Crumbs Bake Shop

Crumbs Bake Shop.  If you have never been to Crumbs Bake Shop, you must put this bakery on your bucket list now!  My first encounter with Crumbs Bake Shop was around 2009.  One of my friends had bought a dozen Crumbs cupcake, and my first experience was heavenly.  I wasn't such a cupcake addict at the time, but I just remember the vanilla cupcake was just right.

A few days ago, I made a special trip to one of my favorite stores in the world--Sur La Table, located in the Americana Mall in Glendale, CA.  Crumbs Bake Shop was a few steps away from Sur La Table, and I figured why now bask in happiness. 

Sigh.  Look at the wonderful selection that they have.  My eyes immediately turned into thumping hearts.

I wasn't sure what to select because everything seemed oh-so-very-delicious.  My boyfriend suggested we eat the "Milkshake" cupcake.  Personally, I'm not a big fan of milkshakes.  Though, a milkshake cupcake sounded pretty unusual, and I wanted to give it a try.

"Marble cake filled with vanilla cream cheese frosting mixed with chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting and a chocolate cream cheese frosting swirl edged with chocolate crunchies."
--Crumbs Bake Shop (See Crumbs.com for more details and varities)

One bite into this cupcake and was simply blown away.  The frosting was spot on!  Their frosting is to DIE for.  The vanilla cream cheese frosting wasn't "cheesy", and trust me, I had my share of "cheesy" cream cheese frostings (not a fan of "cheesy" cream cheese frosting).  It was sweet, but not too sweet to be sick of it by the end of eating the cupcake. 

The marble cake could have been easily classified as a vanilla cake.  There was not a good balance between the chocolate and vanilla batter (at least for my cupcake). 

The chocolate cookie crumb filling gave it a nice crunch while chewing the moist cake. 

Crumbs Bake Shop is by far one of my favorite bakeries because they know how to make it right! 

Until next time...

xo,

Tammy

Happy National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day!

In honor of National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, I whipped up a quick batch of chocolate chip cookies. 

Enjoy these soft cookies!

Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups butter, softened

1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup white sugar

2 (3 1/2 ounce) packages vanilla instant pudding mix

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 cups walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F

Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.

Yield: 72 servings (Serving size: 6 dozen)

Notes: I used Ghirardelli baking chips, and it was delicious!  I also chilled the chocolate chip batter for a few hours before baking.  It's a tip I learned from one of my girlfriends who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu.  Refrigerating is supposed to help absorb all the ingredients.

Mixed all the ingredients together

Formed the chocolate chip cookie dough into a dome

Chilled cookie dough, tightly wrapped in saran wrap

The finished product

I want one, please!

Until next time...

xo,

Tammy

Lily's Bakery

It's always nice to see small bakeries survive, especially during the recession.  I no longer reside in Orange County (though visit quite often), but there will always be a soft spot in my heart for Lily's Bakery.  It's a small Vietnamese bakery located in Westminster, CA.

My mother is a health nut (good for her!), so we normally do not buy cakes that have buttercream frosting.  It's always been fruit tarts.  As a teenager, I remember how much I loved Lily's Vietnamese coffee (must try, if you are in the area) and their fruit tarts.  My family used to go to this bakery for every birthday to purchase a fruit tart cake.  It was tradition.

Fast forward and now I'm much older and it has been a while since I had anything from Lily's Bakery.  It's not to say that they do not have great desserts (apparently their beignets are a hit), but I truly do not have a reason to go there.  We no longer buy their fruit tarts.  I hate to say this, but my family has moved onto another bakery.  Oh boy, this is beginning to sound a relationship.

Anyway, one of my brothers came home in the late afternoon, holding a Lily's Bakery fruit tart cake as the other bakery ran out of their delicious fruit tart (will post about this "other" bakery soon).  I wasn't disappointed at all as I was curious to try Lily's cake that I loved so much as a teenager.  Did they change the recipe?  Does it still have the sponge cake?

Mother's Day cake from Lily's Bakery

Sponge cake base with a thin, crunchy pastry middle, topped with fresh fruits.

I took a bite of it, and let me tell you, a gush of memories came back to me.  It sounds pretty silly, but I really don't know how to describe what I felt.  After all this time, the cake tasted the same as it did fifteen years ago.

The sweetness of the sponge cake was right, and the thin pastry between the fruits and the sponge cake was flaky and crunchy--just the way I like it.  The fruits were exceptional and the whipped cream around the cake tasted very light. 

One of my complaints is that you can never cut a perfect cake slice.  Once you cut into the cake, the fruits move all over the place, and it becomes messy (seriously, visually unappealing).  You won't get a wonderfully displayed slice of cake. 

Back in the day, Lily's Bakery used to come in this generic white box with their cursive logo.  When asked if we could have a plastic cake knife, they would deny us of having one.  Now, the cakes come in this colorful box with a plastic "stainless steel" looking knife.  Oh how the times changed thee.

Lily's logo

Lily's Bakery in a Box

Lily's Bakery, it was great walking down memory lane with you.  I'm glad you guys have survived through this economic downturn too.  Keep it going!

Until next time...

xo,
Tammy

Mother's Day Cookie Pops Flower Bouquet

My mom received a birthday gift and early Mother's Day gift a week ago.  I've been pondering for weeks as to what could get delivered to my mom's house on Mother's Day.  Candies? Cookies?  Flowers? 

My mom loves flowers, so why not have fresh flowers delivered?  I was going through the different flower arrangements, and I embarked on Proflowers.com "gourmet gifts" section.  Looked at their tulip sugar cookie flower arrangement and thought to myself "I can totally do this!".

I don't have that much experience with decorating sugar cookies, but something tells me that this might be my next obsession (cupcakes will always be my first love).  I've decorated sugar cookies once, and it was for one of my friends baby showers. 

Now that I found a great sugar cookie recipe that isn't too sweet and does not give me headaches as the previous rolled sugar cookie recipe did, I think I'm totally into this.  I used Alton Brown's royal icing recipe.  Though, one of these days, I should try out "The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies" icing recipe.

The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies from Food.com
Cookie ingredients
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Note: This recipe yield 44 flower cookies for me, but it's dependent on the size of your cookie cutters.

Alton Brown's Royal Icing from The Food Network
Ingredients
3 ounces pasteurized egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions
In large bowl of stand mixer combine the egg whites and vanilla and beat until frothy.

Add confectioners' sugar gradually and mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated and mixture is shiny.

Turn speed up to high and beat until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks. This should take approximately 5 to 7 minutes.

Add food coloring, if desired.

For immediate use, transfer icing to pastry bag or heavy duty storage bag and pipe as desired. If using storage bag, clip corner. Store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Note:  If you want to flood your sugar cookies, you may want to add more water to make it a bit runny. If its too runny, add more confectioner's sugar (powdered, not granulated sugar) to make it more stiff.

I used Wilton's cookie sticks, pressed it halfway through and pinched the dough above the stick. If you do not care so much of the appearance or will flood the sugar cookie, you can also take extra dough and cover the cookie stick. I tried both ways, and the cookies didn't fall off the stick.

Pre-baked cookie pops

Baked tulip

Let's fast forward and pretend that you are done decorating your cookie pop!  This is what you need:

Cookie Pops Flower Pot Bouquet (Makes Four):
4 Flower pots
2 Round styrofoam
16 Gift wrapping tissue paper (color of your choice)
Cellphone bags (mine came with cookie ties)
Ribbons (to tie cellphone bags if you don't want to use cookie ties)

I bought two styrofoam balls and cut it in half.  Half of the styrofoam ball is wrapped in tissue paper like a Hershey's kiss.  Do not cut the excess amount of tissue paper.  It will be the support for the base of your cookie pops.

The styrofoam wrapped as a Hershey's kiss, flipped upside down

Using half a styrofoam is cost-effective.  If you are making one flower pot arrangement, you can just stick the whole ball into the flower pot or buy half a styrofoam ball.

Half styrofoam flipped upside, other half will be used for another flower arrangement

If you could not find the perfect styrofoam for the flower pot (like me!), you will see that there are gaps around the styrofoam.  Do not panic!  I fixed this by stuffing tissue paper around it to make it more secure.  Push the styrofoam as far down as you can until it cannot pop up.  You want to make sure the styrofoam ball is completely secured before inserting the cookie pops into your flower pot. 

Make sure that it is secure by stuffing tissue paper around the gaps

Once the base is secure, insert cookie pops halfway into the styrofoam base.  Stuff more tissue paper in between the cookie pops to make the cookie pops "pop" with vibrancy.

Mom's cookie pops

More of Mom's cookie pop flowers

Ms. S's cookie pops

Melita's cookie pops

Here are some additional tips:

• Buy different cookie pop stick lengths.  It will make your cookie pop arrangement look so much nicer.
• Michael's sells half a styrofoam ball if you don't want to cut a ball in half.
• You don't have to use styrofoam.  You can use dry foam (what florists use for their flowers) too.
• You can also use a cylinder styrofoam.  It doesn't have to be a round ball.  It's all about preference!
• Having different flower cookie cutters and sizes truly makes the flower cookie pops have a little bit more "personality"
• Found my tulip cookie cutter at Michael's (it comes in a set of 3 cookie cutters--one tulip, another flower cookie cutter, and a butterfly)
• Give yourself enough time for the royal icing to dry.  If you insert the cookie pops into the cellophane too soon, the royal icing will melt
• Do not make this in the last minute.  You will stress yourself way too much as I did!

Happy Mother's Day!

Rhubarb For Dessert?!

A few years ago my best friend mentioned her brother made an amazing rhubarb pie that was to die for. Rhubarb pie?  Rhubarb looks like a celery stick dyed red.  Contrary to what it looks like, it is considered a fruit in the United States.  Bet you didn't know that. ;) 

Anyway, rhubarb pie sounded funky to me at the time, but anything my best friend's brother made had to be gold. He's an excellent chef and baker! I added rhubarb pie to my baking "to-do" list.

I'm happy to say that I'm crossing rhubarb pie off the baking list. Okay, maybe I shouldn't cross it off the list quite yet because it's a strawberry rhubarb pie.  I still get brownie points for using rhubarb though, right?

This pie is so easy to make.  This will be a breeze, even for the beginner bakers.

Let's face it. We are all busy sometimes.  I know this is a faux pas with Martha Stewart, but if you are not ready to make the crust from scratch or short on time, I would buy the ready-made pie crust.  I promise, I will not judge. Taste isn't as stellar as the made-from-scratch dough. That would be my disclaimer.

I found Bi-Rite's "Strawberry Rhubarb Pie" recipe through Martha Stewart's website, which can be found here, but I'm reposting for your convenience!

Bi-Rite Markets Eat Good Food's "Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Ginger Crumb Topping"

Ingredients
For The Crust
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
2 tablespoons ice-cold water, plus more as needed
1 1/2 teaspoons apple-cider vinegar

For The Filling
2 1/2 cups (about 3 large stalks) rhubarb, sliced 1/4-inch-thick on the bias
2 1/2 cups hulled and halved strawberries, quartered if very large
2/3 cup packed light or dark-brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For The Topping
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons packed dark or light-brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon coarse salt

Directions
Make the crust: Place flour, butter, sugar, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Transfer bowl to freezer for 20 minutes. Remove bowl from freezer and attach to mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until mixture resembles a coarse meal, about 2 minutes.
In a small glass measuring cup, combine ice water and vinegar. With the mixer on low, slowly add just enough water mixture to flour mixture so that it comes together into shaggy clumps. If all the liquid is used and dough still doesn't hold together, add additional cold water, 1 teaspoon at a time. Take care not to overmix.

Turn dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap; shape into a 5-inch disk and wrap. Transfer to refrigerator and chill for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough into a 12 1/2-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. Carefully transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. Tuck excess dough under edges to create a double thickness and a smooth edge; pinch every 2 inches to create a decorative edge. Transfer to refrigerator to chill for at least 20 minutes.
Make the filling: Preheat oven to 350 with a rack set in the center of oven.

Place all filling ingredients in a medium bowl; gently toss to combine. Set aside.

Make the topping: Place all topping ingredients in a medium bowl. Using a pastry blender or two table knives, cut mixture until the biggest pieces of butter are the size of small peas. Mixture will be dry.

Place filling in chilled pie shell and sprinkle with topping. Place pie plate on a large rimmed baking sheet and bake until crust is dark golden and filling is bubbling, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving.

Notes: For the filling, I added two teaspoons of cinnamon instead of one. I went nuts with the strawberries and added 3 cups instead of 2 1/2 cups. As for the topping, not everyone in my family loves ginger, so I did not add the ground ginger for the extra twist. The topping still came out deliciously perfect.  Really, I made a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Brown Sugar Crumb Topping.

Let's quickly retrace the steps and give you a very quick visual recap.

Chilled pie crust

Unmixed ingredients

Mixed ingredients

Ready to bake

All done!

The filling spilled from my beautiful pie shell. I think it's because I added a bit more strawberries, so visually, it looks a bit sloppy. I baked it at 75 minutes as directed.  I will probably bake this at 60 minutes next time and keep a better keen eye on this one. 

Though I must say, aside from appearance, it's definitely one of my mom's favorite desserts.  And let me tell you.  Mom isn't into desserts all too much. 

I hope you enjoy making this pie as much as I did.

Until next time!

xo,
Tammy

New Year's Resolution & Movses Golden Pastry

Hello!

New Year's Resolution #3 -- check. Let the blogging commence!

Yes, really, we are pretty much halfway through the year, and I'm actually following my resolutions. We are still in 2012, right? So don't judge. ;)

Many people have been nudging me to begin a catering service, establish a bakery, and/or even begin a blog. You see, if you know me, one of my favorite things to do is to bake. Corporate American worker by day, baker by night.

Although I would love to begin my very first post about a cupcake recipe, I would love to take you on my bakery adventures.

Movses Golden Pastry is an Armenian bakery located in Glendale, CA.

I had the pleasure of tasting their chocolate covered chocolate cake (yes, double chocolate) at a brunch party in April. It was mighty delicious, and I knew I wanted to try this place again at some point.

I love a cake that is not overly sweet.  If you are looking for a super sweet cake that will make your teeth fall off, this place is not for you. 

This time around, I ordered a mocha cake.  The mocha cake looked simply fantastic. The chocolate flower garnish with the chocolate curls added to the elegant appearance. However, the taste was a different story.

The whipped frosting was light and airy, which was the best component of the cake. The cake was utterly dry. That being said, the frosting was its saving grace.

Would I come back here again? Well, why wouldn't I? My first experience with this bakery was a good one. Although this experience was a bit disappointing, I am a firm believer of "second chances".

That being said, my "second chance" will not be for Mother's Day.

I still have not decided what I should make for Mother's Day. Any suggestions out there? ;)

Until next time!

xo,
Tammy