CakeSpy's 50 Most Delicious Moments of 2012

In 2012, my New Year's Resolution was "get fat by eating cake". 

Don't act surprised. I mean, after all, you didn't think it was going to be "go on a diet" or "lose weight"...did you?

Now. As difficult a resolution as this was to keep, I think I did pretty okay. But don't just take my word for it--see for yourself! For your viewing enjoyment, I've put together 50 enjoyable snippets detailing some of the most delectable things I ate. 

Consider this a look back at CakeSpy's most delicious year yet. These are listed in no particular order; when it comes to sweets, I think we all win; they're really just listed roughly in order of when I ate them in the year. Enjoy!

1. "Valentine" Pie at Coal Creek Coffee, Laramie, WY. Memorable for its melange of tart berries during a cold and dreary time of year, this pie still sings to me whenever I look at its picture.

2. Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie with Pecans by the Cookie Lady, Ogden UT: Nobody knows who exactly this lady is. Ok, that's a lie. She's a lady who bakes cookies and delivers them to local coffee shops and cafes, and I am so glad she does, because they're crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and packed with delicious cookie flavor. 

3. Caramel Cluster, Caramel Shop, Ocean, NJ: Sometimes simple and old fashioned is king. This confection from an old-school chocolate ship in Ocean, NJ, probably won't appeal to the "only dark-dark-chocolate" devotees, but to sweet tooths hungry for a taste of nostalgia (like me), this is a sticky-sweet and slightly crunchy fix.

4 White Chocolate and Chocolate Cheesecake(s), La Rosa Cafe, Los Angeles. When I was in Los Angeles, I asked the hotel clerk if she had a suggestion for breakfast. She suggested their continental breakfast. When I gave her a "hell no" look, she suggested La Rosa. I'm so glad she did. They had killer omelettes, and after a conversation with the owner about my love of desserts, I learned that they also have killer cheesecake. Even consumed at 9.30 in the morning, I managed to make a dent.

5. The "Southern Belle" Cupcake from Dream Cakes, Santa Fe NM: this was a highly memorable cupcake for me. You can read the full story here, but rest assured, it was one of those cakes that makes you feel very happy to be alive.

6. Bassetts Ice Cream, Philadelphia: I made Philadelphia my new home base this year, and one of the best parts of this relocation was my proximity to Bassetts Ice Cream, established in 1861 and still doin' it right. My favorite flavor of the moment is the Peanut Butter Swirl, but really, everything is good--almost too good.

7. Twinkie Milkshake, Lunchbox Laboratory, Seattle: Really, doesn't the name speak for itself?

8. Cupcake Royale Goodies, Seattle, WA: This one is a two-way tie for the Seattle purveyor of sweetness: first, their always perfect Deathcake Royale, and now, their new Ice Cream. Perfection.

9. Pumpkin Ice Cream with Wet Walnuts, Hoffman's Ice Cream, Spring Lake, NJ: I love Hoffman's always and forever, but in the early fall, I love them even more, because they bring out their much-loved Pumpkin ice cream, which is beautiful to behold and creamy and spicy on the tongue. Add some wet walnuts and you have yourself heaven in a cup (or cone, but the nuts tend to get messy in a cone).

10. Salted Caramel Tart, Dragonfly Cafe and Bakery, Taos NM: This is one expensive tart (I believe it was about $7) but gosh-darn was it tasty. Salty caramel. Rich chocolate. Crumbly crust. I want another right now.

11. Crumb Cake, Coastal Kitchen, Seattle, WA: At this magical eatery (famous for breakfast), they will offer you toast or crumb cake with your breakfast or brunch. Don't be a fool. Get the cake. See photo. The End.

12. Historically Accurate Drinking Chocolate, Kakawa, Santa Fe, NM: Ever been curious about what Aztec drinking chocolate tasted like? Or the type of chocolate favored in Marie Antoinette's time? You can find out here, where they have a rotating menu of "elixirs"--thick, rich drinking chocolate inspired by different historical periods.

13. Conversation Heart Nanaimo Bars (made by me): Because they tasted just as sweet as they look, and because eating them will make you AND your valentine smile, I guarantee it.

14. Kouign Amann from Crumble and Flake, Seattle: Think croissant, but with a firmer texture and more caramelly taste. You have a beginning, but that's not the full story. For the full, as-addictive-as-crack experience, you've got to visit this charming patisserie in Seattle, toute suite!

15. Rainbow Cake (made by me): Do I really need to give a reason for this?

16. SpyMom's Soda Bread: SpyMom's a great baker, and this soda bread is a fine specimen of her work. Tenderly-crumbed and buttery as any quick bread I've ever tasted, this one is a fantastic breakfast or snack bread that will make you feel just a little Irish while eating it.

17. Butter Brickle in a Pretzel cone from Miller's Twist, Philadelphia: I do not know exactly how to express my deep love of the pretzel cone. It's sturdy and salty and the perfect foil to ice cream of just about any sort, but I favor Butter Brickle or Butter Pecan. They can be purchased in stores, but I find them tasty at Miller's Twist in Philadelphia.

18. Duck Cookie, Peabody Hotel, Orlando (where I stayed for the Pillsbury Bake-Off): I won't lie, much of my love for this cookie was based on its look--the Peabody has this whole duck thing going on. But the cookie was actually quite good: the base nice and buttery, kept moist and soft by the preserves on top (apricot I think), and it was all held--and brought--together with a half-coating of dark chocolate. Yum.

19. Butter cake, Flying Monkey Patisserie, Philadelphia: This isn't the most traditional butter cake, but it's without a doubt one of the tastiest I have ever tried. It's gooey. It's buttery. It's so rich it makes your taste buds sing. I actually feel like my whole body vibrates with happiness after I eat a slice. Get some.

20. Lemon Cupcake, Whipped Bake Shop, Philadelphia: If you need a cupcake that tastes like sunshine on a cold and dreary day, this is the one. Tart yet sweet, it's a ray of sweetness that made me smile bigtime.

21. A trio of ice creams (buttermilk, red velvet, gingerbread) in Des Moines, Iowa: Golly gee, I forget the name of this restaurant! But I went there on my way cross country when moving from Seattle to Philadelphia. And the ice cream, which I do recall they made in house, was pretty awesome. The buttermilk in particular was tangy and enticing. Nice and zingy. Anyone know where this might have been?

22. Mom Blakeman's Creamed Pull Candy, Kentucky: One of the finest candies there is, and definitely one of the most rich and creamy. Read more here.

23 Cadbury Creme Egg Salad Sandwiches: Yes, I did this. And they were way tastier than they had any right to be. Win!

24. Almond Croissant, La Boulange, San Francisco: It was a big year for La Boulange, being purchased by Starbucks and all. But I didn't really think about that when I visited their Cole Valley location. I mostly thought about how delicious the almond-overload croissant (a generous smear of almond cream on the inside, a delicious crunchy almond armor on the outside) was to eat.

25. Chocolate Chip walnut cookies from Famous 4th Street Deli, Philadelphia: These cookies are perfect. Like an idealized version of a nostalgic chocolate chip cookie, but with the slightest crunch lending to walnuts in the batter. A perfect "crust". A great cookie indeed.

26. Magic Cookie Bar, Icing on the Cake, Los Gatos, CA: Just look at that picture, please. Coconut haters need not apply.

27. Cannoli from Isgro, Philadelphia: A fine cannoli indeed, with a crispy shell and a perfectly dreamy cream filling. Stick with the plain versus the fancier variations.

28. SpyMom's Blueberry Pie: It's simple. It's perfect. It loves ice cream.

 

29. "Brownie Supremes" (made by Compton): He won't share this recipe, so it's cruel to post a picture, but these rich, fudgy brownies, topped with a Cadbury Creme Egg tasting topping, are so good I want to cry when I eat them.

30. Peach Brulee from Bantam Bread Co, Connecticut: Creme Brulee, but peachy keen. What a delightful treat! Read more here.

31. Ice cream sandwiches from Coolhaus, NYC: Artisinal ice cream sandwiches that you can "build" (choose your cookies, choose your ice cream) with edible napkins besides? A total win.

32. Do-Rite Donuts, Chicago: These donuts, as the name implies, will do you right. A great basic donut with some fancy variations available at the store, this is a great place to get a holey fix.

33. Boston Cream Cupcake, Molly's Cupcakes, Chicago: I was wary of the high price tag (over $4 after tax) but wow, was this a nice cupcake. The perfectly tender crumb, with a thoroughly buttery taste and light vanilla scent, was made even better by a thick custard flecked with vanilla bean hidden inside, all crowned with a rich, fudgy frosting. Though I might complain, I would pay $4-plus again for this.

34. Watermelon Cake (made by me): The cake was simple enough, but what made it a truly memorable experience was the cute factor. Everyone cooed about this dessert more than they usually do, so I considered it a hit.

35. Mount Beacon Bar, Homespun Foods, Beacon NY: The East coast counterpart of the Mazurka bar, and like a taste of baked good history. A very good, sturdy bar cookie with just enough sweetness and butter to keep it from being health food.

36. Chocolate Chubbies Cookies from Sarabeth's, NYC: Want a cookie that tastes like a brownie, cookie, and slab o'mousse having a sexy threesome in your mouth? Look no further. Read more here. 

37. Frosting Cake (made by me): One of my proudest experiments yet, and surprisingly delicious: the result of what happens when you mix the frosting right into a batch of cake mix batter before baking.

38. Frozen Hot Chocolate, Jacques Torres: Don't make a big fuss over it, but I like theirs more than a famous version served elsewhere in NYC. 

39. Hummingbird cake (made by me): Hummingbird cake is one of my absolute favorite foods-- I gravitate toward it like a hummingbird to sweet nectar. This version is like a more sophisticated version of banana bread, with a delicate crumb, and with a ton of frosting. I loved every bite.

40 Danish Krans from Easy Tiger, Austin: When I went to Austin, I was told that I must go to this bakery-slash-bratwurst joint-slash beer garden. Well, OK. And I wasn't disappointed. Turns out, Easy Tiger does all three things quite well. The Danish Krans was a standout.

41. Chocolate Covered Cake on a stick (made by me): This dish was a success before I even made it--the name says it all, doesn't it? But it tasted even better once it was done.

42. Pumpkin Bread Stuffed with Cookie Dough (made by me): Tastes like fall...but with cookie dough. This was a very tasty Fall treat that beautifully straddled a delicious line between breakfast-y quick bread and decadent dessert.

43. Federal Donuts, Philadelphia: Doughnuts fried to order? You had me at hello. But they're excellent in flavor as well as awesome for being super-fresh, and they'll coat them with a variety of different sugar and spice mixtures of your choosing. 

44. Lemon Cake, Belle Cakery, Philadelphia: Another cake that tasted like sunshine, but this version was a beautiful and sleek tower, studded with poppyseeds that made it interesting visually, delightful texturally, and thoroughly enjoyable to the palate.

45. Chocolate Tart, Treehouse Pastry, Santa Fe NM: A dessert this luscious, this rich, this thick with chocolate...and vegan and gluten-free, to boot? Believe it. Available at a bakery in a MALL, too. Made with a nut crust and the slightest bit of rasperry to add dimension to the chocolate, this dessert may not have butter or eggs or gluten, but you seriously don't miss them. Seriously.

46. Biscuits, Morning Glory Diner, Philadelphia: With the texture of a crumb cake but the sturdiness of a biscuit, and only lightly sweet, these biscuits are hard to describe, but a joy to put in your mouth. The long line on weekends servest as proof.

47. Streusel Bar, Ingrid's Kitchen, Oklahoma City: As you can see by my writeup of this establishment, I really enjoyed Ingrid's. But my favorite thing by far was the Streusel bar, which was like a sort of light crumb cake meets gooey butter cake. Oh goodness was it good.

48. Pistachio Lemon White Chocolate Donut, Whoo's Donuts, Santa Fe NM: This is my new favorite donut in the world. The crisp edge, the flavorful dough, the slight zing of the lemon which acts as counterpart to the sweet white chocolate glaze, and then the saltiness of the pistachios--I am so sad I can't have these every day. It's not a weight thing, it's a geography thing. I would, if I lived in Santa Fe.

49. Gooey Butter Danish, Federhofer's, St. Louis: This was one of my favorite bakery finds of the year, for sure. Old school but totally solid, I loved just about everything I tried from this place. But because it was a bit unusual, the item that is going to make this list is the Gooey Butter Danish, which takes the best parts of both gooey butter cake and a danish, and puts them together with confectioners' sugar on top. Hooray!

50. Chocolate Chip Pistachio Cookies (made by me): This was a sweet finish to the year: I found an old recipe of my mom's that had been hibernating since my childhood. Being able to make a batch of these for my family not only made us all a little fatter and jollier, but made our holiday sweeter in a loving, nostalgic way, as well.

Whew! As I put together that list, dear readers, it occurred to me that I've engaged in a lot of traveling, eating, writing, and general awesomeness this year. What a wonderful feeling! And with that, I offer up my resolution for the coming year:

"Eat something sweet every day". Hope that one is easier to stick to than the last one. Hooray!

Happy New Year, everyone--Season's Sweetings, and here's to a highly delicious 2013 ahead!

Baker's Dozen: A Batch of Sweet Links!

Christmas is over, but Galette des Rois season is just 'round the corner!

So is King Cake Season. 

So where can you get the best King Cake in New Orleans?

More opinions from the people, here.

Speaking of New Orleans, care to learn more about their pralines?

How can you make King Cake Pancakes? 

King Cake Cupcakes!

Changing subjects, if you're too lazy to bake much post-Christmas, try Lazy Cake Cookies.

Cookie croutons: nice on ice cream.

Or use your leftover 'nog and gingerbread to make some killer bread pudding.

Want to lose weight in 2013? Stop being silly, you're too skinny. Eat this!

Instead of losing pounds, pack a pound of knowledge--on pound cake.

Then, make some poundcake and use it for the "bread" in grilled cheesecake. You're welcome.

Happy 2013!

Chocolate Chip Pistachio Cookies for Christmas

One of the most wonderful things about a recipe is all the places it can go.

Take, for instance, a recipe for two-tiered Chocolate Chip Pistachio Cookies that appeared in a women's magazine in the early 1980s. How could the recipe developer have known what a role this recipe would end up playing in the Spy family's lives?

After all, it was this recipe that struck the fancy of my mother (you know her as SpyMom) and intrigued her enough to bake a batch. And the whole family loved them. They were buttery and lightly crumbly but so soft and just ever so slightly chewy in the center, and the walnuts and pistachio and chocolate just worked so perfectly together. We all loved them so much, in fact, that the next year, she made them again. And the year after that. A tradition was born.

But somewhere along the line--was it when her children went to college, moved away, began having their own lives?--the cookies stopped being made. Every year someone (usually me) would lament the fact that they were missing from the festivities, but year after year, they did not make an appearance.

But this year, we brought the recipe out from hiberation. SpyMom found the handwritten recipe and told me that this was during her "penmanship phase", when she would stay up at night practicing perfect penmanship, trying to will her handwriting into something more perfect than it was. 

Since then, her handwriting has reverted back to its old, slighly messier, but in my opinion, more charming form.

But how wonderful to encounter this little slice of the past, complete with doodlings (mine? My little sister's?) and speckled with baking debris from years past. 

I baked the cookies while my parents were out, and when they returned, my mother shrieked. "What?" I cried out, thinking that perhaps she'd seen a mouse. But no. "They're just like I used to make!" she said. And I may be getting a bit flowery here, but I think that she and my dad both had a little moment, thinking sweet memories. And that made me extremely happy, in turn. 

How's that for season's sweetings?

Chocolate Chip Pistachio Cookies

Makes about 24

• 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 package (3 3/4 ounces) instant pistachio pudding (NOT sugar-free)
• 6 ounces (half a bag) semisweet chocolate chips, plus 20-30 chips for garnish
• confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, or lightly grease them.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until smooth, 2-3 minutes on medium speed. Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla; blend until creamy. Add the flour mixture in 3-4 increments, mixing until a stiff dough forms. Remove 1/4 of the dough to a separate bowl; add the walnuts.
4. To the remaining dough, add the pudding mix and stir until completely combined. Fold in the 6 ounces of chocolate chips.
5. By rounded teaspoonfuls, form the green dough into balls, and place 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared sheets. Using the back of a teaspoon or a floured drinking glass bottom, gently flatten the tops of these dough rounds. 
6. Grab the small bowl of walnutty dough. Form the dough into marble-sized pieces, and place a ball of this dough on the top of each pistachio dough mound. Sort of like a two-part snowman. 
7. Place a single chocolate chip on top of each of the cookies, pressing gently to make sure it will stay in place.
8. Bake in your preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until set. It's going to be hard to see if they have become golden on the bottom, so mainly just look for a matte finish and an ever so slight golden color around the bottom edge. Remove from the oven and let cool on the rack for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. If desired, dust with confectioners' sugar.

The Story of Chiffon Cake

CakeSpy Note: Serious thanks to Sandy's Chatter and writer Joe Hart for sharing their stories and research with me!

If there was ever a cake to have a rags to riches, Lana Turner-type Hollywood discovery, it was chiffon cake, a light cake with a delicate crumb that physically resembles angel food cake, but with a far richer flavor. But even before being famously debuted and promoted as the “first new cake in 100 years” on its grand release to the public in 1948, the tale of the chiffon cake was unfolding glamorously in Hollywood . . . 

It all started with Harry Baker, who went to Hollywood in 1923, needing a fresh start. Exactly why isn't quite known, but some suspect it's because he was outed as homosexual in his hometown (sadly, not as OK then as it is today). He found work as an insurance salesman, but moonlighted as a caterer; it was during this time that he began to experiment with cake recipes. To describe Harry Baker as a “hobby cook” is an understatement--this cake was more like his Moby Dick. He later revealed that he tested over 400 recipes, seeking what he hoped would be a moister, more substantial version of the then-popular angel food cake. Was the recipe that finally worked a fluke, or a stroke of masterful baking? Perhaps a bit of both.

What finally ended up working, in 1927, is seemingly quite simple: he used vegetable oil (sometimes referred to as "salad oil") instead of solid shortening or butter in his recipe. The cake employs egg whites for lift, and the resulting cake is tantalizingly light, like angel food, but with a far richer flavor. Later, he would tell a Minneapolis Tribune reporter that the addition of the vegetable oil was "a sixth sense, something cosmic."

He approached the nearby Brown Derby restaurant (famous as the place where the Cobb Salad was invented) with this cake, and they agreed to sell it—it was the first (and for a time) the only dessert they offered.

As the Derby gained fame, so did the chiffon cake, and requests began to pour in from the likes of Barbara Stanwyck.

By the 1930s, he was having to turn away orders. (Wisely, Baker kept his methods and ingredients a secret; it was this mystery that made it a highly sought-out sweet treat for the elite.) He remained a one-man operation, mixing each cake to order; at the height of production, Baker was producing 42 cakes in an 18-hour day, which yielded him the equivalent of nearly $1,000 in today’s money.

How was it done, people (especially copycats) wanted to know? For two decades, Harry Baker wouldn't tell. Finally, in 1947, he approached General Mills, the food manufacturing giant, to see if they might have an interest in acquiring the recipe. (Even they had been unable to figure out the secret.) They eventually paid up with what is still an undisclosed price for the recipe. They unveiled it to the public a year later, making a huge to-do about it, calling it "The first new cake in 100 years" in a big article in Better Homes and Gardens. The first published recipe was for Orange Chiffon Cake, ;and it rose to stardom as quick as you can say "Lana Turner."

Later, an ad for Sperry Drifted Snow flour called it “The baking sensation of the century!," touting its richness yet simplicity to make--so easy that you could even "have your husband bake one."

This version of Harry Baker's famous cake, inspired by a Brown Derby recipe, is said to have been favored by a fat gossip columnist who considered the grapefruit cake acceptable diet food! It's a study in pleasant contrasts: light yet rich, sweet yet tart, simple yet layered in flavor.

 Grapefruit Chiffon Cake

Makes one 10-inch tube cake (12 servings)

For the cake:

• 2 1/4 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 7 large eggs, separated, plus 2 additional egg whites (7 yolks and 9 whites)
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (from 3 large grapefruits)
• 2 tablespoons grapefruit zest
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar

For the filling:

• 2 cups heavy cream, chilled
• 2 tablespoons light rum (optional)
• 2 teaspoons grapefruit zest
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt

Procedure

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Have ready an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, 4 inches deep, with a removable bottom.
2. To make the cake, in a large bowl sift the flour, 3/4 cup of the sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, egg yolks, grapefruit juice and zest, and vanilla until lightly frothy. Add this mixture to the flour mixture, whisking until the batter is smooth.
4. In the clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they are foamy. Add the cream of tartar, and on medium-high speed, beat the whites until they hold stiff peaks. Add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar a little at a time, and on medium speed, beat the whites until they hold stiff, glossy peaks.
5. Stir one third of the whites into the egg yolk mixture to lighten it; fold in the rest of the remaining whites gently but thoroughly.
6. Spoon the batter into the tube pan, and bake the cake for 50-60 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Run a long, thin knife around the outer and inner edges of the pan. Invert the pan onto a rack and let the cake cool completely in the pan, upside down on the rack. Using a serrated knife, cut the cake in half horizontally.
8. To make the filling, chill a large bowl in the refrigerator. Using an electric mixer, beat together the cream, rum, grapefruit zest, sugar, and the pinch of salt until the mixture holds firm peaks. Cover the cream tightly and keep it chilled until you're ready to frost the cake.
9. To assemble the cake, transfer the bottom (wider) layer of the cake to a platter and spread about half of the frosting on it. Set the remaining cake half on top, and top it with the remaining cream. If desired, garnish with additional grapefruit zest or thin slices of grapefruit.
10. Serve immediately after assembling. This cake is best served the same day; store, loosely covered, in the refrigerator.

Baker's Dozen: A Batch of Sweet Links!

If the world is truly ending, you'd best be making a cake for the zombies that will probably attack.

How on earth did I miss that Teenange Mutant Ninja Turtles hand pies existed?

Make this: a cake that looks like a Christmas Goose.

Or, keep it simple-ish with molded gingerbread cookies.

Mint chocolate croissant butter pudding.

Learn the basics of baking chocolate chip cookies.

Bakery I wanna visit: Manhattan Jack in New Orleans.

Mocha Toffee Brownie Chip Ice Cream. What? Awesome.

Make: zen stone cookies.

The psychology behind how you eat a gingerbread man.

Great gift guide for cake bakers.

I'm not sure if I want to make it, but I like the idea of a proper Irish Christmas Cake.

Take a good few minutes to savor this slide show of "beautiful desserts".

Funfetti Brownie Popcorn

Today, a highly magical phrase popped into my mind. That phrase was "brownie popcorn". 

Now, it's not like it came to me out of nowhere. As it happened, I had just returned from an extended trip, and I was surveying the contents of my cabinets and freezer to see if there was something, anything, that I could make into dessert. Among the "orphan" ingredients were several bags of microwave popcorn I found above the fridge; nearby, in the freezer, I found a well wrapped parcel of brownies. I didn't think much of it until the aforementioned highly magical phrase entered my mind.

Popcorn was also on my brain because I'd recently received these adorable popcorn buckets.

I wondered: could I--might I--combine them to make a sweet and salty dessert? And if so, how?

Well, I would certainly need something to make them stick together. Something more interesting than butter all by itself.

Naturally, my eyes gravitated right away to something else I had on hand: a can of Funfetti pink frosting! Complete with sprinkles! Well, that simply had to be it, since everyone knows that the most vital part of Funfetti is "FUN". Yes, I said that. I love Funfetti!

And so, dear readers, I made this thing happen. First, I made a bag of popcorn.

Then, I set a saucepan over low heat and gently melted the frosting. When it began to warm, I added two 3x3-inch brownies, which I had cut into 1/2 inch cubes.

Once melty (the pink of the frosting sort of went away), I stirred the brownie-frosting slurry together with the popcorn, making sure to get it all nice and coated.

And then I added the sprinkles (natch).

And then I spooned it all into my sweet little popcorn caddy. As you can tell, since it is personalized, this dessert was mine, all mine.

As you can see, the others remained empty (although they are cute).

And while you may be wondering if it was awful or awesome based on the unusual roster of ingredients, I am happy to say that as desperation desserts go, this one definitely hit the spot. Nice and rich and chocolatey and gooey sweet from the frosting and brownies...but then with a salty crunch from the popcorn. In fact, I had little problem polishing off this delightful treat, and since the brownies were so evenly distributed, it didn't feel at ALL like eating two brownies, frosting, and a bag of popcorn all in one sitting. Nope, not at all.

Make it yourself! Here's how.

Funfetti Brownie Popcorn!

• 1 bag Microwave popcorn, popped (lightly salted works best)
• 2 brownies, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (mine were about 3x3 inches each)
• 1/2 can Funfetti frosting with sprinkles (approx 8 ounces = half container)

Procedure

1. Place your popped corn in a large bowl. Set to the side.
2. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the frosting. Once it's beginning to get melty, stir in the brownie pieces. Stir gently to ensure even coverage. If the brownies melt into the frosting a bit, that's ok. Don't stir in the sprinkles with the frosting; reserve those.
3. Using a rubber spatula, spoon the brownie mixture on top of the popcorn, stirring to ensure even coverage. Add the sprinkles last. Serve still lightly warm. If someone sees you eating it, asks you what's in it, and makes a face when you tell them, tell them not to judge you.

CakeSpy Undercover: Icing on the Cake, Los Gatos CA

Here's the situation. You're driving from San Francisco to Santa Cruz, CA, and you've gotten stuck in traffic and are starting to get SERIOUSLY hungry along the way. Do you wait til Santa Cruz and risk binge-eating all the artisan ice cream and bakeries in town because you're so hungry?

No. You pause, pull your car over in Los Gatos ("the cats"!), and stop your sweet self at Icing on the Cake.

Not only is Icing on the Cake a fantastic name for a bakery, it's also a fantastic bakery. It had crossed my radar several years ago when the staff was smart and savvy enough to begin stocking my products for their small retail area. Obviously, this meant that they were smart and wonderful people. True appreciators of sweetness.

But I had never actually tasted the sweets in person until I found myself in the situation detailed above. 

When I got to the bakery, I introduced myself and had a short chat with Lynn, of whom I asked a big question: "what should I take with me?". 

This led to a brief consultation about what my sweets preferences were. Well, I said, I tend to like buttery, rich things--not so much fruit stuff--and I would probably veer more toward caramel, peanut butter, etc, rather than chocolate (I love chocolate, but I like it as a component, not as the whole story, in general). 

"Oh," she said wisely, "you're one of those people who only eats beige things."

Now, I will confess, this took me aback for a moment. I love color! Rainbows! Unicorns! Pink frosting!

But then, the more I thought about it, the more I realized she was right. I prefer blondies to brownies; I love shortbread, all the better if topped or sandwiched with caramel; one of my favorite-favorite foods, in the world, crumb cake, is really just several shades of beige.

So it's true: I'm a beige lover!

So I loaded up with a few beige-y treats: 

First, the softie Salted Caramel cookie ("Salted Caramel Moon"). If you like soft sugar cookies, this will be a real treat for you: a soft, rich, lightly crumbly cookie, but instead of the sugary-sweet frosting, this has a caramelly kick with a salty aftertaste. It works wonderfully with the cookie base; it's a little different, but not crazy--like, I could share this with my grandma, whereas she'd say "say WHAT?" to salted licorice flavored baked goods. 

Next up, the gingernsap. This one is crispy, which is usually not what I crave in a cookie (softie for life!) but this one was quite nice. It had quite a spicy zip--as Lynn advised, pair this one with tea and it will give you a little heat for a cold afternoon. Nice. 

Next up: the brown sugar shortbread cookies. Shortbread is one of those things that is so simple, but has the potential to be so exquisite, and at Icing on the Cake, it falls into the latter territory. The small additions of brown sugar and crunchy sugar around the sides of the cookies make a big difference, and take them from "good" to "great" shortbread territory. Very worth a try.

The most colorful treat--or at least the one with the most different tones--was their seven layer bar. This is probably one of my favorite treats in the world (well, aside from super-beige crumb cake) and theirs was a fine specimen. Crunchy and buttery on the bottom crust layer, soft and gooey in the midsection, so decadent and rich that you'd lose yourself in that sticky sea of delicious coconut if it weren't for the punctuations of crunchy nut and pockets of rich chocolate morsels. Please, promise me you'll get one when you visit. 

Of course, Icing on the Cake has a ton more: cupcakes, layer cakes, bars and quick breads and cookies of all sorts--the bakery case is very well appointed and tempting. 

Final word: GO TO THIS PLACE. I promise you won't regret it.

Icing on the Cake, 50 W. Main Street, Los Gatos, CA; online here.

Sweet Art: I'm Like, So Vegan

Just to make you smile: artwork which lovingly declares bacon as the gateway drug. With love from CakeSpy.

CakeSpy Undercover: Taos Cow, Taos NM

In Taos, New Mexico, when you drive up a steep road into a sort of hippie utopia called Arroyo Seco, there's a clearing which gives way to a place called Taos Cow.

It's off the beaten path of the town—far from the plaza, or town center. But it's worth a visit.

One of their specialties is ice cream, which has a most unique texture. In fact, I am tempted to say it's more gelato-like—sort of smooth and with a different texture than say, Haagen daz. In asking the employee what made for that unique texture, she couldn't say—maybe the cows are just happier in New Mexico. 

Dairy is, after all, one of the major industries in New Mexico, and all of the dairy used in their products is from the state. I tried three types of ice cream: Caramel Pinon (pine nut), which is smooth and mellow and rich, with a deep, sophisticated aftertaste. I wanted to commit to this flavor, but they only had the tiniest bit left so I settled for a taste and got a hearty scoop of another flavor: the strawberry chocolate.

Probably this was one of the nicest strawberry ice creams I've ever tasted, with a distinct strawberry taste and a wonderful accompaniment of bittersweet and white chocolate. The high sweetness of the white chocolate, the slight bitterness of the dark chocolate, and the natural sweetness of the strawberry, all coming together in creamy matrimony, sure made my mouth happy.

A friend got the chocolate pecan ice cream as a shake, and it contained about 6 heaping scoops of ice cream. It was absolutely delicious, and at the end of it, there were nutty bits coated in melty chocolate like a treat at the end of the milkshake road.

But wait, there's more! Although Taos Cow is famous for their ice cream, it's not all they have to offer. They also have a pastry case full of cookies, pies, and pastries.

For instance, the apple pastry, which had a beautiful, flaky crust and a sweet, brown sugary apple filling. It was most impressive for breakfast the next morning.

Taos Cow is a hippie place with tourist prices, but it's certainly a sweet stop in New Mexico.

485 Hwy 150, Arroyo Seco, NM; online here.

Sweet Discovery: Mallorca, a Yeasty Bun in Puerto Rico

Source: mallorcaweb.com via Cake on Pinterest

Mallorca. What a pretty word for a yeasty bun!

Sorry, but I just found the phrase yeasty bun simulaneously funny and kind of gross. Can I repeat it a few more times?

Yeasty bun

yeasty bun

yeasty bun

Whew! Feeling better now.

Anyhow, back to Mallorca, a better name than yeasty bun. But, well, it is just that—a yeasty, sweet bun that is, as I was told by the bakery employee in Puerto Rico, which is where I discovered the bun. By the way, that bakery employee was muy impressed that I asked for it by its proper name, especially being a tourist. I got an approving nod. 

Source: carhiremajorcaairport.co via Cake on Pinterest

Allow me to tell you about this yeasty bun. It's a spiral breakfast bun—sometimes it is dusted with confectioners' sugar, sometimes glazed. It's a popular breakfast in mallorca; there, they're called ensaimadas; elsewhere, they are referred to their place of birth (hence the name) but its popularity has spread.

The bun came to Puerto Rico probably by way of the trading port San Juan; but what is really important is that it has spread all over the island, and it's here to stay. And one bite should tell you why. It's delicious when eaten fresh: a warm, simple, lightly sweet yeasty bun (sorry) that tastes like fresh, warm goodness has been given a physical manifestation. It's a happy and comforting food.

But should you be into gilding the lily, I am also informed that a good and proper way to enjoy these yeasty buns is to split them in half, fill 'em with ham and cheese, and then toast and serve for a sort of monte-cristo esque totally rich and indulgent breakfast (or anytime treat). There are a few places in San Juan that are famous for them, such as La Bombonera. I was staying in Rincon, Puerto Rico, and found that plenty of spots here had them too—I spied them first at La Rinconeria, my dad's favorite bakery.

You can find recipes and interesting lore on the mallorca on Always order Dessert and The Noshery.