“Someone should write an erudite essay on thr moral, physical, and esthetic effect of the Model T Ford on the American nation. Two generations of Americans knew more about the Ford coil than the clitoris, about the planetary systems of gears than the solar system of stars. With the Model T, part of the concept of private property disappeared. Pliers ceased to be privately owned and a tire pump belonged to the last man who had picked it up. Most of the babies of the period were conceived in the Model T Fords and not a few were born in them. The theory of the Anglo Saxon home became so warped that it never quite recovered.”

John Steinbeck, Cannery Row, 1945

photo via corbisIMAGES

Until recently I haven’t really given much thought to the frosting on top of the cupcake save for how good it tastes; but it’s come to my attention that there are about a bazillion ways to decorate a cupcake. At work we pipe frosting on with star and round tips, sometimes with sprinkles, sometimes without. Then there’s the homemade cupcake frosting where it’s just sort of blobbed on and then rounded out which makes me all warm and fuzzy thinking about family picnics and childhood birthday parties.

On my recent trip to the  City of Wonder I encountered a completely new way to frost a cupcake. It’s a little bit homestyle, a little bit formal, and it’s everywhere. So, after watching a couple of cupcakes get frosted I thought I’d give it a shot myself.

You will need some cupcakes (duh), a frosting that isn’t too soft & isn’t too hard (normal room temp frosting), a straight spatula, and sprinkles.

My notes from watching the swirl in action.

It took me a couple of cupcakes to really get a swirl down that I was happy with. Next time I’ll use a smaller spatula to get a tighter more spirally swirl. I certainly couldn’t crank out dozens of these things at a time, but the next time I whip up a batch for a party I’ll practice my little swirl again. If you’re looking for a good frosting, try this chocolate buttercream. It’s by Elinor Klivans author of several delightful cake & cupcake books. It’s for about a dozen cupcakes, with some to spare, and it’s nice a creamy and delicious!

3 oz. Chopped Unsweetened Chocolate
2.5 cups Powdered Sugar
1 Tbsp + 1.5 tsp Cocoa Powder (Dutch Process Preferred)
1.5 cups (3 sticks) Unsalted Butter – Room temperature
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Heavy Cream

Melt Chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water (double boiler), and set aside to cool slightly.

Sift Powdered Sugar and Cocoa Powder into the bowl of a mixer or bowl if using a hand mixer. Add the Butter and mix on low speed till smooth (about 2 minutes – less if butter is soft). Add the chocolate and mix till combined. Add the Vanilla and Heavy cream and mix till combined.

On Medium to medium-high speed beat frosting until smooth and creamy, and lightened in color. Use frosting immediately. If refrigerating make sure it is covered tightly and comes back to room temp before using.

As I sit here munching on a fresh fruit pastry cream tart, some cheese and baguette, and watching a white rabbit wearing a waistcoat run across the television screen waving a pocket watch I can’t help but wonder where the time’s gone here in the real world. 28 days was unimaginably short, but has been nice as well. I’ve eaten a fair amount of cheese, read Harry Potter, visited my parents for several days, played Mario Galaxy, baked some tasty tarts and even gotten a manicure.

Tomorrow classes begin again for my third quarter of Baking & Pastry School, and I’m thrilled that they’re all in the evening. Waking up at 7am just isn’t my thing as hard as I try. Goodbye summer break, it’s been grand:

As promised the last part of my cupcake adventure through Manhattan…

After an inspiring and wallet-lightening trip to Brooklyn for the craft fair, I hopped the subway back to Manhattan and headed towards my next cupcake destination, Babycakes NYC. If you aren’t familiar with Babycakes, it’s known for it’s vegan all-natural organic pastries. Now, I’m not a vegan – or even a vegetarian, but this place has made pretty big waves in the cupcake world and their book looks so cute I had to give it a shot and put my taste buds to the challenge.

I picked out a Chocolate with chocolate frosting, lemon with lemon frosting, and chocolate brownie cupcake, and sat down with a cup of organic iced tea to take a bite of each…

…and was I surprised! The lemon cupcake was absolutely my favorite. I finished it on the spot, even though I was pretty much reaching my cupcake limit for the day. The chocolate brownie cupcake was also super tasty (although lacking a little moisture). I’ve got an ingrained idea of what chocolate cake and frosting usually taste like, and for that reason I wasn’t captivated by the regular chocolate cupcake – although it certainly wasn’t bad. Not to mention both the cupcakes and the Babycakes shop are absolutely adorable. For those of you who love cupcakes – vegan, allergy sensitive, or just curious – this place is definitely worth stopping for.

With my legs starting to really ache, a sunburn starting to appear on my shoulders, and wondering whether or not I’d actually be able to stomach another cupcake it was time to head over to Magnolia bakery in Greenwich. As a young woman in my mid-twenties it should come as no surprise that I’ve seen every episode of Sex & the City – at least 10 times each. As a baker, it was only natural that a pilgrimage to Magnolia make the list.

I waited in the famous line that wraps the corner of the bakery and picked out a vanilla and red velvet cupcake from the self-serve area, then walked across the street to enjoy my final cupcakes on my rump instead of my feet. Wow is that vanilla cupcake sweet! It was so hot and I was so full that I could only manage a bite of each, but it was all I really wanted.

While the emotional nostalgia of this place my have heightened my expectations beyond reach, I was a little disappointed. The red velvet cupcake looked like it had cream cheese frosting on it, but it definitely wasn’t, and the frosting on the vanilla cupcake was nearly pure sugar. To be fair, the actual cake was nice and moist, and the cupcakes were absolutely huge – so I felt like I was getting my money’s worth. Of course, with each bite I was pretty sure I could feel myself turning into Carrie Bradshaw.

With a bag full of a dozen various cupcakes from all across lower Manhattan, I dragged myself back up to Penn Station and caught the bus home to Philadelphia. On the way I munched on a couple more cupcakes, and resolved to return to New York again soon for a French Pastry expedition. Of course, I’m taking recommendations…

It’s been so long since I’ve been to New York and when the opportunity presented itself a couple of weekends ago to check out the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn, I could hardly resist making a day out of it and checking out a couple of bakeries as well. So I made a list (and asked for a LOT of recommendations) and set out to sample some of Manhattan’s most popular bakeries.

I saw and tasted so much that I’ll have to break it up into 2 parts as not to make these posts too epic, so let’s get started! I hopped on the 7:15am bus from Philly up to New York and arrived about 9am in Midtown. In need of some coffee stat and interested to visit a couple of shops before heading over to Brooklyn, I quickly walked up to 9th Ave. and 40th Street to kick off the day at Cupcake Cafe Casa. The draw here was not so much the taste of the cupcakes, but the incredible floral decorations hand piped onto each little cake that blew me away.

Luckily, the cupcakes were just as tasty as they looked (although I recommend letting them come to room temperature before enjoying) as well as a cup of coffee with beans brewed by my favorite Philadelphia roasting company La Colombe. At this particular location they offer regular and large cupcakes, with typical flavors: vanilla & chocolate cake with vanilla, chocolate, or mocha frosting. The Cupcake Cafe Casa wins the award for the most beautiful and comfy cafe.

Finally alert, I strode down 9th Ave, through Chelsea and down to 21st St. to Billy’s Bakery. This green and yellow motif, vintage inspired, bakery & cafe was previously unknown to me, but completely delightful. I ordered a red velvet, carrot, and banana cupcake and sat down to enjoy a couple of bites of each.

These were the most incredibly moist, fresh, and deliciously sweet cupcakes I ate all day. I’m completely sold. There’s a bakery on site here so there’s no question where these sweets are coming from and of course it smells great. I can’t wait to have another taste!

With just enough time to squeeze one more bakery in on the way to the L, I walked down to and across 14th St. to Baked by Melissa’s storefront. With no idea really what to expect I was immediately struck by the novelty of these little treats.

While it was $5.50 for 6 of these quarter-sized treats, flavors like the tie-dyed vanilla, cookies and cream, mint chocolate chip, cookie dough, cinnamon, and s’mores cupcakes made them irresistible. Moist and flavorful, these whimsical little cupcakes were the perfect treat for a leisurely morning of people watching in Union Square.

Full on cake and buttercream I stacked the boxes of my left-over cupcakes delicately into my bag and descended into the subway to cross the East River. More treats to come!

This morning I rolled out of bed at 6:45 am – after being in bed for exactly 3 hours – took the dog out and took myself to school. I was surprisingly animated and surprisingly on time, early even. As I walked into class and pulled a stool up to the baker’s bench, waiting for the rest of the class and the Chef to arrive a nervousness began to take hold. This is it. The FINAL final of this quarter. You smell that? It’s freedom and it’s only an hour away…just try not to fail.

I’ve never really had test anxiety. Even in architecture school I had no problem getting up in front of 30 people and talking about my designs. But this is different. I can’t talk my way out of this one with clever ideas and vague theories. You either know how to make Creme Anglaise or you don’t.

And just like that, it was over. 2 pages, 35 minutes, 100% on my notebook, and a flattering vote of confidence from the Chef and I was home free. A trip to DiBruno Brothers for 1/2 pound of Delice de Bourgogne and a baguette was definitely in order. Over the next 28 days I intend to:

I can hardly wait!!! While I’m completely in love with my classes it’s going to be so nice to focus a little on just me and the things that I want/need to do to relax a little. How is everyone else’s summer going? Any big plans?

Folks, it’s been a pretty rough week. I wanted to put my life worries away, sit down and write a longer post about all of my furry creatures, but I’m staring at the clock thinking about how much school work I’ve got ahead of me. No Bueno.

As it goes, there’s only two more weeks of school left. I’ve got two projects to finish, 2 notebooks to type up, one take home “exam” (okay – it’s really just making sourdough bread, which is pretty effing sweet), and a LOT of studying to do. I should be able to get it all done, but the longer posts will have to wait till next week. Needless to say, Sunday can’t really come soon enough.

Hopefully after this quarter is up I’ll have plenty of time and a little extra sanity to iron out some of the rough areas of my life. There’s always a bright side though, and things can only get better, right? I feel like Jay-Z…

Whoopie Pies that is (for the past several days it’s been a (cheesy) running joke in my household). Last week at the bookstore I came across Whoopie Pies by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell, and absolutely had to get it. How could I resist?

Oh Chronicle Books, with your well designed popular cookbooks and your clever ideas, and your cookbooks all chockfull of mouth-watering photos:

With 21 cake recipes and 29(!) filling recipes (and ENDLESS combonations) I could hardly decide which whoopie pie to whip up first. Now the classic is a chocolate cake filled with marshmallow fluff, better known to me in my younger years in Charleston as a “Moon Pie”, and almost always on hand at my grandparent’s house:

As you can see though, even the classics come in quite the variety. So, with a large and hastily ripening pile of bananas on my hands I set out to make the banana whoopies with a chocolate fudge frosting. The banana whoopies came out delightfully, perfectly sweet in their banana flavor and stick-to-the-plastic-wrap moist, just how god intended.

Banana Whoopie

1 cup All-Purpose Flour
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
4 Tbsp. Unsalted Room temp. Butter
4 Tbsp. Vegetable Shortening
3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Large Eggs
3 Very Ripe Bananas, mashed
3/4 cup chopped toasted pecans (optional – I didn’t add these but I’m sure it’s tasty)

- Whisk together flours, soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
- Cream butter, shortening, sugar and vanilla for 3 minutes. Scrape down bowl and add eggs one at a time till combined.
- Add bananas and beat till completely combined, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture in 2 parts, mixing just till combined.
- Drop about 1 Tablespoon of batter onto parchment lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake one sheet at a time at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes each, or until cakes begin to brown. Let rest about 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

I’m not sure how the whoopies in the book photos came out so perfectly round, but they were still tasty regardless of shape. I got about 19 pairs out of the batch, and then started making the chocolate fudge filling. This particular recipe was adapted from the Chocolate Buttercream recipe in the book:

Chocolate Fudge Filling

2 2/3 cups of Confectioner’s Sugar
1/2 cup Cocoa Powder
6 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter at Room Temp.
1/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp. Salt

- Beat together sugar, cocoa, and butter, starting on low and increasing to medium speed, until mixture is crumbly – about 1 minute.
- Add heavy cream, vanilla, and salt. Beat on high until smooth (3 minutes).
- Spread or pipe onto cakes and sandwich!

I can’t wait to try the Pumpkin with Maple Frosting Whoopie Pie next!

wallet by thetinderbox

Living with a tighter budget has been on my mind a lot these days, but it’s been a bit of a struggle trying to make myself cut back. Every magazine’s got a thousand tips on how to save money, but the How to buy in bulk and Where to get the best deals on your new shoes articles aren’t really fitting for me. I live in a house with one other person, and we’re lucky to get through all of the fresh foods in the house before they go bad – and we go shopping weekly. New shoes/clothes/jewelry/electronics/appliances/big ticket items? Please, I wear t-shirts 6 days a week in a kitchen and rent my place.

wallet by munchmoney

So I’ve been reading up as much as possible and doing some brain storming to try and figure out how to get on the right track. Here’s what I’ve started with:

1. Get my latte budget under control. I’d say I buy a coffee about 5 days a week, and I’m not satisfied with a regular black coffee from a roach coach, but a fancy steamed & frothed milk espresso based concoction. So assuming each of these drinks is about $4 x 5 drinks = $20 a week/$80 month. Luckily, my mom gave me her little 1 cup home espresso machine a while ago, and I could honestly be doing this stuff at home. So, coffee at $7 a can (two week’s worth) from Trader Joe’s, Milk & vanilla or chocolate syrup which I’ve got already, I’ve cut back about $66.

2. Get my parking budget under control. This quarter at school I’ve gotten pretty lazy about sleeping in and driving in to school, paying for parking, and watching all of my funds rapidly decreasing. 5 days a week x $14 a day = $70 a week/$280 a month. OH MY! It’s true, driving & parking in a city is such a bad choice. Taking the subway on the other hand only costs about $20 per week, which ultimately saves about $200. It’s pretty much a no-brainer, and I don’t have the “but it’s so COLD” excuse anymore.

clutch by thewren

3. Eat everything in the fridge. I’m not entirely sure how much money I’m wasting on food that goes uneaten, but every time I clean out the refrigerator and throw containers still half-full out I start to get a little upset that I’ve forgotten what’s in there and let perfectly good foods go bad. Sure, some of it’s good for composting, but that’s not what I’m buying it for. The biggest offenders are:

Veggies – A bag of lettuce is pretty much doomed when I buy it. I’ll either forget that it’s in there entirely or make myself one or two salads before it goes bad. To combat this we’ve planted lettuce, tomatoes, and a variety of herbs and fruits in the back yard. That way we can pick them when we’re hungry and while it’s above freezing we’ve got fresh foods at our fingertips.

Heavy Cream/Buttermilk/Eggs/Dairy – Most of this stuff I buy for baking purposes, but hardly ever take the time to check and make sure I’m out before I buy more. The solution here is obvious. Make sure I’m out or running out before I pick more up.

4. Finish art projects before buying more art supplies. I’ve got so many art supplies we’ve dedicated a whole room of the house to them – the largest room at that. I’ve got so many art supplies that even though we’ve got a whole room dedicated to them, they often get spread out in the living room, dining room, and bedroom. It’s ridiculous. I’m making a vow right now to wrap some of these millions of projects up before I spend another penny on even more supplies.

wallet by kukubee

5. Go to the library. A couple of weeks ago I went to the library at school to do some research on a project, and was blown away. Cookbooks and magazines and…other cool books everywhere! I’d totally forgotten how fantastic the library was, and immediately checked out 5 books. I’m sure I spend at least $50 a month at Barnes & Noble, and while I’m all about stimulating the economy – perhaps I can cut back to just one book a month form the store, and catch up on all of those other books that I’d just like to thumb through or copy a couple of recipes out of at the library (school or public). As far as magazines go – why toss $5 per issue when I should either subscribe for $15 for the year or read them for free in the library as well? Good idea.

Feel free to share your thrifty ideas – the more the better!

While most people I know are winding down their weeks come Friday, looking forward to a weekend of chores, day trips, relaxation, and personal projects, I operate on a bit of a different schedule. Sunday is my day off, usually spent trying (uselessly) to clean the house or have a marathon laundry washing.

But this weekend, Memorial Day weekend for us in the US, is a gift I’ve been waiting for for weeks. Three whole days off from school! The good people over at the Art Institute have given me Friday, Monday AND Tuesday off for the holiday weekend and it couldn’t be more appreciated than it is by me.

So far today I’ve:

- Rolled around in bed, relishing the feel of the sheets around me and enjoying the fact that I wasn’t on my feet – until 12:30 in the afternoon.

- Made cheese eggs for brunch with a glass of sweet tea to wash it down, and proceeded to sit in my slowly developing garden to eat my tasty eggs.

- Read through about half of Breakfast at Tiffany’s that my dad gave me a copy of, and dreamed of New York City.

- Walked to the mail box to drop off some bills and Netflix movies, the thrift store to drop off a bag of things & browse, and the coffee shop for a brew (that was actually disappointing, and made my own when I got home).

- Tidied up the living room.

In all honesty, it’s been a more productive than I thought it would be. I’ve also been daydreaming about another day off I’ll have very soon, and decided to take myself up to Brooklyn to finally attend a Renegade Craft Show!

I’ll only be able to make it on Sunday the 6th, but I’m very excited nonetheless. (Cue Billy Joel’s New York State of Mind) I’ll be hopping on a bus early that Sunday morning to get myself to Brooklyn by no later than noon. After the fair I intend to hit up as many famous bakeries as I can in the Brooklyn/Lower Manhattan area for ideas, inspiration, and of course SWEETS!

It’s been over a year since I’ve been up to New York, which really is a sin for someone who lives as close as I do. It really only takes about an hour and a half to get up there, and a $20 round trip bus ticket (that drops me off Madison Square Garden!) It’s been nearly 2 and a half years since I’ve been to Brooklyn, so the time has come. I love a good day off, and I think I’m finally learning to really appreciate them.