What am I going completely gaga over at this very moment? These adorable cake decorations from Ticings! Boring old cakes, cookies, and cupcakes are completely transformed into something fun and interesting simply by adding one of these pieces of edible icing. It's such a great way to turn everyday treats into something unique. I'm already thinking about which one I want to try first! Oh, and they're totally gluten free and kosher! Click here to check out all the designs online.
I know what some of you may be thinking. Chocolate and zucchini? Yuck! But trust me, this cake tastes nothing like zucchini! I'm not a big zucchini fan, so I was a little concerned about the whole zucchini aspect of this thing, too, especially when the recipe said to chop the zucchini into small pieces, instead of grating it. I was really worried that people would be put off by all those little bits of zucchini in their cake, but it wasn't even noticeable . . . at all! It was a really great tasting cake and I loved the hard chocolate shell on top. Oh, and did I mention that it's really easy to make? Not to mention really easy to eat! I hope you think so, too!
Generally speaking, I'm not much of a chip eater. Chips have gotten more appetizing over the years, but I don't really like greasy foods, so classic potato chips just really aren't my thing. Don't get me wrong; I'll eat them, but they're not on my list of food obsessions. I'll have to admit, though, that when I saw these Food Should Taste Good chips at Whole Foods I was intrigued enough to stop and browse the flavors. Sweet potato, lime, olive, potato and chive, chocolate…chocolate?? Chocolate tortilla chips?? Oh, my gosh!! Once again, the possibility of discovering a sweet and salty masterpiece took hold of me.
Yes, your eyes to not deceive you that is a wedding dress made out of cake (and some pretty cool looking cake, at that)! Artist Lukka Sigurdardottir is the fabulous lady responsible for creating this extraordinary wedding cake dress and, personally, I was blown away when I saw it this afternoon. Such a playful take on tradition, like something out of children's story or a surrealistic painting, which are often not all that different! Oh, wait, I just remembered what this reminds me of! The Tom Petty video for Don't Come Around Here No More! Similar idea, but not as scary. :-) For more info, check out the Web site Gather and Nest.
When I first caught a glimpse of this Godiva store in Tokyo, I was completely awestruck. In this incredible chocolate shop, designed by the Japanese interior design firm, Wonderwall, chocolate covers the walls and drips from melting ceilings, making it like no other Godiva store that I've seen before. It's whimsical and funny and creepy all at the same time! Not bad creepy, but, you know, a sort of Hansel and Gretel creepy, in that you want to eat the walls, but you feel like they might attack you at some point! :-) To learn more about this strange and wonderful store, click here.
Another take on my beloved salted caramel, but this time it's gluten free! The trickiest part is the caramel, which is easy to make and easy to screw up, all at the same time. Everyone has there own way of making caramel, but I've found it's best to take it off the burner as soon as it turns amber...and I mean immediately! It's not difficult, but you do have to time it right or it's a disaster! Luckily, there aren't that many ingredients involved, so, if if turns into a big candy ball, you can just try again.
I can't stop looking at these seriously decadent designs from British chocolatier Choccywoccydoodah. I was just thinking that these desserts look like something straight out of a Tim Burton movie, and then I discovered that Choccywoccydoodah actually did a lot of the chocolate work in Burton's remake of Willy Wonka! They also crafted delicious treats for one of the Harry Potter movies as well. Makes total sense. Their work conjures up such images of fun and fantasy that would work perfectly in those movies. Even their name makes you smile! Click here to view more of their work and here to order online.
This post will be short and sweet because I've already written so many posts about the Baked cookbook! I'm a HUGE pumpkin fan, so it's not that surprising that I would like this one, although I did make pumpkin bread last year, using a nonBaked recipe, and I was really disappointed. This, on the other hand, was delicious! Yum from the first bite!
(Image above: Cake by Mike's Amazing Cakes, photo by celustig)
Steampunk cookies and bourbon bread pudding with bourbon glaze from Jenny Bannock
Cake by Mike's Amazing Cakes, photo by Libby Bulloff
Cake topper by The Builder's Studio ($139)
Nothing says happy holidays like fudge! Homemade fudge was a family tradition when I was a kid, so I was so pleased when Sarah at yellowlion sent over this delicious (and easy!) recipe for marshmallow/walnut/chocolate chip fudge! It's the perfect holiday treat and, as Sarah told me, a must for any chocolate lover!
Based in Chicago, Sarah creates beautiful screen prints that are inspired by her love of nature and, of all things, the patterns of Rorschach tests! Personally, I've always been fascinated with the look of the Rorschach inkblots. There's something about their surreal, dreamlike quality that I can't resist, so I love how Sarah takes that concept and kicks it up a notch with gorgeous colors and interesting designs.
I hope you all enjoy your holidays! Click here for more information on Sarah's work and to shop online! Thanks, Sarah! More fudge and prints after the jump.
I don't know what it is, but sometimes I enjoy the things I bake more the next day. Maybe I spend so much time in the kitchen that by the time the cake/cookies/whatever comes out of the oven, I'm pretty much sick of them. Maybe I put too much pressure on myself and the food that I'm bound to be disappointed once I finally get around to taking a bite. Maybe, sometimes, foods just need to rest a bit in order for the flavors to really settle in. You know, like how soup is better if you make it the night before. Anyway, these cookies were definitely a better the next day kind of thing for me.
After writing this post, I came across Carolyn's review of these cookies on Food Gal and quickly realized that my big mistake was using chocolate chips instead of chopping the chocolate myself. I usually follow instructions, but I was short on time and I didn't think that it would make a huge difference. Apparently, the chopped chocolate transforms an ordinary cookie into something more like a peanut butter cup! So, there you go! I'm sorry Baked for not listening to you! It won't happen again! :-)
Wow! These are impressive cupcakes! They're actually award-winning cupcakes and I can understand why! Their lemon meringue cupcake (a vanilla cupcake with fresh lemon curd inside and garnished with a soft torched Italian meringue) took home a gold medal at Sydney Royal Fine Food Show and I can see why. It's almost too intimidating to eat . . . almost! The vanilla, strawberry, peppermint, chocolate, and carrot varieties walked away with silver medals, so anything you get at Cupcakes on Pitt will probably be pretty tasty. They even have giant cupcakes (20cm in diameter, height 22 to 25cm) for when you're really really hungry.
Cupcakes on Pitt don't take online orders at the moment, so if you don't live nearby you'll just have to settle for looking at the pictures. If you live in Australia, click here for locations.
Happy Friday, everyone! I've spent the last week dealing with a very persistent leaky roof/window issue that I've had for the past oh, I don't know, three years or so, and I was feeling a little down in the dumps about, well, the dump that I call my home, when I got an e-mail from Clementine Derodit about her new cookbook that instantly cheered me up! I can't think of better cure for an annoying water drip then looking at the delicious food and sweet illustrations that fill the pages of Clementine cute book, Et togue! Based in France, illustrator Clementine has created a wonderful recipe book for children that is filled with a cast of adorable characters and includes intriguing recipe titles like "pirate's soup" and "tyrannosaurus poo." Personally, I'm loving the page for "Risotto bicolore." Risotto has never looked more fun!
The text of Et togue is in French, but Clementine graciously agreed to translate the Chocolate Cloud recipe for us, which you can find below. You can also watch a cute little video about the book, which is in French with English subtitles. Even if you don't understand French it's still fun to watch. Everything sounds better in French! :-)
I love this article on St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake that appeared in the New York Times early this month. The story is centered around writer Melissa Clark's first tasting and subsequent baking of this delicious Made by Molly treat!
Last weekend, my sister, my mom, and I got our hands dirty, tackling another recipe from the Babycakes cookbook: gluten-free blondies. Actually, there wasn't much tackling going on because, as long as you have the ingredients, this recipe is actually really easy to make and the blondies turned out great! And I don't mean great for a vegan, gluten-free dessert. I mean great, period. I know that there are varying opinions of Babycakes out there and I'm not saying that all their recipes hit the spot, but these were good. More like mini chocolate chip muffins then blondies, but, hey, I like mini chocolate chip muffins, so that was okay by me. Besides, Zooey Deschanel likes them, so they must be good! :-)
