Sweet Love: Sweet Art in Bellingham, WA

It's official: I am in love with Sweet Art in Bellingham, WA.

Why? Let me count the ways.

Let me start by sharing with you their self-description, as written by co-owner Jerry:

A small mom-pop type retail candy store and art gallery where my wife is the artist and I'm the candyman. She paints oils of flowers & landscapes and I dip chocolates and make candy.

That's right: an artist wife and confectioner husband who have teamed up to open the sweetest little spot--one that makes you feel as if you've entered Alice in Wonderland's rabbit hole when you walk in.

Curios and art line the shelves (there's even a little diorama to peek in from the outside), and in the candy cases, row after row of confections:

Fudge, English toffee, Czech Toffee(!?), chocolate dipped strawberries, turtles and so, so much more.

...yes indeed, this is a special place to discover. But even better? The chocolates are delicious. It was after much debate that I finally settled on the fat little mint truffle, known as the "Bombay Mint Truffle", featured at the top of the post. 

If I've ever tasted chocolate-coated bliss, this was it. Rich, buttery, minty ganache that coats the mouth in the most delightful, flavorful way, this is one of those "I think I will close my eyes for a moment now" types of treats. In fact, I solemnly vow to make this a destination for every Bellingham trip, from now until eternity.

Sweet Art, 1335 Railroad, Bellingham, WA.

Sweet Soutine: Cookies and More from Soutine Bakery, NYC

If you haven't heard of Soutine Bakery in NYC, you're not alone. But I'd like you to discover it now, please and thank you.

Soutine is just off of the main drag, on a residental townhome sidestreet. It is tiny—I think of it as a dollhouse bakery. And this appeals to my love of all things tiny and cute.

But it's a double threat, because while their bakery case is small, there is no lack of delicious treats. They have frenchie treats like milles fueilles, sweet gateaux and other American standards (brownies, cookies, etc), but on this trip I zeroed in on the cookies.

The Soutine Chocolate Chip cookie is a crunchy affair, sort of along the lines of Tate's Bakeshop. Generally your dear spy's personal tastes lean toward soft and gooey when it comes to cookies, but, you know, it's never a good policy to eliminate the possibility of a delicious cookie experience solely because the cookie is crunchy. And ultimately the Soutine cookie was a sweet reward: light and crispy but still very buttery and rich in brown sugar flavor. I'd bet they taste even better warm, with a nice contrast between the crispy cookie and some gooey chocolate, but I wouldn't turn these cookies away any day.

I brought a bag to share with my buddies at the Serious Eats headquarters, and they approved, too.

Soutine Bakery, 149 W. 70^th Street, NYC; online at soutine.com.

Cake Byte: CupcakeCamp Seattle 2011 is Tomorrow, April 17

This poster will be for sale at CupcakeCamp!Hey, sweeties. Remember what an awesome time CupcakeCamp 2010 was? Well, forget about that, because CupcakeCamp 2011 is coming--TOMORROW!--and it promises to be bigger, badder, and buttercreamier than last year.

Here are the details:

Date:  Sunday April 17, 2011. 
Time: 12PM- 4pm
Location: The Canal, a Jewel Hospitality property in Ballard
5300 34th Avenue NW Seattle, WA 98107
Why: Because who doesn’t love cupcakes? Plus we will have some fun competitions and all proceeds go to a good cause!

HOW:Purchase tickets HERE for $8 or $10 at the door.

Ticket valid for 6 mini cupcake tastings or 3 standard size on the day of the event only. No refunds available.

For a preview of the awesomeness that awaits you, check out this epic post on last year's event. Also, be sure to check out Cupcakes Take The Cake's great roundup of the sweet times ahead.

Pastry Profiles: Chocolate Chip Muffin Pudding from Rising Flour Bakery, Canaan NH

Here are four wonderful words for you: Chocolate Chip Muffin Pudding.

I know what you're thinking: some sort of a cross between “Screw you forever, bread pudding!” and “where can I get me some of this?”.

Well, here's the deal. This sweet treat came from Rising Flour Bakery in New Hampshire. It was a very sweet discovery in more ways than one: I actually found it while I thought I was lost (but apparently I was truly found).

This small bakery was fairly no-nonsense in their displays, letting the sweets make the display.

They had a variety of breads, cookies, and cupcakes, but these individual puddings captured my heart and attention. At just about a dollar each, this pudding was a steal: a dense, creamy, almost bar cookie-esque in its density, each generous hunk was served with a dollop of freshly whipped cream.

It just goes to show, sometimes when you think you're lost, you are just primed to find something sweet.

Rising Flour Bakery, Rt 4, Canaan, NH 03741; on Facebook here.

Just Donut: Sweet Love for Peter Pan Donuts, Greenpoint, Brooklyn

I'll tell you something. My first apartment, after moving out of my college dorm, was in a magical little Polish corner of Brooklyn known as Greenpoint. And my first bakery visit in my first apartment was to Peter Pan Donuts.

The first visit (this was in 2001, btw) was sort of like stepping into a time and space machine: the staff was seemingly completely comprised of teenage Polish girls wearing (totally non-ironic) pink zip-up uniforms. But amazingly, the donuts were only about 80 cents. Score!

To say I fell hard for this place would be an understatement: I even learned how to say “thank you” in Polish to endear myself to the counter girls (it worked).

What is it that is so great about these donuts? Well, they are unfussy, unpretentious, and just straight-up good. They are fried to perfection, slightly greasy without being soggy, and cakey and thick without being leaden. Just out of the fryer they are a donut revelation; even at the end of the day, they hold their own.

Since 2001, Peter Pan has gained some acclaim, capturing the heart of Tina Fey; the donuts are now $1; but it's still just as magic as I remember.

Also tasty: the crumb cake and corn muffins. This visit, I heard that they had cupcakes too, but they were out by the time I arrived.

Peter Pan Donuts, 727 Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Baker's Dozen: A Batch of Sweet Links

Happy, happy weekend! Let's get it started:

First, and most importantly: PEEWEE HERMAN TWITTERED ABOUT CAKESPY. See above.

Calling all Albuquerque residents! A sweet shipment of CakeSpy cards just arrived at Cupcakeology, where you can also get a butterscotch hi-hat cupcake (OMG!).

Knowledge is sweet: Learn something new about Cadbury Creme Eggs. (thanks, Beverly!)

...speaking of Cadbury Creme Eggs, they sure are cozy nestled inside of a cupcake! (thanks, Sarah!)

Sweet spot: CakeSpy featured as one of the top 10 food blogs at Sweet Home!

Sweet memories: remember this interview with Erik of Pie in the Sky in Woods Hole, MA?

Customize your chocolate: say hello to Chocomize! (thanks, Margaret!)

Paris Goes Green, and so do baked goods (um, not literally). thanks, Cake Gumshoe Rob!

Customer tells me "flaky, flaky, flaky"--in a good way--about Colville Street Patisserie in Walla Walla, WA.

Spiced White Chocolate Blondies. Nom.

Want or Need? A sweet essay on Art of the Pie.

International. Edible. Book. Festival. Cos reading and food rule!

File under "things I like": Angel Food Cake French Toast.

Sweet Discovery: Pastries at Locanda Verde, NYC

It's high time that we discuss the exquisite joy that is pastry-eating at Locanda Verde in NYC.

I've been excited to visit this place for a long time, for three main reasons:

1. My customer-turned buddy too, Kelly Fink, works there as a baker.

2. A few visits ago, Ed Levine of Serious Eats said that their sweets could not be missed. You listen to a guy like this.

3. They have homemade pastries. Really, while #1 and #2 sweeten the deal, #3 alone would have brought me to this place.

yes, looking this good DOES hurt sometimes.So. After arriving in a mild-hurricane state (I had a train to catch, to visit another bakery, in 20 minutes, natch), I was able to quickly give Kelly a hug and nab a cinnamon sugar doughnut and an espresso chocolate scone. Basically, then I had to run.

But that was not the end of my Locanda Verde nirvana.

First, the scone. Dense, biscuity, and extremely moist, it was studded with little landmines of warm, lightly gooey bittersweet chocolate and nibbly little bits of espresso—all topped with a crunchy sugar coating. It was—because other words escaped me while eating it on the subway on my way to Grand Central—very, very good.

Next, the doughnut.

Doughnut lasted all the way to 125^th street on Metro North, but had a sweet and rapid demise as the train hurtled in the northerly direction. With a crispy exterior dusted with sandy sugar-and-cinnamon, the crust gave way to a soft, cakey treasure inside—an old-fashioned style doughnut with a rich, moist crumb and a full flavor that tasted something like heaven with a cafe au lait.

And then I napped the rest of the way to my stop, because while I was headed to Pleasantville, it kind of felt like I was already there.

CakeSpy Note: I should note, of course, that this is not a bakery--it is a restaurant--but during the day they do have a takeaway bakery counter. 

Locanda Verde, 377 Greenwich Street, NYC; locandaverdenyc.com.

Seeking Sweetness: Daily Snapshot, Love Note Left on an Airplane

CakeSpy Note: if you follow me on facebook or Twitter, you probably know I'm partial to adding bits of sweetness to my daily surroundings, via sidewalk chalk, small cutouts, and the like--I call it "gentle street art". Here's where I post a daily feel-good photo, for no particular reason other than to showcase these sweet little nothings, in hopes that they'll make you smile.

This time, I thought I'd make a flight less grueling and a little sweeter for the next person to grace seat 31F on the plane I just flew back to Seattle from NYC, so I left a little love note. I know it would make my day to find something like this, so I hope it makes someone else's day! 

It's All About the Cookie: Chocolate Chip Cookies from Levain Bakery, NYC

So, if you've never been to Levain Bakery (you've probably heard of them, they're totally famous--the New York Times called them"Possibly the largest, most divine chocolate chip cookies in Manhattan," and they have been featured on the Food Network), I feel kind of bad for you. Here's why:

1. You don't need detailed directions to get there--once you're within a block of it, you will smell the aroma of chocolate chip cookies, and it will draw you ever closer, not unlike little cartoon scent-swirls.
2. Actually walking down the few steps required to walk into the bakery is kind of like walking into a big chocolate chip cookie (or perhaps heaven)--it is warm, and it smells like butter, sugar, and chocolate. And bread.
3. The employees are nice. Every time I have been there, they have been sweet as pie to me.
4. Your screen does not deceive you--the cookie pictured above does not only appear ginormous, it actually IS ginormous. Their cookies weigh roughly 6 ounces each, which, last time I checked, is pretty close to half a pound. 
5. In case you glazed over that last one: HALF A POUND OF COOKIE!
6. But these cookies are not merely large in size--they are big in flavor, too. Buttery, lightly crispy on the outside, and chewy and gooey on the inside. I like the ones with walnuts, because they have a nice little flavor and texture contrast from nubbly little shards of nuts.

...and, dear friends, I will confess, I can eat one all by myself. In fact I have, just the other day, while doing an extensive CakeWalk of the Upper West Side of Manhattan (more on that later). True, eating a half-pound of cookie without also walking about 13 miles is probably not very healthy, but I assure you, it is still very delicious.

Summary: if you are in New York, go there. If you are not, buy the cookies online. 

Levain Bakery, 167 W. 74th Street; shop online here.

So Corny: Easter Candy Corn Recipe for Serious Eats

It's time to let you in on a little secret: Easter Corn is the same thing as Candy Corn, but colored differently. And like Candy Corn, it tastes better when made at home.

Of course, you can make the most of this festive treat by coloring it creatively. Instead of tricolors, why not go for five stripes of pastel sweetness? And, going even further, why not serve it in overturned baby-food jars to form the cutest enchanted forest-style terrarium treats you've ever seen? With all that magic, you might just give the Easter Bunny a run for its money.

For the full entry and recipe, visit Serious Eats!