And the Winner Is...

Josh and I decided to head to the Big Apple for a few days during his spring break. New York is one of our most favorite cities, and it’s been a few years since we’ve been there together. Over the past several years I’ve seen loads of magazine articles, blog posts, and TV shows about cupcakes and I think it’s quite clear that the cupcake craze is in full swing. I originally had the idea to find the best cupcake in NYC a little over a year ago when I was heading to New York on a business trip. Fortunately for Josh, the trip was so short that I didn’t have time to visit all of the shops that planned to taste test.

Fast forward a year - and here I am writing about the past several calorie filled days. Over the past two days I have managed to eat nine cupcakes from various establishments around the city. Nine cupcakes (especially spread out over 48 hrs) doesn’t sound like a lot as I’m typing this out, but rest assured my belly is full and my pants are feeling the pain. Josh and I schlepped around the island of Manhattan and have finally found (in my humble opinion) the best cupcake in all of New York.

#10

Buttercup Bake Shop

As someone who loves to bake, I really hate to say this - but Buttercup Bakery boasted the worst cupcake that I’ve eaten in quite some time. I sampled what I thought was going to be a home run - the Devil Dog cupcake. I mean, what could go wrong?

       

The cake was overly dry but was very chocolatey. The frosting was super sugary and oddly was not very marshmallowy. The cupcakes had a good cake-to-frosting ratio, and were a good size.

#9

 Billy’s Bakery

Simple and cute little bake shop - much like several other shops that we visited this past week. The atmosphere was bright, and simple with two small tables to sit and enjoy the cupcake and watch the passerby’s.

            

I sampled the red velvet with cream cheese frosting. I may be somewhat of a red velvet snob being that I’m from the South, but I have to say that I wasn’t thrilled with the flavor of the cake. Red Velvet is supposed to have a chocolate flavor with a bright red color. While the color was spot on, I cannot say the same for the flavor. The cake was quite dry (which seems like a theme for most NYC cupcakes) and was completely lacking of the chocolate flavor. 

The cream cheese frosting was quite sweet, but wasn’t very cream cheesy. The cream cheese to powdered sugar ratio was off for my tastes, but was in it’s own sense still tasty.

#8

Crumbs Bake Shop

I sampled the vanilla w. strawberry icing. The vanilla cake was dense and somewhat dry, but not overly sweet. The strawberry icing was too sweet and and must have been made in the early morning, because there was a significant crust on the surface of the icing which generally comes from age....must like the rest of us I presume.

**for the record, I ate this a year ago on my afore-mentioned business trip. It was the only cupcake that I was able to sample on my trip.

#7

Sweet Revenge

I have to say I was pretty jazzed about this one. Sweet Revenge was recommended to me by a friend who saw a feature on Food Network. 

             

I opted for the “Pure” cupcake, which is Mexican vanilla cake with Mexican vanilla frosting. The cake was crazy dense, it was definitely the densest (is that a word?) cake that we had on our trip. It was more like pound cake than a traditional cupcake and tasted great by itself. The frosting was too sweet, and the cake to frosting ratio was off - there was too much frosting, especially with the cake’s signature mohawk.

#6

Tribeca Treats

Tribeca Treats was our first planned stop on the long awaited cupcake tour. TT had a super cute shop, it was bright and airy and plenty of seating room.

              

We tasted the chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream frosting. I hoped that the cake would be a bit more chocolatey, but it did have a nice texture. The texture was much lighter than most of the cakes that we tried which I much enjoyed. The frosting had a nice vanilla flavor, but had a slight grainy texture.

#5

Eleni’s

This was the second impromptu stop on the cupcake crawl. We stopped for brunch in Chelsea market and saw this adorable shop while we were there. The staff was great, and they proceeded to tell me that the cupcakes were going to change my life!

            

We ate the raspberry cupcake with raspberry buttercream frosting. The cake had a great texture, it was actually a vanilla cake with whole raspberries baked in. The raspberries gave the cake a nice sweet and tart flavor. The buttercream was tasty, but neither of us were able to find the raspberry flavor in the frosting. While it wasn’t exactly life changing, the cupcake was very tasty!
*ps - please excuse the weird face.

#4

Cupcake Cafe

This was the biggest surprise of all. The shop was a little hidden from the street, and was very dark inside. The entrance has a cashier and an espresso machine, and the cupcake case is actually towards the back of the cafe.

Once we found the cupcake case, we tasted the chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream frosting. While the cake was very dense and a little on the hard side, the frosting was the best buttercream that we had on the whole trip. The frosting was super light and very creamy - had a great texture and lovely clean flavor.

#3

Two Little Red Hens via Dean & Deluca

This was an impromptu cupcake tasting that we had a few hours after we arrived at the Dean & Deluca near our hotel. We stopped in for a cup of coffee and surprise...they had cupcakes!

I chose the blackout cake which was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. This cake was super yummy and obviously very chocolatey. The cake to frosting ratio was great and the cake texture was great as well. The cake was very fudge-y and the frosting had an great creamy texture. This cake is certainly for the chocolate lover.

#2

Magnolia Bakery

It wouldn’t be appropriate to host a New York cupcake tour without stopping by Magnolia Bakery for a visit. The purist (and SATC fan) in me thought it only right to visit the Bleecker Street location all the way in the village. We arrived quite early because I know that the line to get into the bakery can be quite long, and thankfully there were only a few other patrons in the shop when we arrived - so no waiting for us!

             

Oddly, I couldn’t decide which cupcake to choose - so I did what any girl would...I chose the prettiest. The prettiest happened to be vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. The cake texture seemed to be a bit of a hyrbid of the denser NYC cake and the lighter, airier cake that I prefer. The frosting was also quite tasty, but the cake to frosting ratio was way off. There was far too much frosting for the amount of cake in the cupcake.

#1

Butterlane

Butterlane was by far my favorite cupcake that we tried on our crawl. The shop although very small was very cute. We ate the cupcake at a small ledge that was along the wall of the shop.

             

We sampled the vanilla cupcake with espresso frosting. The cake was the lightest, moistest cake that we had on the crawl and it had a great vanilla flavor. The frosting had a wonderful espresso flavor and also had a great creamy texture. The cake to frosting ratio was also spot on - such a great cupcake!

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Cleansed...Palate and All

Have you ever noticed that as a vacation begins to creep closer and closer, your daily life gets harder and harder? 

Why is this - so that the vacay seems that much more enjoyable?

Do you think the travel companies purposely make life harder right before you leave for a trip so that you like it that much more? That would make sense. Although if this were true, I think I should know about it because I work for a travel company. 

If this phenomena is real, then I’m in the throws of pre-vacay chaos. I’m convinced that my email volume has doubled and I’m in more meetings lately, while time has not increased - it in fact has shrunk. Daylight Savings time kills me every single time...never fails. At any rate, vacation is looming and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

Amongst all of the recent chaos I’ve noticed that the weather continues to warm up each and every day, I find that I’m increasingly being drawn to sorbet’s, and granita’s...anything that’s cool, light, and refreshing.

I’ve made several different flavors of ice cream’s in the past, but this was my first attempt at a sorbet. Originally I intended to make a lime sorbet, but got all the way to the farmer’s market and lo and behold - there are no limes. Not sure how that happens, but my plan was instantly thwarted.

I landed on blood oranges as a substitute because I’m so intrigued by them. They’re so bright and sweet, and I find them to be so beautiful. I absolutely love cutting them open and exposing their red interior which is such a stark contrast from their bright orange outer exterior.

On the whole, the sorbet turned out to be quite lovely. It has a great texture, and bright refreshing flavor. I’m excited to explore different flavor variations and combinations in the future!

Blood Orange Sorbet

2 Blood Oranges (zest of)

3 Blood Oranges (juice of)

2 Cups of Simple Syrup*

1 Cup of Water

3 Tbs Vodka or Gin (optional - though this helps with the texture)

Zest the two oranges, and then finely chop the zest and set aside. Juice the 3 oranges, and pour the juice through a mesh strainer to remove any pulp that may be floating around. 

Combine the juice, zest, simple syrup, water, and gin or vodka (I used vodka). Refrigerate until the mixture is completely cool - then transfer the blood orange mixture to an ice cream freezer, and freeze according to the ice cream maker’s instructions. Once the ice cream maker is finished, transfer the sorbet to a plastic container and freeze so that the sorbet firms up completely. 

*Simple Syrup: 1 Cup Water, and 1 Cup Sugar - stir until dissolved, boil, and let cool. I felt that the sorbet was a bit too sweet. The next time I make this I’ll pull back on the sugar.

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Clammy-Clam-Clams

This dish was a fantastic end to an amazing weekend! The weather was beautiful, and Saturday was one of the hottest days that we’ve had lately. Josh had board exams Saturday morning, so I had the first half of the day to myself! I decided to do it up right, and spend some me time at the spa! It was amazing! We finished the day with a run by the river and wings at Taco Mac - hello awesome day!

I had dinner at my Aunt’s house a few weeks ago and she served traditional Linguini & Clams and I remembered how much I love this dish! It’s such a classic and the simplicity of the dish is so refreshing. 

I couldn’t find a recipe that I was completely happy with, so I decided to do a hybrid of several recipes that I found. I also opted for a whole wheat linguini because, well ya know - that whole health kick thing.

So without further adieu: 

Linguine & Clams

1 lb Whole Wheat Linguini

2 lbs Fresh Little Neck Clams, cleaned and scrubbed of excess dirt

2 Tbs Olive Oil + Extra for drizzling

6 cloves Garlic, crushed or minced

1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper

1.5 cups White Wine

2 Tbs Lemon Juice

Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley, chopped

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the linguini until just al dente, then drain the pasta well.

While the pasta is boiling, heat the olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven. Add the garlic and cook until almost browned, then add the crushed red pepper and cook for another minute. Add the wine and scrape up any browned bits, and bring to a simmer. Add the clams and cover while the wine mixture is simmering. Cook until the clams have opened, 5 - 9 minutes and discard any clams that don’t open.

Toss the linguini, the clams, and the cooking liquid together. Squeeze lemon juice over the pasta and toss  with flat leaf parsley for garnish; season with salt and pepper as needed.

If the pasta seems dry or sticky, toss with reserved pasta water and/or olive oil.

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Slightly Whole Wheat Banana Oatmeal Healthy-ish Bread

Yikes! That title is a mouthful, no? But have no fear - the recipe is crazy easy to make.

I’ve been trying to clean up my act lately, like my whole act. I’ve been working on working out, eating healthier, hydrating more, and staying well rested. You could say this is a better-late-than-never New Year’s resolution of sorts.
I’ve gotten the inkling to change some things up because I have a several friends who overhauled their lives and are reaping the bountiful rewards. I dig rewards, especially the skinny kind.

My diet overhaul has mainly centered around journaling and planning ahead for each meal/snack that I have throughout the day. In the past I’ve planned dinner for the week ahead of time and have largely left lunch to whatever fast food tickles my fancy (no bueno), and as for breakfast...we’re just now getting reacquainted, it’s been a few years.

While planning meals for the next week, I remembered a pretty tasty banana bread recipe that also happens to be one of Josh’s fav’s! Score!

I tend to shy away from baking bread for several reasons:

1. bread is scary
2. my oven isn’t that reliable
3. breads take FOR-EV-ER to make
4. they’re messy
5. oh, and one last thing - bread is scary.

Not to worry, this is a simple quick bread recipe that I modified to healthi-fy it up a little bit. And it’s super delectable!

Slightly Whole Wheat Banana Oatmeal Healthy-ish Bread
adapted from heatherhalesdesigns

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 cup Sugar
1 Egg, beaten
3 Whole Bananas, smashed (very ripe)
1/4 cup Canola Oil
1/2 cup Old Fashioned Oats (plus more for sprinkling)
1/4 cup Unsweetened Applesauce

Combine dry ingredients together in large mixing bowl. Combine all of the wet ingredients, including the banana into a smaller mixing bowl and gently stir to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently stir until just until the mixture becomes uniform.

Pour into a greased 9x5x3 loaf pan, and sprinkle with a few oats.

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes

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Carbonara

I can not even begin to explain the depths of my love for this dish. I really can’t. So I won’t.

I’ve been making this dish for several years, and have had the pleasure of sampling assorted versions at acclaimed establishments around the country and even in the motherland. And guess what – I’ve loved it every single time. It goes without saying that the version I devoured in Italy was the best pasta dish on the face of this ever loving planet – but we won’t delve into that because I’ll start to get depressed and spend far too much money on a last minute flight to Rome.

I mean, there are few better things in life besides carbonara. Right? It’s the best marriage of supremely fantastic ingredients, ie: pasta (duh), bacon, egg, and cheese…oh and let’s not forget the wine.

This recipe originally came from food network, but I have since tweaked it as I’ve discovered variations of how to combine the ingredients and have ended on a version that tickles my fancy.

CarbonaraAdapted liberally from the Food Network

1 lb Pasta (I like Rigatoni)
1/3 lb pancetta, chopped
2 Tbs Olive Oil
4 cloves of Garlic, minced
¼ tsp crushed red pepper
½ dry white wine
3 large eggs: 1 whole, and 2 yolks
1/3 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil. When the water has reached a rolling boil, add salt and pasta and cook to al dente.

While the pasta cooks, cook the chopped pancetta and olive oil until the pancetta is crispy 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper – sauté for two minutes or until garlic is browned. Add wine to the pan and scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Cook and allow the wine to reduce by half.

Mix together the two egg yolks, whole egg, cheese (for the love of all things sacred, please don’t use the white saw dust in the green can), and freshly cracked black pepper into a paste and set aside.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain the pasta and add it to a large mixing bowl. Add the pancetta/garlic mixture to the pasta and toss until combined. Once combined, add the egg paste and toss quickly to combine. The heat from the pasta will cook the eggs, but you’ll need to toss rapidly in order to keep the egg from coagulating. The pasta should be coated in a creamy/cheese like sauce.

buon appetito!

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Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

I swear it will never come (let’s all forget what I said last week). Fall is trying to elude us all…at least here in the South. Fall evokes different feelings for everyone. Some linger in the excitement of college football, some watch for changing colors and falling leaves, people like myself anticipate the new bounty that awaits us at the markets every week. The common ground that we all share is the enthusiasm for cooler temperatures! Georgia weather has been taunting its inhabitants for going on two weeks. It’s hot, then it’s cold, it’s hot, then it’s cold. Sheesh! Can I say enough already?

I wasn’t about to let the too high temperature, and by too high I mean 85 (which relative to the 100+ heat we saw this summer isn’t too bad) keep me away from the mountains of North Georgia and the masses of pumpkins that were ripe for the picking.

I love these little seasonal daytrips that we take. There’s nothing like scooting away to what seems like an entirely different state for a few hours to stretch our legs and breathe in the open air. The bonus for me is that I get to be the passenger and gaze at all of the foliage and the old vintage houses that sit along the state road the leads us up into the mountains.

Of course the very first thing one must do upon returning from such a trip is to immediately begin preparing the loot for the first delicacy of the season. Ok – I guess second after arranging the soon-to-be jack-o-lantern’s at the front door for all to be envious.

My first pumpkin adventure of the season was to be pumpkin whoopie pies (actually made from store bought pumpkin bc we were home bound last week) because I could think of no better way to usher in the new season than with a cookie, that’s really a sandwich, that tastes like cake. It all makes perfect sense.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Martha Stewart

For the cookies
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1 ½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp coarse salt
1 tbs unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup vegetable shortening
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the filling
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup confectioners' sugar
¼ cup canned solid pack pumpkin
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg

Prepare cookies: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.

Place butter, shortening, and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add egg; mix until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in half the flour mixture, then the milk and vanilla. Mix in remaining flour mixture.

Drop about 2 teaspoons dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies spring back when lightly touched, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks and let cool 10 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheets and transfer to wire racks using a spatula; let cool completely.

Prepare filling: In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together cream cheese, butter and confectioners' sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg; whip until smooth, scraping down the bowl as necessary.

Pipe or spoon about 2 teaspoons filling on the flat sides of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, keeping the flat sides down.

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Hearty Chicken + Rice Soup

It’s finally fall! I’ve been dreaming of the beginnings of my favorite season when we began suffering 100+ degree weather combined with 100% humidity. It’s been a long time coming, and it’s finally here!

Autumn is my favorite season because of all of the beautiful foliage, hearty and warming meals, turtleneck sweaters, and let’s not forget…pumpkins! I’m so excited to decorate with fall colors, visit my favorite pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkin, and drive through the apple orchards of North Georgia in search for the best candy apples ever invented!

With less than a week of lower temperatures under our belt, Josh has already succumbed to this year’s first flu and has been lying around the house for the past four days like a sad little mushroom. Unfortunately this has put a damper on our original plans to tromp through the North Georgia mountains – but not to worry, it’s already back on the calendar for next weekend!

Since Josh’s diet has consisted of jello cups and sprite for the past several days, I decided that it was high time for some real nutrition. After scouring the interwebs for a soothing soup, I settled on this chicken and rice soup. It’s simple enough, and I was actually surprised at how quickly it came together. I altered the original recipe slightly – and in my opinion for the better, but you judge for yourself!

Hearty Chicken + Rice Soup
Adapted from Bon Appetit circa 2000 via Epicurious

6 cups of Chicken Broth
2 cups of Water
2 split Chicken Breasts (bone-in, skin-on)
2 whole Chicken Leg quarters (skin-on)
1 ½ Tbs Olive Oil
3 Carrots, sliced on the diagonal into ½ inch pieces (scrubbed, not peeled)
3 Celery Stalks, sliced on the diagonal into ½ inch pieces
1 Yellow Onion, diced
1 Bay Leaf

1 ½ cups uncooked long-grain white rice, rinsed*

Heat the Olive Oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat, and brown the chicken breasts (skin side down first) for three to four minutes on each side and set aside. Follow with browning the leg quarters (skin side down first) for three to four minutes on each side and set aside with the breasts.

While the chicken is browning, slice the Carrots, Celery, and Onion. After you’ve browned the chicken, add in the vegetables and cook over medium high heat for four to five minutes or until the onions are soft. While the vegetables are cooking, remove the skin and any excess fat from the chicken.

Once the Onions have softened, add the chicken back to the pot along with the Chicken Broth, Water, and Bay Leaf. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Every so often, check the soup and skim any foam that has accumulated on the top. Once the chicken is cooked through, remove and set aside to cool.

**This step can be skipped if you’re on a time crunch:
After the chicken has cooked through, turn off the heat and allow the soup to cool at room temperature. Place the entire pot into the refrigerator and cool the soup to the point that the fat solidifies on the top, remove the fat from the top of the soup and place over medium heat and bring back to a simmer.

Remove two cups of the stock and place in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. When at a boil, add in the rice and turn the heat down to a simmer. Stirring occasionally, cook the rice until tender (approx 15 – 20 min) and add back to the soup.

While the rice is cooking, pull the chicken from the bones and shred or slice into chunks according to your preference.

After the rice has cooked through, add the chicken and the rice back to the main pot with the vegetables.

Serve. And Enjoy!

**I suppose that you could use any rice, I used short grain because it’s what I had on hand.

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