Swedish Fish: A Friend You Can Eat

While at work last week, a friend of mine e-mailed me these awesome Swedish Fish ads and they totally made my day! I love them! Of course, at first, I was a little confused. Why is that bunny sitting on a toaster pastry and covered with some sort of syrupy substance??? Why is that poor kitty sandwiched between two pieces of bread?? Why is the tagline A Friend You Can Eat????


I was starting to get creeped out until my friend pointed out that the word nej, which appears below the images on the left, means no. Ahhhh . . . the bunny and cat are examples of friends you can't eat, while the candy fish are safe to devour. I get it!! Okay, the A Friend You Can Eat line is still a little weird, but, you know, in a good way.

Actually, Swedish Fish are more animal friendly than you might think. Animal lovers will be happy to know, Swedish Fish are one of the few gummy candies that are in fact vegan! Well, as far as I can tell, anyway! No gelatin in these babies!

Click here to visit the Sweedish Fish Web site where you can check out some pretty funny commercials as well.

Sweet Testing: Lemon Drop Cake

Everyone who visits this site probably already knows how much I love the Baked cookbook! I've gone on and on and on about it in multiple posts and it's not a secret that I've become pretty much obsessed with it! I love it so much that I've decided that I'm not going to stop until I've made every single recipe! The most recent one on my list was their Lemon Drop Cake. Perfect for spring and completely yummy! Everytime I make a Baked cake, I inevitably get a "this is the best cake I've ever had!" sort of compliment and their Lemon Cake earned equally high praise from eaters!

I was feeling a bit guilty about posting recipes from this cookbook, considering that is, technically, someone else's work, and I have only linked to the recipes in the past, as opposed to posting the text. Given that I'm going to be making many more things from this particular cookbook, I checked with Baked co-owner Matt Lewis, who assured me that Baked loves when people write about their recipes and that I was free to "post away!" Yay! No Catholic guilt today!

Happy Easter/Passover/Random Week in April!

More From Baked: Whoopie Pies, Sugar Cookies, Sweet and Salty Cake
Complete recipe after the jump.

Chocolate Goldfish?

Goldfish always remind me of my sister. When she was little, she was addicted to them, much like a crack addict it addicted to, well, crack. So, I immediately thought of her when I saw that Pepperidge Farm has recently introduced three new Goldfish flavors: chocolate, honey, and cinnamon! As far as I know this is the first time that goldfish have swum into the sweet pond (sorry, I couldn't resist!), but I guess now that they've conquered the savory, they've moved on to the sweet! I'm really interested to see how chocolate translates when moved to the hollow, crackerlike fish. Has anyone tried these?? Click here to see all the Goldfish flavors.

Cadbury Egg Flurries: Thanks Easter Bunny, Baulk, Baulk

I recently spotted this piece about different flurries from around the world on StumbleUpon and it got me super excited! It's always fun to see what people in different countries are eating. Just like in the States, many of these flurries are simply composed of ice cream and candy. But, wait, this isn't your regular run of the mill American candy. This is foreign candy!! Who isn't fascinated with the sugar buying habits of our distant relations?? Who doesn't make a beeline for the candy store the minute they step on foreign soil?? Okay, maybe I'm the only one who does that. Honestly, though, I was most fascinated by two very familiar Easter favorites that have found their way into flurries in the UK and Canada: Cadbury Crème Eggs and Cadbury Mini Eggs.

The mini eggs have always been one of my favorite Easter treats and while I've outgrown my childhood love of the classic cream eggs, I'm still extremely curious as to what fake yolk and vanilla ice cream tastes like! Sounds like a future dessert project to me. Click here to see the complete list of foreign flurries.

p.s. In case anyone was wondering, I don't support McDonald's in any way, but I couldn't let this one go without a post!

photo by Gregory Alvangyh

Tord Boontje Cake

I am so loving this cake by designer Kate Sullivan. When I first saw it I thought, that's what a Tord Boontje cake would look like if, you know, Tord Boontje quite his day job and opened a bakery! I later discovered that this cake is indeed called the Boontje Nature Cake, so the inspiration is fully acknowledged by Ms. Sullivan. I know some people are getting rather tired of the whole animal trend, and I've been desperately trying to wean myself off it, but I just can't seem to stop! I'm a sucker for animal designs and I don't know if I'll ever get over it! Anyway, Kate Sullivan has a lot of other great, nonanimal-related cakes over at her Web site, many of which are inspired by artists like Robert Indiana, Andy Warhol, and filmmaker Preston Sturges (see below). There's also the Guggenheim Museum cake, complete with miniature people waiting outside.

Kate's cakes are especially impressive once you discover that she didn't train at some fancy wancy culinary skill, but learned her trade by studying books and by engaging in the art of good old-fashioned practice. See, there is still hope for the rest of us! Click here for more great photos on Kate's Web site.

Whoopie Pies: Retro Treat of the Moment

If you're a fan of food Web sites, and you know you are, then you've probably seen lots and lots of pictures of yummy whoopie pies popping up on your computer screen over the past year or so. There is definitely a trend going on and The New York Times had a piece about this very topic in Tuesday's issue. There is something fun and playful about these nostalgic treats that makes them pretty hard to resist. The kitschy factor and their ability to evoke memories of childhood are a big part of their appeal. Let's face it, oftentimes, there's nothing better than a simple and homey dessert!

On the nontraditional front, the Times article mentions that some bakeries are experimenting with the classic whoopie flavors. Places like Cranberry Island Kitchen in Maine are spicing up their vanilla fillings with Cointreau, raspberry, and espresso. What do you think? Are you a whoopie purist or do you like the idea of fiddling with tradition?

Click here to read the complete New York Times article, which includes a section about the history of the name!

Update: After writing this post last week, I couldn't stop thinking about the pumpkin whoopie pies in the Baked cookbook. I've always thought that they looked really good, so I broke down and made them on Sunday. Yum, yum, yum, YUM!! Seriously, one of my all-time favorite desserts from one of my all-time favorite cookbooks!! The guys at Baked admit that they tweaked with the traditional whoopie recipe when creating their version (that's their pic above), so I suggest that you follow their recipe for maximum enjoyment! You can find it here, along with a video, on Martha Stewart's Web site. Yum! (p.s. The picture above is from Baked. My pics weren't quite so pretty!)

High Fashion Candy

I have a confession to make. I actually watch Bravo's Make Me a Supermodel. (Don't judge!) I mainly tune in because I love photography and enjoy watching that whole setup process involved in taking a picture and then getting to see the final image at the end. Really. I like photography! I'm not just making an excuse for why I watch the show! Oh yeah, and there's also the fact that, like a stereotypical chick, I'm into clothes and love looking at pretty dresses, like the one Salome wore in episode two (see pic #2). Gorgeous! Anyway, the photo shoot in last week's episode had little to do with fashion and more to do with . . . candy! All the models were covered with paint and told to "embody" their assigned candy (gumballs, pixie sticks, sprinkles, etc), which was, apparently, quite difficult for many of the models. One of my favorite moments was when one of girls complained that she didn't know what to do with "chocolate" because, well, chocolate doesn't actually do anything. Luckily, not all the models found the task quite so difficult and the winning photo was Jordan's ode to the candy cane, which is seen above.

The photographer that snapped all the sugar-inspired pics in last week's episode, Suza Scalora, is no stranger to working with candy. There are some pics on her Web site that use sweets as props that I actually like better than the photos featured on Model.

If you would like to see more of Suza's work, check out her Web site. To check out the full collection of photographs from the "Pour Some Sugar on Me" episode (yep, that's the title), click here.

Black Hound Bakery Cakes

Black Hound Bakery has the cutest cakes! They look so good and word on the street (okay, word in local newspapers and magazines, like The New York Times) is that they actually taste as wonderful as they look. We all know how often looks can be deceiving and we've all been fooled by a nice-looking cake at one time or another, so it's nice to know that the Black Hound cakes won't break our hearts once we bite into them. I'm especially fond of their samplers, which allow you to try a variety of flavors, without buying the whole cake. Also, if you're an avid reader of ingredients, like me, you'll be happy to know that Black Hound lists their cake components on their Web site and I am happy to report that I could pronounce each and every ingredient listed. No partially this or that in these cakes!

If you're in New York you can stop by their shop to oogle all their baked goods or you can order online by clicking here.

(above: Lemon Blossom Cake, below: checker cake, Classic American Cakes Collection)

Classic Sugar Cookies from Baked

Well, I'm in the process of making my way through the Baked cookbook and I have yet to be disappointed! So far, I have made two cakes (salted caramel and malted milk) and the Baked Brownies. All of which received rave reviews! Last weekend I made the Classic Sugar Cookies, even though the thought of eating sugar cookies bores me, but I really wanted to make something with cookie cutters and sugar cookies are the obvious choice. (Has anyone used cookie cutters on another type of cookie?) These were really yummy, though, so I was pleasantly surprised. The frosting was a little runny and I couldn't manage to get just the right consistency, but it worked out fine. I probably wouldn't decorate them the next time because it's a bit time consuming and the cookies look and taste really nice, just on their own. That said, I have to say, even though my cookies look as though they were decorated by a 5th grader, it was a super fun activity for a Sunday afternoon!! For more information on Baked, click here.

Foie Gras Eclairs, Anyone?

Here's another article that I saw in The New York Times over the holidays and am just now getting around to posting! Fancy food shop Fauchon, makers of some of the world's most unusual éclairs, introduced a new flavor just in time for Christmas last December. Foie gras. Yep, that's right, goose liver, a goose liver éclair covered with hazelnut frosting! Gross! I'm sorry, but this sounds disgusting. On the other hand, I've never eaten foie gras or liver, so I have no idea how it tastes and will admit that I'm basing this opinion on virtually nothing. An expert pastry chef, in this case Fauchon's Christoph Adam, and an unhealthy dose of sugar can probably make anything taste good, probably. If you prefer a little less meat with your frosting, Fauchon has other savory éclairs to choose from, like those stuffed with peas, mushrooms, or curry. Of course, for the less adventurous, there are the sweeter and more traditional chocolate and fruit-filled varieties. To find a Fauchon store near you, click here, and you can check out the New York Times story right here. Quick, do it before the Times and all other newspaper cease to exist.

*On a side note, I love the Mitchell Feinberg photo (above) that appeared in the Times. It makes up for the nauseous feeling I had after reading the text!

photo courtesy of Claire Meneely

Vintage Cake Toppers

I'm having a huge "oh, my gosh, I love these" moment over these candle holders and cake toppers that I found on Etsy. I don't normally like things that rarely get used because they just make me think about how they're going to end up in a garbage dump some day, polluting the Earth. The good news is that these particular pieces are vintage, so I can purchase them guilt free! (Okay, so I still feel guilty about the packaging involved in mail order, but most of that, if not all of it, can be recycled.) These would look so adorable atop your favorite cake or cupcake! Instant crowd appeal, with very little effort!

[Wooden Cake Toppers Candle Holders Zoo Animals ($7); Dancing Teens Cupcake Toppers ($4); Vintage Ballerina Cake Toppers ($5); Little Vintage Flower Candleholders in Pinks Yellow and Red ($3)]

Nestle Toll House Swirled Morsels

photo courtesy of Anna Kashkanova

Okay, I admit it. I don't know when Nestle introduced these swirled chips. It could have been last week or it could have been ten years ago, for all I know. If this is old news to some of you, excuse my delayed reaction, but I'm SUPER excited about them!! In the right dessert, they look so cute! It actually comes across as if you've done something really fancy, when really, all you've done is pour a bag of chocolate chips into your batter. Well, they aren't just plain old chocolate chips, really. Each chip is swirled with either white chocolate, peanut butter, or caramel. From a purely visual standpoint, I like the black and white chips the best. They stand out the most, although I've always had a soft spot for chocolate and peanut butter! If you need some inspiration, Nestle includes a whole slew of swirled-chip recipes on their site. Click here for more pictures/recipes and here for additional information on the chips.

Beatty's Chocolate Cake

photo by Esme McClear

Last week my sister sent me an e-mail that said this:

I just ate an amazing cake my friend Jenny made.

Honestly, I'm always skeptical when people tell me about a cake that they really liked. People get excited about cake. I get excited about cake (mmmm…cake). Cakes have so much potential, but, really, most of the time I just end-up being disappointed by them. More often than not, for me, cake does not live up to its hype. So, when I finally got my hands on a piece of this so-called amazing cake, I wasn’t expecting much. I took a bite before I ate dinner, just to try it, and then I took another taste, and another, and then proceeded to eat the whole thing! It was really good. It's a very tasty chocolate cake and, like I said, I'm a bit of a cake snob! It does have a very slight coffee taste, but you don't notice it after the first bite. I hate the taste of coffee and I was pretty much licking the plate!

The recipe originally came from the Ina Garten's book Barefoot Contessa at Home, but Jenny found it on pete bakes. You can view the complete recipe on Pete's Web site by clicking here. Pete's version is a bit different, so it's fun to view his pics as well!

Jenny made some slight changes to the recipe, which you can find below. Thanks to Esme for taking the beautiful picture!

• For the cocoa powder, I used half hot chocolate and cocoa powder.
  
• I added hazelnuts, toasted them, crushed them, mixed them with sugar and cinnamon, and then pressed the mess to the sides.
  
• I used canola oil instead of veg oil, but I don't think that would make a difference.

April Reed, Cake Designer

I've been wanting to do a piece on cake designer April Reed for some time now and this seemed like the perfect time, considering that the subject of one of my recent posts, the Farnsworth gingerbread house, was created by Ms. Reed. One of the reasons that I love April Reed's cakes is because she, like me, is a genuine, old-fashioned cake head! After graduating from the Culinary Institute of American and working at Tom Coliccho's Craft Restaurant in NYC, she decided that she just couldn't keep cake of her mind! She chucked it all in in 2001 and began working on her dream job, her very own cake design company! Reed's creations are both beautiful and original. I am especially fond of the Carnation Cake (the detailing is wonderful) and the Studded Truffle Cake (so fun)! Click here for more great pictures and additional info.

Godiva Hearts, for People Who Insist on Celebrating Valentine's Day

photo courtesy of Karen Turner

Okay, I have two statements to make before I get to the chocolatey goodness section of this post.

Preface #1 - I think Valentine's Day is totally lame! I've always felt that way. Well, maybe not when I was in second grade, but I don't think I was waxing philosophical about holidays at that point. I was too busy fantasizing about Fred from Scooby Doo to worry about such things. I just don't understand why people put such importance on receiving a gift on Valentine's Day, especially when it's usually a gift that requires no brainpower, like candy, flowers, or stuffed bears. Oh, yea! My significant other bought me a gift not because they were thinking of me, but because their calender and the mall told them to! They must really love me! Not that I object to flowers or candy. I just object to them on February 14th!

Preface #2 - I think Godiva is, generally speaking, overrated. I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this point, but I kind of think Godiva is like Tiffanys, in that all you're really paying for is the name. Is that diamond/chocolate truffle any better than any other diamond/chocolate truffle or are we just wowed by the name on the box? Maybe you're one of those people who genuinely LOVE Godiva's candy. I know a lot of people that do, so it is possible that maybe I'm wrong about their chocolate! I've also, in the past, bought gifts at Tiffanys, so, you know, I understand the lure of the fancy. :-)

That said, I was at Godiva the other day and couldn't stop looking at this box of heart-shaped chocolates!

photo courtesy of Karen Turner

I know! I was shocked! They were so pretty and unique, which makes sense once I realized that they're designed by pastry chef Norman Love (awww . . . love). It also sounds like these little hearts are filled with some interesting flavors like Apple Pie, Bananas Foster, and Caramel Macchiato, which is always a good sign! Give them to someone for Valentine's Day, if you're into that sort of thing. Click here to order the Hearts G Collection online (15 piece or 30 piece box) or click here to find a Godiva store near you.

Orla Kiely . . . at Target!!!

I'm soooo excited! Designer Orla Kiely is coming to Target in February! Her home collection will include great items for your kitchen like towels, placemats, napkins, aprons, oven mitts, dishes, trays, mugs, and a whole lot more. Plus, there are products for other parts of your home as well (laundry bags, shoe racks, desk trays, etc). Click here to see the full collection! Yippee!

The Farnsworth House in Miniature

Keeping with my love of edible houses, may I present the gingerbread Farnsworth House, courtesy of cake designer April Reed. The New York Times recently did a piece on this yummy version of Mies van der Rohe's modern classic and I instantly feel in love with it! Of course, the price tag on this mini-house is $4,320, so it won't be sitting on my kitchen table anytime soon. On the plus side, 15 percent of the proceeds will be donated to help repair the much larger Farnsworth House in Illinois, so at least you'll know that some of your hard-earned money is going to charity. Click here to check out the piece in the New York Times and here to visit April Reed's Web site.

My Favorite Dessert: Blueberry Banana Cream Pie by Pretty Ditty

I'm sooo excited! It's my first guest blog! And it's from Jamie from Pretty Ditty. Woo hoo! I recently discovered Jamie's gorgeous aprons on Etsy and I have to say they are among some of my favorite aprons, ever!

From the front, you could mistake them for really wonderful dresses. I know I've said that before, about other aprons, but the Pretty Ditty aprons really are so lovely! I want to wear one all day long! In addition to being a world-class apron maker, Jamie also has a blog where she shows off her many crafting skills, like making adorable pegs dolls like the one seen below. You can click here to visit Jamie's Etsy site and to see more of her charming aprons. Thanks, Jaime!


Here's what Jaime had to say about this recipe:

One of my favorite recipes to make is Blueberry Banana Cream Pie. This particular recipe was handed down to me by a very dear friend who moved much too far away from me. I love this recipe because 1) it's light and very delicious 2) very fast to make 3) it's EASY. Last week a made a dessert that took 3 HOURS to make . . . not cool.
Blueberry Banana Cream Pie

• 1 deep dish frozen pie crust (cook according to directions & let cool.


• Mix 1 cup of sugar with 8 ounces of cream cheese (set aside).


• Prepare 1 package of Dream Whip according to directions on the box.


• Combine sugar mixture with the Dream Whip.


• Layer pie crust with sliced bananas and then fill with cream mixture.


• Refrigerate overnight to set. (I must admit, I never refrigerate overnight. I usually refrigerate for 1 hour, because I'm never that prepared to pre-make the dessert any earlier.)


• Serve it with blueberry pie filling on top. ( I like Comstock.)

Enjoy!

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

Word on the street is that Starbucks has a new Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate available that is sure to excite any and all fans, myself included, of the legendary sweet and salty combination. According to their Web site it combines "the flavors of buttery caramel and smoked sea salt," which explains why it's called Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate. I haven't tried it yet, but I have it on good authority that it's delicious!

For those of you who want to know exactly how many calories you're drinking (aka gluttons for punishment), Starbucks supplies a nutrition calculator for each of their products on their Web site. Enter your specifics (large or small, whipped cream or plain, soy milk or whole) and, voila, it gives you all the stats! Pretty neat or maybe not so neat, if you're getting a large hot chocolate with whipped cream! 760 calories? Yikes! Click here for more information.

Donuts Get a Facelift

As most of you have probably heard by now, donuts are the new cupcakes, at least that's what trend watchers claim. Yep, you heard it right. Donuts want to be this year's homecoming queen and they're pushing hard to get your vote. The television show 30 Rock even had a joke on a recent episode about letting tourists know that donuts have taken over for cupcakes as the new hip dessert! Personally, I don't know if donuts will ever be able to truly steal cupcake's crown, but I'm excited to see them try! Because, at the end of the day, a new food trend means that bakers are going to be experimenting with interesting flavors and developing unique ideas. For example, you can go to Dee's Mini Organic Donoughts in California and get an organic, whole wheat donut that is completly free of trans fats or you can go to Voodoo Doughnut in Portland and get a maple donut covered with bacon. There are just so many options!
My vote for prettiest donuts has to go to Big Apple Donuts, which is, uhhh, not located in New York. In fact, you can't even buy them in North America! Big Apple only has stores in Asia, which is not really surprising because all the prettiest pastries come from Asia.

Chip and Dip Cookies

These are my new favorite cookies! They are sooo good! Created by a mother who needed to come up with a new kind of cookie for her nut-hating son, this recipe utilizes two of my favorite flavors, sweet and salty. In order to give the cookies the crunchiness of nuts, without actually using them, the boy's mother decided to replace the nuts with pretzels and potato chips. In addition, her son, who sounds like a royal pain in the butt, would only eat the frosted portion of the cookies that she made, leaving the rest uneaten, so she added chocolate to both ends. That way, he'd eat the whole thing! I guess I'm glad that this particular mom had a picky eater for a son, otherwise we wouldn't have these wonderful cookies! Click here for the complete recipe, courtesy of Relish.