Sweet Summer: Watermelon Pudding Served in a Watermelon Shell

So, in case you didn't know it, I am part of the Verizon Wireless Savvy Gourmets group. And as part of this group, we occasionally have the chance to take part in challenges or are privy to special offers from Verizon. Booyeah! And this time, our mission, should we choose to accept, was to create a creative post about a favorite summer food, using photos taken on the Xyboard device.

Well, that sounded like a fun enough challenge.

So first, I thought about my favorite summer foods, and one that came to mind was watermelon. But since this is a cake and dessert blog, how could I make it relevant? So I hit the Epicurious application on the Xyboard (I love this because unlike a laptop, the tablet is a little more kitchen-friendly) and did a search for watermelon desserts. One that caught my eye right away was Watermelon Pudding. How refreshing does that sound? And based on the recipe, it seemed easy, too. SCORE!

And to make it even better and cuter, I decided to save the watermelon shell to use as a serving dish! Now how freaking cute is that? 

But here's where I need your help. If you think this is painfully adorable (and really, it is), could you please leave a comment on this post? Because the post with the most comments is eligible for a $250 prize. And I really feel like I'd like to use this money to go visit my little sister in San Francisco (and write about the bakeries I visit there, NATCH!).

Here's how I adapted the recipe I found to make the cute dish you see. 

And before I post the recipe, let me say this disclosure-ly stuff: I am participating in the Verizon Wireless Midwest Savvy Gourmets program and have been provided with a wireless device and six months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the product.

Watermelon Pudding Served in a Watermelon Shell

Serves 4

For the pudding

• 3 cups coarsely chopped seeded watermelon (about half of a small watermelon)
• 1/3 cup cornstarch 
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

For the whipped cream topping

• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• red food coloring

Procedure

1. Slice your watermelon in half; scoop out the watermelon from one half (it should be enough). Reserve the hollowed-out half, as this will be your serving dish. Eat the other half in slices, with friends.
2. Purée watermelon in a blender until smooth, then pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium saucepan, pressing on pulp and then discarding any remaining solids.
3. Ladle about 1/4 cup watermelon juice into a small bowl and stir in cornstarch until smooth.
4. Bring remaining watermelon juice and cream to a boil with the sugar, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
5. Stir cornstarch mixture again, then whisk into boiling liquid.
6. Reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, 3 minutes. Whisk in lemon juice.
7. Pour pudding through cleaned sieve into a bowl, then transfer to your empty watermelon shell. Let cool for 30 minutes, until cold. Cover loosely and chill until set, at least 3 hours.
8. Just before serving, beat cream with remaining 1 teaspoon sugar in another bowl with an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks. Stir in a drop or two of food coloring last, stirring only until incorporated. Top the pudding with the pink whipped cream, and scatter with mini chocolate chips to bring the watermelon theme home.  Enjoy chilled; this pudding will keep for 1 day in the fridge. 

Sweet to Eat: Stracciatella Truffle-Stuffed Cookies Recipe

Now that I've got your attention, let me tell you about something I made.

Recently, Lindt sent me a bunch of samples of their products. White chocolate and stracciatella truffles, in particular. Cool. I like their little Lindt Balls. OK, the technical name is "Lindor Truffles", but I kind of like my name better. But to clarify, even though my chosen name of Lindt Balls sounds like "lint balls", the chocolate variety is much more delicious. Trust me. 

I think Lindt wanted to see what I'd bake up with their treats, or possibly do a review on my site. Well, I don't need to review because I already know I love to stuff my face with these little morsels. Proof:

But as for baking with them--after eating several of them straight from the wrapper, I thought "I have an idea". I happened to have on hand a fairly dense cookie dough which I was using to make Hamantashen, and I thought "I wonder what would happen if I stuffed these truffles in that dough?". 

So I cut out some dough rounds and wrapped them around the chocolate balls. I tried to seal them off, but it seemed like a little white chocolate seeped out of most of them.

In general, though, they all retained enough white chocolate to give the cookies a highly delicious flavor. The cookie dough was fairly dry, but the baby-chocolate chip studded white chocolate centers were moist, and they are seriously an ideal cookie to pair with milk.

Go ahead and try them -- I'd be willing to bet that you and your friends will do some serious damage to the batch.

Stracciatella Truffle Stuffed Cookies

Makes 18 or so

• 3 cups  flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 3 eggs
• 24 white chocolate or Stracciatella Lindor truffles (why do you need 24 for a recipe that makes 18? Well, you might get hungry while baking!!)

Procedure

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Set to the side.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl with each addition. It's gonna look kind of curdled. Don't panic.
3. Add the dough a little at a time, mixing on low.
4. Press the dough into a disc, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill it in the fridge for an hour or so.
5. Near the end of the cooling period, line 2 sheets with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 
6. On a well floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. You don't need to be too fussy about this though.
7. Cut out 3 1/2 inch circles using a cookie cutter or the floured rim of a glass. Gather scraps and re-roll as needed.
8. Place a truffle in the center of each cutout, and gather the dough around it and press it together on top, sort of like a hershey's kiss shape. Try to ensure no holes or openings (this will minimize filling dripping out).
9. Place the filled dough balls on the prepared sheet, leaving 1.5 inches or so around each cookie.
10. Bake on a well-greased cookie sheet or on parchment paper for 12-15 minutes. 
11. Let cool on the sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

What Annoys You at a Bakery?

I asked this important question on Twitter the other day: what annoys you at a bakery?

Personally, I have a few pet peeves. One is bad coffee. Why do excellent bakeries so often just drop the standard when it comes to coffee, offering stale or weak or otherwise terrible coffee? It seems to happen all too often. Another is apathetic service: employees who don't know what a baked good is, or how it's made, or what it's made with. It bums me out! Because I'm always so curious.

I was so fascinated by everyone's responses, though. Here are just a few of your pet peeves:

When the cupcakes and cakes look AMAZING but then taste just so-so. ( @iambakertweets)

When there aren't many savory items! Also, a lot of places stopped serving drip decaf & you have to pay for an Americano. (@imrachelbelle)

When they get a new baker and everything tastes different. And not in a good way. (@RandomSweets)

@cakespy Too much of the same item, in different flavors. (@happysorceress)

How about you? What annoys you at a bakery?

Baker's Dozen: A Batch of Sweet Links

Rosemary Shortbread - yum!

A totally sweet back to school cupcake tutorial! 

Things I love and think you should, too: Alfajores.

Mellow with mallow: Marshmallow creme cocktails!

New food trend: savory cookies. Wha?

Tasty: Elvis's banana pudding.

YUM: Zebra cake!

I so badly need to visit: Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams.

Awesome and gross at times: 15 weird lollipops.

Also weird, but delicious: Kix Cookies.

About thyme: Strawberry thyme lemon bars. 

I actually found this interesting: cooking with cannabis.

SURPRISE: chocolate peanut butter surprise cookies look classic and delightful.

A batch of sweet new bakeries is baking up a storm in Atlanta!

In Philadelphia - sweets with heart.

A fantastically inspiring and appetite-inducing guide to some tasty Portland baked goods.

Sweet: I am part of this art show. Good art, good cause!

Baked Good of the Day: Iles Flottantes

Source: orgasmicchef.com via Cake on Pinterest

Le nom! A French island of tastiness. Find the recipe here.

Sweet Art: When Snacks Get Snarky

Sweet Interview: Schoolhouse Craft in Seattle

Last year, I was a speaker at the amazing small business conference Schoolhouse Craft in Seattle. Well, I no longer live in Seattle, but I sure do love that conference. It's a fantastic resource for small business owners and those who want to start a small business, full of workshops, panels, and classes designed to help get things going. Ready to buy a ticket for the event this year, Sept 21-23? Click here. And below, get to know the organizer, Kristen Rask:

Schoolhouse Craft, part Deux! How does it feel? It feels good. It is always stressful during this time, getting attendees, making sure the schedule is up and correct, making sure everyone has what they need but I am really excited about the program so that helps!

I'd like to get it out of the way, so let me ask--what kind of sweet treats will be on hand this year? Hahaha yes of course! We have Trophy Cupcakes coming, Half Pint Ice Cream one night and Theo Chocolate. Amoungst other sweet treats I am sure. MailChimp is also sponsoring our happy hour social so that means all drinks and food is on them. How AWESOME IS THAT??

Let me ask--who goes to a conference like this? Who can get something out of it? Man, it ranges from brand new folks who aren't too sure what Twitter is or Blogging to seasoned professionals. I love the range. The common denominator is that the attendees are mostly women. I think we had one guy last year?

What are some of the conference highlights? I think Getting your Crafty Idea Published is a great class! You not only get to hear about the world of publishing BUT at the end of the class you can pitch your book ideas to editors at Sasquatch Books (CakeSpy's publisher!) which has published some amazing books. One of our attendees last year got a book deal. I hope we have another success story again this year. I really think the schedule runs the course so if you are a newbie, classes such as Blogging 101 or Social Marketing for your business will be highly beneficial. Old hats may find Bookkeeping or Wholesaling more of interest. We have it all!

What has changed since the last conference? We did notice that were more newbies at our last conference so this year we really tried to get classes for all ranges. We kinda broke them up into elementary to advanced. I think we have a much larger range this year than last.

If people are coming to the conference from out of town, what do you suggest to do/eat/see in the area for after or before conference hours? Oh man. There is so much to eat: Trophy Cupcakes will be at the event but Jennifer has made such a great place that you should go check out one of her shops as well. The cupcakes are to die for. Salumi is a great place to go if you can get in and like meat. Hot Cakes is awesome in Ballard. I am currently obsessed with Crumble and Flake. So amazing! There is absolutely no shortage of amazing restaurants. Sitka and Spruce is my favorite and if you get the chance, you must eat there! For things to see/do: I think what Seattle is special for is all the great neighborhoods. You could spend hours just walking around the various spots such as Capitol Hill, Ballard, Fremont, West Seattle, etc. The parks are also so amazing such as Lincoln Park, Denny Blaine, Seward Park, etc. I took my friend to Highland Drive in Queen Anne for a sunset when she was just visiting. That view is amazing and makes me love where I live! We now have The Wheel or whatever they are calling it. If you have a large enough party and it's nice out, it could be a nice view. Kayaking is great here or getting on the water somehow, a ferry ride to Bainbridge is fun and inexpensive. There is a lot to do here.

Sometimes I feel like going to events like this, I get REALLY overwhelmed with all of the ideas and inspirations and don't know what to do with it all! Any tips for getting the most from your conference? Take lots of notes and take breaks when you feel overwhelmed. We have spots where you can just network or relax. I do think it can get overwhelming but I feel so inspired my brain feels like it could explode! And in a good way. You just gotta take the breaks when you feel like your brain might explode in a bad way.

Anything else we should know? I have been in business for 8 years and been doing crafty businesses for 18 and I still learn new things and feel so inspired. It's also a great way to network which is crucial to a successful business.

Sweet Art: Popcones

Welcome to my creative process.

Today, while I was spending some time creating clever illustrations, I had an observation. It was this. The way I draw ice cream cones...

and the way I draw popcorn...is pretty similar.

See? They're both ok with it. They embrace the fact that while they share similar shapes, they are actually quite different. 

But it got me thinking - could I create a real-life popcone?

Highly inspired by this idea and in need of a fun procrastination project, I hit photoshop, and I made this. POPCONE! 

But then I thought it would be more magical and cute to make them tiny. So I asked a friend if she had any popcorn, and asked for two good-looking kernels. She didn't ask why, she just gave them to me.

And I grabbed my art supplies, and made a few lines. And after a few minutes I had these:

OH MY GOD! Ice cream cones for elves!

Popcones! So there is your sweet observation of the day, illustrated sweetly: popcorn and ice cream cones have more in common than you might think. 

Sweet of the Day: Salty Krispie Treat by Street Treats, Seattle

Imagine a Rice Krispie Treat. Now, give it a luxuriant bath in brown butter, and stir in a sprinkling of sea salt. The Salty Krispy Treat ($2) is a grown-up rendition of a classic childhood treat, and a combination which will leave you with serious cravings for more. The true secret though? "Use good butter, not the cheap stuff", says owner Diane Scwierz.

Street Treats: Street Truck, location varies (schedule here); streettreatswa.com

CakeSpy Undercover: Federal Donuts, Philadelphia

Today, I went to a place called Federal Donuts. They specialize in the following things, listed in order of my interest:

1. Donuts

2. Coffee

3. Fried Chicken

Apparently they have awesome fried chicken. Maybe one day I will go back to try it, but I hear the lines are epic. But mostly, I wanted to try the donuts.  Let me tell you about my experience.

When I walked into the small space, I had a good feeling about the donuts when I saw this: 

I trust donuts!

Dollars to donuts, it was an extremely pleasant visit. When I walked in, I asked the friendly counter girl "what is going on here?" and she explained that they had a variety of "fancy" donuts ($2 ea), and you could also order donuts to be fried to order for $1.25. Whaa? Awesome. So the ordering began, and before you know it here is what was in front of me:

Whew! Time to get to work. Here's one of the spiced "Appolonia" donuts.

Here's the creamsicle "fancy" one. 

and here was the figgity fig fig. I think they called it "double fig" but clearly I have made my decision. Figgity fig fig!

But the basis of everything--the place from whence it all begins--is the plain donut. They are fried to order.

They have an interesting, smooth finish. But once you take a bite, you can see why this place is so freaking popular. It's delicious. It tastes like hot, doughy goodness. It's simple, and in its simplicity, it is great. It's assertively, but not aggressively, greasy, and somehow manages to have a feathery texture. It's a good donut to begin with, but the fact that it was fried to order, just for you, makes the experience so much richer.

 

Let's have another one of those, shall we?

The fancy donuts are also very good--flavorful, and I appreciated how the donuts themselves seemed a bit denser (I am a dense donut lover) and enjoyed the creative but not over the top flavor combos. But really, I think that the hot fresh donuts are the way to go. Or at least get one of each, so you can see it all for yourself. 

I got there pretty early, and it wasn't too crowded and they still had plenty of donuts. But I hear that they DO sell out, so try to hit them early or during off hours (I am thinking the weekend is probably pretty insane). And let me know if you try the chicken, but it might take me a while to move past these donuts to anything else!

Federal Donuts, 1219 S. 2nd Street, Philadelphia; online here.