15

Traditional Favorites Starting With Our Flaky Crust And Topped With Fresh Fluffy whipped Cream

Banana, Chocolate, German Chocolate, Bavarian Chocolate, Bavarian Choc Banana, Lemon, Coconut, Pumpkin Meringue &custard Pies $3.85

Lemon Meringue our amazing meringue mounded high on the creamy goodness of this old favorite

Egg Custard fresh baked flaky pie cream and egg custard egg custard makes you think of mom's kitchenFruit Pies $3.55

Double Your Pleasure With A Bottom And Top Crust Filled With Your Favorite Fruit

Apple Peach Dutch Apple topped with streusel Blueberry, Pumpkin, Cherry, Pineapple, Fresh Apple topped with cinnamon and butter crumble

Our Pies...

Picture Follow-up

2008-08-13T13:06:00.002-04:00

Alas and Alack there is something fishy going on with blogspot. I am going to contact them today to try and get this fixed. Please stay tuned.

I am also heading out to LA for a week. I am hoping to meet up with my baking kindred spirit Derrick for a little baking fun and I also plan to hit up Sprinkles. LA! The land of Entourage and the inspiration for the vegan chocolate cupcake with mocha frosting. It promises to be great.

I will be sure to report back upon my return.

Citrus Carnival

2008-08-11T14:19:00.010-04:00

My first key lime pie. And look how cute my mother's flower arrangement is with the fabu pie

So the blog before last I said I was going to make a key lime pie for my friend Eduardo. I was inspired to do so because I was in my favorite store ever - Trader Joes - and they had these fab little bags of key limes. I grabbed one and thought, since I have known Eduardo I have wanted to make him a key lime pie. I went on-line and started looking for recipes. I particularly like Martha Stewart's recipes although they can be overly complicated sometimes. While I was searching through her recipe index, I also found a recipe for Key Lime Sables. It is basically a shortbread cookie with key lime curd in the middle. Yum. I knew I was on my way to greatness. Around the same time as the discovery of the key limes my mother sent me some pages from a magazine on a lemon cake and super cute cake decorating ideas. This cake looked amazing and the idea of a lemon cake in summer sounded down right delicious.

I was at the salsa studio teaching one night and I felt the need to bake some lemon mini-cupcakes for my upcoming trip to the Cape - I hate to go empty handed. I got home, went to my fruit guy on the corner, bought some (teeny) lemons and was ready to go.

I decided to start with the Sables because both the curd and the shortbread needed to be refrigerated. The lime curd was SUPER easy except that key limes are teensy weensy and it takes a lot to get even a 1/4 cup of juice. So it was a little time consuming - ahem, to say the least. When I got through squeezing the limes and mixing everything together, I moved onto the shortbread - which I have never made before. I usually substitute butter for margarine and all that, but with Martha's recipes I really try to follow it to the letter. I did. I put the dough in the freezer for a quick cool down and moved onto the key lime pie.

My mother told me about this "AMAZING" key lime pie recipe that she had that used lime-aid, and was no muss no fuss, but I wanted to go the traditional route and really try and make this happen in a big way. Pies are not my specialty. I mean I can recall the time I entered an apple pie contest confident that even though I had never made a pie before I would make the best damn pie that ever existed. My pie smelled like it was made from the nectar of the gods and tasted like dirt. So I tread lightly when it comes to pies now.

So, so confident I would win the blue ribbon at the contest. Little did I know making pies took such skill...

I started with the pie crust. Graham cracker crust - no problem. Except for some reason mine was not dry and there wasn't much of it. Shoot. This doesn't seem like it is going well so far. So I start throwing in more graham crackers and more graham crackers hoping that eventually I would get the right consistency. I crossed my fingers, pressed it into the pie pan, and put it in the oven. Next was the curd. The curd was surprisingly easy. You basically pour all of the ingredients into a bowl and stir it up. The texture is really thick and looks delicioso. You pour the batter into the cooled pie crust, put it back in the oven for like 15 minutes and it is done. So easy. Oh yeah, except for juicing those pesky little key limes. I also made homemade whipped cream to top the citrus delight, but I walked away for a little too long - bless the stand mixer - and my whipped cream was borderline sweet butter. Ugh. Was that the start of an ill- fated baking adventure?

I then turned my attention to the shortbread that was all nice and cool. I have a new vintage rolling pin that I was super excited to use - they aren't just for chasing people around they yard you know - and I started rolling out the shortbread. It looked really good and smelled delicious. They showed so much promise. I put the cookies on parchment and popped them in the oven and went onto project number 3 the lemon cake. After 8 minutes I look inside my beloved oven and what do I see? A hot oozy mess. Omg! The cookies had spread like Jabba the Hut's booty. You think I am joking, but I am not. I was devastated. This did not bode well at all. The plan was the pie for Eduardo, the cookies for home, and the lemon cupcakes for my sister, now what? I had all of this delicious lime curd sitting in the fridge begging to be used. I no time to mourn I had a cake to make. So I grabbed the rest of the dough and put it back in the freezer and turned my attention to the vegan cupcakes. I mean cake is my specialty - although truly, I was pretty demoralized.

This lemon recipe was crazy easy. Easier than the other vegan recipes that I have done and there was a good amount of lemon juice and lemon rind in them. The secret ingredient that makes it all happen is the apple cider vinegar. It makes the cakes rise and gives them an unbelievable texture. Awesome. Those went in the oven, but they hardly seemed enough so I made another batch. I wanted to also make a lemon chiffon buttercream, but I ran out of lemons on the last batch of cupcakes. Drat. So I decided to go for a lighter vanilla buttercream than I usually make. The last time I made this recipe, however, I had a crater cake disaster - as you may recall. So needless to say I was nervous. But I do learn from my mistakes so I was VERY careful with the amount of soy milk I was adding. Slowly, slowly I turn(ed) - please let's not confuse my buttercream with Niagara Falls - and the texture was really good. The cupcakes smelled AMAZING when they came out of the oven and they had this really pretty yellow hue to them. Lucky for me I learned with the friands that I needed to use a spoon to aid in the removal of my cupcakes - this recipe said not to use cupcake liners. See...I do learn from my mistakes!

Mood lighting - Vegan Lemon cupcakes with vegan buttercream frosting. They needed a garnish because they were looking a little plain and my mother suggested blueberries. The suggestion was brilliance. They look summery, gorgeous & delicious.

I was so glad to see that these worked out because the sables were a disaster and the key lime pie was suspect at best. I envisioned gorgeous little lemon delights with vanilla frosting and cute little royal icing buttercups on top. Perfection for a summer barbecue on the Cape. But who was going to get what? I decided to turn on the sables not even giving them a second chance and brought the key lime pie and the lemon cupcakes to the Cape for the weekend knowing I wouldn't see Eduardo that week and the pie would go uneaten. Then I realized that I still had the Friands too. A lot of baked good for a 3 day weekend. Ah well...

Serving up the key lime BBQ style at the Rosebay.

Ode to the Aussie

2008-08-07T16:48:00.017-04:00

The Friand - an Aussie Treat. These are made with almond meal, confectioner's sugar, and blueberries

As most of you know, one of my best girlfriends moved back to Australia. I was a very sad lady when she left and feared that without her incredible talent for the savory I would be nothing. Well lucky for me her fiance is one of the producers of the new Broadway hit "Title of Show" so they came back to New York for the opening. What did that mean for me!?!? The Aussie and the American were back together again. The ying to my yang, the savory to my sweet back and badder than ever.

In the past, whenever Lizzie would go home for a holiday she would inevitably bring back some sort of fabulous Australian baking gadget for me. This time was no different. She arrived with two suitcases, a bag of homemade pom-poms, and... a FRIAND pan. What is a friand you ask? Well that is a VERY good question. From your friends at Wikipedia:

"A financier, sometimes called a friand, is a type of pastry that originated in France but has become most popular in Australia and New Zealand. The financier is a light tea cake, similar to a sponge cake, and usually contains almond flour, crushed or ground almonds, or almond flavoring. The "financier" is said to derive from the traditional rectangular mold, which resembles a bar of gold. Another theory says that the cake became popular in the financial district of Paris La Bourse du Commerve (the former name of the Paris stock exchange). Friands served in Australia and New Zealand are baked in small oval shapes and typically have additional flavorings such as coconut, chocolate, fruit, and nuts."

Not only was I excited to have my bosom buddy - I watched Anne of Green Gables last weekend what can I say - back, but I was also excited to have a new baking toy and recipe! Since most of the recipes she brought with her were in the metric system, Lizzie and I made a pact that we would make friands together before she left. We of course got side tracked with copious amounts of shopping, making enormous sushi dinners, posing for pictures for the beloved site hotchickswithdouchebags.com - some of our finest work to date - and salsa dancing our faces off under the stars.

I didn't realize until after Lizzie - sniff and gulp - left that we never got around to the friands. More importantly, who was going to make the grams to lbs conversions? Truthfully, I was really bummed when she left. When she moved back in May we knew that she was coming back in a couple of months, but this time? Who knows when we will see each other again.

I was pretty down in the dumps so I went to my kitchen and I did what I do best: bake. I was a lunatic. I baked for probably 5 hours straight and I started with the friands as an homage to my dear friend now flying 22 hours back to the her motherland.

The reason I chose this recipe is VERY scientific: it was the only recipe that was mostly in lbs and not in grams. I mean I figured I could fudge the rest. I thought what a great alternative to the everyday muffin and probably A LOT better for you. Ahem, thanks to Bloomberg we - New York City - have all the calories listed at chain restaurants now. A LOW-FAT muffin at a Boston-based donut fave has MORE calories than a cruller. WHAT!?!?! Anyway, I digress. So I got to making the friands. It was so easy. A little almond meal, a little confectioner's sugar, some melted butter, vanilla, a little of this and a little of that and viola it was ready.

Not so fast... The recipe said the batter should be a moderately thick consistency. Hmmm... mine was down right soupy. Crapola. I didn't have Lizzie to call or even text. At this point I think she was over the South Pacific, so I started improvising. For the record, with baking this - experimenting - can be brilliant or downright dangerous. I added a bit more of the flour, the almond meal, and the confectioner's sugar. I greased the hell out of the pan because I am out of my pesky baking spray and I followed the directions: one blueberry on the bottom of cup, fill cup 3/4 of the way, place 2-3 blueberries on top, and move on. Two to Three blueberries?!?! Okay... I popped them in the oven and prayed.

I came back in a half an hour and the frainds smelled really sweet and were a golden brown, but where did the blueberries go? The baking powder in the batter made it rise over the blueberries. How brilliant is that? If there had been more than 3 blueberries the batter would never have had a chance.

I could tell that these weren't going to be easy to get out of the pan. You know, no matter how much I grease and flour an odd shaped pan i.e. friand, bundt, angel food, they get stuck. I had a little battle with the damned friands until I had - as Oprah calls it - an "A-HA!" moment. A spoon would aide in the removal of said friands. Thank goodness for the spoon. What a fantastic invention! I got them out of the pan and onto a plate. Hmmm... these would be perfect for an Irish Pub Road Race breakfast coming up on Cape Cod. In a zip lock and into the freezer they went.

I took them out for the Road Race and they were good. VERY sweet, but good - all that experimenting... The texture was super moist and they were like little pillows of air. I think I will do more research and some conversions and try these suckers again. Thanks to Lizzie for a new, more exotic baked good, a cool new pan, and for just being a bad ass friend.

The Aussie and Mahones out for a night on
the town instead of baking Friands - oops.

Channeling Connie Francis

2008-07-23T12:52:00.010-04:00

I am so sorry to all of my adoring fans out there. I have had a very trying week with auditions, the day job, ninety degree weather, and some baking mishaps, you get the idea.

Last week I was given six - SIX - 1950's pop songs to learn for a new Off-Broadway show coming in from the West Coast. Being that I am a trained opera singer, I never in my wildest thought I would have to learn "it's my party." Needless to say I was a little stressed out. Thankfully Dusty, Connie, and all the other greats never screamed their faces off so it was kind of fun - in the end - to sing the songs. And who knows maybe I have a new Karaoke tune?

There was one song that was not so fun to sing seeing as though I am the whitest girl in America - Rescue Me. Ah Aretha why do you taunt me so? This song gave me Agata. Drag queens could sing this better than I can. Trying to make this song work resulted in a couple of things: 1. procrastination station 2. crochet fun and 3. baking for the masses. Really, 2 and 3 fit into 1 as my tools for procrastinating, but still...

As I have told you before, I moved into a new place about 3 months back. I am SLOWLY piecing together my apartment and one of those things entails a handmade welcome mat. Yes, folks I crochet too. It is comprised of a million circles that I have to sew together and they were just sitting there for weeks so instead of practicing I got to crocheting UNTIL I realized that I had two birthdays I needed to bake for - Oops! Jim and Chris, two of my salsa friends, have birthdays a day apart and I thought why not make a cake for both of them? Yellow cake with a light lime green vanilla buttercream frosting. Super cute and super summery. Well, it was easily 95 degrees outside and since I am anti-air conditioning it was like over 100 degrees in my apartment. The cake went into the oven and came out looking and smelling really good. I decided to try a different buttercream recipe then my old faithful. MISTAKE! The buttercream was mad at me because it was so damn hot. It would not set up. No matter how much confectioner's sugar I put in it, it was not having it.

It was a two-layer cake and I made the unfortunate mistake of putting the layers together not realizing that the buttercream would literally melt and ooze out from the layers. When I tried to take the top layer off it was like cemented on so I tried to make the best of it. Then it happened... (and this hasn't happened since my lame-o attempt at an ex-boyfriend's birthday cake 5 years ago) the cake cracked in half. A huge Crater down the center. For the love...! Btws, it was 9 I was supposed to meet my friends with said cake AT 9. What to do? Thank the sweet baby Jesus that I have baked goods in the freezer and I had some frosting left over. I grabbed the few cupcakes I had left and frosted them and headed out the door praying that they wouldn't melt on the way to the restaurant. I went from a whole cake to 6 measly cupcakes. Not the birthday cake extravaganza I had in mind, but still good.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Lime Green Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and Handmade Royal Icing Daisies. A great impromptu alternative, but still not the dream cake I envisioned. Happy Birthday Jim and Chris!

I managed to stay out, um, waaay too late or, er, early on Friday night/Saturday morning for said birthdays. Let's put it this way, I stepped out of the bar with the sun. Needless to say I was a hot mess all day Saturday, but dreamed of delicious blueberry muffins. I found this great recipe from this brilliant blogger http://www.elanaspantry.com/ She is a GODDESS when it comes to the gluten free recipes. In her baking she uses a lot of almond flour which I don't like to use because of fat, calories, and the price, but she did a series of coconut flour recipes one of which was for blueberry muffins. I decided I would bite the bullet and buy some coconut flour to try the recipe. I, of course, did not do this on Saturday - although I did rally for a super fun and super steamy (due to the heat) night out salsa dancing under the stars at Lincoln Center. This was a Sunday evening event. Upon looking closer at her recipe, I noticed it called for SIX eggs. That seemed a little over the top so I decided to use 4 large egg whites and crossed my fingers. The muffins smelled AMAZING and when I tried one it was moist, sweet - a little too sweet - and jam packed with blueberries. These are gluten-free, yeast-free, sugar-free muffins and they are really great. I think before I publish my version of the recipe I am going to tweak things a bit; 3-4 eggs, less agave nectar, and perhaps I will devise a streusel top. But over all delicioso.

Gluten-free, yeast-free, sugar-free blueberry muffins. Surprisingly sweet, delicious, and a
fantastic texture. A new sweet treat for little old me! TRIUMPH.

This week my challenge is a key lime pie for Eduardo. He is such an amazing friend schlepping me here, there an everywhere, helping me out when I need it, and just being a cool guy. Key-lime pie is his absolute fav so I think I am going to surprise him with a little something this week. Provided he doesn't read my blog... Until then, happy baking.

Tying up Loose Ends

2008-07-14T10:52:00.011-04:00

I have been so busy this summer - which we all know I love - and I have been having trouble keeping up with the posts. I never got a chance to post pictures of Ron's birthday cupcakes. I don't have Internet at home - who am I? Someone told me this weekend that not having internet in your home is like not having a refrigerator. But I mean who is judging. I digress, my Papermill Theatre friends and I got together for some drinks the Wednesday before July Fourth which was the first time I was seeing my bff Renaldo since his birthday. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to bring his birthday cupcakes. I made him chocolate cupcakes with mocha butter cream frosting because the last time he had the frosting he was like, "this frosting is like crack." Who knew that at Divine Bar it is ILLEGAL to bring in cupcakes for someone's birthday. Apparently they will CHARGE you for bringing in desserts from outside. WHAT? Here are the before and after pictures of Ron's contraband a.k.a birthday cupcakes.

Ron's Chocolate Cupcakes with Mocha Butter Cream Frosting and Royal Icing Cherry Blossoms

What, What!?!?

2008-07-10T14:32:00.012-04:00

So July Fourth, as expected, was OFF THE HOOK. Every year it is different because not everyone can get to the Cape for the festivities, but it is always super fun. I made it to two BBQ's, breakfast at the famous Bonatt's Restaurant/Bakery where I shared a melt-a-way with my besties, took a tour of the Yacht Club my parents joined - I know, tooled around in the Cabriolet 1992 style, made rainy day blueberry streusel muffins, got hit on by someone who graduated from high school in 2002, and somehow managed to fit in a mini bar brawl. I know, I am bad ass.

First things first, the bars were a huge hit. My sister and the Spaniard were munching on the Raspberry bars after our 6 hour bus expedition to BOSTON - we still had 2 hours to go. They were starving and desperate for a treat. My sister told me they were amazing and she never lies to me. She is my sister. The lemon squares were really refreshing, but I feel like they were too sweet. I want them to have more of a bite to them. I am going to work on that.

On the fourth, we went to this BBQ that my parents go to every year. My parents friends and their daughters, who we went to elementary school and high school with, were desperate to see my sister's engagement ring, which is pretty fab. We got there on the late side and the desserts, ahem my favorite part, were being served. There were brownies made from a box. NEXT. Some fruit and cool whip concoction. NEXT. Store bought cookies - did I tell you or did I tell you? NEXT. And then there they were... homemade biscotti. Holy cannoli these suckers were spicy and delicious. I literally tapped the woman on the shoulder who made them and said, "please give my mother the recipe before you leave. No seriously, DO NOT leave without giving it to her. These are AMAZING." Guess who didn't get the recipe? Yup.

July 5th was a hot rainy mess. After we hit a couple of thrift stores - one of our most favorite things to do on the Cape- and kicked my sister's and my mother's collective butts in Scrabble, I turned to the beloved electric stove. What to make? What to make? Oooo, I know! Muffins! It is blueberry season so let's get it on. I did some research on-line a la dial-up - my parents rock, they are so old timey - and came up with this hybrid blueberry muffin with streusel topping that was so good I didn't even get to try one. They were literally gone in less than 12 hours.

Rainy Day Blueberry Muffins with Cinnamon and Vanilla Streusel Topping. I couldn't resist putting them on this flag tile. I mean it was the July Fourth holiday weekend. Next brunch I am making these suckers.

The plan was to bring some of these muffins to my friend's BBQ the following day. One of the Harrington brothers is a BIG fan of blueberry muffins. That didn't happen, but sure enough in between people belting their faces off - myself included, thanks to Jay - at the Karoake machine a la a karaoke bar, the store bought red, white, and blue marble birthday cake arrived. As well as the frosted brownies, the mini red, white, and blue cupcakes and cookies. In that moment I wished for the muffins and bars that had been ravaged throughout the weekend. A mild hankering for super sugary icing took over me and I knew I had to leave. Damn those store bought cakes! They still have a hold over me.

I told you last week that if my recipes were a success I would post them for you to try on your own. I decided that I would post the raspberry bars and the oatmeal crasin cookies. I want more time with the lemon squares before I unleash them upon you. Enjoy and good luck!

Vegan Raspberry Bars with Oat crumb topping

2 1/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Margarine straight out of the Refrigerator
1 Cup Oats
3/4 - 1 Cup Raspberry Preserves

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, sugar, and margarine in a large bowl. Beat at a low speed until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 2 cups of crumb mixture; set aside

Press remaining crumb mixture on bottom of greased 8-inch square baking pan/Spread preserves to within 1/2 of the edge. Add rolled oats to the crumble mixture incorporating them fully before placing over the preserves.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cool completely; cut into bars.

Now I know you are all chomping at the bit for this recipe...

Gluten-free, Yeast-free, Sugar-free Oatmeal Crasin Cookies

1 Cup Rolled Oats
1/3 Cup White Bean Flour
1/3 Cup Brown Rice Flour
1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter
2 Packets Stevia
2 Tbsp Agave Nectar
2 Tsp baking soda
2 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Nutmeg
Pinch of Salt
1 Large handful of Crasins or to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together; add crasins last. Place on well greased cookies sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. Keep an eye on them because they cook quickly.

Independence Day!

2008-07-03T12:12:00.021-04:00

Yes folks, it is a little cheesy, but true, I love July Fourth. I hail from the great Northeast and we New Englanders are very proud of our Independence. I mean hello? The shot heard around the world? The Boston POPS July fourth concert televised all over the U.S.? We do it right...

Growing up, every year I would march in the Chatham Fourth of July parade. I would dress up in some crazy costume in 90 degree weather, eat hoodsie cups - yummers - and dance around like a crazy lady. The years that my sister and I organized the float we won that bright shiny blue ribbon! I think the theme my year was Independence. The theme of my float was "fairytale characters who were once captive and now free." What?!?! Not only was I an odd little monkey, but I was also 16 - give a girl some credit for creativity...

July fourth always marked the true start of summer fun and theatre galore. As I got older and started working over the summer - the busiest time of year for an actor - I was less and less able to be home for the amazing BBQ my parents and their friends always have with the ridic 3 bean salad, my mother's off the hook mayo-free potato salad, and all those store bought desserts. You know what I am talking about; the mini cupcakes with the red, white, and blue super sweet frosting, the millions of cookies with the red, white, and blue sugar and the occasional frosted brownie with a commemorative ring. It got me thinking about what I would make for the quintessential Yankee July Fourth gathering, Nantucket Reds and all.

Being as excited as I am to visit good friends and family, I went a little wacko on the baking. I made a couple hybrid recipes yesterday and I think they are going to be pretty darn delicioso. Usually when I try new recipes out I do them straight ahead the first couple of times and then I start spicing it up - if you will. This time I threw caution to the wind and just went for it. If these recipes prove to be as successful as I think they will be, I will post them. That is how proud of them I am. There are A LOT of pictures so hold on to your hat.

The first experiment was my lemon squares. As I told you before, my sister is vegan and often times it is really difficult to find truly delicious treats. They are always good, but I am talking DELISH. I made the shortbread with margarine which can be dicey. I put that in the oven to bake for 20 min and turned my attention to the curd. I had to use agar agar which I have to admit I am NOT a fan of. It is a natural vegan gelatin or if you want me to tell you the truth - seaweed. It gives things a funny taste and a tapioca kind of consistency. But time was limited and who I am to question a vegan recipe I have never done? You know, for lemon bars there is a considerably small amount of lemon juice used. They came out really well, but I had some problems getting the damn squares out of the pan. Note to self, next time grease AND flour the pan.

The Lemon Bars heading into the
oven to become delicious citrus goodness

Vegan Lemon Bars. Look at this lemony grogeousness! I wanted to start eating them the
second they came out of the oven. Vegan = Fat-free/Calorie-free right?

The second was a Raspberry oat bar. This one was going to be a bit easier. I am not sure why I thought raspberry bars would be perfect for a July Fourth bash with friends and family, but it felt right so I went with it. Honestly, one of my favorite things in the world is to put vegan treats on a table and have everyone eat them and say how off the hook they are and then break the news that they are vegan. If you tell them before they automatically go in with a negative attitude. Vegan can be good! For this recipe, I made the shortbread with margarine again - it seemed successful the first time... Then I loaded on the raspberry preserves. I used low sugar Polaner all fruit. I thought it would be sweet enough without all the added sugar of a cheaper jam. Then I got to the crumble. This is where the experimenting got into full force. I wanted a specific crumble consistency so I started adding oats to the shortbread and some vanilla and a little of this and a little of that. When it looked gorgeous I put it on top of the preserves and popped that puppy in the oven.

Please pass the Jelly. Oh I am sorry just remembering the Polaner All Fruit commercial.
This is pre-bake and I have to tell you I was VERY skeptical of these suckers turning out well.

Vegan Raspberry Bars. Post-bake I still was not sure. There doesn't seem to be enough fruit and a lot of shortbread and topping.
The jury is out in this one. Jenna - my sister - will give the verdict.

I think I told you before that I don't do sugar, gluten, or yeast. Sometimes I will stray, but when I do, I pay the price royally. I get all loopy and forgetful. This odd little haze comes over me and I am useless. I knew that I would be tempted to eat everything I made and everything on the dessert table at the MANY BBQs I am attending, so I decided I should make myself some gfyfsf cookies. My last attempt at the carob chip cookies left me a little gun shy so what to make? Ah...what about a variation on the vegan oatmeal crasin cookies I made last year. The only flours I had to work with were white bean - we remember what happened the last time I used that in cookies - and brown rice flour - which has a mealy consistency. In this particular recipe there is very little flour so I thought I will do half and half and pray for a miracle. Here is the result.

Gluten-free, yeast-free, sugar-free Oatmeal Crasin Cookies. Yummers!
They look good and not a whiff of bean. Let's hope they taste delicious too.

I will report back to you upon my return about all of my baked goodness and perhaps a recipe or two. Stay tuned...

Social Butterfly

2008-06-30T14:13:00.014-04:00

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

2008-06-23T15:48:00.028-04:00

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

2008-06-17T13:25:00.010-04:00

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

2008-06-17T11:34:00.003-04:00

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'

2008-06-11T14:33:00.004-04:00

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

2008-06-05T10:53:00.006-04:00

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

2008-06-02T10:12:00.004-04:00

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)

To Frost or Not to Frost

2008-05-30T10:07:00.008-04:00

Retro Birthday Cupcakes (Chocolate and White Cake with
Yellow Vanilla Buttercream Frosting & Rainbow Sprinkles)

This week I made some cupcakes for dinner with my friend Max. They were straight up white and chocolate cake with vanilla butter cream frosting and rainbow sprinkles - although where I am from they call them "Jimmys." I thought they were a great throwback to the old days. You know the birthday party around the picnic table with hats made of newspaper? Or were those just my parties... I love how playful they looked and of course they were loaded with frosting.

Max took one bite of my super cute retro cupcake and said, "there is too much frosting on this for me" and proceeded to remove almost ALL of the icing off my fab cupcake. Now I realize that everyone has their thing when it comes to cupcakes. I personally LOVE frosting. In fact, there was a time - which I am not too proud of - when I would literally crave buttercream frosting so my mother would go out buy a mini cake and I would eat the frosting and she would eat the cake. I am happy to say that is no longer. But I wonder would a cupcake be a cupcake without frosting? I am sure my mother would prefer just a smattering of icing and mostly just the cake. But surely that isn't a true cupcake.

How much is too much frosting? I whip my frosting waaay longer than most to make it light and fluffy so that the frosting doesn't overtake the cake, but perhaps I need to search for a less sugary and more buttery frosting. You know it is funny, when I try cupcakes I either LOVE the cake or I LOVE the frosting. I never love both. I wonder if I could find the perfect combination? Hmmm... yet another challenge. This is going to be a busy summer.

Retro Birthday Cupcakes (Chocolate and White Cake with
Yellow Vanilla Buttercream Frosting & Rainbow Sprinkles)

My Australian Baking Challenge

2008-05-27T09:47:00.006-04:00

Not only am I a LOBSTER from sitting out on the deck with my mother yesterday, but I am also a sad lady today. My dear friend Lizzie left for Australia on Sunday. An incredible friend and an amazing cook we were perfect together because she always did the savory and I always did the sweet. Now my dinner parties will all be dessert parties without her...

Due to my previously mentioned dietary restrictions, I rarely eat what I make. I have taste testers. One of which was Lizzie. She has a great palate and is an incredible cook. Her input in my baking was invaluable.

* Attention, attention calling all taste testers. Must have advanced palate and love baked goods and be willing to listen to me rock out on my guilty pleasures play list.

Lizzie has offered me the ultimate challenge - should I choose to accept it. She has asked me to come up with the perfect cupcake for her WEDDING! Yes, I said wedding. Now, I have made a wedding cake before. It was 3 tiers, 2 different kinds of cake, flowers on top, with a beaded border. It was no joke. I will try to get some pictures of it so you can see it in all of its glory. But that was made in the comfort and privacy of my own home. If I made a mistake I could fix it and had all of the tools at the ready. This challenge is especially difficult. Lizzie lives in AUSTRALIA. She is getting married in January - in Australia - which is like our late July early August. You do the math. 90 degree weather easily. So, how does one make the PERFECT cupcake for an Australian wedding? Do things cook differently there? I mean it is the other side of the world. They work in Celsius, not degrees and in grams not pounds. I am going to have to verse myself in all of this prior to the big day. Until then, I will be trying every white cake recipe I can get my hands on. I find that white and yellow cake is a lot harder to make than chocolate cake. The texture is just too dense. I also have to think about a heat resistant buttercream. HA! Her colors are white and yellow. So I want to come up with a simple decoration for the cupcakes.

In the next 6 months you will witness many triumphs and failed attempts at fabulousness. Let's hope the perfect wedding cupcake can be created in that time.

2008-05-23T10:55:00.012-04:00

White Cake with Roasted Coconut Filling, Marshmallow Meringue Frosting
topped with Roasted Coconut (The highly photographed losing cupcake)

Today is my first day of the rest of my life. I have officially started a blog chronicling my baking adventures. This is something I have been talking about for a while now and I was inspired after losing miserably at the 2nd Annual Brooklyn Cupcake Contest. I went on the Brooklyn Kitchen website the next day to read about the contest and what do I find? Oh, pictures of MY cupcakes. Not good enough to win, but pretty enough to use for the blog. Upon more sleuthing, I found site after site with pictures of MY cupcakes! I thought well if they are going to be on other people's blogs perhaps I should put them on mine.

I bake for the joy of it, the relaxation it brings, and the happy faces I see when people bite into my treats. I also experiment a lot with ingredients. Having dietary restrictions myself, a sister who is vegan, and a fair amount of celiac friends I have been forced to find creative ways to make old favorites. Join me as I bake for the masses and attempt to find the holy grail of "healthy" baked goods.

Me with my losing cupcakes. They do look delicious though and that is half the battle.

The other losing cupcake from the cupcake contest. I was sad to see that it didn't win for simple decoration. I mean I made the cherry blossoms with my own two hands! The cake was not as moist and delicious as it usually is, but I just moved and I am still getting used to my brand new oven. The more I bake in it the better they will get and my plan for total cupcake domination will come to fruition!

Vegan Chocolate Cupcake with Orange Blossom Infused Vanilla "Butter cream" Frosting
and handmade Royal Icing Cherry Blossoms

I made these for my friend Lizzie's going away/birthday party. They were supposed to be pale pink, but they turned out a little brighter than anticipated. Let this be a lesson that a little goes a long way. They have a sort of New York/Sex and the City vibe to them and since she is moving - sigh - to Australia they were perfect.

Old Fashioned Yellow Cake with Vanilla Butter cream

This is my AWARD winning cake. I originally made it for my friend Liza's birthday. It was so off-the-hook that it has become my most popular cake/cupcake. I entered it into a cupcake contest last year and won second place! Go figure. It was a hot day when I made this cake for Kate's birthday - upon request - so it looks a little funny, but man it was DELISH.

Ginger infused Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
and handmade Royal Icing Apple Blossoms

I made this one for the Spaniard's - a.k.a my sister's fiance - birthday party. Dark, rich, and delicious this went over very well with the army of people at the brew house.

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache and Roasted Hazelnut Garnish