Chocolate Avocado Pie

You might be hesitant to embrace the idea of Avocado Pie. After all, avocado is probably more famous for its starring role in guacamole, or as a sandwich or salad component than as a delicious dessert item. But avocado isn't unknown in the world of sweets: in fact, in several Asian countries (and in Brazil too, I hear) avocado shakes are quite popular.

Like the popular shake, the avocado in this pie gets its sugary boost from sweetened condensed milk. When pureed and mixed with the milk, the fruity side of avocado really comes out to play with your taste buds. And once you get past the vibrant Kermit color, it's got a nutty and surprisingly subtle flavor. Combined with chocolate, it gets even better—sweet, light yet satisfyingly rich, with a dark crunch from the chocolate chips and cookie crust. Though adding the chocolate morsels is optional, I find them to add a nice textural contrast to the creaminess of the avocado, and serve as a nice echo to the cookie crust.

While the unique flavor of this pie might not be for everyone, lovers of avocado would serve themselves well to give it a try.

Find the recipe with pictures on Serious Eats!

Baked Good of the Day: Delicious Waffles

Nutella Waffle Sandwich cookies. There is no part of it that is wrong. Find out more here!

Vegan Chocolate Cookies Recipe from Macrina Bakery

My favorite thing about vegan baked goods is that even as a non-vegan, I CAN STILL EAT THEM.

And one that I enjoy eating is the vegan chocolate chocolate cookies at Macrina Bakery in Seattle. And--YES!--they are the "recipe of the month" which is now available to the public. Here's what Macrina has to say about them:

"This cookie was developed for a favorite teacher of one of our daughters here at Macrina. She would often request Olivia's Chocolate Chip cookies for her class but discovered her teacher couldn't eat them. I went to work on a vegan version so the cookies could be enjoyed by all! We test marketed it in our cafes with customers and they loved them, so we now offer them baked fresh daily!"

Here's the recipe:

Vegan Chocolate Chocolate Cookies

Makes 20 3-inch cookies 

• 2-1/4 C unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 C cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp egg replacement powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2-1/2 C bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 C (1 stick) vegan butter (preferably Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks) at room temperature
• 1/3 C palm shortening, at room temperature
• 3/4 C light brown vegan sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 C water

1. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, egg replacement and salt in a medium bowl. Add the chocolate chip and mix well to combine. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream the butter, shortening, sugar and vanilla. Start on low speed and increase to medium for a total of 5 to 8 minutes. The mixture will be fluffy and very pale. Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the water. Stop halfway and scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula. Mix until just incorporated, about 1 minute. Be careful not to over mix: the cookies may become tough. If the dry ingredients aren't fully incorporated, mix them in with the spatula. Transfer the dough to a medium bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour. At this point the dough can be formed into cookies or stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This dough also freezes well for up to three weeks.

3. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 35o° F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

4. Let the cookie dough warm at room temperature for 20 minutes to make portioning easier. Scoop the dough from the bowl with a large spoon or #30 ice cream scoop and form into 1-3/4 inch balls. Place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets, flattening them to 1/2 inch thickness while maintaining the circle shape. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown. (These cookies don't spread much, so they'll look a little different than standard chocolate chip cookies.) Cool them on a wire rack for 20 minutes before serving. Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.

Cake Byte: CakeSpy is a Girl Scout All-Star!

If you want honesty, I will tell you that I already knew I was awesome. But now I have cold, hard proof: I was featured as the Awesome Woman of the Month on the Girl Scouts of Western Washington website! It's true. You can read all about it here.

But wait, there's more! If you are in the Seattle area, are you ever in for a treat! There's a fantastic festival that's starting up for girls: GirlFest! And the Girl Scouts of Western Washington were kind enough to give me some tickets to give away!

Back up. What is GirlFest? Here's a brief explanation. 

Have you ever thought, “I sure wish there was one whole day where I could learn more about what I like and who I am?” If you’re a girl (or you know one!) and you live in Washington, then, boy, will you be excited to know that such a day exists! It’s called GirlFest, and it’s a daylong celebration of everything cool about being a girl!

GirlFest is October 20, at CenturyLink Field Event Center from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.!

Perhaps you’d like to study cool stuff under a microscope, or learn more about being a news reporter. Maybe you would like to climb a rock wall, play a guitar or make your own rocket? Learn about T-shirt design, car maintenance, the environment, sample yummy local food and even hang out with some horses! You can even shake your tail feather to hip hop dance lessons and super-cool concerts from snazzy stars, like Savannah Outen! Plus, get face painting, caricatures, nail stickers and henna tattoos. If you can dream it, you can find it at GirlFest! Buy tickets here.

But wait, there's more! The Girl Scouts of Western Washington have offered up a few tickets for me to give away! If you are in the Seattle area and would like to put yourself in the running, simply leave a comment on this post OR tweet me @cakespy using the hash-tag #girlfest saying what your favorite Girl Scout cookie is! The giveaway will close one week from today, on Sunday, September 23 at noon EST and the winners will be contacted afterward. 

Baked Good of the Day: "Mile High" Apple Pie from More Than Just Ice Cream, Philadelphia

At More Than Just Ice Cream in Philadelphia, they have a deep dish “mile high apple pie” that is served more in slabs than in slices, and they cost about $7 each. But, to their credit, they are extremely huge. Like, bigger than your head huge. 

I had purchased a slice of it to make some pie parfaits and was still left with about 2 pounds of pie, so I did what any red-blooded dessert lover would: I ate the thing.

With ice cream, thankyouverymuch. And not just any ice cream—cinnamon roll ice cream. Yes, good idea. It was also from More Than Just Ice Cream, though they do not make it on site. It had real chunks of cinnamon roll in it. It might sound like too much, but it's not.

What to say about the pie? It was good if not great—it was a good sharing dessert and not too pricey considering the size. But I wouldn't call it a highly faceted dessert or one with a deep flavor profile. But sometimes that is just fine,because it paired very nicely with the ice cream and worked very well as a breakfast the next morning.

Sometimes serviceable is what you need in a dessert, and this one fits the bill. It's fun because of the size and shape, and a pleasant sweet to share with a friend or two. Or five.  

More than Just Ice Cream, 1119 Locust Street, Philadelphia; online here.

Baker's Dozen: A Batch of Sweet Links

Guess what? I am officially endorsed as being awesome by the Girl Scouts! Read more here.

Speaking of Girl Scouts: homemade Tagalongs!

Or try homemade Thin Mints!

Or homemade Samoas!

OR SAMOAS CUPCAKES!

Or just mash all your cookies into a milkshake. Try it.

Sweet internetting: Martha Stewart is now on Hulu!

Need one now: salted caramel tarts!

I had a party with cookies. Read about it!

Pumpkin cheesecake bars. YUM.

I like this: candied lemon cake!

Interesting...Red Robin has a beer milkshake for Oktoberfest. Delightful or awful? 

Always delightful: Hello Dolly bars!

Still technically summer: watermelon pudding!

Birthday Magic With Nestle Toll House Birthday Sugar Cookies

From August 26 to September 14, something very special happens in the Spy family.

August 26 is my birthday; September 14 is the birthday of both my sister, SpySis, and her son, SpyNephew. 

So usually somewhere in between these dates we enjoy some delicious carbohydrates together under the name "Birthday Party". 

And this year, I was appointed a DailyBuzz Food Tastemaker as part of a program with Nestlé® Toll House®. They asked me to include some of their Birthday Sugar Cookies in my kids' birthday celebration. They're asking that I pause to post this...

This post is brought to you by Nestle Toll House Birthday Sugar Cookies. Bake some birthday love.

Thanks, Nestle! But let me continue. Of the three of us, only one was a kid, but ALL of us know how to party like kids. So I was open to allowing these cookies to increase our magic. Could they? Why not read about the evening and see? Here's how it went down.

11:00 a.m. I try to find the cookies at the Food Town by our house for later in the evening. No luck. Eh, I will try another grocery store later.

4:00 p.m. My mom and I go to Wegman's and try to find the cookies. No dice! I am starting to get worried.

4:25 p.m. Me and SpyMom find the cookies at the local Shop Rite. Score!

4:47 p.m. I preheat the oven to 350 degrees. I unwrap the cookies. Cute!

4:55 p.m. I hear my newphew and my dad playing in the backyard. I take advantage of their geographic disadvantage and whip out the cookies. Yeah!

4:57 p.m: The cookie sheet is loaded up. That was fast! I wonder...what should I do with that excess cookie dough around the images?

4.58 p.m. No one is around. I know what I will do with that dough.

5:00 p.m. Kidding! Unbaked dough is dangerous. I would *never* do that. I shaped it into letters. PARTY!

5:02 p.m. Oven is preheated - I popped 'em in the oven. 

5:11 p.m. Cookies are out. Oh, how can I wait for them to cool? I take a walk around the house, check my Words with Friends, look at Facebook. Think about cookies. 

5:22 p.m. I sneak one. SpyMom caught me!

5:45 p.m. SpyGrandma arrives and tries one. "Yum" she declares. 

5:46 p.m. SpyNephew wants a cookie. He is told "not yet".

5:47-5:51 p.m. I amuse myself by positioning a cookie to look like a party hat perched on my pug, Porkchop.

5:55 p.m. Dinner is served: Spaghetti and meatballs, SpyNephew's favorite!

5:56 p.m. SpySis, the other birthday girl, arrives on the scene. We have a present for her! And a cookie!

5:58 p.m. SpySis eats a cookie. Look, fun!

6:30 p.m. The rest of the family falls upon the cookies! We share them and some cake. We like cake and cookies.

6:31 p.m. At long last, SpyNephew gets his cookie. Happy Boy.

6:31 - 6:45 p.m. Presents!! And more cookies.

So, after a day in which many thoughts revolved around these Birthday Sugar Cookies, I have to say that indeed, they did make our day more special. The cookies themselves, with their images and their cutout quality, are fun--kids will enjoy helping. They're tasty, too: I for one have a definite soft spot for these "pop and bake" style refrigerated doughs. But the idea that they can be shared with family and friends on a very special day--well, that makes them great. 

Happy birthday to US!

Baked Good of the Day: Caramel Glazed Honey Crisp Apple Bread

You heard me. Caramel Glazed Honey Crisp Apple Bread. Bravo again, Peabody! Recipe here.

An Open Love Letter to Capogiro Gelato, Philadelphia

I am sort of embarrassed that I have not yet written about Capogiro Gelato in Philadelphia.

I first came in contact with the ambrosial gelato experience that is Capogiro about a year ago, when I was in Philadelphia for my book tour for CakeSpy Presents Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life . I asked that designed-for-crowd-sourcing tool known as Twitter where the best gelato in the city could be found. The refrain echoed resoundingly: CAPOGIRO. Wonderfully, there was a location not far from 30^th street station, my point of entry into the city. 

I walked from the station to their location on 20^th street, where I tried two flavors: Lancaster pumpkin with walnut gelato.

Oh. My. God. 

This is some of the best gelato I have ever tasted, and I have tasted a lot, let me tell you. The pumpkin was mellow and sweet, and the walnut tasted rich and smooth, with an aftertaste that reminded me of lightly salted butter (god, is that ever a good thing). The overall experience was made even more magical because of the fact that I was hoping for a mere gelato fix, but ended up having one of my most exquisite gelato experiences to date. What a wonderful suprise. 

I was in Philadelphia for 2 days on that visit, and I visited Capogiro about 3 more times (you do the math). While I'd say the pumpkin and walnut combo was still the best one-two punch, I had several other very good experiences, including macadamia with dulce de leche; chocolate malt with marshmallow; burnt sugar with cashew.

When I returned to Philadelphia this year to reside in the fair city for a while, it became my personal mission to try every flavor in their case. 

One of the things I've loved best about discovering Capogiro is their creatively curated case: the flavors vary by day, so you have a chance to curate your own flavor experience each time you go. From the classics (vanilla, chocolate, hazelnut, stracciatella, pistachio) to some more exotic (candied black cherry, burnt sugar, bananas foster, marshmallow) and then seasonal (peach; pumpkin, etc, when in season) Well, while I wouldn't say I've hit every flavor, I have done a very good job. 

Not that you asked, but my personal favorite flavors (the ones I have to get every time I go) are the following. I'll mix up what I pair them with, but I will always choose one of the following as my first flavor when I go. Don't get mad at me if they don't have the one you're crushing on when you visit, though!

-Sorrento Walnut: I think they secretly lace this flavor with crack, because it's just so good. Also very good: cashew, macadamia, hazelnut, pistachio. But the walnut is my smooth jam when it comes to a nutty gelato.

-Burnt Sugar: It's dark and toasty in flavor yet so smooth and creamy in texture; richly interesting.

-Philly Cream cheese: Gilding the lily? Perhaps, but it's like the gelato equivalent of cream cheese frosting. Pair it with a fruit gelato (I loved it with the peaches and cream, when in season)

-Cioccolato Scuro: If I am in the mood for a deep, dark, rich chocolate that WILL stick to my teeth and imbue my soul with pure chocolate happiness, this is the flavor to go with. If you're brave, pair it with something like chocolate hazelnut for a chocolatey one-two punch. Om nom. I've also really enjoyed it with the avocado gelato - live a little and try it.

-Marshmallow: I know, I know, this one is kind of the dark horse, because I wouldn't classify myself as a marshmallow lover. But it's a smooth, rich flavor that is perfect when matched with either a chocolate variety or a nutty or caramelly variety; it really just works. Trust me on it.

Capogiro, I love you. You've made my time in Philadelphia so much sweeter, creamier, and richer (in more ways than one). You've inspired my creativity and flavor profile skills, and even if I don't stay in Philadelphia forever, I will remain your loyal customer every time I return!

 Capogiro, multiple locations in Philadelphia; online here.

Taste the Rainbow: Kaleidoscope Cupcakes

Sometimes, things don't work out quite as you'd like. This happened recently when I set out to make some polka dot cupcakes based on an idea that I'd seen on the internet.

I prepared the batter, reserving about 3/4 cup before filling the cupcakes liners halfway. I tinted the remaining batter and used it to pipe pretty polka dots over the filled cups, hoping that they would bake into spotted masterpieces.

The cakes baked up beautifully, with perfectly shaped domes—which, unfortunately, ruined the polka dots. But all was not lost. While my cakes didn't bake with perfect polka dots, I ended up with a pretty, kaleidoscope-like multicolored starburst pattern which was rather sweet and elicited morale-boosting "ooh" and "ahh" sounds when served. Ultimately, they turned out so well that I decided to put the frosting in the middle, sandwich-style, rather than sully the artistic tops. Here's the simple recipe which is bound to delight in a most delicious way. 

For the full entry and recipe, visit Serious Eats!

P.S. Like the pictures in this post? I took them on my Xyboard tablet, part of the Midwest Savvy Gourmets program from Verizon!  Disclosure: I am participating in the Verizon Wireless Midwest Savvy Gourmets program and have been provided with a wireless device and six months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the product.