Bakeries

Mother's Cookies are no more

by Marisa McClellan, Posted Oct 9th 2008 @ 11:31AM

(Click the photo to see the Top 5 Best Selling Cookie Brands)

When I think of Mother's Cookies, I immediately slip back into my childhood. I remember Sunday School snack, which often consisted of a tiny cup of grape juice and one or two of those pink and white frosted, animal shaped sugar cookies. During high school, my friends and I would often run to the dirty downtown Safeway for snacks to last us through play rehearsal and often, a bag of Mother's Cookies would return to school with us.

As of this Monday, there will be no more fresh memories of Mother's Cookies. The Oakland, CA-based company abruptly closed their doors and filed for bankruptcy protection, citing the rising costs of fuel and supplies as the reason. A number of people lost their jobs in the closing and the country lost an iconic cookie.

Top 5 Selling Cookie Brands(click thumbnails to view gallery)

[via Married with Dinner]

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Filed under: Food News, Bakeries

I'll put a spell on you: I finally got to try the Voodoo maple donut!

COMMENTS 5

by Bruce Watson, Posted Sep 26th 2008 @ 3:00PM

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about Voodoo Donuts' Bacon-Maple Bar. I tried to maintain some level of journalistic integrity, pretending to be ambivalent about the seductive wonder that the mass of sugar, greasy dough, and smoky pork held for me. I claimed a certain level of disgust, even as I frankly admitted my attraction. In many ways, it was like describing my feelings for Courtney Love.

Well, no more. I can no longer pretend to have even the smallest amount of distance from this wonderful agglomeration of fat, sugar, and empty calories. Last night, at a Oregon food showcase, I met the owners of Voodoo donuts and tasted a modified, East-coast version of their Frankenstinian confection. Sad to say, it was absolutely everything that I expected: delicious, seductive, and oh so bad for me.

The NYC Bacon Maple Bar began with a locally-produced basic donut that both my wife and Voodoo Donuts' President assured me was extremely close to the real thing. It was then slathered in a maple frosting, liberally sprinkled with filberts, and given a final dollop of bacon. Simultaneously salty, sweet, crunchy, and fluffy, the finished product was everything that a "pancakes and bacon with tons of maple syrup" man could want. It was heaven.

Unfortunately, the Voodoo Donuts guys are heading back out West shortly, which means that the Bacon Maple Donut and I have had to part ways. Even so, it has given me a reason to contemplate a visit to Portland, Oregon. Now, I just have to wait for airline tickets to come into range...

Filed under: Food Porn, Feast Your Eyes, Ingredients, Bakeries

The best groom's cake ever

COMMENTS 6

by Shayna Glick, Posted Aug 18th 2008 @ 7:05PM

Having worked in a bakery setting since I was 18, I've seen my share of groom's cakes. Actually, I had never heard of the groom's cake until I started working in a bakery. Most of them are chocolate cake with a golf or foot ball theme. My best friend's groom went with a caramel cake, which was very delicious. This one really takes the cake, though.

The Black Widow Bakery came up with the best groom's cake I've ever seen. There's not even any fru-fru cake to ruin the manliness of it. It's a meat cake. The layers are made up of meat loaf, with a special glaze filling, and mashed potato icing. The decorations were created with that same glaze, which is made from Worcestershire sauce , brown sugar, and ketchup.

All the details are here. I'm pretty amused by this cake. I actually think it's a really neat idea. Have you seen any really great groom's cakes recently?

[via Coldmud]

Filed under: On the Blogs, Ingredients, Bakeries

Mrs. Field's may be filing for bankruptcy

COMMENTS 11

by Shayna Glick, Posted Aug 16th 2008 @ 11:58AM

Close up view of a chocolate chip cookie on a white background.

It appears that right now is not a good time to be in the food business. First Bennigan's closed the majority of their stores and now Mrs. Field's Famous Brand is planning on filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

According to Forbes, the cookie maker won't be able to make a scheduled debt payment in September. The company is currently "soliciting votes from creditors for a 'prepackaged' bankruptcy reorganization plan." That means that the people in charge at Mrs. Field's are talking to creditors to see if they'll agree to the company's reorganization plans. So far about two thirds of the creditors have agreed to the prepackaged bankruptcy deal.

For the plan to go through, Mrs. Field's has to file by August 25. It's been forever since I had a Mrs. Field's cookie, and if lots of other consumers are like me, that's probably part of the reason they're heading into bankruptcy. Are Mrs. Field's products good enough to save, or should the company just give it up?

[via Coldmud]

Filed under: Business, Bakeries

What would you do if you found rocks in your raisin bread?

COMMENTS 9

by Shayna Glick, Posted Aug 14th 2008 @ 6:00PM

Imagine for a moment that you went to a local bakery and got a loaf of your favorite raisin bread. When you get it home you find small rocks are in the mix. Would you accept five bucks as compensation from the bakery?

That's what one customer in Somerville, Massachusetts did. As reported by The Consumerist, Michael Snyder originally asked for five more loaves of the raisin bread, but the bakery offered $5 and he took that. Apparently the raisins were from Chile and used an older production method that makes it easier for debris to get into the raisin supply. The bakery sent back the rest of the raisins.

There has been no talk about any injuries from the rocks, so I assume everyone is fine. I also suppose that things happen and you just need to be able to take things in stride, but five dollars? What would you do in a similar situation?

Filed under: Business, Ingredients, Bakeries

Some good tips on storing bread

COMMENTS 5

by Shayna Glick, Posted Aug 11th 2008 @ 5:00PM

Image of a retro style, white bread box.

If you like bread, chances are that you'd like to stay away from those national brands with lots of preservatives. I know I prefer the artisanal loaves that are free from shelf-extending additives. My problem is that I don't go through bread fast enough and it invariably gets moldy if I get good quality bread. I generally turn to freezing it, and throwing frozen slices into the toaster when I want to eat them.

Wasted Food has posted this article about storing and keeping bread fresher, longer. It's a question and answer session with Paul LaDuca of Zingerman's, a Michigan bakery that does a lot of mail order. He recommends a bread box, and keeping your loaves in a paper bag. According to LaDuca, a plastic bag just draws the moisture from the crumb into the crust, making it soggy.

I was aware of most of these tips, but I have to admit I hadn't thought of using my oven as a bread box. What are your favorite bread storage tips?

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Filed under: On the Blogs, Ingredients, Bakeries

People respond: There are great macarons all over the United States

COMMENTS 10

by Max Shrem, Posted Aug 2nd 2008 @ 12:02PM

Last week, I wrote a post asking why I cannot find decent macarons in the United States. Apparently, I'm not looking hard enough. Comments from all over the country revealed people's favorite shops where they buy them. Although I have not yet tried the macarons at all these places, I thought it would be useful to create a U.S. macaron directory.

So far, it looks like most of these places are located in California. Feel free to comment with new shops to add to the directory!

Columbus, Ohio: Becke recommends Pistacia Vera at 541 south third street. Try their salted caramel macarons.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Ann suggests that we try the macarons at 316 North Milwaukee St., at Harlequin Bakery.

New York, New York: To think that in my own city I failed to discover Macaron Café which is just around the corner from my mother's office at 161 west 36th street, just off 7th avenue. Thanks Tom Avel for letting us know about this shop. Kat Kinsman enjoyed the macarons from Alain Ducasse's Adour at the St. Regis hotel.

Yountville, California: Although I did not care for Thomas Keller's macarons at Buchon Bakery in NY, Kelly enjoyed them at Keller's Buchon in Yountville at 6534 Washington st.

San Francisco, California: Verena suggests Boulangerie at 2325 Pine Street. Ivan claims that Tartine Bakery at 600 Guerreo St., by 18th street, is the place to buy macarons. Mathew points out another shop located at the Ferry Building Marketplace, shop No. 10 - Miette.

Berkeley, California: Verena also reccomends Masse's Pastries at 1469 Shattuck Ave.

Los Angeles, California: Jon raves about the macarons at Boule located at 408 N. Cienga Blvd and at 413 N. Bedford Drive in Beverly Hills.

Beverly Hills, California: Apart from Boule's Beverly Hills location, you can stroll into Paulette at 9466 Charleville Blvd. If you're not in Beverly Hills, you can order from them online. That's what John did.

Filed under: Stores & Shopping, Lists, Food Politics, Bakeries

Millet muffins from the Metropolitan Bakery Cookbook

COMMENTS 2

by Marisa McClellan, Posted Aug 1st 2008 @ 10:04AM

Several years ago, I spent some time working at a medical school. It was the kind of job where there were lots of morning meetings and at least once a week I found myself trekking to other schools for some planning powwow. One of the few benefits to these meetings were that the host school often served breakfast-y treats. Most of the time it was just an assortment of dough-y bagels or supermarket donuts, but once, someone was feeling generous and picked up muffins from Metropolitan Bakery. And it was at that meeting that I discovered the millet muffin.

These muffins aren't fancy. They are a basic combination of flour, sugar, butter and eggs, but something happens when you add in that toasted millet that transforms those simple ingredients into something amazing. The resulting muffins are nutty and have wholesome feeling, with a nice yielding crunch. Ever since I acquired a copy of the Metropolitan Bakery Cookbook, I've been meaning to try making a batch in my little kitchen (instead of running down to the bakery to satisfy a craving), but until a couple of nights ago, I just hadn't made the time to do it.

Now, knowing that I can make them on my own, they are the only thing I want to eat. Scott agrees (he also made off with the last one this morning). The recipe, which would make a perfect Saturday morning treat, is after the jump.

Filed under: Bakeries, Books

Why can't I find decent macarons in the United States?

COMMENTS 16

by Max Shrem, Posted Jul 21st 2008 @ 5:03PM

Macarons from Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery

Ever since I returned from my school year abroad in Paris, I have been on a quest for delicate luscious creamy macarons. Unfortunately, every time I purchase them in the U.S., I am disappointed.

Why is it so hard to find decent macarons in the United States? The ones at La Maison du Chocolat are not bad. But, they're overwhelmingly chocolatey. Many times, they even taste too greasy.

Yesterday, I went to Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery in Manhattan and was jumping up and down with excitement when I saw macarons. They looked just like the ones I had at Ladurée in Paris. Except, when I looked at them closely, I noticed that the layer of cream in the middle was much thicker and heavier. A bite into a macaron from Bouchon Bakery is more like a bite into a heavy creamy delicious cake. Although it tasted quite excellent, it lacked many of the characteristics I love about the macarons I've tasted in Paris, mainly its lightness and slightly crunchy exterior and creamy interior.

Can someone recommend a shop where I can find a decent macaron?

Filed under: Stores & Shopping, Bakeries

Cakes so amazing they'd be hard to cut into

COMMENTS 0

by Marisa McClellan, Posted Jul 18th 2008 @ 11:56AM

a cake decorated with faux vegetarian sushi

I have a co-worker that has the ability to find some of the most amazing cakes on the internet. Knowing that have an unhealthy obsession with anything edible, he is nice enough to send links to those cakes in my direction on a near-daily basis.

The cake you see above is another creation of Zoe Lukas (the woman who was also responsible for the Robert Indiana cookies, the Battlestar Galactica cake and the patriotic wedding cake). She has was charged with making a sushi-themed cake and so came up with a spiced carrot ginger cake with cream cheese icing. She topped the whole thing with fondant and used it as a "serving platter" for her tasty veggie sushi. Coconut stands in for the rice in the pieces and rolls, and she even made pickled ginger out of colored fondant.

After the jump we've got a cake decorated to look like Tom Selleck, as well as another sculpted to replicate the Millennium Falcon (made by the folks at Charm City Cakes, so you know it has got to be good).

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Filed under: Food Politics, Bakeries