Ask CakeSpy: Bakeries in Philadelphia?

Dear CakeSpy,

I live in Seattle and have been a blog follower since you started.  My daughter just moved to Philadelphia and I am visiting her in two weeks.  Please you suggest some bakery "musts", cupcakes included, for us to visit.

Coast to Coast Sweets-Chaser

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dear Coast to Coast,

First, let me commend you on your fantastic choice in website reading. CakeSpy rules! And so nice to hear from a reader who lives in the city I lived during many of the CakeSpy Years--Seattle--and is soon to visit the city I currently in which I currently reside, Philadelphia. 

Now, I don't like to give blanket suggestions, and if you were a buddy calling me on the phone, I would probably follow up with "well, where are you staying?" so that I could personalize my suggestions based on places you could reasonably get to. But assuming you're staying in the Center City area, and probably not staying too long, let me say that if you were MY guest, I'd probably take you to these places. 

Even if you were only here for 2 hours, I would make sure to take you to the Reading Terminal Market. Preferably between Wednesday and Saturday, because on those magical days, the Amish vendors are present. The Reading Terminal market is Philadelphia's equivalent to the Pike Place Market, but it's housed in the former terminus of the Reading Terminal Railroad. There are foods aplenty to enjoy there, but since we are talking dessert, I'd focus on showing you:

Bassets Ice Cream, which has been doing it since 1861 and doing it well.

Miller's Twist, where they also have ice cream and can serve it to you in a Pretzel cone.

Flying Monkey Patisserie, where I would insist you get the butter cake. If you're brave, go for the pumpple.

Beiler's Bakery, an Amish bakery where they wrap baked goods in plastic wrap like supermarket meat for some reason, but golly-me do I enjoy the Snickerdoodle Whoopie Pies. I would whizz right by the classic whoopies and go straight for the snickerdoodle. If you've never tried Shoofly pie, this wouldn't be a bad place to do it.

If you're there in the 4 o'clock hour or so, I'd take you to Famous Fourth Street Cookies, where at the end of the day the cookies are a dollar each. That is a steal, but other times of day they charge by the pound so you can be adding up a hefty bill.

If we had even more time, I'd take you by Termini Brothers Bakery for a cannoli and to Metropolitan Bakery for just about anything. Oh, and across from Metropolitan Bakery is a chocolate/candy counter where you can try a Wilbur Bud, which some say was the inspiration for the Hershey's Kiss.

Next, I'd once again ask what part of town you're going to be staying in. If you're staying in Old City, I vote that you simply must go to:

Franklin Fountain, an old timey ice cream spot and the next-door candy store, Shane Confectionery.

Tartes, AKA The cutest petite pink bakery ever; a walk-up window only, but very nice cookies and tarts.

Tiffany's Bakery, which is a great bakery in an unlikely location--a mall food court.

Wedge + Fig, for a fantastic grilled cheese and a cheese tart for dessert!

If you're further up, number-wise, in the street numbers in Center City (12th Street and up), I say that you simply must visit:

Brown Betty Dessert Boutique: They have a mini-location here, because you're probably not going to find yourself in the neighborhood where their main location is. Try the sweet potato cake!

Cake and the Beanstalk, for a homey and casual bakery spot owned by a dude who knows his baking--he was a pastry chef in a number of fancy restaurants before opening this cute place, which has the catch phrase "Fee fi fo YUM"! Though not a bakery, pop into Garces Trading Co. across the street too.

Capogiro Gelato: DO IT! One of my absolute favorites.

DiBruno Brothers, which is a gourmet food store but has a lot of sweet treats from various good bakeries in the city, and a case which is nom-worthy to gaze upon.

Federal Donuts, for donuts fried to order, and a tasty new location in the center city area!

Philly Cupcake Company, for very good cupcakes in a nice variety of flavors.

Scoop DeVille, for custom-made soft-serve including the mix-ins of your choice.

Swiss Haus Bakery, for some nice pastries and cakes.

You might not wander southward, but if you do, I also suggest:

Isgro Pasticceria, for a pricey but fun Italian bakery experience--try a cannoli!

Morning Glory Diner, for their delicious biscuits (not necessarily sweet but I will suggest it).

Other bakeries that I think are great but might not be geographically convenient: Belle Cakery, Bredenbeck's, Little Baby's Ice Cream, and Whipped Bake Shop!

There are a ton more bakeries, of course. I do not mean at all for this to be a comprehensive list. But, the ones listed above are very easily visited alongside with the Liberty Bell and all of the popular Philadelphia attractions, so they're the ones I am going to suggest for your first visit! Feel free to check out the Philadelphia tag to see more bakeries I've visited, of course.

Oh! And a regional specialty you'll see around at this time of year in Philadelphia: Irish Potatoes!

Enjoy! 

Love,

CakeSpy

The Mystery Pie Is...

There's nothing more exciting than discovering a new dessert.

So when I found myself leafing through the book Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible: The New Classic Guide to Delicious Dishes with More Than 300 Recipes, I was delighted to come across a recipe for a pie that I'd never seen before, and furthermore, it prominently featured an ingredient, that while very well-known, is not strongly associated with pie or dessert. 

Thanks, P-Deeny!

And as it turns out, I have a very special person in my life who is just crazy about this ingredient. He always orders it as a side, and his speeches about what makes the ideal version of this dish can get quite involved and somewhat dramatic. 

So I told him to make the pie.

So he went to the grocery store, picked up some ingredients, and made the recipe that had so enchanted me...

Southern Grits Pie.

Basically a custard pie held together with grits, I personally was curious to hear what a grits lover would say about it. The final thoughts were:

"The finished product was very interesting. In the piece I had for breakfast, I could really see the texture working as a bar cookie, perhaps with a shortbread crust. The texture calls to mind a thick coconut pie, but the taste is different. Adding flavoring would be welcome--as it is with grits as a side. I am curious about how this pie might work with maple syrup added to the filling instead of sugar, or how it might taste with a sauce such as caramel or chocolate, or any fruit topping. But it was strong enough to stand alone--the first piece begged me to have another. A good dessert for someone who doesn't want way-out sweet."

A few more baking notes:

• I used Quaker Grits Quick 5 Minutes 
• The idea of whisking for 20 minutes was daunting, but I decided I'd just do it til they were done--less than 10 minutes. But at that point, the mixture was fairly solid so I stopped it there. Once the butter was in, it was easier to work with. But the mixture definitely wasn't pretty. The flour clumped when mixed in; I tried to use a whisk, but it was too thick. I had to mix quite a bit. It might be a good idea to sift the flour before mixing it in. 
• The baking was straightforward; I had to put foil around the edges to keep the crust for baking more rapidly than the filling. I baked mine for 38 minutes.

Southern Grits Pie (Printable recipe here)

Adapted from Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible: The New Classic Guide to Delicious Dishes with More Than 300 Recipes

Total time: 1 hour. Makes 8 servings.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup quick-cook grits (not instant)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup butermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 unbaked pie crust
• whipped cream, fruit, or whatever topping you'd like.

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 325.

In a small saucepan, bring 3/4 cup water to a boil. Slowly, whisk in the grits and salt. Cook for 20 minutes (see note, above), whisking constangly. Add the butter and cook for an extra minute. Set aside to let cool slightly.

In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Stir into the cooked grits. Pour the grits mixture into the unbaked pie crust and bake until set, 35 to 40 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

Baker's Dozen: A Batch of Sweet Links!

Unicorn plus ice cream cone = UNICONE! In pin and tote form, available in my online shop.

I like: The Cashew Cookbook. It's free online!

30 Uses for Leftover Birthday Cake. In case it ever happens, you know.

Just look at this brown sugar pear pistachio cake. Oh man.

Give me a slice of this strawberry cake.

I want: to go to the Makinaw Island Fudge Festival.

I never even knew Pawpaws existed until a few days ago. Now, I have a collection of recipes for when I get my hands on one.

Nutty: Peanut butter creme cookie cups.

Something I like to stuff my face with: spiced pecans.

You guys! A lampshade made from candy and fruit roll ups!

Pretzel toffee! Need some now please.

Speaking of pretzels, I also want some of this ice cream pretzel cake please.

And OK, I will take some popcorn cake, too.

It's almost National Pie Day. Treat yourself with a pie recipe book by a trusted source, the head of the American Pie Council: America's Best Pies: Nearly 200 Recipes You'll Love.

Cake Byte: Deathcake Royale Is Back

Deathcake is Back! 

It's that magical time of year when the Deathcake Royale comes to play at Cupcake Royale. As they describe it,

In a laboratory explosion of sheer genius, the Cupcake Royale scientists created the cult fave Deathcake Royale: Theo Chocolate decadence fused with Stumptown Espresso Ganache and accessorized with a pinch of fleur de sel.

Personally, while I loved the scale of the big version, the smaller version is still crazy delicious, and probably better for your health. I'll just eat three to make up for the dainty size, ok?

But it won't be around forever. Available 1/18-2/14. Not in Seattle? Happily, you can ship a 3-pack of Deathcake Royale to anyone in the US! 

Find out more on the Cupcake Royale website.

Batter Chatter: Interview with Ashley Foxen of Reality Bites Cupcakes

Reality Bites, but Cupcakes Are Sweet. Sounds like a wise proverb, but truthfully I just made it up to illustrate the fantastic sweetness with a humorous edge (see trompe l'oeil "pancake" cupcake, above) that goes on in the kitchen (which is then documented on the web) of Ashley Foxen, proprietress of Reality Bites Cupcakes. This sweet blog and small baking business is based in NYC, where Miss Foxen focuses on making the big apple just a little sweeter each day. 

Recently, we decided to learn a bit more about each other by conducting some e-mail interviews. Here is the link to her corresponding interview with me; and now, here are the scintillating questions I asked her, punctuated with images of her sweet cupcake creations:

First things first. Who-what-where-when-why?

Who: Ashley Foxen

What: Reality Bites Cupcakes

When: Est. September 2012

Why: I found my artsy self in the corporate world, desperately trying to find a way to fulfill my creative needs while working a full time job. For fun, I began baking for coworkers' birthdays, and it all snow balled from there! I hadn't even thought of defining myself as a "food artist" until reading CakeSpy, but I think it's perfect. I have found a way to combine my art background with my deep desire to make people happy.

How: That is a wonderful question! I work out of my apartment, which you may realize cannot be all that big in NYC. But, I have found a way to make it work by both maximizing the use of the space I have (from the counters to the windowsills) and traveling to my family's home in the suburbs for bigger, more complicated projects. Which leads me to mention my sister and mother who have been incredible helps in this whole process. They are the brains and brawn of Reality Bites.

What (in your opinion) is the finest trompe l'oeil cupcake you've ever made, and why? Hands down, it is the "bagel" cupcakes. They are an original idea, inspired by a food New York does best. These cupcakes even fool me, as I tend to crave the doughy goodness of a real bagel, when seconds earlier I was ready for dessert! They tease the taste buds more so than any other cupcake I have made.

Tell me about a life changing cupcake you've eaten. Oddly enough, I don't think it was a cupcake, but an entire chocolate cake. It was my first birthday, and instead of having to share it with everyone, my mother put the whole cake in front of me. It was a yellow cake with chocolate frosting- plain and simple- and it was all mine. I have never looked so happy as I do in the photos from that day. There is cake everywhere, particularly all over my face, hands and in my hair, but the smile on my face is priceless. How can anything top that? Clearly, I found joy in baked goods at a very young age.

If you went back 200 years in time, how would you describe the modern-day cupcake craze to our forefathers? This is a tough one. How do you explain to anyone of that time that people wait in line for hours for baked goods? I guess I would explain that the cupcake craze has caused wars in the future- go with a topic they may be familiar with. Claiming one's cupcake territory is important, and while no one has died, Cupcake Wars gets pretty intense!

What are the biggest differences between the baked goods of NYC and Paris, another place you've lived? I studied abroad in Paris and made a valiant attempt to eat my way through the City of Light. From macaroons (which NYC has since imported) to chocolate croissants, to a crepe with Nutella, I taste tested everything- a few times. There is something about the baked goods of Paris that makes them unlike those anywhere else. Everything tastes so fresh that it somehow becomes guilt free (or so I told myself). Maybe it is because things don't appear to be as mass produced there, but the treats of Paris all feel as if they are made just for you- particularly the crepe vendors on every other street that make them in front of you.  

What is your biggest dessert dream? A cup of frozen yogurt that does not melt, refills itself, and cannot give me brain freeze.

For more sweetness, visit the Reality Bites Cupcakes website; there's also a twitter feed!

Sweet Treats: White Wine Cookies Recipe

I am not a wine expert. Occasionally a birthday cake or Twinkie expert, but for me, wine is something I enjoy without necessarily having a great deal of knowledge. In fact, if I may, let me share a funny anecdote which illustrates just how much the opposite of a wine expert I am.

One day, I was at a store picking out some wine. As usual, I was scanning the shelves for cool-looking labels and then doing a cross-examination of the bottle's price. If it has a cool label and is under $10, it's great in my book. Choosing one that fit my needs, I plucked it from the shelf, only to turn around and see some dude looking at me. He then said, "you just picked that because of the label, didn't you". Note that it wasn't so much a question as a statement. Yup--busted.

That tale is meant to amuse you, but also to lead into the fact that when I received some sample bottles from SkinnyGirl wine, I wasn't 100 percent sure how to feel about them. My sister wanted to open and try some, so we did. To me, it just tasted like wine. It didn't taste lower calorie or anything, although technically, it is.

But there was one thing I was sure of, and it was that if I was going to use it for baking, I'd definitely have to fatten it up. Really, there's some logic to this: after all, if you're depriving yourself of all those precious calories in the wine, you'll have to make it up some other way, right? So now, you can have your wine and eat your cookies too.

And after a quick google search on the subject, I knew exactly how I wanted to do this: by making Italian Wine Cookies. I found a great-looking recipe here, and was happy to discover I already had all of the ingredients on hand, except anise. I don't like anise that much (personal thing), so I used vanilla extract instead.

While it's possible that mixing with a stand mixer instead of by hand made the texture of my cookies a little different, I've got to tell you that taste-wise, they came out very well. This is an intriguing cookie--not extremely sweet, 

Ciambelline - Printable recipe here!

Adapted from Olive and Owl

Makes about 30

• 3 1/2 cups of flour 
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon of anise
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 1/2 cup of white wine
•  a little extra wine and sugar for topping

Procedure

In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.

Then pour in the wine and oil and mix by hand or on low speed with an electric mixer until it becomes a dough. It will be a fairly stiff dough. Roll the dough out to about 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into strips about the thickness and length of your index finger, about 3 inches long and 1/2 wide. 

Wrap the strip of dough around your finger and crimp the ends shut.

Then place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes at 350 until golden and crisp. Note: these will be fairly hard--they are a dunking cookie.

Not necessary, but if you'd like, mix some more wine and a little confectioners' sugar to make a glaze; also not necessary but cute, why not top with sprinkles?

Cake Byte: New Play in NYC, Food Acts

Bonjour, sweeties! Here's a food byte that may be of interest to those who love to eat--a limited run play about FOOD, in NYC! Here's the 411 from the press release.

FOODACTS: A New Play Conceived and Directed by Barbara Bosch. 

FOODACTS is a culinary stage adventure which explores our primal connections to food and its power to unite. Through an entertaining encounter with established novels, colorful poetry, historic essays, personal letters and other literary works by Langston Hughes, Proust, Homer, and Dickens, among others, FOODACTS serves up the joys of food and eating.  It goes beyond the mere palate, revealing how human beings relate to and obsess over food from as far back as The Bible to today.  In this era of myriad reality television shows devoted to virtuosic food preparation, and vast amounts of newsprint concerned with the latest cooking innovations and restaurant reviews…now is the time for FOODACTS!

Sounds like fun to me, doesn't it to you? Here are the deets, in case you're interested:

Where: The Lion Theatre – Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street, NYC

When: February 6-24, 2013 – 16 Performances:
Wednesday-Saturday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm & Sunday at 3pm
(no performances on Sun. 2/10 or Wed. 2/13) The run time for FOODACTS is approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.

Cost: Tickets are $18 (+fees) and can be purchased by visiting Telecharge.com or by calling 212-239-6200.

More info:www.FOODACTS.com

Yippee: Discover the Apee Cookie

Have you ever heard of an Apee, or AP? 

Although I respect the organizations, it has nothing to do with the grocery store A&P, or the Associated Press (AP). 

Nope: the Apee is a cookie I recently discovered. 

Curious, I hit the web, and the books. Here's what I discovered.

First, the The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America: 2-Volume Set, which notes: 

"A recipe for apees, a rolled cutout cookie made with caraway seeds, sometimes called "seed cakes," first appeared in Eliza Leslie's Seventy-Five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats (1828). Another version, known as "apeas," was based on German Anis Platchen (anise cookies), and Philadelphia bakers commonly sold them on the streets. Apeas became associated with Ann Page, a popular baker who stamped her initials, A.P., on the cookies. Anise is still a common flavoring used in a variety of cookies, ranging from old recipes for apeas to simple cutout cookies and ethnic specialties like German Springerles..."

Encyclopedia of Food and Drink by John Mariani, describes it like this: "Apee. Also "apea" and, in the plural "eepies." A spiced butter cookie or form of gingerbread. Legend has it that the word derives from the name of Ann Page, a Philadelphia cook who carved her initials into the tops of the confection. This was first noted in print in J.F. Watson's Annals of Philadelphia (1830) to the effect that Ann Page, then still alive, "first made [the cookies] many years ago, under the common name of cakes.'" 

Oddly though, the recipe I found for Apees does not include caraway seeds or spices. Nor did it call for stamping the letters (although I guess it wouldn't if that was one person's signature move). Nor did it include standardized measurements.

"Apees (Ice Cream and Cakes) 1 pound of butter 1 1/2 pounds of flour 1 pound of sugar 1 gill of milk Cream the butter and sugar; sift in the flour, then the milk, and stir it to a dough; turn it out on the moulding-board, and work to a fine dough again. Roll into sheets, as thick as a dollar piece, cut into small cakes, lay them on tins, and bake in a cool oven." --- Mrs. Rorer's Philadelphia Cook Book, 1886

Nonetheless, I decided to give it a try. So I evolved the old recipe into this recipe. Here's another that looks like they probably hit the mark more accurately, though!

Not Necessarily Historically Acurate Apees

• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon milk

Cream the butter and sugar; sift in the flour and mix, bit by bit, until incorporated. Roll into sheets, and cut into small cakes (I just dropped rounded teaspoons-ful onto a baking sheet). Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, or until crispy on the sides and bottom.

I made the cookies as drop cookies, but perhaps I should have done them as rolled or bar cookies. Who knows, dude. But either way, even though they weren't quite evenly crispy on the sides and middle, they still tasted good. Basic, but plenty buttery, they actually glistened with butter when taken out from the oven, and there may or may not have been the most tantalizing slight butter-sizzle as they were removed from heat. They became crisp as they cooled; when I garnished a nice bowl (not cup; bowl) of ice cream with a couple of these crispy cookies, I had absolutely no complaints. No complaints whatsoever. 

Either way, I think it's always fun to discover a "lost" recipe!

Five Interesting Baked Good Patents That Actually Exist

Not so long ago, finding myself in an extended airport layover, I did what any normal person would do: I started looking up unusual patents pertaining to baked goods. Trust me, there are a ton. Imagining everything that goes into pursuing a patent for a method or invention absolutely boggles my mind--there's a lot more to it than simply having an idea and saying "OK, patent me!". Months--sometimes years--of work go into the process. That is to say--these people really wanted to patent their idea.

The thing that I wish I had more information about is documentation of how and when the patents might have been applied to products; sadly, this information is not immediately available. Please, let me know if you might have any thoughts!

But in the meantime, here are just a few patents that caught my eye:

US Patent 5,374,438 (1994): QUICK-SETTING SANDWICH BISCUIT CREAM FILLINGS.

Held by: Nabisco

What it is: quick-setting sandwich biscuit cream fillings that resist misalignment, smearing and decapping. 

More info than you needed: Sandwich cookies and crackers occupy a significant place in the world biscuit market. Typically, two identical biscuits (the shells or basecakes) contain a layer of sweet or savory fat cream filling....

The fat component of sandwich cookie and cracker cream fillings affects not only the eating character of the product, but other important aspects of process and quality. The sandwich cream filling should be firm at ambient temperature to maintain product shape and not squeeze out on handling or when bitten, yet have organoleptic properties allowing rapid melting in the mouth to release ingredients giving maximum flavor sensation without greasiness. The sandwich cream filling should adhere to the biscuits so that the basecakes do not become misaligned or smeared, and the product does not fall apart (known as splitting or decapping) in production or after storage. 

It would be desirable to have sandwich biscuit cream fillings that accomplish these goals without the use of bonding agents or specialized manufacturing equipment. 

- - - - -

US Patent 5,532,017 (1996) MELT RESTRICTED MARSHMALLOWS

What it is: a marshmallow confection product having melt resistant properties. 

More info than you needed: Typical marshmallow products cannot be used in high temperature processes, such as baking, due to their inability to retain identity and texture under elevated temperatures that are standard in baking conditions, i.e., 350.degree. F. for 20 minutes. Upon exposure to heat, marshmallow air cells expand and the gelatin destabilizes causing the air cells to collapse and reducing the marshmallow to a syrupy liquid state that dissolves into the bakery medium. This property has limited the use of marshmallows as a baking ingredient due to loss of product attributes which identify the marshmallow ingredient. 

- - - - -

US Patent 5,860,358 (1998): CONE CAKE BAKING APPARATUS. 

What it is: A cone cake baking apparatus comprising: a horizontal baking tin having a plurality of circular openings, a vertical first side wall, and a vertical second side wall; and the first and second side walls each having a securing portion.

More info than you needed: While it is well known in the prior art to utilize cup cake trays for baking cupcakes, the public domain does not contain an adequate apparatus for baking cone cakes. In particular, in order to cook a cone cake having a pointed bottom with available apparatus, it is necessary to fill the cone with cake material and place the cone cakes in a vertical position, lying down, on a cookie sheet. Moreover, while standard cupcake trays will more easily facilitate a flat bottom cone, baking such cones in cupcake trays often results in spillage or tipping of the cones during the baking process. 

- - - - -

US Patent 3,649,304 (1972): REFRIGERATED SOLID BATTER .

What it is: A refrigerated solid batter for making flour based products, such as cakes, cookies, muffins, bread and the like, and the process for making same generally consisting of mixing gelatin or other stabilizing agent of similar characteristics with fluid and dry ingredients to which is added chemical leaveners, such as a basic and an acid leavener, mixing same in liquid state before solidification of the stabilizer, sealing the batter in a container and refrigerating the same at a temperature below the melting point of the stabilizer to solidify same for marketing same as a refrigerated product.

More info than you needed: Packaged dry mixes for making bread, pancakes, cakes, cookies and other like food products have become very popular by reason of the convenience afforded the housewife in preparation and cooking such products. These convenience products have all the ingredients therein necessary to the cooking or baking of the finished product with the exception of the fluid such as milk or water, and in many instances fresh eggs must be added thereto and the product stirred and mixed in suitable form for grilling or baking. In the case of rolls or biscuits the dough must be rolled out and cut before placing it in the pan and in the case of cake the batter must be beat for a predetermined period, either by hand or by mechanical mixer, thus requiring a considerable amount of time and effort and the cleaning up of kitchen utensils, such as mixing bowls, spoons, beaters, mixers, etc., after the preparation of the product, which results in considerable effort and inconvenience on the part of the housewife. 

No satisfactory means has heretofore been provided for stabilizing premixed cake batter to give it commercial value. In the process and product hereinafter described premixed cake batter is solidified with a reversible stabilizing agent to achieve bacteriological, chemical and physical stability to provide a prepared, packaged, ready-to-cook batter which may be preserved for a prolonged period of time and when cooked provides a product of good texture and palatability. 

- - - - -

US Patent 6,410,073: MICROWAVEABLE SPONGE CAKE, and US Patent 6,410,074 (2001): Method for making a microwaveable sponge cake 

What it is: a mesophase-containing sponge cake which rises and forms a palatable, light sponge cake when prepared in a microwave oven, yielding a snack food-type products which can easily be prepared by the consumer. 

More info than you needed: Sponge cakes are a desirable dessert products. Generally, oven-rising sponge cakes are limited to those for use in a conventional oven and are not as convenient as desired. Microwaved cereal products such as breads and cakes are generally not pleasing to the palate. Microwave heating is generally uneven and, therefore, promotes the rapid onset of staleness and toughness in such cereal products. 

Microwaved sponge cakes and products are especially desirable as snack foods (e.g., after school snacks). Such sponge cake batters could be sold directly in, for example, cupcake cups and stored in the freezer until until prepared in a microwave oven. Such products would be attractive to the consumer and convenient to use. Indeed, such sponge cake products could be easily prepared by children. 

Pastry Profiles: Muffins at Linda's Seabreeze Cafe, Santa Cruz CA

Normally, there is not much ado about muffins for me. I mostly consider them ugly, inferior and worst of all unfrosted cupcakes.

But every now and again, I am impressed. When I recently got breakast at a place called Linda's Seabreeze Cafe in Santa Cruz (also called "Linda's" by locals, I observed), I was offered either toast or a homemade muffin with my omelette. Well, a homemade muffin certainly sounded more interesting than toast, so I ordered one to see what it was all about.

Apparently they have a different flavor every day; on the day of my visit, it was butterscotch. A good start.

Now, I have to tell you, that in spite of my not-so-great photos, this was a truly fantastic muffin. It was served piping hot, and gently steamed when I cut it in half. The butter melted as I spread it, such was the warmth. 

Like a quick bread studded with butterscotch and topped with a delectable streusel topping, this muffin was completely satisfying, and, true to my instinct, much more interesting than toast. In fact, it was absolutely delicious, sweet and just a touch salty on the streusel topping--an addictive and highly enjoyable flavor combination. Mostly consisting of top with a little tiny bottom, it had an ideal ratio of "stuff on the top" to sort of disinteresting bottom.

Final word: if you go to this beachside cafe, you've gotta get the muffins.

Seabreeze Cafe, 542 Seabright Avenue, Santa Cruz CA; online here.