Bread (Pudding) Alone: Pontifications on the Ultimate Carbohydratey Treat

Just like any proper invasion, it started quietly, gaining momentum until suddenly, it was an unstoppable force. We're speaking of bread pudding of course--suddenly, it's everywhere.

OK, to qualify that statement, it's not as if bread pudding was ever off the radar. It's been around, on both the high and the low end, as long as we can remember. However, it seems that in the past year or so, its popularity has grown enormously--to the point that nearly every bakery, coffee shop and restaurant in Seattle (and even beyond) has a variation. So what gives?

Well, we have some ideas. Wanna hear?

Bread Pudding: Why?

First, before we talk about the present, let's consider bread pudding's past. According to this article,

Food historians trace the history of bread pudding to the early 11th and 12th centuries, as frugal cooks looked for ways to use stale, leftover bread instead of letting it go to waste. In 13th century England, bread pudding was known as “poor man’s pudding,” as it was a popular dish with the lower classes.

Yup--it was a budget-friendly dish then, and it is now. Sure, it's been gussied up--you'll see fancy versions with all sorts of toppings, and creative versions using everything from doughnuts to cinnamon rolls to brioche, but it really does boil down to the idea of giving new life to baked goods which would otherwise be thrown away. 

Even beyond the idea of making smart use of leftovers though, is the fact that bread pudding is also a vastly comforting dish. Warm, custardy and carbohydratey, it's the type of fare that can put you in a blissful carbohydratey coma, forgetting all manner of economic woes. Just look at all of the major food magazines lately--they've all got comfort food on the cover. 

To speak specifically to the proliferance of the sweet treat in Seattle of course, one need only consider the weather during the winter months: we don't know about you, but we couldn't think of a cozier sweet for a cold and rainy day.

Bread Pudding: How?

Now that we've considered why bread pudding has been so popular lately, let's consider form. For it seems to us that there are two major players in the world of bread pudding, the first a more solid, cakey sort; the second being a more custard-y sort, consisting of the bread floating in a dish of cream. Which one is correct? Well, we wouldn't dare make the final call on that, so we turned to our dear readers to see which variation they preferred. 

While certainly some have a strong preference, it seems that the preference was for some sort of middle ground. Seems that a solid form is important, but it does need some sort of sauce or topping. As one reader said, a hybrid is best: "cakey (but not dry) bread pudding with sauce drizzled over"; and as another aptly echoed, "Nice and soft, but not soupy".

Bread Pudding: What Now?

So what's going to happen next? Well, as it is such an open-ended dish, we'd predict that you look out for more hybrids and creative innovation--often based on updating or taking a creative spin on old classic recipes--and in both sweet and savory variations. Want a peek? Here are just a few of the variations that have intrigued us on the sweet side of things: 

The NY Times' Jelly Doughnut Bread Pudding (Photo above, c/o NYT)

Peabody's Bananas Foster Bread Pudding (and her Sticky Bun Bread Pudding)

Su Good Sweets' Nutella Bread Pudding

Eating Well's Strawberry-Rhubarb Bread Pudding

Leftover Waffle Bread Pudding

...and of course, you may enjoy checking out the Bread Pudding experiment we ourselves did a few months back.

Bread Pudding: Where?

Where do Cake Gumshoes get their bread pudding fix? In Seattle, we love the bread pudding at Boat Street Cafe (it's the one that everyone says is "the best"--and well, it's pretty freaking good, served in a rum-butter cream sauce) , B&O Espresso (floating in a dish of custard), Bella Dolce (more solid, served in a cupcake-cup), and Grand Central Baking (also served in a cupcake-cup, but with a delectable chocolate variation). How about in your hometown?

Baker's Dozen: A Batch of Sweet Links!

Does beer love cookies? Apparently yes, with "Beer's Best Friend", a sweet and salty pretzel cookie by Buttermilk Bakeshop (pictured top).

Breakfast is officially the coolest meal of the day, with these adorable breakfast pies.

Don't eat these sweets: MAC cosmetics is coming out with a cupcake and sugar-themed makeup collection called Sugarsweet. (Thanks Julia for the tip!)

Cupcakes and art come together with Andrea Canalito's cool installations.

When life gives you lemons, make Lemon Sugar: Baking Bites tells us how.

Ricciarelli: we think it's Italian for totally delicious.

These southern poundcakes look serious--and so does their baker.

Seattleites are officially wimps: at a recent paczki eating contest, nobody could eat more than five of the sweet treats.

Ice Cream cakes are so over--but not ice cream cupcakes! (Thanks Mallory for the tip!)

Margaret Morrison creates a delicious contrast with her high-art portraits of cheap sweets. (c/o Bethany)

Krispy Kreme offers coffee at the same prices they did during the great depression at certain locations.  Yes, doughnuts are still full price, you cheapskate.

Sweet Cakes Bakery: it may just best thing we've ever heard of from Rhode Island. (Thanks Peter for the tip!)

Chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake: you might have a heart attack halfway through a slice...but what a sweet way to go.

Batter Chatter: Interview with Cherie of Galaxy Cupcakes, TX

At one time, the idea of opening a cupcake-centric business was unheard of; today, the country boasts hundreds of thriving shops. While for a time it seemed that the trend was generally confined to major cities, it seems like the sweet little cakes have indeed begun to take over the world, with charming shops opening up in suburban and even country areas. Recently we caught up with Cherie Gilbert, proprietress of Galaxy Cupcakes, a cupcake shop outside of Austin, TX; we were able to talk about the sweet treats, how they've gone over in a less urban area, and discuss the finer points of cake vs. muffin texture:

CakeSpy: A lot of cupcake businesses have opened in the past several years, but the story about how yours came about is a little different. Could you share it with us?
Cherie Gilbert: I was an interior designer before opening the shop. My 15 year old daughter had a brain tumor when she was four which went away, but two years ago we found out she had another one. Due to her treatment it was hard for me to work with design customers when she didn't feel well as it required a lot of time out and about. I rented a kitchen and started making cupcakes and doing deliveries to supplement my income the beginning of last year. I had so many people asking for a store so they could see them or just get 1 or 2. My husband and I thought it would be a good ideal to open a store and have a space in the backroom where Nikki, my daughter could stay if she didn't feel well. So we started looking for a spot, found one right away, and opened the end of August. Started out slowly by word of mouth and haven't stopped growing yet. We are reinventing the wheel daily and I am loving very minute of it.

CS: How has your life changed since you opened Galaxy Cupcakes?
CG: It has been crazy busy! I thrive on it though and I am really enjoying it. It is not always easy and it becomes your life. I couldn't do it with out my husband though. He pitches in a lot. If he is not doing dishes for me on the weekends, he is grocery shopping for home or doing the laundry at home so I don't have to. If I didn't have his 100% support, I wouldn't make it.

CS: The cupcake trend seems to have started and caught on in mostly urban areas and cities, but you're in a more suburban area north of Austin. How did residents react to the opening of a cupcake business in your area? 

CG: Oh, they loved it! They are so glad they can get something fun and funky without having to drive into Austin.

CS: The economy is worrying everyone, yet cupcakes seem to be getting even more popular. Would you say that cupcakes are "recession-proof"? 

CG: I don't know if anything is recession-proof, but I do know that during hard times people need a pick me up every now and again. Cupcakes are great for cheering us up, they make us feel happy. People aren't going out and buying a new sofa right now, but a $2.50 cupcake is not going to break the bank.

CS: You mention that you're thinking of offering muffins in the future. Tell us: what exactly is the difference between cupcakes and muffins?
CG: Muffins are more of a quick bread and a little denser, where cupcakes are a cake and a little fluffier. Muffins are not frosted and can have a crumb, nut, or oat topping. Also muffins tend to be less sweet than a cupcake. Muffins are mainly served for breakfast or brunch and cupcakes are usually not served before lunch.

CS: What's your most popular flavor?
CG: That would be our Eclipse (Jack & Coke). It is a chocolate cake made with coke instead of milk and topped with cream cheese and bourbon icing. It's funny because I am not a big bourbon fan, but the mixture of the bourbon and cream cheese is to die for!

CS: Your flavors are incredibly creative! We just imagine you having cocktail parties and inventing them. But tell us--how does the process of inventing a flavor really happen?
CS: Well, I started out making my favorite fruity drink, Strawberry Daiquiri, and loved it; so I came up with other drinks I like, Bellini and Cosmo. I decided I'd better have something for all the men out there, not just my girlie drinks, and came up with the Jack & Coke and Bailey's & Cream. The trick is getting just enough alcohol for flavor with out making the dough too runny where it will collapse when cooled.

CS: How is your background of interior design reflected in your retail space?
CG: I have always preferred modern design. My husband and I liked mid-century modern design way before it was the in thing. We live in a 1962 modern ranch home, completely original and decorated to period with Danish modern furniture. We wanted a 1960s swank bachelor pad/googie feel. We wanted it to feel like you had walked into a lounge in Las Vegas when the Rat Pack Ruled the Day. We used pink, lime green, and black as the color scheme. I wanted to use as much black as possible so it wouldn't be too frilly for the men, and I get more comments on the design from men than women.

CS: You mentioned getting a lot of requests for pie. Do you ever think pie will eclipse cupcakes as the hot-ticket dessert item?
CG: Only at Thanksgiving!

CS: What's next for Galaxy Cupcakes?
CG: Who knows -- maybe someday we'll have locations throughout the entire Galaxy!

Galaxy Cupcakes is located at 1501 Park Lane, #105, Georgetown, TX; to see their photos, check out their flickr page; or more information, visit galaxycupcakes.com.

Short But Sweet: A Salute to Shortbread

Shortbread is certainly one of life's small pleasures: crispy, tantalizingly buttery, and when done right, the perfect combination of sweet and slightly salty.

With only three main ingredients (flour, sugar and butter--with a dash of salt for good measure)--traditional shortbread isn't a complex thing, but we would be hard-pressed to call it simple food. Because certainly there is an art to mixing those ingredients, to yielding the elusively perfect, buttery crumb.

But what else lies beneath this humble cookie? We took some time to think about various aspects of the cookie--here's what we discovered.

First off, where does the cookie come from?

As Historic-UK.com informs us, the story of shortbread begins with the medieval biscuit ("twice-baked"), wherein leftover bread dough was baked a second time to form a type of rusk--this is to say, if you picture a family tree of cookies, this would mean that shortbread, rusks and biscotti all share some relatives.

While by some accounts they existed as far back as the 12th century in Britain, it seems to us that it is truly Scotland where shortbread as we know it was developed: it is here that gradually the yeast began to be replaced with butter, and oat flour, which were some of their agricultural staples. These "short" bread cookies were a fancy dessert, reserved for the wealthy and for special occasions. And certainly their popularity was bolstered by the fact that in the 16th Century, they are said to have been a favorite of Mary, Queen of Scots (she liked a variation which included caraway seeds, in case you were interested).

Why are they called "short"?

It's all about the butter, baby! According to Everything You Pretend to Know about Food and Are Afraid Someone Will Ask, which is like, our favorite book ever,

short pastry is a nonyeast pastry that has a high ratio of butter to flour. Short pastries bake up crumbly rather than chewy and tend to keep well, owing to their high fat content.

What is the proper shape for a traditional shortbread cookie?

We've seen them round, rectangular, diamond-shaped, and cut into wedges from a larger round--so what gives? Is there a proper shape for a traditional shortbread cookie? Once again according to Historic-UK.com,

Shortbread is traditionally formed into one of three shapes: one large circle divided into segments ("Petticoat Tails"); individual round biscuits ("Shortbread Rounds"); or a thick rectangular slab cut into "fingers."

Of course, having taste-tested each of these traditional variations, we can report that while they may differ in look, each shape is delicious.

What is the best shortbread cookie recipe?
These days, shortbread recipes are available in a dizzying array of flavors and variations: and from chocolate peanut butter to gorgeously decorated chocolate shortbread (above, photo c/o Whipped Bakeshop) to Earl Grey to cherry almond to even lavender vegan variations, we have enjoyed many of them. But moreover, we love this simple, classic recipe, which is a wonderful springboard for variations (note: though it can be made into round cookies rather than a big round, it is a fragile dough so may be harder to handle in that way).

Classic Shortbread

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Preheat oven to 300°F. Lightly butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan (we couldn't find ours so used a pie plate--it worked just fine!). Whisk flour, sugar, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Add 1/2 cup butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Gather dough together and form into ball; flatten into disk. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 1/2-inch-thick round. Transfer round to prepared pan. Using fingers, press dough evenly over bottom to edges of pan. Using tip of small sharp knife, score dough into 8 equal triangles, then pierce all over with fork. Bake until shortbread is cooked through and pale golden, about 45 minutes.

Using tip of sharp knife, cut warm shortbread into triangles along scored lines. Run knife around shortbread to loosen. Cool in pan at least 30 minutes. Using spatula, carefully remove shortbread from pan.

Can be made 1 day ahead. Store shortbread airtight in single layer at room temperature.

Comeback Candy: Valentine's Day Chocolate Redux

It's a hard thing indeed, to realize that you're past you're prime. Where once you were the toast of the town, now you're yesterday's news: washed up, aging, without many prospects for the future.

But what if--just what if--you could have one more shot at the big time?

No, we're not talking about you, Mickey Rourke (although seriously--what's happened to you since Diner?). We're talking about Valentine's Day Candy. Just a week and a half  ago it was the star of the sweet world--now, half eaten boxes of chocolates are being discarded, and what boxes are left are relegated to sad sales bins, prices slashed.

But we know everyone loves a comeback--and so we decided to try to breathe some new life into those leftover chocolates to give them one last hurrah and to bring them up to date with the current sweet scene: and so, we made them into an Easter Bunny.

Here's what we did.

First, we took all of our leftover Valentine's Day chocolates--you know, those weird flavors that are always left--can't say for sure, but think they were vanilla fondant, strawberry cream, and some sort of almond marzipan-filled. We put them in a water bath to melt them.

Of course, having a brilliant idea in the middle of this, we poured in all of our leftover Sweethearts (side note: when did Sweethearts start sounding so stalker-creepy?).

Unfortunately, these sweethearts are pretty much indestructible, so rather than melting they more just became sugary lumps.

Since we didn't have a rabbit-shaped mold, we then sort of bent a mitten cookie cutter into a vaguely bunny-shaped blob, and poured the chocolate slurry into it.

Once it was solid but still malleable, we removed the cookie cutter and added an extra few dabs to form bunny ears. 

Then, we let it all cool down and set overnight.

In the morning, we touched it up with some bunnylike features rendered in decorating gel frosting. And then we decided to name it. "Easter Bunny" didn't seem quite appropriate, so we settled on "Mangly". Because certainly, this mangled little bunny had a face only a mother could love.

Feeling rather self-satisfied with having helped breathe new life into Valentine's Day candy and fairly holier-than-thou about having a small carbon footprint, we decided to see what other Easter Candy thought of their new peer.

Unfortunately, they didn't seem to get along. Maybe they're just jealous.

Or maybe they see Mangly the leftover-candy Easter Bunny for what he is: a has-been who is desperately grasping for one more moment in the spotlight. 

And if this is so, then perhaps it's time to face the fact that there's a season for everything, and unfortunately, the season of Valentine's Day candy has, sadly, passed.

Hey, at least we tried. But now, we say bring on the Cadbury Creme eggs and chocolate bunnies!

Cakespy Undercover: Macaron Fever at Honoré in Seattle

Seeking Parisian-style macarons in Seattle? We'd been hearing some great things about Honoré in Ballard, so recently our Cake Gumshoe Kim went to see for herself. Here are her thoughts:

I wanted some macaroons--so I went to Honoré and bought 5! I've now tested all the flavors I got. Granted, these are the first macaroons I've ever had so I don't have much to compare them to, but I have to say they were amazing! They were everything I hoped they would be.

I chose lavender, coffee, pistachio and another one which I think was chocolate/coconut/salted caramel. They had about 10 flavors in all and i wished I could have got one of each, but unfortunately I was on a budget! I'm a sucker for all things lavender flavored - I had a feeling those would be my favorite so I bought two. I was right! The lavender flavor was just right, they were topped with little flowers, and had a delicious creamy chocolate filling which I didn't expect. The coffee one had a rich coffee flavor which was very satisfying. The pistachio flavor was very nutty and tasted just like pistachios... except sweet! Lastly, I finished off the mysterious chocolate/coconut/salted caramel this morning. It was so good! I could definitely taste the salted caramel, and there were little bits of coconut inside the cookie.

So to sum it up - they were all good, and all different. I want to go back and try more flavors!

On another note about Honoré's general awesomeness - the girl working the counter was so nice. She listed off all 10 or so macaroon flavors to me, sweetly, without an eye roll in sight! We also got a croissant which was very good, and they had a bunch of other pastries that looked really yummy.

Honoré is open Wed.–Sun.; 1413 NW 70th St.; 206.706.4035.

Sweet Spot: Dessert Links!

Flossing is now officially awesome, thanks to Archie McPhee's cupcake floss. (Thanks Jill and Maika for the tip!)

Check out this gorgeous Starry Night-inspired cake!

Gummi Bear Battalion: whimsical and fun food art.

Vegan wasabi fudge? We're intrigued.

Serious Eats weighs in on the phenomenon of enticing food smells.

Avocado...pie? Who would have thought it would sound so good?

They're known for their King Cake, but Haydel also makes another sweet treat: Roman Chewing Candy.

It's certainly not cheap, but we were exited to find a place that will ship a Hummingbird Cake.

Kelly Confidential: a virtual bakesale for a cause.

Chet and Dot makes cute cake-shaped pincushions.

Holey Yum: Donut Pies

Donuts play nice, don't they? They're so open to collaboration. There's donut bread pudding. Donut burgers. Donut muffins. Donut soup.

And now, Donut Pie. Don't be fooled by the photo at the top: these are no typical donuts. They're in fact little morsels of pie crust, with filling rolled inside of them and then fried. While they're certainly not health food, they certainly are delicious: crispy, not too-sweet, easy to make, and completely open to improvisation with flavor. Here's how we made them:

Donut Pies

1. First, choose your favorite pie crust recipe (we used this one). We made the equivalent of a single pie crust, and the yield was about 15 mini Donut Pies.
   
2. Next, decide what your filling would be. For our filling, we mixed one ripe banana, a small amount (1/4 cup, adding more to desired thickness) of heavy whipping cream, and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, and two pinches of cinnamon. We mashed it until it was incorporated, but still a little bit lumpy. You can fill them with just about anything you'd use in a pie though. Let your filling sit to the side.
   
3. Roll out your pie crust, and then score into strips. The strips should be about 2.5 inches wide, but as long or as short as you'd like. The length will determine how large the donut's circumfrence will be, so if you like mini donuts, keep them shorter.

4. Lengthwise, spoon a small amount of filling in each strip. Be sure to leave a small gap of space at the top and bottom of the strip.

5. Fold the crust over the filling lengthwise, so that you have a long, narrow, filled "log" of pie crust with filling inside.

6. Form into a circle.

7. Since we don't have a deep fryer, we then filled a frying pan on  with about 2 cups of canola oil, set to high heat, and once hot gently placed the donuts several at a time into the fryer, frying each side about 3-4 minutes or until golden.

8. Gently remove from frying pan and place on paper towels to blot excess oil.

9. Garnish as desired: with additional fruit topping (as above), whipped cream, ice cream, or for a more donutty look, chocolate icing (as seen on the chocolate topped ones) and sprinkles or swirls. Yum.

A Sweet Proposal: Love, CakeSpy and Marriage

A note from Head Spy Jessie:

By profession, I am an illustrator specializing in portraits of anthropomorphic cupcakes. As such, I'm sure you can imagine the delightfully unusual requests for custom artwork I've gotten: cupcakes and a client's pet being chased by the Sta-Puft marshmallow man; an aggressive cupcake brawl; horror-movie inspired cupcakes--the list goes on and on. 

But last week, I delivered one of my sweetest commissions to date: a series of four paintings to be used as part of a marriage proposal. 

The first painting showed the happy couple flying into San Francisco for the weekend (shown top);

The second painting showed them having dinner at a fancy restaurant overlooking the Bay Bridge;

The third one showed them in a photobooth at the Musee Mecanique, where the photos coming out showed the actual proposal going on;

And finally, the happy couple back at home and enjoying some pizza at their regular place.

The artwork was delivered on Friday, and the proposal happened over Valentine's Day weekend; of course (duh!) she said yes, and the couple couldn't be happier. 

I live in a saccharine world for sure--but this one really made me melt like a puddle of ice cream on hot pie. It was such a pleasure to be part of such a sweet moment.

Looking Good: Sweet Treats from Look Cupcake in Seattle

Last week, something magical happened: upon returning home to the Cakespy Headquarters after running some errands, we found the most gorgeous box of cupcakes on our porch. Magic!

The parcel was from Seattle's newest custom-order cupcake business, Look Cupcake. Based out of a commercial kitchen on Lower Queen Anne, owner Rhienn Davis takes a unique slant on the cupcake trend by looking inwardly--literally--by specializing in gourmet, filled cupcakes.

Our assortment included three flavors: the Feather Boa (coconut cream cake, mojito cheesecake filling, vanilla buttercream, coconut garnish); the La Nina de Chocolate Diablo (spiced mexican chocolate cake with kahlua especial swiss meringue buttercream); and the A Formal Affair (vanilla cake, bittersweet ganache filling and whipped truffle frosting).

These cupcakes were--to put it mildly--crazy delicious. But even more than the fillings, what impressed us was the frosting. Silky, buttery and absolutely luxurious, it seemed different a lot of other cupcake-frostings we've tried. What gives? 

Turns out, they were topped with what is known as Swiss Meringue Buttercream (and in the case of the chocolate frosting, ganache whipped in, which only added to that luxurious texture).

So what is Swiss Meringue Buttercream? Happily, Rhienn (aka the "Cliff Clavin of buttercream") was able to explain:

The difference between meringue buttercreams (there are several - Italian, Swiss, French - every European country thinks they know best, apparently,) and regular "American style" buttercream (what we think of as a more "crunchy" frosting) is as follows:

• American buttercream is just butter (sometimes a little cream cheese) and TONS of powdered sugar mixed together. The result is that intense, super sweet, sometimes a little gritty, frosting. I make a great one with fresh ginger grated into it. Mmmm!
• (Pick your European country) Meringue buttercream is made by dissolving a relatively small amount of granulated sugar into egg whites, whipping it into a meringue and then adding the butter. They're smoother, creamier and less over the top sweet. They also stand up better in heat, which is awesome for those of us that do seven million weddings in the dog days of summer.

So there you go--unexpected free cupcakes, and an unexpected lesson on various different types of frosting: we'd call that a sweet treat, indeed.

For more information, visit lookcupcake.com.