The Mixing Bowl: Iced White Chocolate with Warm Blueberry and Thyme Soup by Emma van Leest

Australian Emma van Leest is one of my favorite paper cut artists. In general, I have a soft spot in my heart for anyone that can create something so delicately beautiful out of a sheet of paper, but Emma’s work goes a step beyond the average paper cutter. Inspired by her travels and studies in the East, specifically China, Indonesia, and India, as well as her interests in Medieval saints, fairy tales, and folk art, Emma creates a unique and fascinating world that is simply awe inspiring. Her work is so breathtaking in its intricacies and subject matter that it’s nearly impossible to resist. I can’t even imagine the work that goes into one of her pieces!

For her Mixing Bowl recipe, Emma has chosen a recipe that is as interesting and creative as her work. She first tasted this sweet concoction at the Queenscliff Hotel and, even though she isn’t a huge fan of desserts, she loved this one so much that she asked the chef for the recipe. It seemed so simple, but, like so many of us know, not all desserts come out exactly as we envisioned! But that’s what I love about Emma’s write up. There is so much story to it! I really enjoyed reading about her struggles with this recipe, and, how, in the end, it was still delicious, although maybe not perfect. I hope you find a special occasion, or just a plain ol’ ordinary occasion, to be a bit adventurous like Emma and try this dessert! It sounds amazing!

You can find the complete recipe and story, along with additional photos, after the jump. You can view more of Emma’s lovely work on her Web site, right here. Thanks, Emma!

Edible Art: Martí Guixé, Food Designing

There is a quote from photographer Inga Knölke that appears on Martí Guixé’s home page that reads “A food designer is somebody working with food, with no idea of cooking.” It is the perfect way to introduce the viewer to Guixe’s work, which is all about enhancing the modern idea of food as a product, as opposed to a necessity. By creating objects like a hands-free lollipop, a pie chart which shows the percentage of ingredients in a cake, or a hot chocolate mug that “never gets dirty” he brings whimsy and imagination to objects that we all so often take for granted. Guixe was also the creator of the Candy Restaurant (a place for eating candies) in Tokyo, which was a unique food space where a chef served sweets to diners along with eating instructions. The childlike act of eating candy therefore transformed into a much more formal dining experience. What fun!

photo by asobi tsuchiya

You can find a collection of Guixe’s work in his book Food Designing. You can also check out some of his food-related pieces via his Web site, right here. Be sure to click on both the “food” and “tool” links.

Sweet Testing: Almond Green Tea Cupcakes

I have come to realize something about myself. I love almond flavoring! I only came to this realization recently, after eating these green tea and almond cupcakes from Baked, but, from now on, I am all about eating anything flavored with almond! Actually, this new found epiphany is not really surprising, given the fact that I eat almonds every day, but as much as I love real live almonds, I don’t know if they can take credit for the yumminess of these cupcakes. I think it’s the more intense almond extract that does the trick. Whatever it is, I think these may be the best cupcakes I’ve ever made! They were definitely a nice change over more traditional chocolate/vanilla cupcakes. Oh, and the green tea taste is very subtle, so if you’re not a tea lover, I wouldn’t let that stop you from trying these! So good!

You can find the complete recipe after the jump.

Breakfast Interrupted

I’m not a person who likes to waste food. I will eat every last bite on my plate, even if my gut is completely and utterly stuffed and I will often eat the last spoonful of food in a bowl, rather than throw it down the sink. But, despite my aversion to waste, I simply cannot stop watching this utterly charming food video by Bruton Stroube Studio for the Marlin Network, titled Breakfast Interrupted. While there is a small part of me that is upset about the ruining of a perfectly lovely breakfast spread, I feel like there is something oddly calming about the piece as well. It definitely makes me hungry for brunch! For more on Bruton Stroube, click here. (You can also check out short behind the scenes video below.)

The Mixing Bowl: Lemon Meringue Pie by Lindsay J. Haynes

I first discovered the work of illustrator Lindsay J. Haynes while I was flipping through the current issue of Uppercase magazine, in which we both appear. I'm in the issue rambling on about how food inspires me, while Lindsay shows up in a great article about cereal box art. I was instantly drawn to her retro-inspired take on the classic cereal box. If sugar frosted planets had existed when I was a kid, I definitely would have been buying it! (Okay, my mom wouldn't have let me buy it, but I would have wanted it!) It has just the right amount of believability and kitsch. After scurrying over to her Web site, I was pleased to discover a similar style in much of her work, including her wonderful Twin Peaks prints that I was drooling over for days!

Now on to the dessert! For her Mixing Bowl contribution, Lindsay sent in her mom's recipe for lemon meringue pie. I love family recipes and I love lemon meringue pie, so I'm really excited to try this one! When it comes to desserts, nothing says comfort food like simplicity and tradition! To see a larger version of the lemon meringue pie recipe, just click on the image at the top of this post. You can also click here to check out more of Lindsay's work online. {Thanks, Lindsay!}

Cookbook Excitement: Miette

Omg, omg. Okay, that’s a little annoying, but seriously…OMG! One of my most favorite bakeries ever, Miette, is releasing a cookbook on June 22nd! I have a sneaking suspicion that my Baked obsession is going to turn into a Miette obsession sometime in the next few months. Right now, there are only a few images  available, but I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy, so that I can see what other photos are included inside.  Their baked goods are always so lovely to look at, not to mention all together yummy. If you haven't tried anything from their shop, I would highly recommend the toffee and the macarons, which are available by mail order. To preorder Miette: Recipes from San Francisco's Most Charming Pastry Shop, click here.

Have a great (long) weekend! ~Erin

Maggie Austin Cake

I am totally smitten with Maggie Austin Cake (Washington DC). In fact, I’ve been collecting photographs of Maggie’s cakes for a while now and only recently realized that the gorgeous cakes that I had been ogling over all these months had all been created by the same person! She definitely has some of the most beautiful and creative cakes around. I’m especially fond of her stained glass series of cakes and cookies, but her cakes with the delicate paperlike detailing run a close second! They actually remind me a bit of filo pastry. I’ve chosen some of my favorites above and below, but you can check out more of her wonderful designs on her Web site,  right here.

Embroidery Cake

I’ve never been very good at sewing. I’m the type of person who sews a button on a shirt and then watches as it falls off a week later. A needle and thread are not my friends. An embroidery cake, on the other hand, now that’s something I can get behind! You get all the fun of creating an embroidery pattern without having to do any of the actual sewing!

The floral design, which was created by Stephanie for her blog A Clockwork Lemon, is based on an actual embroidery pattern and uses jimmy sprinkles instead of thread! So lovely and creative! Normally, I wouldn’t just repost another person’s blog post, but this one was too special to pass up! To learn more, check out Stephanie’s post, right here.

The Mixing Bowl: Strawberry Shortcake by Lee Price

Food, generally speaking, makes me happy, eating it, thinking about it, looking at it, so when I first saw Lee Price’s photorealistic oil paintings of women and food, I was thrilled! The way she uses food is amazing! At first, there is that initial surface reaction of seeing a gorgeous, beautifully rendered image, but the more you look at her work the more you realize that beneath the quiet facade, so much more is going on. For me, her work definitely brings up issues of how the role of food changes in a society where a high supply of goods makes food consumption less about survival and more about our mental state, how eating a candy bar can, often, comfort us or shame us, cause arousal or nausea, depending on our emotions at any given time. As much as I love food, even I am guilty of letting my emotions affect my eating, of letting what I eat, sometimes, affect my emotions. The human race’s relationship with food is a complicated one and, I, for one, couldn’t stop looking at Lee’s paintings. Really lovely and interesting work.

Given the fact that she is vegan, Lee actually makes a lot of the baked goods that are featured in her paintings. Of course, I was super excited when she agreed to snap some photos for us the next time she made something for a shoot. I love, love, love seeing the process of her making the dessert and then seeing the finished painting (see image below). I was also really happy that she used a Strawberry Shortcake recipe from the BabyCakes cookbook, which is a great book for vegan and gluten-free baking (note: this recipe is only vegan, not gluten-free because of the spelt flour).

The Evoke Contemporary Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico is currently running an exhibition of Lee Price’s work, you can click here for more info. You can also see more of Lee’s paintings on her Web site, right here.

You can find the complete recipe and more images after the jump. Thanks so much to Lee for sharing her work!

Sweet Testing: Vegan, Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies, Just Like Mom Used to Make

No, my mom didn't make vegan or gluten-free cookies when I was growing up, let alone a cookie that was both free of dairy AND gluten, but, if she did, they would have tasted like these cookies! Vegan and/or gluten-free baking isn't always easy. Not every dessert holds up to the conversion, but the classic, hard to screw up, chocolate chip cookies, seems to have survived the transition effortlessly. Okay, there was some effort involved, on the part of BabyCakes, who created this recipe, but believe me when I tell you that you will not be able to tell the difference between this cookie and the white flour/dairy version.

You can find the complete recipe after the jump.

Inspiration Board: Muppets

The Muppets, stars of the television series The Muppet Show, as well as numerous big screen movies, often get the short end of the stick when it comes to dessert decoration. They are often overlooked for their older, more popular cousins on Sesame Street, so when I saw these wonderful cupcakes by Cupcake Occasions, I was sooo excited. I'm especially fond of the Beaker cupcake because that's what we used to call my mom when I was an adolescent, not because she spoke in a high-pitched squeak, but because she and the red-haired Muppet shared the same job. After doing some additional Muppet dessert research, I came across the cake below, which was made by Heather and is based on my all-time favorite Muppet movie, The Great Muppet Caper. I was in Muppet heaven.

Animal Cake by Denheath Desserts