Pastry Profiles: Nutella Brioche from Macrina Bakery, Seattle

Let's take a moment (it won't take long, I promise) to talk about the Nutella Brioche from Macrina Bakery in Seattle.

Now, I'm pretty sure that Nutella was invented on the principle that chocolate-and-hazelnut-make-everything-better. And based on this logic, it would follow that an already-awesome thing (Brioche) would be rendered even awesomer by adding Nutella. I know I just got pretty mathematical-scientific there, so pause for a moment and re-read that if you need to.

But joking aside, this Nutella Brioche is seriously delicious. Feathery-yet-buttery brioche gets a sweet upgrade from pearly sugar on top, and a rich-and-sweet delight awaits you as eater in form of a Nutella filling. The whole package is a wonderful way to breakfast, and pairs beautifully with coffee.

Nutella Brioche, available at Macrina Bakery; for locations and hours, visit macrinabakery.com.

Macrina Sweets: Molasses Ginger Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches Recipe

Image: Macrina BakeryThere's no doubt that Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches rule. But when they're made of Macrina Bakery's Molasses Ginger cookies, they reach new heights in the sphere of awesomeness. Here's the intro for Macrina's recipe of the month:

I think it's the fresh ginger that makes these cookies so special. They also have the perfect balance of chewy and crisp. Sandwiching two of them with ice cream makes an exceptional treat.

And here's the recipe:

Molasses Ginger Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches

Makes about 16

Ingredients

• 2-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon 
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cloves 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1-1/2 cups light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons peeled and grated ginger
• 1/3 cup dark molasses
• 1 cup granulated sugar

Procedure

1. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground cloves and salt in a medium bowl. Mix with a whisk until evenly distributed and set aside.
2. Combine shortening, butter and brown sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix on medium speed for about 5 minutes until the mixture is smooth and pale in color. Add 1 egg and mix until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add remaining egg and scrape down the sides of the bowl again. Add ginger and molasses and mix on low speed for 1 minute. The mixture may look as if it's separating, but have no fear. It will come together once the dry ingredients are added. Remove the bowl from the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and pour granulated sugar into a pie pan or shallow bowl.
4. Scoop dough out of the bowl (I like to use a medium ice cream scoop) and roll the dough into 2-inch balls. Toss each of the balls in granulated sugar until evenly coated, then place 8 on each baking sheet, leaving 3 inches between each ball. Slightly flatten each ball of dough with the palm of your hand to keep the balls from rolling around. 
5. Place 1 sheet of cookies in the refrigerator while baking the other sheet.
6. Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, on center rack of oven for 15 to 18 minutes each. To help the cookies bake evenly, rotate the baking sheet every 4 minutes or so. The finished cookies will be golden brown and slightly puffed up but will collapse while they cool. Let cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes. The cooled cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days.
7. Choose your favorite vanilla ice cream and  scoop a generous portion onto one cookie, place the other on top and voilá! A delicious treat to usher in fall.

77 Reasons to Buy My Book

I know, I know. Not that you needed a reason to buy my book, but I'll give you one. No, I'll give you 77, one a day, because that's how many shopping days you have til Christmas Eve. Instead of obnoxiously doing a new post every day (though I had considered it), I will update this post each day with a different reason, so that by Christmas Eve, this will be a monster-post!

Reason 1: It has a Unicorn on the cover! That unicorn is saying "OMG! This book has everything!". Now that's cute. 

And, as a bonus, if you look at the back cover...there's another unicorn! So actually, there are two unicorns on the cover. Forget double rainbows, that's what double happiness truly is, friends.

Reason 2: It is Bakerella-blurbed! That's right. You know how big famous books have a quote on the back from someone else big and famous? Well, the quote on the back of my book is from none other than Bakerella! She says "Jessie's recipes inspire sugary-coated adventures in the kitchen. CakeSpy is a treat for the curious and kid at heart."

Reason 3: It Has Very Witty Cartoons. See cover for evidence, buy the book for more.

Sweet! And while you're at it, check out her new notecards and cake pop kits for Chronicle Books. Awesome!

Reason 4: I am going on a bakery book tour, entitled Tour De Sweet. And one of my first stops (on October 20) is Saint Cupcake in Portland, where they have--get this--a bike rack shaped like a whisk. Best book tour ever!

Reason 5: Awesome people buy my book. Most recently, I sold a signed copy to Jenn of JustJenn Designs, who happened to be in Seattle for Geekgirlcon!

Reason 6: The book contains a revamped and better than ever version of my all-time most popular recipe: Cookie Cake Pie!

Reason 7: Serious Eats Loves it.

Reason 8: I look adorable while signing my book.

Reason 9: It has a recipe for marshmallow dreidels.

Reason 10: There are illustrations of, and recipes including, BACON.

Reason 11: It has a recipe for blondie-topped brownies.

Reason 12: Homemade candy corn!!!

Reason 13: Ice cream lovers love it.

Reason 14: It has a recipe for candy salad.

Reason 15: You can buy it at Urban Outfitters!

Reason 16: Saint Cupcake in Portland loves my book.

Reason 17: My mom says it's a good idea.

Buy the book here. Or enter to win a copy here! Or come see me on book tour at one of these places!

Trick or Sweet: Mellowcreme Pumpkin Shaped Cake Recipe for Serious Eats

Candy corn may be popular, come Halloween. But I, for one, think that its cousin, the Mellowcreme Pumpkin, deserves far more love and attention. Its larger surface area makes for a chewier-textured candy, and its pumpkin shape is just so cute.

And so I'm putting these pumpkins on a pedestal—literally—in a full-sized cake form tribute to the Mellowcreme Pumpkin. The look may not be exact, but I hope you'll forgive me when you taste it: made using a pumpkin cake generously coated in tinted cream cheese frosting, this is a highly delicious homage to a second-banana Halloween sweet.

For the full entry and recipe, visit Serious Eats!

Baker's Dozen: A Batch of Sweet Links

They're better than bad, they're good!OMG! Win a copy of my book by entering this totally sweet giveaway!

Get in my mouth: Candy Corn Whipped Cream frosting.

A new bakery to visit in Paramus, NJ: Sugar and Plumm!

Om nom nom: Luscious pumpkin desserts from BHG.com

Martha gets BAKED: a sweet cake recipe, to boot!

Triple Chocolate Brownie Trifle: Triple Yum!

Don't wait for Girl Scout Cookie season: make no-bake Samoas!

Sometimes you feel like a nut...and sometimes you feel like Nutella. Nutella Bars, to be specific.

Part 1: Ipso Fatto is the best website name ever. Part 2: BROWNIE BAKE-OFF!

Whoopie! Rockstar Bake Shop is a Whoopie Pie Bakery in Dallas.

Sweet idea: handmade mixing bowl covers!

I like this: prizewinning brownies from Los Angeles!

You need this: The Omnivore's Recipe Keeper: A Treasury for Favorite Meals and Kitchen Resources (Recipe Organiser). Created by Celia Sack, owner of Omnivore Books (a stop on CakeSpy's Tour de Sweet!)

Buy My Book! And a Giveaway Too

Dudes and dudettes. You knew this day was coming, and now it is here.

My book is now out--it is in stores, and available online. If I do say so myself, it is a masterpiece of cookbookery, and if you don't trust me, then trust my mom, because she agrees (and she has promised to buy at least three copies at full retail price, although she hasn't paid me yet).

But I digress. Basically what I am saying here is: My book is out, and therefore, It Is Time for You to Buy My Book.

How to buy it? You can purchase a signed copy directly from me here; you can purchase a regular (unsigned) copy from Amazon (be sure to give it a glowing review!) , Barnes and Noble, Elliott Bay Books, Powell's Books, or find a local bookseller here. OR, I find it acceptable to wait if you'd like to buy one from me on my national bakery book tour, Tour De Sweet!

But because you've been so patient, I'm willing to give away one copy of the book per week for the next four weeks. Wow, lucky you! 

How do you put yourself in the running this week? Since it's October and officially Halloween Month, simply leave a comment on this post or on my Facebook page answering this important question: Candy Corn or Mellowcreme Pumpkins? And Why? I'll pick one lucky winner one week from today (10/13) and send them a signed copy of the book! Because I'm feeling generous, this giveaway is open to the US and abroad!

Cake That Looks Like Pie: Blueberry Chocolate PiCake Tutorial

Photos: Cake Gumshoe SetiaCakeSpy Note: This is a guest post from Cake Gumshoe Setia, who just started blogging at cakesbysetia.blogspot.com.

I love cake. I bake cakes for many people and many occassions, and am constantly brainstorming my next cake project and an occassion to make it for. So, imagine my surprise when I happily tell my husband that I have a wonderful cake idea in store for his birthday, and he responds "I was actually thinking I might want pie". (Insert gasp of horror here). Pie? Seriously? You are asking a lover of cakes - a cake-artist-in-the-making, if I may be so bold, to make you a PIE?

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against pie. In fact, on occassion, I quiet fancy a slice; heated, served with a side of vanilla ice cream. I can even make a decent pie when I put my mind to it. Yet that is not the point, is it? The point, if not already apparent, was that I was desperately excited to come up with some wonderful cake creation for my husband's birthday. Sure, I knew he was probably teasing about the whole pie thing...right? However, I was now bound and determined to make something a bit tongue-in-cheek that would teach him a lesson, and yet give him what he wanted at the same time.

A cake that looks like a pie seemed like a pretty obvious solution! Why not? I'd never made one - it sounded like good fun! He'd get a good laugh! Perfect. Hmmm...yet it didn't seem quite perfect enough. More brainstorming required... Then I remember hearing of a place in Philidelphia that serves a dessert called "Pumpple Cake". It looks like a regular cake from the outside, but has an entire pie - two in fact - (apple inside vanilla cake, pumpkin inside chocolate cake, double stacked) on the inside. Now this got me thinking...What if I took that a step further? A cake disguised as a pie is great fun. But a PIE, disguised as a CAKE, further disguised as a PIE...well that is just genius!! (At least in my muddled little mind!)

My husband loves blueberries; fresh blueberries, blueberry pancakes, blueberries on cereal, and yes, of course, blueberry pie. And what goes swimmingly with blueberries - or any kind of berry for that matter, I asked myself? Why, chocolate of course! And so, I went forth and baked...And the results, in my opinion, were both pleasing to the eye and to the palate! Voila! A deep-dish blueberry-looking pie!

Here's how you make it happen.

Blueberry Chocolate PiCake Instructions

1. Make favorite never-fail chocolate cake recipe.
2. Pour enough batter into the cake pan to just cover the bottom.
3. Insert pie onto batter.
4. Pour remaining batter on top and around sides of pie.
5. Bake the cake/pie as directed- takes considerably longer than regular cake-baking time. It seems like the top will never cook, but be patient, it will! Just keep watching it!
6. Turn pie over onto work surface so it is upside down.
7. Smother with a delicious chocolate ganache. Smooth ganache with hot knife to ready it for the fondant.
8. Decorate to look like a deep-dish pie, using fondant. (I decided to do a lattice "crust" on the top).
9. Use a little brown food colouring and vodka mixed together to 'paint' more colour onto the fondant, giving it a more "baked" look.
10. Add fresh blueberries as desired.

You're the Tops: Doughnut Bread Pudding Recipe from the Top Pot Doughnuts Book

Photo: Scott PittsGuess what? Top Pot Doughnuts has a new cookbook, entitled Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts: Secrets and Recipes for the Home Baker. It was published by Chronicle Books. But if you'd like me to get more mathematical about the meaning of the Top Pot + Chronicle combination, I will:

OK. So now that we've established that you should buy the book, let me share something kind of funny about it with you.

Jess Thomson, who co-wrote and helped develop recipes for the book, received some surprising news:

in the same month, I've released my first cookbook, one that hails the virtues of glutenous orbs from cover to cover, and I've been diagnosed with allergies to gluten, eggs, and soy. What I like about this book - and what I think you'll like, too - is its flexibility. The recipes are pliable. The flavor options are endless. And up front, there are great instructions that help you every step of the way.

...and Jess, who is always ready for a challenge, is excited to explore ways of making the treats which will make them "safe" with her new dietary rules.

However, having no such restrictions of my own, I made a solemn promise to Jess: "I promise to jam my recipes with extra gluten and eat it all on your behalf."

And without further delay, here's the first recipe I tried from the book, for deliciously gluten-full Doughnut Bread Pudding. Kind of like a tricked-out Monkey Bread, this is the carbohydratey stuff that sweet dreams are made of.

Doughnut Bread Pudding

• butter for the pan
• 6 cups cubed leftover doughnuts (about 4 big whole ones)
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons dark rum
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• For the icing
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tablespoons hot water

  Procedure

1.  Make the bread pudding. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a loaf pan (9x5-inches-ish). Fill with your cubed doughnuts. Set to the side.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, rum, cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla until well blended. Add the milk and cream, whisk to blend, and pour over the doughnuts, turning the top pieces so that all of the doughnuts are soaked by this wet mixture.
3. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until browned on top and firm in the center. Let cool for about 10 minutes in the pan.
4. While the pudding cools, make the icing whisk together all three ingredients until smooth.
5. Serve the pudding in thick slices, still warm, drizzled with icing.

An Extremely Moist Chocolate Beet Cake with Creme Fraiche and Poppyseeds

Recently, I received a screener copy of the film "Toast", based on the book by the same name by Nigel Slater.

And I have to do the cliche thing and say...well, the book was better than the movie. Not that it doesn't have its moments--most of them, for me, memorable visually: a perfect lemon meringue pie, montages featuring baking. Le nom. 

But the film did remind me of something important: I've been wanting to try the chocolate beet cake recipe from Slater's even bigger book, Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch. As you might imagine, there aren't many dessert recipes in this book, but there are a few. And this description was very alluring to me:

"It is true I am rarely happier than when making chocolate cake. I especially like baking those that manage to be cakelike on the outside and almost molten within. Keeping a cake's heart on the verge of oozing is down partly to timing and partly to the ingredients--ground almonds and very good-quality chocolate will help enormously. But there are other ways to moisten a cake, such as introducing grated carrots or, in this case, crushed beets."

of course, he continues, "...this is a seductive cake, deeply moist and tempting. the serving suggesting of creme fraiche is not just a nod to the sour cream so close to beets' Eastern european heart, it is an important part of the cake."

This is a compelling cake, chocolate with a something-something, and I loved the tartness of the "frosting" -- it made it seem perfectly appropriate for a healthy snack, but it didn't smack of dessert.

Chocolate Beet Cake

Ingredients

• 8 ounces beets
• 7 ounces fine dark chocolate
• 4 tablespoons hot espresso
• 3/4 plus 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• a heaping teaspoon of baking powder
• 3 tablespoons good quality cocoa powder
• 5 eggs
• scant 1 cup superfine sugar
• creme fraiche and poppyseeds, to serve

Procedure

1. Lightly butter an 8-inch springform cake pan (I used a small bundt pan, greased and sprinkled with flour); line the bottom with a round of parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Cook the beets, whole and unpeeled, in boiling unsalted water.  Depending on their size, they will be tender when pierced with the tip of a knife within thirty to forty minutes. Young ones may take slightly less. Drain them, let them cool under running water, then peel them, slice off their stem and root, and process in a blender or food processor until a coarse puree is formed.
3. Melt the chocolate, broken into small pieces, in a small bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Don't stir. 
4. When the chocolate looks almost melted, pour the hot espresso over it and stir just once. Cut the butter into small pieces--the smaller the better--and add to the melted chocolate. Push the melted butter down under the surface of the chocolate with a spoon as best you can, and let soften.
5. Sift together the dry ingredients. Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a large mixing bowl. Sir the yolks together.
6. Now, working quickly but gently, remove the bowl of chocolate from the heat and stir until the butter has melted into the chocolate. Let sit for a few minutes, then add the egg yolks. Do this quickly, mixing firmly and evenly so the eggs blend into the mixture. Fold in the beet mixture. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then fold in the sugar. Firmly but gently, fold the beaten egg whites and sugar into the chocolate mixture. A large metal spoon is what you want here; work in a deep, figure-eight movement but take care not to overmix. Lastly, fold in the flour and cocoa mixture.
7. Transfer to the prepared cake pan and put in the oven, decreasing the heat immediately to 325 F. Bake for 40 minutes. The rim of the cake will feel spongy; the inner part should still wobble a little when the pan is gently shaken.
8. Set the cake aside to cool. It will sink a little in the center. Loosen it around the edges with a thin icing spatula after half an hour or so. It is not a good idea to remove the cake from the pan until it is completely cooled. Serve in thick slices, with creme fraiche and poppyseeds.

Cake Byte: Cupcake Royale Debuts the Pumpkin Cardamom Cupcake for October

Photo: Cupcake RoyaleThe month of Huckleberry and Peanut Butter and Jelly cupcakes at Cupcake Royale is over.

But don't cry, because there's a new cupcake in town for October: Pumpkin Cardamom!

Per the sweet folks at Cupcake Royale (did I mention I am having a book signing event there on October 15 in Capitol Hill, and October 17 in Bellevue?):

Our dense pumpkin cake is loaded with pureed pumpkin, locally sourced from Stahlbush Islands Farms. We top each cake with a generous swirl of cardamom cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with tiny, autumn leaves of sugar. It tastes almost like a pumpkin pie. 

But don't take our word for it. Here's what Seattle Weekly had to say in last year's poll for Best Fall Cupcake Frosting Flavors. “Everyone who tried this independently gave the review "Hands down, the winner." (No really, everyone said "hands down." This cupcake is just that good.)” - Seattle Weekly

Dense and creamy; sweet and spicy—this cupcake is the perfect way to welcome autumn.

These sweet treats will be available all October long at Cupcake Royale locations; for directions and more info, visit their website.