Sweet Art: Donut Stop Believin'

Just to make you smile, sweet readers, I thought I would post some pictures of donut artwork I've been working on.

Donut stop believin! Smile every day.

This art is part of a project I am working on for this site, chronicling your favorite donuts from all 50 US States. 

So, enjoy the art, and feel free to chime in: what state are you in (or from, or have knowledge of), and where can the best donuts be found? Leave a comment on this post, email me, or weigh in on Facebook!

CakeSpy Undercover: Banana-Coconut Cream Pie, Jambo Cafe, Santa Fe

Totally sweet! This week will bring 3/14, otherwise known as "the other pie day". But rather than get involved in an argument over whether 1/23 (the day the American Pie Council deems National Pie Day) or 3/14 is the true Pie Day, I'd rather spend this valuable online word real estate to tell you about the best pie I've eaten recently: the Banana-Coconut Cream Pie from Jambo Cafe in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Now. A little briefing on Jambo Cafe. Their menu merges aspects of Jamaican, African, and Middle Eastern cuisine, and every single thing is delicious. While not dessert, their cinnamon-sugar dusted plantains as an appetizer are a great lightly sweet beginning, and it will definitely set the tone for a meal that must end with dessert.

You must get dessert here, because other than their baklava, which is made by an outside vendor, it's all baked in-house. I was pretty excited to try more of their sweets, as I had already tried their rum pecan pie at an event.

When I recently went there, I ordered the Banana-Coconut Cream Pie, and my dining companion got the Flourless Chocolate Cake. When they both arrived, we were so excited. We each took a respective bite of our own desserts, then politely offered each other a bite.

After taking a bite of that flourless chocolate cake, I smiled and whispered in my companion's ear, "Mine's better". 

There was nothing wrong with the cake, of course. But the banana-coconut cream pie was just so good. Since I know my low-light photos don't quite do it justice, I'll tell you about it from the bottom up. 

First up, a nice, sturdy crust. It wasn't soggy under the weight of all the custardy stuff. It was nice and crispy and had just slightly absorbed the flavors of the pie filling, making for a delightful cookie-esque backdrop.

Next, the filling. Oh, the filling! If you imagine the best version of a rich, thick banana cream pudding (you know, the kind with real bananas), you're on the right track...but now, add an extra element of delight by putting in some coconut. Got the idea? This pie is just that: a mashup of the tastiest banana cream pudding and coconut cream pie you've ever tasted. 

But don't stop there. Top it with freshly made whipped cream and then dust it with cocoa and cinnamon sugar. Isn't your mouth happy just imagining this?

If you don't like banana, or you don't like coconut, please, for the love of all things tasty, just click away from this page now. But if you do love these flavors, then please, consider taking a road trip or airplane right, right this very minute, to try some of this pie. I don't think you'll regret it. 

Jambo Cafe, 2011 Cerillos Road, Santa Fe NM; online here.

Baker's Dozen: A Batch of Sweet Links!

Guess what? I'm spending 2 months in Santa Fe. I plan on eating here every day.

Follow your frog--cupcake, that is. A NY Metro area phenomenon!

This cake with hearts carved in the center is alarmingly adorable.

Best German buns in Philadelphia? Hit up Fritz's!

Love this: carrot cake ice cream sandwiches!

At Columbia University, a Nutella craze.

So simple, so sweet: Golden Pound Cake.

Not frozen, but very sweet: Sno-cone cupcakes!

Not literally sweet, but TOTALLY sweet at the same time: Unicorn Slippers for Adults! (Thanks, PW!)

Love it: bubblegum sugar cookies!

Artisinal doughnuts: on trend!

Curious about what it would be like to go to a bakery in Sioux Falls, SD? Here's what it's like.

Did you know the Oreo turned 101 this week? Here are 50 uses for them you may not have considered.

My new book, The Secret Lives of Baked Goods: Sweet Stories & Recipes for America's Favorite Desserts, is available for pre-order. How exciting!

The Curious Case of the St. Patrick's Day Frog Cupcake

It's a funny thing about regional baked goods. Sometimes, you don't realize they're regional until you move away from an area. And for me, one such baked good is the St. Patrick's Day Frog Cupcake.

I grew up in a magical part of the world known as the Jersey Shore. And every year around the first of March through St. Patrick's day, local bakeries such as Freedman's Bakery would bake up a very interesting confection: the frog cupcake.

Let me explain a bit further, though. A frog cupcake is NOT simply a cupcake decorated with a frog face. Its construction is like so:

When assembled, it looks like this:

Now, chances are, if you aren't a local in the NY metro area, you may never have seen this glorious confection. For me, it wasn't until I relocated to Seattle for a time that I realized that this wasn't an everywhere treat. So what gives?

Well, I have to say, this is a moment where I want to say "Bless the Internet", because, as it turns out, there's an entire website dedicated to the subject  (and preservation of) these delightful frogs. It's called Follow Your Frog. It even has a page dedicated to the evolution of the frog. The research isn't scientific, but references that the frog pheneomenon could date back to the 1920s, in Australia:

A place called Balfours, which evidently still has them today. These Froggies are quite different than their American cousins (well, OK, we haven’t tasted met them yet, but from what we've read). These are tea cakes, originally just green, then also pink and chocolate coated (yes, chocolate!). Were these the frogs that came to America and were supersized? Or are the Frogs that settled in the New York metro area instead from Europe? Frog historians (ok, there really is no such thing...crazy people obsessed with Frogs) are attempting to trace their path…

But then the page goes on to say, 

Next sighting - bakeries in the NY Metro area in the 1960s-70s. These are the frogs of our childhood, and all the local bakeries (Coquelle’s, New Garden) in the Newark NJ area had them for St. Patrick’s Day (and ONLY then).

Newark area bakeries disappear over time, with Coquelle’s ending in the 90s, and we thought they were extinct. Uncontrollable sobbing continued every St. Patty’s Day. Until…

Frogs found in Central Jersey! In fact they were there all along, probably as long as the Northern NJ frogs – we just didn’t know. Vaccaro’s in Clark NJ saves St. Patty’s Day!

Frogs go mainstream with the Wegmans supermarket variety – although for the last 2 years in NJ they were MIA… so hopefully they have not gone the way of the dinosaur…

An internet search leads to the discovery of La Delice in NYC – another older bakery which has had them for a long time. And these frogs don’t hibernate – they proudly show their googly eyes every day of the year.

The fantastic creators of the Follow Your Frog site have even started something called FrogFest, which pits frog cupcake makers from NY, NJ, and PA against one another to see whose frogs are the finest. My goodness, why haven't I been to one of these?

As the site notes, and as I can attest, the frog is a dying breed. When I visited Freedman's in Belmar recently, which is under new ownership since my childhood, the employee had no idea what I was talking about when I inquired about frog cupcakes. A longtime employee's face, however, lit up as she said "Oh my god! I remember the frogs. They were like sugar bombs! So good!". 

However, in nearby Spring Lake Heights, the frogs are available at a bakery called What's For Dessert. Their specimen is a fine one, with a decadent edge owing to a butter cookie leprechaun hat (adhered with a birthday candle!). And by a "fine" specimen I mean a true and complete sugar bomb of a delight. It's not fancy eating but it sure is fun. Here is my nephew about to dig into one:

It is humane to remove the eyes before eating, but that's not to say you can't have a little torturous fun with your frog. Sensitive readers may want to skip the next few photos.

OK, OK. I hope I've expanded your sweet horizons by offering you the fable of the Jersey Shore frog today. If you're curious, I highly suggest visiting the Follow Your Frog website, where you can find frogs and report sightings!

It may not be easy being green for these frogs, but life is certainly sweet for the eaters of these treats. 

Sweet Times in Lewes, Delaware

Recently, I had the sweet good fortune of spending nearly a week in Lewes (pronounced "Lewis"), Delaware. I was there to paint a mural for three very lucky little girls in their home. 

I already shared some process shots with you, but here are a few photos of the finished mural. 

But guess what, my friends? Muraling wasn't all I did in Lewes. I also ate some totally sweet treats.

First up was a breakfast of baked oatmeal at Café Azafrán. This does, I realize, veer slightly toward health food, but it was sweetened, and it was so freaking good that it needs to be mentioned. Somehow, the geniuses at this cafe have turned oatmeal into a baked brick of lightly sweetened deliciousness. It had the texture of crumb cake, and remained cohesive enough to handle, but had the taste of oatmeal. It was a splendid breakfast, and they will serve it with milk or yogurt (or just plain). Unfortunately the photos don't do it much justice, so you'll just have to trust me: it's well worth a try.

Although it is not food related, I should tell you that Lewes has a dutch history museum, and over the entryway...well...that looks a lot like a unicorn to me! Clearly, I was meant to mural here.

Back to the sweet stuff. Lewes also has a bakery. It's called Notting Hill Coffee Company, but it has a big sign above the store that says Lewes Bake Shop.

Now, instead of asking what I tried here, you should ask "what didn't you try?". Because it is the primary bake shop in town, and I was there for DAYS. So I got to try a lot. 

Including...the "Ooey Gooey", a treat all their own which is described as "not a twist, a danish, a biscuit, or a sticky bun...it's all of the above!".

Visually, they look like a twisted cruller.

But taste-wise, they defy one definition. They're definitely ooey gooey. More solid than a doughnut. Not quite as sturdy as a biscuit. COVERED in gooey caramel icing stuff. Oh goodness are they good. It's possible that more than three were consumed during the muraling time.

This bakery featured a lot of sweets made with pastry dough rolled into sticks--including the "gorilla stick", which included a chocolatey nut mixture...

As well as the "Lewes Creation" which had a cinnamon-sugar-apple mixture smeared in the middle.

In both cases the pastries are surprisingly light and shatter when bitten, but are very pleasant in the mouth, indeed.

For breakfast treats, the croissants could not be beat. Here's the "Swiss Almond" one, made with a mixture of almond paste inside and almonds and chocolate on the outside. Yum.

Similarly delicious, though quite different than the croissant, was a sticky bun. Served in generous slabs and rich with caramelly topping and nuts, these yeasty rolls made mornings happy in this wintry seaside town.

The bakery also does coffee in several flavors (they are beyond happy to let you try all of them) and they do all sorts of flavored hot chocolates. My favorite was the one where they double the chocolate (no, really). It sounds like it might be too much, but trust me, it's not. 

Oh, what a delicious trip! Thank you, Lewes, for the sweet memories.

Places mentioned:

• Notting Hill Coffee, 124 2nd Street, Lewes, DE; online here.
• Café Azafrán, 109 Market Street, Lewes, DE; online here.
• Zwaanendael Museum, 102 Kings Highway, Lewes, DE; more info here.

Interested in your own CakeSpy mural? E-mail jessieoleson@gmail.com.

CakeSpy Undercover: Potito's Italian American Pastries, Philadelphia

Where once, on Walnut Street, was the Philly Chocolate Company, now there is Potito's.

The chocolate company has moved, and Potito's has opened a center city outpost of their bakery, which is based in South Philadelphia.

And of course CakeSpy has visited. How could you NOT visit a place that offers a huge cannoli filled with millions of baby-cannoli?

Photo: ThrillistDudes, I know. I know. It's like witnessing the miracle of cannoli birth.

At the bakery, you'll be greeted with a generous display of baked goods, ranging from Italian classics (cookies by the pound, cannoli, lobster tails, etc) to American sweets (cupcakes, pies, etc). Because the bakery prides itself on being Italian-American, I decided to stick with an Italian roster of sweets to sample.

First up, the cannoli. At $3.95 each, I consider them fairly heftily priced, but obviously made with love and care. I've been told that in Chicago, there is a place that sells them for $9.00 per, though, so maybe I shouldn't focus so much on the cost, but rather tell you that the filling was dreamy?

Photo: Potito'sA rainbow cookie was highly satisfactory, a solid version of the Italian bakery staple.

Next up, an Italian ricotta tart. It's that lovely featured at the top of the post.  Clearly they know their ricotta filling, which was a very nice texture and flavor. Lightly sweet and nicely complemented by a cocoa topping and strawberry on top. The crust was lightly sweet, making for a pleasant backdrop for the tart.

Potito's Bakery, two locations (Center City and South Philadelphia); online here.

A Historical Look at the Mexican Wedding Cake Cookie

Ah, Mexican Wedding Cakes: one of my favorite cakes that is not a cake at all, but a cookie!

And oh, what a cookie. These rich cookies rolled in confectioners' sugar to resemble sweet little snowballs crumble in your mouth in the most delightful way: basically butter and (usually) finely chopped nuts held together by flour and sugar, they begin to shatter and disintegrate the moment they hit your tongue. You may know them as Mexican Wedding Cakes. Or you might know them, with slight variations, under another name: Snowballs, Moldy Mice, Bullets, Russian Teacakes, Melting Moments, Mandulás kifli, Polvorones, Sand Tarts, Sandies, Butterballs, Almond Crescents, Finska kakor, Napoleon Hats (whew!).

These cookies hail from as many countries as they have names: talk about a universal cookie.

Considering the many variations, is it possible to connect the cookie to a particular place? Well, you might first look back to sugar-rich medieval Arab cuisine. Sweetmeats, candies, and confections containing nuts (usually almonds) and spices were served at special occasions. Next, you spread it to Europe, a sweet tradition quickly adopted by Moors and taken to Spain. From then on it’s like playing Telephone: the concept of the cookie traveled far and wide, with each region taking on their own variations based on ingredients available at the time. This sweet cookie concept was then introduced to the New World by early explorers. Fast forward, and you've got a cookie tradition that has persisted due to the cookie's relative ease in preparation and simple but ultimately satisfying tastiness. 

In the 1950s, they started to appear in American cookbooks as Mexican Wedding Cakes, but it seems that it's really just a new name for an old cookie. They're nearly identical to Russian Teacakes, which were a popular dish at noble Russian tea ceremonies in the 1800s. A popular book in Russia from this era, entitled A Gift to Young Housewives, contains several morsels that are constructed similarly; it’s not hard to see how these treats came to be called Russian teacakes. So what's with the name's cultural makeover? I'm wondering if perhaps the name change was a Freedom Fries-esque name change in the 1950s and 1960s, when the Soviet Union and the United States were at odds with one another? It does seem to have coincided with a period during which TexMex cuisine made its entry into American culture in a big way.

But no matter what you'd like to call them, one thing remains true across cultures: these simple cookies are easy to make, and absolutely delightful to eat.

Mexican Wedding Cakes (Printable version here!)

Makes about 2 dozen 1-inch cookies

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Confectioners' sugar, for rolling

 Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add the flour gradually, beating well after each addition; pause to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
4. Add the nuts and vanilla; beat just until evenly mixed in.
5. Shape the dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter and place on the cookie sheets.
6. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the position of the pans halfway through baking; the cookies are finished when they are lightly browned on the bottom and have a dull finish on top.
7. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. While the cookies are still warm, gently roll them in a bowl of confectioners' sugar. Tap off the excess, and allow them to cool completely. When cool, roll them in the confectioners' sugar a second time before serving; the first coat tends to slightly melt into the cookie, and the second coat will ensure a pretty, snowy appearance.
8. Store in a single layer in an airtight container for up to four days.

Baker's Dozen: 13 Books I Love

This list is not too scientific: it's just 13 books (in no particular order) that I love. I thought I'd share the love in case you've never heard of some of them! 

Bake It in a Cupcake: 50 Treats with a Surprise Inside It's clever, the photos are adorable, and who wouldn't be delighted by a cupcake that's not just a cupcake but a vehicle for stuff like mini pies and rainbows--as well as frosting? Buy it.

Betty Crocker's Cooky Book: Originally released in the early 60's, this groovy volume is my go-to source for cookies of all sorts. The retro-kitch stories and simple, solid recipes--not to mention the weirdly technicolor photos--make scoring an early edition of this volume a MUST for any baker. 

Baked Elements: Our 10 Favorite Ingredients: I am a huge fan of every book by the BAKED boys, and the newest one is no exception. In fact, I'd say it transforms the previous two books into a unit with this one: a true trinity of awesome. The latest book focuses on key ingredients and snailshells out from that, with recipes which speak to the uniqueness of regional specialties while retaining an aspect of deliciousness that nobody can deny. What I love about these books is that they gently educate, and deliver delicious results.

The Daily Cookie: 365 Tempting Treats for the Sweetest Year of Your Life : When I started my website nearly 6 years ago, I reached out to a few websites which struck my fancy in order to get advice, introduce myself, and just kind of sweetly network. One of the earliest websites I loved was Cookie Madness. And now Anna Ginsberg, who I have since met, has a great book. It focuses on the most delicious year of your life--one in which you can indulge in a daily cookie fantasy. It pays homage to wacky food holidays and seasons with a cookie for every day. It's a fun read even at your bedside, no baking required, but it's even better if you dig in to some of the recipes. 

The Secret Lives of Baked Goods: Sweet Stories & Recipes for America's Favorite Desserts: Yes, this is my new book. But I am awfully proud of it, and you can conveniently pre-order it now! :-) 

The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook: This is a fantastic all-around baking book, including sweets and savories and breads. I love how it includes informative, sometimes storytelling-esque headnotes and the recipes are just perfect.

A World of Cake Krystina Castella: Again and again I kept coming back to this book this year. Engaging stories about all sorts of cake, and recipes too? It is a global cake adventure, perfect for bakers and travelers, of which I am both. 

Paris Sweets: Great Desserts From the City's Best Pastry Shops by Dorie Greenspan: Who is immune to the lure of Parisian sweets? So beautiful, so buttery. This is a sugar-coated love letter to the city of light, and a pleasure to bake with.

Beat This! Cookbook: Absolutely Unbeatable Knock-'em-Dead Recipes for the Very Best Dishes: A re-issue, this book is packed with so much butter in its recipes that it will make you fat just reading it. But a happy fat, you know? Plus, the writing style is so delightful and slightly bratty that you'll fall in love with the writer, just like I did!

Taste of Home Baking All-New Edition (with Bonus Book): 125 Bake-Sale Favorites!: The recipes in this book may not surprise you, but every version of the classics is spot-on, from cakes to cookies to pies and fancy desserts. I've never baked anything and had it come out wrong. 

Sweets for Saints and Sinners: An illustrated little gem which includes the original recipe for Chocolate Decadence from Narsai's. I like the "sinner" section better than the "saint" section, of course.

Rare Bits: Unusual Origins Of Popular Recipes: A very fun book with the stories behind popular recipes. A majority are savories, but there is a respectable amount of sweet, too. Regardless, a book that reads like a particularly pleasurable novel.

Alpha-Bakery Gold Medal Children's Cookbook: A classic, and a favorite of mine growing up. Recipes both sweet and savory, one for each letter of the alphabet. My favorite? X-tra Special Celebration Cake, of course. 

The Wizard of Oz Cookbook: Breakfast in Kansas, Dessert in Oz : This odd but charming book contains recipes inspired by...well, you guessed it, The Wizard of Oz. Funny, retro recipes. Each chapter is themed: think a dinner party in Kansas, a kids' party in Munchkinland, a dessert party in Emerald City, et cetera. Recipes include "Emerald Castle Cake", "Kansas Crullers", and "Yellow Brickle brownies".