Refining my palate

As much as I like to review, critique, and analyze food in this blog, I don't take myself seriously because I know I'm an amateur eater.
I enjoy bad food... junk food. And while I do manage to try different foods, I don't eat seafood. ... Simply because I'm scared of it. I'm one of those people who claims to love sushi, but I really only eat the vegetable sushi. You might hate people like me.

But I've come to terms with the fact that I don't have a well refined palate, and I'm determined to change that.

So how does someone go about “refining” their palate? I have no clue… My only idea is to try everything once. Even seafood. It’s ok if I have to spit it out; it’s really ok if I don’t like it. At least I can have a say on the subject more than simply stating, “I’ve never tried it.”

I don’t quite believe in New Years resolutions… they’re always astoundingly similar in subject and in lack of completion. But for the sake of it, this year I resolve to try it all.

XX bakey love

Icing roses... so what?

Aside from always ensuring that I was served a piece of cake with a rose on top, I never really gave them much more thought. But the more that I explore baking and decorating techniques, the more I respect these floral confections.

For Christmas I received a Wilton cake decorating tool box. (I cried when I opened it. A little bit.) One of the contents is a practice board with instruction cards labeled in order of expertise. In the advanced pile as one of the last tutorial cards is icing roses. This was the first time that I realized what a challenge they might actually be.

So I tried my hand at it, and I'm ashamed to say that I'm not a natural. For some reason, I had this idea that I could make it look easy on the first try just because of my authentic passion for it. The way that Wart was able to pull the sword from the stone because of his genuineness and later went on to become King Arthur...

Icing roses are no fairy tale.

I couldn't even figure out which way my decorating tip was meant to point. The process involved trying to spin the flower nail while simultaneously piping out icing and reading instructions...

OK, it's harder than it sounds.

But like always, I will not let this mishap deterr me. I've left my tool caddy at home and absence has made my heart grow fonder; I really want to decorate some cake. I really want to succeed at icing roses. I'll have the kit back in 2 weeks and will be sure to post about any progress that may or may not ensue.

XX bakey love

Words of wisdom

I feel bad that I haven't been putting all my effort into this blog. I just got back to school for second semester, and my days really drain me. Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things soon and be able to write well and often.

But one thing that I wanted to write about briefly is related to my studies. During the first few days of classes, things are fairly light and professors simply give introductions to the course and to themselves. During one of my anthropology classes my professor said something that really stuck with me. As he introduced his passion for cultures, he explained why he is a teacher:

"If you really want to learn something, you teach it."

This made me smile. Not only was he openly admitting to not knowing everything about his field, but he was also sharing wise and truthful advice.

I've applied this idea to the reason why I bake and I blog, I want to keep learning about it. I'm not just writing about red velvet cake because I'm absolutely fascinated by the color choice, but rather, I'm sharing the information as a way to learn more myself.

Anyway, class soon...

XX bakey love

The mystery of red velvet.

I have a confession to make... I had never experienced red velvet cake until just a few days ago.

As a baking fanatic, this is something I am truly ashamed of. But I just couldn't understand what the big deal was... So what? Someone dyed cake red. Crazier things have happened.

How wrong I was.

I couldn't describe the flavor, even after analyzing an entire cupcake, bite by bite. It wasn't chocolaty, but there was a hint of something more than just vanilla...

This cake baffled me; so I've done some research.

As it turns out, my initial reactions when trying to determine the flavor weren't too far off... (I'm impressed with my own enhancing palate and need to take this moment to gloat.) Wikipedia describes it as "a rich, moist, sweet cake with a dark red, bright red or red-brown color. It is usually prepared as a layer cake somewhere between chocolate and vanilla in flavor, topped with a creamy white icing." You really can't go wrong with that.

Fun fact (also learned from Wikipedia): the cake originally obtained it's red color because of the type and amount of coco used in the recipe. When more contemporary cocos stopped enhancing the color, bakers used beets to add some bold red color to the mix as well as moisture. Now red food dye is the simplest solution.

As interesting as that is, isn't it slightly disappointing that the red color no longer has anything to do with the cake's composition or flavor?

Oh well, it's still delicious!

XX bakey love

Something colorful in gross January.

The rain and gray has me feeling the winter blues... So I thought I'd share some of my photography, bursting with warm colors.

Stay warm!

XX bakey love

My local favorite

In the order of bakery reviews, I can't help but write about my all time favorite spot. Located on the busiest street in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, sits a tiny bakery, almost missable aside from an awning with a sign reading, The Bakery House. Once inside the tiny door, you will notice the place is filled with all kinds of baked goods. Every time I'm in there I am tempted by each thing I see, especially their freshly baked pies!

But there's no reason for me to feel overwhelmed with choices, it's obvious what I'm going to get.

Cake.

The Bakery House makes the most unbelievable cake. They have discovered the secret to the perfect balance of ingredients. It's always moist and delectable, but not soggy with butter and never leaves that weird cake-aftertaste. And the icing! Wow, that icing.

My strongest recommendation is to get a vanilla cake with chocolate frosting. That's what I've gotten for my birthday for as long as I can remember. And every year it lives up to my memory.

Undoubtably my all time favorite bakery.

Here's a sampling of some of their delicious cupcakes:

• Top row (left to right): Chocolate cake/mocha icing, vanilla cake/chocolate icing, red velvet, carrot cake/cream-cheese icing.
• Bottom row (left to right): vanilla cake/vanilla icing, coconut cake/coconut icing.

XX bakey love

City of brotherly yum

Today I went into ultimate food zone for lunch in Philly, Reading Terminal Market. Filled with an overwhelming amount of hustle-bustle and countless meal options, I opted for a light lunch in order to sample some baked goods afterwards.

I've been to the market numerous times and still find shops I didn't know about. I'm sure I missed many places but I managed to explore 3 different bakeries.

First on the list, Termini Bros (http://termini.com/). Being an Italian bakery started in 1921, I was sure that they had some delicious family secret. I've heard that people rave about their cakes, which were simply beautiful to look at. I personally didn't sample anything from this shop but my sister got an Elephant's Ear pastry and couldn't even talk about how good it was until she had finished eating it. That's a good sign.

My next stop was The Famous 4th Street Cookie bakery (http://www.famouscookies.com/). With such a boasting title, I was ready to be wowed... Not so much. I tried the classic chocolate chip and the oatmeal raisin. Both were good cookies. Properly moist yet crumbly enough. A good size, and not a weird aftertaste. But I wouldn't go back for more, and I certainly wouldn't say they deserve fame. But if you're looking for a nice cookie fix, they will certainly do.

Last, but certainly not least, is the Flying Monkey Patisserie (http://www.flyingmonkeyphilly.com/). I couldn't tell if the owner had seen a lot of people like me before or if he was just trying to act like I was being normal. But truthfully I was acting giddy as anything, snapping pictures and squealing as I read each unique flavor out loud. With obscure flavors like Lavender, Green Mint Chocolate Chip, Apricot Rose etc., I was overwhelmed with decision. There was no way I could pick just one. So I decided on four and promised I'd take them home to share after sampling each. The four flavors I eventually settled on were Apricot Rose, Hazelnut Praline, Wild Strawberry, and Chai. Fun fact: When baked goods are refrigerated, it's best to wait until they reach room temperature before eating; this ensures optimal texture and taste. I could hardly wait but I knew it'd be worth it.

And it was! I adored the Wild Strawberry the most, but none disappointed me. While the chocolate cakes were a little dry, I knew I was buying them at the end of a long day. They still weren't bad. This was by far my favorite part of the day.

XX bakey love

Book review: Let Me Eat Cake

This is my first book review, but I hope to do more in the future. About a week ago I was browsing the Cooking section of Borders, specifically the Baking section, with my mouth watering. When I saw this book, I knew I needed it simply by the title. Upon reading the description I was sold, or rather, the book was.

Let Me Eat Cake by Leslie F. Miller

Rating: 2.3 sprinkles (out of 5)

I wanted to like this book. I really did. The description sounded so promising; I thought it would be everything my heart desired. But the truth is that I was thoroughly disappointed.

In particular, the author bugged me. Which really can spoil a book. She gave so much good information about the history and current state of the baking world. Which was great! But she also gave way too much personal information. It sometimes felt as though I were reading her journal to a psychologist. Littered with countless remarks about being fat from cake, her weight, and concern for constant dieting, I worried that she may in fact have some degree of an eating disorder. At the very least, she should not be writing a book that requires so much eating of cake if she is so worried about her weight.

Another contributing factor to my dissatisfaction with the book may have been that she bashed one of my favorite chefs, Duff Goldman. Leslie recounted her first interaction with him at a conference when she eaves dropped on a conversation he was having with a fan. She interrupted their conversation only to correct Duff on information he was giving. She was later shocked to find Duff was upset that she had embarrassed him. So maybe they didn't have a great first meeting, but it sounded like she had met with him a few times afterwards but her writing showed she still held a grudge.

Because she sounded like such a snob, I felt the need to put her in her place. I sent Leslie an email because throughout the book she was calling Duff's sous chef Jeff, when really his name is spelled Geof. She quickly responded to my message saying she was aware of the mistake and had apologized to Geof. I'm sure she's been made aware of her error a lot, but I still felt great correcting the woman who corrected my idol.

In summary, this book gives good information about cake culture, but it's not worth reading through the author's snobby self deprecation.

XX bakey love

Cupcake crush!

Martha Stewart Living just released the February edition of the magazine! And to no one's surprise it features all things red, pink, rosy and hearted. Which I can't resist. Upon flipping through with too small of an attention span to actually read any of the articles, I discovered so many beautiful photographs that I was tempted to cut some out and frame them. Yes, I find them that pretty.

But instead of framing someone else's art, I decided to make my own. Page 39 offered an adorable cupcake that I instantly fell in love with. But again, lacking patience, I skipped the recipe for what offered to be delicious raspberry cupcakes with pink buttercream icing. Instead, I settled for store-bought yellow cake mix and vanilla icing with some red food coloring. It looked just as good.

But the real eye-catcher was the chocolate heart filigree on top. It made the ordinary cupcake look professionally done. And, of course, was far from difficult. It is simply melted chocolate piped into heart shapes, filled with squiggles, and placed in the freezer to harden. You can't beat that.

In a whir of inspiration, I went photo-crazy with these babies.

I'd strongly recommend picking up your own copy of this edition. You will wow anyone with how many pretty pink delicacies you can create. AND there's a full spread on beautiful cake stands! Hello heaven.

XX bakey love

Baking biscotti.

I always imagined that biscotti would be impossibly tedious to make and therefore never attempted it. Seriously, how could it be so crunchy and not be difficult to make? Well, it's actually really not bad. The only tedious part is the waiting, which I suck at. But here's the recipe along with some photos of my own.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 finely chopped almonds
3 TBS of cocoa powder unsweetened
3/4 tea baking powder
1/4 tea salt
1/4 c egg beaters
1/3 c splenda
2 tea vanilla extract
1/2 almond extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Whisk together the flour, almonds, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.

Beat egg and sugar in separate bowl, then add vanilla and almond extract.
Then add the dry ingredients slowly to the wet.

Shape the dough into a log and place on a cooking baking sheet that is sprayed with PAM.

Cook for 25 min then take out and let cooking sheet cool for 15 mins.

Cut the log into 1/3 inch pieces and place back on sheet to bake for ten min.

Then flip slices to other side and bake for another 10 min.
Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Best enjoyed with a cup of tea on a cold day.

XX bakey love