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Monday, December 9, 2013 
Seriously, people. If you want a fine collection of things to put in your mouth, look no further. Check it out to find pecan pie, pumpkin spice lattes, and more!
Monday, December 9, 2013 Happy Holidaze, sweeties! Here's a wonderful guest post from Heather Saffer, also known as the author of The Dollop Book of Frosting: Sweet and Savory Icings, Spreads, Meringues, and Ganaches for Dessert and Beyond
Hello CakeSpies! Can I call you that? I hope so because it sounds really super cool! I’m Heather, author of the newly released cookbook, The Dollop Book of Frosting, and winner of Food Network’s Cupcake Wars! And I’mhonored to be guesting on CakeSpy today!
I’ve been following Jessie for quite some time now and I’m honestly enamored with her creative genius. Add the fact that she’s a fellow published author with a newly released gorgeous dessert book? Well, I literally danced a (very poor) samba when she agreed to participate in my 2013 Holiday Blog Tour!
The theme of this blog tour is “Frosting Gift Guide” so all month long up until Christmas I’m showing you entertaining ways to gift the creamiest, most delightful frostings for that frosting lover in your life.
From frosting filled candies, to frosting covered popcorn, my goal is to help you break away from the grocery store frosting jar you once relied so heavily upon!
With that said, today I’m sharing with you one of my all-time favorite frosting recipes from The Dollop Book of Frosting: Cookie Dough Frosting.
Not just a frosting, this recipe is spreadable and bakeable! Whip it, pipe it, scoop it, roll it, bake it—there are SO many things you can do with this Cookie Dough Frosting.
For this holiday gift I’m showing you today how to make chocolate spoons as the FDV’s (Frosting Delivery Vehicles) for your Cookie Dough Frosting. Packaged in pretty tins and paired with a jar of your favorite hot cocoa mix, I guarantee your friends will squeal with sweet delight at this perfect present!
Hey Jessie—I’m curious, what’s the history of Cookie Dough Frosting??!
Cookie Dough Frosting Served on Chocolate Spoons
Yield: 24 Cookie Dough Frosting dolloped spoons
For the frosting:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until soft by mixing on low speed, about 2 minutes until smooth. Add both sugars, salt, vanilla, flour, baking soda, and chocolate chips and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
To make the Chocolate Spoons:
In a microwave safe bowl melt the chocolate at 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth. Scoop chocolate to fill spoon molds. Place in freezer for 5-10 minutes to set. Dollop a teaspoon of Cookie Dough Frosting on each spoon and place in festive tins.
Recipe adapted from The Dollop Book of Frosting by Heather “Cupcakes” Saffer.
To follow along on the remainder of the Holiday Blog Tour, head over here! And for more ideas check out my Gift Guide for Frosting Lovers!
Happy Frosting, everyone!
recipes Sunday, December 8, 2013 
Have you been dying to try Nanaimo bars but scared that you're not skilled enough? STOP IT. Here's a step by step tutorial with pictures which will teach you how to make them right.
Sunday, December 8, 2013 
Need some nifty holiday dinner party ideas? I went above and beyond sweets for this post on Craftsy, and include entertaining ideas, and recipes sweet and savory.
Friday, December 6, 2013 
In Beijing, a quest to become the cupcake queen.
Is Kosher the next food trend?
Salted chocolate chip and sour cherry cookies. I want one!
Frosted flake cookies. Fascinating.
Why cake pops should be hated (for the record, I don't hate cake pops)
Snapshots from the Bake-Off on Serious Eats.
Depressed Bake Shop returns! Donut worry, be happy.
Funfetti cake ball truffles. Bet they'd be good with the holiday hued funfetti stuff, too.
Important: how to draw bacon.
How to make dulce de leche using sweetened condensed milk: a few easy ways.
How to make "cookies in a jar"--a great holiday gift!
The true meaning of Christmas (cookies, that is).
How to make a perfect milkshake at home.
Not all sweet, but still totally sweet: check out this holiday roundup I created for Craftsy.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013 
It's a funny thing about moving away from a place. Sometimes, you're surprised by the things you miss once you leave.
Listen. I lived in, and loved sweets in Seattle for eight years. Eight years! During my time living in the Emerald City, I pretty much knew every bakery and wandered the streets trying to find new ones--constantly.
As such, it would have been impossible to declare favorites when I lived in Seattle, because I was so constantly trying new things. But since moving away, I actively miss some desserts...these ones rise surface as the things I wish I could have again, and which I actively seek out when I am back in town.
So this is in no way a "best of" list, or a comprehensive one. It's just a loving ode to some of the sweets I find myself thinking about most. Enjoy!
Biscuits from Wandering Goose Cafe
The Wandering Goose Cafe opened after I moved away, but it is now it is one of my favorite places not only in Seattle, but on earth. And my favorite thing there? The biscuits. I am not sure how to explain the glory of these biscuits to you, other than to say that they're craggy, somewhat scone-like, and just about as full of butter as a foodstuff can possibly be. You can get the biscuits split with butter and jam, or gussied up in any number of ways. The best of the bunch, in my opinion, is the "Big Trouble", which is composed of a toasted biscuit topped with peanut butter, banana slices, and honey. Heaven on a plate. On my last trip to Seattle, I had it for breakfast 4 out of the 5 days I visited.
Biscuits from Macrina
Yep, I am a biscuit lover. And Seattle is home to so many biscuits I miss. I love Macrina's. Somewhat fluffier in texture and less craggy in appearance than the Wandering goose version, they're different but equally delicious. They have a sweet version, with a thumbprint of jam in the middle (strawberry or marionberry) or a savory ham and cheese one. Deciding which one is better is decidedly difficult. I miss these biscuits when I'm away.
Chocolate drop cookies, Three Girls Bakery, Pike Place Market
This is sort of like a Berger Cookie, if you've ever tasted one. The chocolate drop is a crumbly cookie topped with a huge dollop of rich fudgy topping. It's not necessarily a fancy cookie, but it does it for me. The cookie melts, with just the right amount of salt, and the fudge keeps you coming back for more bites. I love this cookie.
Top Pot Doughnuts
I love Top Pot Doughnuts. The cafes are always stylish, and the doughnuts are always good. Listen. I rarely bother with yeast doughnuts, so I can't tell you much about the ones at Top Pot. But I can tell you that the cake doughnuts are pleasingly hefty and with a perfectly crispy exterior which leads to a soft, feathery interior. They're fancy-ish, but still accessible to those who prefer an old school, no-frills doughnut. They just make me happy.
Cupakes are a tie, so this is in two parts:
Pink frosted cupcakes from Cupcake Royale
Cupcake Royale does something magical to create their cake, which is spongey but also dense at the same time, so it has a certain delicate nature but a satisfying weight and a flavor which satisfies. I've never tried a cake with quite this texture before. It's even better, of course, when you top it with a crack-filled buttercream and call it "Dance Party with Holly Hobbie", which is the cupcake's proper name. It is a food that always makes me smile, and I miss it like a friend.
Hummingbird cupcakes from Trophy Cupcakes
At Trophy Cupcakes, purveyor of pinkies-out cupcakes in the Emerald City, the variety I always hope to find is the Hummingbird. The banana cake should not be confused with banana bread--it's more delicate, with a finer crumb, though it's still very banana in flavor. Plus, I've never seen banana bread so awesome as to have a huge dollop of cream cheese icing on top like these little cakes.
Hummingbird cake from Kingfish Cafe 
Kingfish Cafe is famous for its Red Velvet cake, but once I tried the Hummingbird there, I was hooked. It's huge--about the size of your head, and covered in whipped cream and caramel and strawberries to the point where you wonder where the cake is. Dig through the toppings, because while they don't hurt, the real treasure is to be found in the cake, scented with banana and delicately sandwiched between generous layers of cream cheese frosting. I'd be lying if I told you I couldn't finish a slice by myself, as huge as it is. Whenever a friend asks where I'd like to go for dinner in Seattle, I suggest this establishment--mostly so I can order dessert. I hope they never stop making these cakes, though it's been a while since I visited (boo).
Panna cotta gelato from Bottega Italiano
I don't know if Bottega Italiano actually offers other flavors, because rarely have I even looked. The panna cotta is where it's at when you visit this tiny gelateria on the First Avenue side of the Pike Place Market. It's so creamy, so dreamy, so perfect, that I never crave much else. A secondary flavor is mere formality.
Nanaimo bars
True, Nanaimo bars are actually from Canada. But Seattle is close enough that you'll see them somewhat frequently (at least, more often than most other American cities, I'd warrant a guess). I love Nanaimo bars so hard. I think that they are a perfect food. If you want to learn more about them, or learn how to make them, you can search this site or check out my tutorial on Craftsy.
Pink frosted cookies
Truthfully, this is an odd choice to put on the list because when it comes down to it, I don't enjoy eating the commercial variety of the pink frosted cookies all that much. I love bakery versions, which are all sort of riffs on the commercial ones. But what I really miss (I'm getting to it, promise) is seeing these cookies everywhere. They're ubiquitous in Seattle, and you can find them in grocery stores and gas station mini marts and unexpected places. They're very special, and have a sweet place in my heart.
Coconut cream pie from Tom Douglas
I like to tell people that even if coconut cream pie isn't their #1 choice, Tom Douglas' version (available at the Dahlia Bakery and several of his restaurants) might be the one to make them a believer. It's coconut through and through, with the creamy stuff in the crust, cream, topping, and flaked as garnish. And it's the good stuff, fat flakes which are clearly well-sourced because they're just so, so tasty. Try it--this pie is legendary in Seattle, and for good reason.
Bonus: Old School custard
Oh, I love custard! Old School Custard will top it in all sorts of ways, but my favorite is the vanilla version, with rainbow sprinkles. Really, this custard is perfect: unbelievably creamy, like you're licking the top of a pail of milk where cream has risen to the surface. Well, if that pail also had sugar inside of it and optional sprinkles as garnish, I suppose. Anyhow. I miss Old School Custard!
What sweets do you miss when you're away from your hometown, or someplace you lived?
seattle Tuesday, December 3, 2013 
Want to learn more about the types of flour used for baking cakes? Look no further than this wonderful article I wrote for Craftsy.
