Last Saturday night, somefolksin Philly got together to throw a Battlestar Galactica party. When it came to the dessert, they knew that they didn't need to look any further than local baker Zoë Lukas (she's the one who created those those really cool Robert Indiana cookies that I posted about a few months ago).
She didn't let them down, creating a work of art out of chocolate devil's food cake. It is filled with raspberry jam and ganache, iced with chocolate buttercream and ganache, decorated with chocolate ships and explosions, silver dragees and silver and gold space dust. Lukas is in the process of opening her own bakery in Philadelphia and I think I speak for the entire when I say, we can't wait.
Seems that when the Century Association, an august gentleman's club on West 43rd St. in New York City, learned that its macaroon supplier of 60 years would be closing its doors soon, it went on the hunt to find another baker with just the right stuff.
Is tax day bringing you down? Dunkin' Donuts wants to help raise your spirits. All day today, if you buy a cup of coffee at DD, they'll throw in a free donut. Because while there's no such thing in life as a free lunch, on April 15th, at least you can get yourself a free donut. I recommend the chocolate glazed.
Ah, The Times. Often, so behind the times. Oh, sure, I'm still an avid reader. But occasionally I just shake my head, like: they're just now discovering this phenomenon? (See: hipster librarians, Philadelphia's awesomeness, and the latest: Insomnia Cookies).
Insomnia Cookies is the brainchild of some UPenn students who smartly thought that college kids, up late cramming for finals, might crave warm cookies delivered to their door. Bam, the company was born. It has now expanded to thirteen campuses and offers more than just cookies (brownies and cookie cakes, anyone?)
For those of you out there who are beginning to think about getting your kitchens and pantries ready for Passover, be forewarned that you're going to have fewer Manischewitz products to choose from than you have in past years. The company has been in the process of putting a new oven in their one and only baking facility in Newark, NJ and, unfortunately, there were some engineering delays that made them miss the Passover baking window.
The company officials debated whether to stop producing some products altogether for the time being or just make less of them. The decided to temporarily stop production on a few of the less popular matzo products, including Passover Thin Tea Matzo, Yolk Free Egg Matzo, White Grape Matzo, Concord Grape Matzo, Spelt Matzo (unfortunate for observant Jews with wheat allergies) and the beloved cracker-sized Tam Tams.
So, for the Pesach-observant Slashfood readers, you might want to scour the shelves for any boxes of Tam Tams. Because when they're gone, there won't be anymore out there until the end of April.
In the past we've featured gadgets that make it possible to make a tic tac toe board on your toast, as well as toasters that can imprint your morning bread with images from the New York Times or will toast transparently. However, this image proves once again that machine can never replace the artistry of the human hand, even when it comes to crafting toast art.
Recently, the blog at Make Magazine put together a gallery of toast art images which are amazingly detailed and nuanced. This map of the world is by artist David Reimondo
It takes playing with your food to a whole new level.
Last spring, I volunteered to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kids' table at a church potluck. Knowing that not all kids like the dark, nutty whole wheat bread I grew up on, I bought a loaf of plain country white at my local Trader Joe's. As I stood in line, waiting to pay for my purchases, I wanted to shout out to all the people standing around me, "The white bread isn't for me! I swear I don't eat this stuff!" I was sweating by the time the loaf was tucked into my handled brown paper bag.
Bread is one of those staples most households like to keep around. Over at UrbanMamas, they are having an interesting conversation about how you pick the sliced bread that you buy for your family. I thought it would be an fun question to bring over here. What guides your choices when it comes to the regular loaves you keep on your counter or in your fridge (we were always bread in fridge people in my family)? Do you read labels or have a regular brand? Do you feel the same sense of shame that I have when you buy white bread, or do you wave your white bread flag proudly? Do tell, inquiring minds would like to know.
Good, fresh bread is one of life's great pleasures, at least in my opinion. I love to go to a great bakery and pick up a loaf for a special occasion. I wish I could do that every day, but I know it would go bad in my house. We just don't go through bread fast enough.
It would be even better if I could bake bread at home. I love to bake. Bread is usually just so time consuming and it rarely turns out at home like it does at the bakery.
I was reminded this week of an article I read in the New York Times food section from about a year ago that may change my mind. The Minimalist, Mark Bittman, interviewed/apprenticed with the owner of Sullivan Street Bakery, Jim Lahey. Together, they made a loaf using Mr. Lahey's innovative new method for making bread. The idea is to stir everything together(no kneading or anything), let it ferment (the yeast eats the flour to make alcohol and carbon dioxide) for a very long time, then bake it in a cast iron or ceramic covered pot.
The covered pot becomes a steamer once in the oven so you can get bakery level results from stuff you probably already have. The Minimalist had said that this is innovative, and it is. The only thing you need to make good, fresh bread at home is time, and a few things you more than likely have in your kitchen. The recipe and procedure are after the jump.
I am in heaven. First I find flame decals for my Kitchen Aid. Now I've found the best web site ever, at least in my opinion.
Pastry Chef Central has everything a pastry chef (or geek) could ever want! The site is basically split up into two sections: tools and ingredients. The tools section has several categories each filled with wonderful, beautiful toys, I mean tools. The ingredients section doesn't have any sub-sections, but it doesn't need any as it's choc full of lovely and fantastic things necessary for all manner of delicious desserts.
There's a third section, actually. It's a resource area with recipes and an "Ask the Chef" link.
The site is great. It's easy to read and follow. It's neat and clean, as any pastry web site should be. Best of all, Pastry Chef Central has lots of pictures! Can you actually see me drooling? Does anyone have any other pastry/baking websites to share?
I have a confession. That half of a cupcake you see right there, well, I actually was the one to eat it. Last Saturday morning, Scott and I went to Reading Terminal Market for brunch and grocery shopping. We bought a bunch of food and, as we were leaving, made a stop at Termini Brothers, one of the best and oldest bakeries in town. They've had a stall in the market for years and are known city-wide for their canoli, cakes, cookies and other baked goods.
We waited until we got home to bust into the cupcake and he got to it first and slicing it in half so that I'd get a fair portion. The color of the sprinkles was appealing and light in the apartment so good at the moment that he snapped a picture of the half eaten cake. Oh cupcakes, what you do to us!
Oh, how I wish I could take claim for these works of art. Alas, I cannot, so I'll be sure to thank the real artists: Clever Cupcakes of Montreal.
The company provides three cupcake choices for your indulging pleasure: classic, creative, and wholesome. Choose your classic combo from a multitude of cake, frosting, fillings and sprinkles choices; go creative a la Mario Bros.; or keep it health(ier) with the whole-grained goodness of a wholesome cake. The wholesome cakes are made with agave nectar, which has a lower glycemic index than sugar (a fancy way of saying that it won't make your blood sugar spike, resulting in those crazy sugar highs and lows).
Alas, the fresh ingredients and lack of preservatives that make these cupcakes so good is also what makes them unsuitable for shipping - so you can only enjoy them if you live in the Montreal area (or have a really good friend who's willing to send them to you).
Be like Creative Cupcakes and post your photos on the Slashfood's Flickr Photo Pool. C'mon, you know you want to. Everybody's doin' it...
I was always more of a Little Debbie fan. Star crunches were my absolute favorite. I still sometimes gaze longingly at them at the grocery store. I wonder how they're doing, since reports on their main competition, Interstate Bakeries Corporation, are not looking too good.
The maker of Hostess Cakes, Twinkies, and Wonder Bread has been losing sales for the last quarter at least. And in January alone the company lost $18.9 million. That's the biggest drop since Interstate Bakeries went into bankruptcy in late 2004.
I feel bad for the workers who actually make the products. They'll be the first to get hit. By the same token, I do not feel bad about what the drop in sales could mean. Hopefully people are starting to eat more wholesome and fewer processed foods. This may be a sign that consumers are moving away from foods that can last forever.
If you're in Philadelphia over the weekend, be sure to check out Let Them Eat Cake, a wedding cake design competition whose proceeds will go to benefit City of Hope, a California-based cancer care center.
Whether you're a participant (entry fee is $100 for professionals, and students can compete for free!) or just drooling spectator, it'll be totally worth it to take in the scene and watch as pastry chefs battle it out for nine different titles, including Most Artistic and Best Tasting (the cakes, not the chefs).
The 2006 Best of Show winner (pictured) was a delicate pink and white number from Ann's Cake Pan of Horsham, Pa.
The special guest judge will be Sylvia Weinstock, baker of extraordinary cakes and wearer of over sized glasses. (Her cakes are amazing, but the intricacy of the website alone tells me I could never afford one).
So, go! Marvel! Drool! And cross your fingers that they give out free samples at the end.
Pizza, that inexpensive, staple food of students and late night revelers, is about to get a little more expensive. Pizza shops and other businesses that use a lot of flour are feeling the pinch of rising prices and are starting to pass those costs along to the consumers. According to a report on Philadelphia's NBC10, in addition to being effected by rising fuel costs, flour prices are also going up as farmers plant corn in place of wheat in order to meet the demands of alternative fuel manufacturers.
Pizza will still remain relatively inexpensive, with slice prices going up in $.25 and $.50 increments. Whole pie might run you a buck or two more than they did in the past.
You'd think that after trying out Dunkin Donuts coffee brewed at home, I would leave well enough alone, but when a good deal comes around, I have to let you know about it. (I promise, I'm not on some secret Dunkin Donuts coffee promotion committee here at Slashfood.)
On Tuesday, February 26 (that's tomorrow!), Dunkin Donuts is offering 99 cent lattes from 1-10 PM in their stores. Granted, who waits until 1 PM to have a latte? Still, after having your first four cups in the morning, a 99 cent latte in the afternoon isn't a bad deal.
For those of you out there who are beginning to think about getting your kitchens and pantries ready for Passover, be forewarned that you're going to have fewer Manischewitz products to choose from than you have in past years. The company has been in the process of putting a new oven in their one and only baking facility in Newark, NJ and, unfortunately, there were some engineering delays that made them miss the Passover baking window. 
Good, fresh 
I am in heaven. First I find flame decals for my Kitchen Aid. Now I've found the best web site ever, at least in my opinion. 
I was always more of a Little Debbie fan. Star crunches were my absolute favorite. I still sometimes gaze longingly at them at the grocery store. I wonder how they're doing, since 
You'd think that after 
A fraking amazing Battlestar Galactica cake
Iced Tea 101
Pierogies + cheese + onions + kraut = Parmageddon!
