Beantown Cupcakes and Johnny Notcakes

I think my cupcake obsession is complete. I am now entirely incapable of traveling anywhere without seeking out local bakeries for my cupcake fix. Such was the case on last weekend's trip to Boston when I got a double whammy of cupcake glory with stops at Cambridge's Sweet Cupcakes and world famous "T-shirt bakery" Johnny Cupcakes.

Just across the Charles River and down the street from that fancy school where you can't actually park your car in the yard (I checked), Harvard Square's Sweet is an adorable neighborhood shop conveniently located adjacent to the T's red line Harvard Square stop. Even before sampling a single bite, two aspects of Sweet immediately shot them to the top of the list among other cupcake bakeries that I've tried: a significant selection of flavors still left in the case even in the late afternoon and--BEVERAGES! Though it might seem obvious that cupcake customers could want a chaser for their cakes, you'd be surprised how many cupcakeries don't sell drinks at all, or offer a single incongruous choice like soda. In addition to coffee, Sweet offers a variety of cold beverages including milk, water and juice. One Sweet downside common to cupcakeries though is the small seating area. Sweet only has three tables that seemed to be occupied by people more concerned with staring out of the plate glass window rather than eating cupcakes. Ah, well.

Sweet's variety of cupcakes actually made flavor selection that much more difficult, but I'm sure you all can guess that I managed to narrow it down somehow :) In addition to everyday flavors Sweet also offers an unusually large number of seasonal and holiday flavors. People, these flavors are so unique and incredible. Chocolate Orange, Molasses Ginger and Chocolate Cranberry are just a few they have on offer for the fall season and the holiday menu kicks off this Friday, November 27th. With flavors like Gingerbread, Butterscotch, Eggnog and Chocolate Pomegranate it will be hard not to come back for more. I sampled the S'mores, Caramel Apple and, of course, Boston Cream Pie. Though the S'mores cupcake pretty much fell apart while eating (user error, I'm sure) I loved that it had the generous dose of graham cracker often missing from similar cakes. The Caramel Apple came with a spicy apple filling, caramel glaze and it's very own adorable stick just like the real thing. As for the Boston Cream, this is the moistest cupcake I have ever eaten. Ever. The chocolate ganache was a perfect compliment for this must-try Boston standby.

If Cambridge is out of the way on your trip to Boston, you can also stop by Sweet's Back Bay location. And don't shy away from bringing Fido--Sweet even has "Pupcakes" on offer for $1. At either location I'm sure you'll be pleased with the chic flavors and friendly staff at Sweet and I definitely recommend a stop if you're in the neighborhood (or even if you're not, it's totally worth it).

If you secretly (or not so secretly) suspect that you may have a cupcake obsession like me, while you are in Boston also make sure to stop by T-shirt boutique Johnny Cupcakes. For serious shoppers, Johnny's is nestled amongst the converted brownstones of Boston's trendy Newberry Street shopping district- 8 blocks of eclectic stores and restaurants. After copious amounts of window shopping at their online store, I was psyched for my first chance to step foot in one of their actual stores. An apparel company started from scratch (yes, that's a baking joke) by Johnny Earle/aka Johnny Cupcake in 1989, though this shop may look like a bakery, you'll be disappointed if you come in expecting actual cupcakes. Each of the cases is filled with limited edition t-shirts featuring Johnny's signature Cupcake-And-Crossbones design. The perfect combo of cutesy cupcake and edgy design, I picked up this little number for myself.
If you go:
Sweet
Brattle St at Harvard Square
Boston, MA
Mon-Tues 11am-9pm
Wed-Sat 11am-10pm
Sun 12 noon-8pm

Johnny Cupcakes
279 Newberry St
Boston, MA
Mon-Thurs 11am-7pm
Fri-Sat 11am-8pm
Sun 11am-7pm

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Cheesecake On The Half-Shell

"What is that?"

"Pumpkin Turtle Cheesecake."

"But what does that mean?"

"It's cheesecake you serve on the half-shell, duh."

"..."

"Juuuust kidding."

Though this recipe is actually called "Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake," I wasn't able to make the tasty pecan praline powder called for in the recipe that dusts the top of the cheesecake because I don't have a food processor (that's right people, I don't even own a blender). So, instead, I reached for my trusty go-to jar of caramel sauce, mixed a dollop in a bowl with pecan halves and used that to set off the layer of sweetened sour cream below and voila: Pumpkin Turtle Cheesecake. Or, as I've been calling it, Teenage Mutant Ninja Pumpkin Turtle Cheesecake.

Just as the term "Black Forest" is often applied to about any combination of chocolate and cherry, "turtle" has come to symbolize the delicious mixture of caramel and pecans. This is undoubtedly due to Nestle's Turtle candies, first produced by the Rowntree DeMet company in the 1920s, and made from simply caramel and pecan halves before being dipped in chocolate. The story goes that a DeMet's employee commented that the new candies looked surprisingly like turtles and the rest is history. Who knows.

All I know is that, if I've done my job, you'll now have the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' theme song in your head :) But, believe me, this cheesecake is so good that your friends probably won't even mind that you're singing it to them as you serve up the slices.

Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup flour
3 8-oz pkgs cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbs flour
1 15-oz can pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
3 eggs
1 8-oz container sour cream
1 Tbs granulated sugar
Pecan halves (optional)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. For Pecan-Praline Pieces and Powder, line a large baking sheet with foil and set aside. In a heavy skillet place the 1/2 cup granulated sugar, cook over medium-high heat, shaking skillet occasionally until sugar begins to melt. Do not stir. Reduce heat to low and stir in the chopped pecans; cook about 3 minutes more or until sugar is golden brown and pecans are toasted, stirring occasionally. Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet, spreading with a wooden spoon as thin as possible. Cool. Break or chop the cooled praline into 1/4-inch pieces and set half of it aside. For Pecan-Praline Powder, place remaining broken pieces in a blender container or food processor bowl. Cover and blend or process until ground. Store in separate containers in refrigerator or freezer up to 1 week.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. For crust, in a medium mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed about 30 seconds or until softened. Add the 1/4 cup brown sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the 1 cup flour. Beat on low to medium speed just until combined.

3. Pat dough onto bottom and 1-1/2 inches up the side of 9-inch springform pan. Bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool crust on a wire rack while preparing filling.

4. For filling, in a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese, the 3/4 cup brown sugar, and the 2 tablespoons flour with an electric mixer on a medium to high speed until combined. Add the pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Beat until combined. Add eggs all at once. Beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in the coarsely broken pecan-praline pieces, reserving the powder for the topping.

5. Pour filling into the crust-lined springform pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until center appears nearly set when shaken.

6. In a small bowl combine sour cream and granulated sugar. Spread over top of cheesecake.

7. Cool cheesecake in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Use a small metal spatula to loosen crust from sides of pan. Cool 30 minutes more. Remove side of the springform pan. Cool for 1 hour. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

8. Just before serving, sprinkle the Pecan-Praline Powder over sour cream topping in center of cheesecake and garnish with pecan halves, if desired.

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Pumpkin Crème de la Crème

And now, let the pumpkin posts continue! As promised, the fall parade of pumpkin spice recipes marches on even though we're now in that odd pumpkin limbo time between Halloween pumpkin-themed recipes and Thanksgiving pumpkin-themed recipes. Oh well, clearly I'm not concerned. I recently managed to get my hands on two more coveted cans of pumpkin and couldn't wait to use one for this Pumpkin Crème Caramel.

If you haven't had the pleasure of enjoying crème caramel before, the texture is very similar to a flan or custard, but it also comes with a built in bonus layer of delicious caramel sauce. The seasonal addition of pumpkin pie spice really adds warmth and blends perfectly with the creamy caramel. I'd also even recommend this as an alternative for friends or family that usually don't like pumpkin pie because it is much less sweet than pumpkin pie and the texture is also more dense. I'm actually completely guessing that these might be reasons people don't like pumpkin pie because, frankly, I find it incredulous that these people even exist.

Also don't be intimidated by the pomegranate seeds used as garnish. If you've never used a pomegranate before, let this be your first opportunity. Since this was my first time trying pomegranates I was similarly terrified to tackle what some believe was the true "forbidden fruit" and now I'm addicted to the tangy-sweet seeds. Food blogger Gimme Some Oven has a great tutorial on how to open and seed your pomegranate completely mess-free and, I mean, Web MD tells us that pomegranates are a major superfruit so really, what are you waiting for? You may be consuming the equivalent of 6 eggs, but you might as well fight free radicals with the power of antioxidants at the same time, right? Right.

Note: You can also modify this recipe by preparing it in two pie plates as opposed to individual custard cups if you prefer.

Pumpkin Crème Caramel
serves 8
1 1/3 cup sugar
6 eggs, beaten
2 5-oz cans evaporated milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp finely shredded orange peel
2 tsp vanilla
pomegranate seeds (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. To caramelize the sugar, melt the 1 1/3 cups sugar in a heavy-bottomed skillet over med-high heat, shaking the skillet occasionally. When the sugar starts to melt, reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring frequently, until sugar is golden brown. Remove skillet from heat; immediately pour sugar into eight ungreased, 6-oz custard cups. Quickly tilt to evenly coat bottom of cups.

3. Place cups in two 2-quart baking dishes. Whisk together eggs, pumpkin, evaporated milk, the 1/2 cup sugar, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Pour the pumpkin mix over the caramelized sugar. Place the baking dishes on the oven rack. Pour boiling water into the baking dishes to a depth of 1".

4. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the centers comes out clean. Remove cups from water. Cool slightly on a wire rack. Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours.

5. To serve, loosen edges of custards with a knife. Invert a dessert plate over each custard, turn cup and plate over together. Scrape any remaining caramel that remains in the cup onto the custard. Garnish with pomegranate seeds, if desired.

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Happy Bake-o'ween!

I can't really explain why Halloween is my favorite holiday. Sure, candy is great, but I can't really go trick-or-treating anymore. Dressing up in costumes is also always fun, although I'm continually upstaged by girls dressed as Little-Miss-Butt-Cheeks-Hanging-Out. I guess any of the activities that we love about Halloween could take place at any other time of the year, but there's just something about the late fall conglomeration of all things spooky that makes October 31st something special.

Since I unfortunately don't have any real plans for this year's festivities I decided to go all out on the sweets instead and, with a little help from the Wilton online decorating shop, I made some killer stenciled sugar cookies as well as some ghoulish Fingers of Fate candied pretzel rods. This was my first foray into using both stencils and candy molds and, I have to say, I'm pretty proud of them for a first attempt.

The Wilton online shop really has a wealth of beginner decorating tools and ideas for cakes, cookies and candy for all holidays and celebrations and, browsing the site a couple of months ago, I happened to come across these stencils and had to have them. I was also intrigued by the colorful candy witch finger candy molds but was nervous; I've never made candy before. I also bought black and green candy melts to make the fingers as well as black decorating sugar for the cookies and everything including shipping still cost less than $20. In the end, both were super simple and just required a little bit of patience and a delicate touch. If you are in any way artistic to begin with, these will be a cinch for you.
For the cookies, I bought a packaged sugar cookie mix and used an easy royal icing recipe, this time substituting powdered egg whites for the real thing. Separate your batch of icing into bowls depending on how many colors you plan to use while the cookies are baking, as royal icing dries very quickly and you'll want to have everything prepped. A couple of other notes, as soon as your cookies come out of the oven you may want to flatten them gently with the back of a spatula in order to have the flattest decorating surface possible. Also remember to make your cookies a little larger than usual to accommodate the background icing as well as the size of the stenciled design. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of it, but I just used a children's paint brush to lightly wet the inside of the stenciled design before sprinkling a healthy dose of sugar on top. After sprinkling, pat the design lightly with your fingertips, remove the stencil gently with both hands and--Voila!For the candy, using the microwaveable candy melts couldn't have been easier and I still have plenty left over. By using another children's paintbrush, it's easy to paint the interior of the fingernail first with the black candy (do this in thin layers allowing time to dry in between to slowly color in the entire fingernail portion). Once this is set, the green candy is used to fill in the mold. Just add a pretzel rod and refrigerate until set. Boo!

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Gimme More (Chi-town Cupcakes, Pt. II)

Ok, I'll admit it. I was jealous. After reading Tanya's guest post about all the fabulous cupcakes she got to try during her stay in Chicago, I knew there had to be more that I could sample during my own trip to the windy city last weekend. And after some quick research I certainly found more--More Cupcakery, in Chicago's posh Gold Coast neighborhood. A tiny shop nestled in between stately buildings near the famous Magnificent Mile, this cupcakery is the perfect stop after a full day of (window) shopping at places like Tiffany's, Nordstrom's, Gucci and Louis Vuitton. Or, in my case, the Hershey store.

I have to admit, though, this is the cupcake review that almost wasn't. From the time I landed at Chicago's O'Hare airport it rained. When I woke up the next morning it rained. On the third morning when I trekked out to the suburbs hoping to dodge the rain...it rained. But, finally, the clouds parted Saturday afternoon and it was gloriously sunny. Immediately I dashed out of the hotel, thrilled to be able to take my time finding More without landing ankle-deep in puddles and being poked in the eye by other tourists with umbrellas.

And yet, you will notice not only is the photo of More decidedly NOT sun-drenched, but it is in fact nighttime. I was a little...misdirected. Ok, so I walked in completely the wrong direction. BUT I got to the shop just before closing and still had plenty of designer cakes to choose from. I got seasonal selections pumpkin and apple spice, as well as classic red velvet, and wildcard s'more. The first thing I noticed about More's cupcakes was their height: baked in stiff, brown paper collars that form the cake up instead of out, these tall cakes have a very unique look that sets them apart, even if making it a little more difficult to take a bite. More's shop also has a unique look, displaying cupcakes in a clear, segmented case at eye level, as if they're floating in thin air.

As for flavor, I enjoyed parts of each cupcake individually but thought only the pumpkin was a stand-out winner. If you're a red velvet fan, while I thought the cake lacked much distinct taste, the tangy cream cheese frosting definitely made up for it. As for the apple spice, while getting bonus points for the tasty candied walnuts on top , it seemed as if a single spice overwhelmed the rest (ginger, maybe?). I was really prepared to love the s'mores but unless you get a bite with the tiny sprinkling of graham on top, it might otherwise be difficult to tell what kind of cupcake this was. However, this one earns back points for the most moist cake of the group, as well as the surprise marshmallow filling. Having read my previous posts I know you'll say I'm biased, but the pumpkin spice cupcake was my favorite of the group. The cake was soft and spongy, the combination of spices was well-balanced and the cream cheese frosting was the perfect combo. To top it all off, the cake is crowned with a small piece of pepita brittle, which was delicious even on its own.

Overall, I think More's definitely merits a visit after a long day of shopping, particularly for one of the most extensive and unique rotating daily menus I've seen. Cupcakes will set you back $3.50 each or $9.50 for a "flight" of 6 minis.

If you go

More

1 E. Delaware Place

Chicago, IL 60611

Tues-Fri 8am-8pm

Saturday 9am-8pm

Sunday 10am-6pm

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Liberty and Pumpkin Mousse For All!

America has hit a new low. This year, many Americans will not be able to receive the basic products that they have come to rely upon year after year. Services they have come to take for granted will be in short supply. This Thanksgiving, many children may go without. No, I'm not talking about health care. I'm talking about the Great American Canned Pumpkin Shortage of 2009.

When I first heard rumors of a shortage, I scoffed. "Ha!" I said. It seemed inconceivable that something as traditionally American as pumpkin pie might be hard to come by at Thanksgiving. But I'm not laughing now. Week after week I've gone to several local supermarkets only to come face to face with an empty shelf where the canned pumpkin pie filling should be (to the right of the fruit pie fillings, and just underneath the instant pudding). It seems that, due to bad weather, many of last year's pumpkins were deemed "unacceptable" and now we're feeling the pinch. To make matters worse, the Libby company has placed supermarkets on a quota system in an attempt share the wealth. Clearly, it is not working. While my mother assures me that there is still plenty of pumpkin to be had at her regular grocery store in Ohio, my recommendation to you would be to BUY! BUY NOW!! if you happen to come across any cans and think you'll need them later in the season.

While Libby is assuring customers that more cans are coming, in the meantime I'm hedging my bets. It seems that cans of plain pumpkin are a little easier to come by so, of course, I bought the last two 30-oz cans I could find. By adding sugar and spices to the plain pumpkin, you can essentially make your own pumpkin pie filling. I plan to freeze this in small batches to use for future recipes and hopefully stretch my supply until the pumpkin drought is over. For the pumpkin mousse below, I've included the recipe as-written to include pre-mixed pie filling, but I'll also include my recipe for adding your own sugar and spice below in case you're unfortunately in the same pumpkin-less boat as me. Of course, if you're feeling adventurous, you can always bake your own pumpkin, scoop out the flesh, process in a blender and substitute for canned. Let me know how that goes :)

Pumpkin Mousse in Cinnamon Pastry Shells

2 boxes (10 oz each) frozen puff pastry shells

3 Tbs melted butter
Cinnamon sugar
(1 Tbs sugar, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon)
1 can (30 oz) pumpkin pie filling (not plain)
1 box (3.4 oz) vanilla instant pudding and pie mix
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup whipped topping, thawed

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Place pastry shells on a baking sheet. Brush tops with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake according to package directions. Cool to room temperature. Remove tops and reserve for garnish. Remove soft pastry inside shells and discard.

3. Beat pumpkin pie mix, pudding mix and cinnamon in large mixing bowl on medium speed for 2 minutes. Gently fold in whipped topping. Spoon or pipe about 1/3 cup pumpkin mousse into each pastry shell. Top with pastry tops, dust with cinnamon or drizzle with caramel if desired. Serve immediately.

Pumpkin Pie Filling Mix

For each 30-oz can of pumpkin add:
2 cups granulated sugar or light brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger Stir thoroughly to combine and freeze in 1 cup portions. Makes 4 1-cup servings or enough for 1 pie.

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Wreckless

Everybody has one. That one haunting cake from their past that didn't turn out quite as expected. After the excitement of picking out their favorite Disney-themed birthday cake or describing in detail their dream wedding cake, happily driving to the bakery the morning of the big event, slowly opening the smooth, white bakery box in anticipation only to discover....

This.

This is my family's "Cake Wreck." A cake that will live in infamy. Possibly for as long as this Barbie seems to have laid in a tanning bed. Yes, in fact the peroxide blonde Medusa-haired, tanorexic mess on the cake is actually supposed to be the Barbie depicted on the party plates you can see underneath excited, 6-year-old me.

Fortunately, this is pretty tame compared to most of the unintentionally hilarious cake photos submitted by readers to Jen Yates' blog "Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Horribly, Hilariously Wrong." An online gallery devoted entirely to "deformed, distasteful and bizarrely decorated wedding and birthday cakes," Cake Wrecks features reader submissions in several categories like Creative Grammar, Literal LOLs and Mithspellings. If you haven't been to Jen's blog yet you Must. Go. Now. This is honestly the funniest blog I've found on the web though, I must warn you, it may not be office appropriate. Not because of the content, but rather because it may cause you to snort uncontrollably while you try to hold in your laughter in an office environment. Of course, your office may be an uncontrollable snort-friendly kind of place, in which case, have at it. Just to give you a small taste, here are a few of my all-time faves:

Gross. The sign just makes it so much worse.

That's what you get for being specific:

Um, what?

First, the wedding cake inspiration:

What was delivered:

Anyways, all of this is to say that now Jen has released a brand new Cake Wrecks book cataloging some of the great wrecks from the site as well dozens of never-before-seen masterpieces, so now you can guffaw freely at home pouring over its pages instead of trying to chortle quietly to yourself in the office. The book has the great pics and hilarious captions we've come to love from the site and this would make a great gift for anyone you know that's a fan of baking, decorating, or laughing at the misfortune of others. If you get a chance also be sure to check out Jen on her world tour where you may also find recreations of some of the best-loved wrecks from the blog.

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