Holiday Art Show & Party @ Parlor Gallery

I'm showing some photos at Parlor Gallery in Asbury Park...



I'm not sure I'm able to make the opening, but if you get a chance to stop at the gallery, please do check out my work (and the work of all the other artists).

These are the pieces...

Delicious!

For our party I made two different kinds of mini cupcakes. I forgot to photograph the Chocolate Cupcake with Mocha Icing before I served them - there were none left. There were also Ginger-Vanilla Cupcakes with Rosewater Frosting. Again, I got the recipes from The Gluten-Free Goddess, Karina Allrich.

For the Mocha Icing recipe, click here.
For the Chocolate Cupcake recipe, click here.

I used Karina's recipe for Vanilla Cupcakes as the jumping off point for the Ginger-Vanilla Cupcakes... Instead of using rice milk, I used a combo of Almond milk and Coconut milk. I also added a 1/2 teaspoon of ginger powder and a good amount of ginger pulp - which I got from juicing ginger in my Breville juicer.

The recipe for the Rosewater Frosting is adapted from VCTOTW. I took the original Vanilla "Buttercream" and instead of using vanilla, I added rose water. To make the icing pink, I added about three to four drops of red food coloring.

Audrey helped me frost the cupcakes - we did it with knives instead of piping bags. Next time I'll try my hand at piping - it could be messy, good fun!

baked goodness

Labour Day weekend the weather had cooled significantly and it was time to fire up the oven. I hadn't baked anything in months - it was too hot - and if I'd even dared to, M would have divorced me on the spot. No baking in the house when it's hot.

I woke up Sunday of the holiday weekend (before anyone else in the house had stirred) and decided to make the following two recipes: Summer Peach Cake and Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Coffee Icing both by Karina Allrich of Karina's Kitchen.





The peach cake was only supposed to bake for thirty minutes. Mine took two hours. Yep, TWO FREAKIN' HOURS!!! It was my mistake for not actually measuring out how many fresh peaches I'd peeled and sliced and then my 9-inch round pan wasn't exactly nine inches. It was more like 8 3/4. Let me tell you what a difference that little quarter of an inch makes while you're baking!



The cake exploded over the sides, littering the bottom of the oven with gooey peaches. I couldn't open the door to put a cookie sheet down until the first thirty minutes were up. I didn't want the cake to fall. So I sat and watched through the window as the batter and peaches oozed over the sides. At thirty minutes it was painfully obvious the cake was nowhere near done. The center was still molten. I slipped a cookie tray on the bottom rack, turned the temp down to 325 degrees - watched and waited. (By this time everyone in the house was awake and they even left to go to breakfast at Frank's - I stayed behind - I wasn't about to abandon my cake!) Every 20 minutes or so I would stick a wooden skewer in the middle of the cake and it just wouldn't come out clean. I waited some more - checked some more - turned the cake - and finally - close to the two hour mark the cake was finally done!!! I didn't even burn it! It was a miracle.





After averting the near disaster with the peach cake, I popped the cupcakes into the oven and those baked without issue. However when I was making the icing I got a little sloppy and spilled too much coffee into the bowl with the sugar and shortening. The only way to make it stiffen was to add more sugar, which I didn't want to do, so I ended up with glaze. We made a little hollow part in the cupcakes and poured the glaze in. DELICIOUS!!!! I would have drunk the glaze straight from the bowl if that wouldn't have been so gauche.

Memorial weekend baking

I made some cookies and cupcakes over the Memorial Day weekend. The cookie recipe is from Elana's Pantry. I modified it by using almond meal instead of almond flour. The cookies were good (or "not bad" according to M - and you don't even know what a HUGE compliment this is considering the past disasters that are my gluten-free cookies) - they had a distinct texture from using meal over flour. I would bake them again and try it with the almond flour. Next time they'll be better.








Then I made cupcakes for Tini's birthday... THESE were DELICIOUS!!! Tini said they were the best I've ever made. I used the Basic Chocolate Cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and subbed out the All-purpose flour with Gluten-free Bob's Redmill blend and added some Xanthan gum. I also used almond milk and not soy. I added a few other ingredients in the form of spices - but I'm keeping that a secret. I made ganache for the frosting but I forgot to take a photo of it and I also forgot to photograph a finished cupcake. I was traveling with them and didn't do the final assembly until much later at a party - and by that time I was drunk, so there you go.

What I did on my four-day vacation

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, I went to California at the beginning of March to visit Stephanie, Peter and Sadie. I was gone for four days and it was such a magnificent time, I really wished I had made my trip longer. I'll know better for next time...

The day I landed, Stephanie picked me up from the airport and immediately whisked me off to La Note for lunch. We ordered Creme Fraiche pancakes, Tomatoes Provençal and Rosemary Potatoes. In my hunger and excitement, I forgot to photograph our food. The restaurant was really nice. The staff so accommodating and the people at the next table (we were practically rubbing elbows with them) were super friendly and really seemed to enjoy Sadie.


After we had lunch we went and walked around the UC Berkeley Campus. Stephanie said it was called Telegraph hill. We strolled through the campus, noticing how many of the students dresses like we did when we were in middle school and a LOT of them had dogs. I can't have imagined taking care of a pet when I was that age, but who knows about the kids these days?

Not only did we walk around the campus, but we walked around the neighborhood where we saw a really interesting art exhibit - mostly pieces that you could wear or use like jewelry, shoes, and clothing. Then we walked around the surrounding neighborhood and I saw a ton of beautiful homes that I also forgot to photograph. I wish I hadn't spaced about taking photos - I saw about 20 that I thought I could easily live in, although I'm sure they're far too expensive for us to afford.

After our walk we hit Trader Joe's (my favorite!) and picked up things to make for dinner that night. TJ's is within walking distance of S&P's apartment - they are SO lucky!

The following morning to start the day Stephanie and I made Vegan Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bottoms. Stephanie had a recipe ripped out of magazine she got from her in-laws. We used the coconut palm sugar I brought with me instead of the regular sugar the recipe called for. Palm sugar is really low on the glycemic index and can even be eaten by diabetics. It made the muffins sweet but not as sweet as they would have been had we used regular sugar. Afterward, S and I waxed philosophic about how else you could make those muffins - like with cranberries or blueberries instead of chocolate chips - or how you could use a little bit of cocoa powder and make them more chocolaty. They were scrumptious! (of course I forgot to photograph those too).

After baking and changing out of our pajamas we hit the streets of Emeryville for a nice, long walk. Stephanie gave me the grand tour through her neighborhood, past all the warehouses that were home to things like The Blue Bottle Coffee Company's roastery , a wine bottling facility where they had tastings four afternoons a week... we walked by Pixar studios, and then over to BevMo (I wish we had BevMo in NJ!!) and Trader Joe's again. We were probably gone about four hours!

Having finished our walk, we returned to the house and gave Sadie lunch.

We cleaned ourselves up for our trip into SF. We were meeting Peter to have dinner at Puerto Alegre. I've only been to SF two other times in my life and only one of those times I ate at the incredible Poncho Villa - Puerto Alegre is like PV but sit-down style. It was INCREDIBLE. The food and atmosphere were SO good and so were the margaritas!

The following day we went back on the BART and into the city to the Ferry Building and the Farmer's Market.

I was so excited for this! Not only was the weather incredible and the day spectacular but I couldn't wait to see all the fresh vegetables and fruit that is grown so near by.


I was not disappointed... The Ferry Building is beautiful - it's filled with little shops, restaurants and boutiques. There was so much to see and taste, including freshly shucked oysters and French Mararons from Miette.



We walked on the promenade down to the Fog City Diner for lunch. We drank Bloody Marys and Stephanie & I shared an Ahi Tuna sammy and The Dungeness Crab "Louie" Salad.

I thought it was delicious, although P & S said it used to be better. It didn't matter, we ate EVERYTHING anyway. Besides, what did I care? I was on vacation and I loved just sitting out in the sunshine, enjoying the company of my friends who I've missed so much since they left NJ a year and a half ago.


Later that day we walked away from the water and the market over to the Blue Bottle Coffee cafe where we bought some coffee for home.

Then we picked up some things for dinner like cheese and cherry tomatoes to go with the amazing bread we purchased earlier in the day.


Dinner was a casual affair, just a lovely cheese plate, the yummy bread and some really lovely wine.

After dinner, we chilled out and I gave Sadie a photography lesson and how to push the shutter release button and then check the photo when she's done. It was really funny - she's a super smart girl, that little one.

Sunday found the four of us meeting my friend Donna at Chester's Bayview Cafe in Berkeley.

Being brunch we of course had Bloody Marys. Stephanie and Donna ordered the "Not Huevos" Rancheros, made with Tofu and I ordered the North Berkeley Eggs, and the were nice enough to sub out my eggs with tofu too!


The food was delicious and while Stephanie and Sadie were checking out the view from the rooftop where we were eating, they spied some people with cupcakes. So after brunch because we hadn't eaten enough, we bought some cupcakes from Love at First Bite, which is right under Chester's in the Gourmet Ghetto area of Berkeley and just around the corner from the famous Chez Panisse, run by Alice Waters.


I have to say I was a little bit disappointed with the cupcakes. The shop was certainly cute and filled with nice things. The cupcakes were meticulously decorated but sadly, they looked prettier than they tasted. My favorite was the Strawberry.

We spent the rest of the day dropping by a few stores to run a few errands and then back to the house to chill and recover from the cupcake sugar crash we gave ourselves after eating the baked treats. We got to relax in the hot tub and then have a very easy dinner of baked tofu and fresh salad greens.

The next day (Monday) was my day to return to the Jerze. I can't believe how quickly my trip flew by! Not a moment was wasted and we packed as much fun and activities into such a short period of time as was possible. S & S rode the BART with me out to the airport where I was seriously sad to leave.


The next time I go out to visit I plan to stay longer and so Peter doesn't feel outnumbered, he can head to NJ to do man-things with Matty. I'm hoping S & P can make it out East, especially so they can look for a house to buy not far from us and move back to New Jersey. If not, I'll be happy to head back west as soon as I can. I just hope it's not so long in-between next time.

Please do go check out the remainder of my photos by clicking here.
You may read Stephanie's perspective on my visit here.
And I hope you enjoyed my trip even a fraction as much as I did.

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

Why can't this be out now ????

It's the new BabyCakes cookbook.
It comes out in April, just in time for my b-i-r-t-h-d-a-y!!!
I guess I'll just have to be patient.

*sigh*

jelly donut cupcake masacre

This is what happens when you fill the cups too high and forget to put a cookie sheet under your cupcake pan (Thankfully fixed half-way through baking when I smelled the overflow jam burning the bottom of the oven).
The recipe for these cupcakes (which I made in a mini-bundt pan & added cocoa powder) comes from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.

Finished product:

grilled cupcakes

I wanted to try baking on the grill. It's something I've been talking about to Stephanie for months now.
I finally decided to do it Friday night and invited Kate over to join me.
We didn't bake a whole dozen on the grill in case the experiment was a disaster. The rest of the was batter baked in the conventional oven in the house.
This is what we came up with;


I think they came out pretty good.

Our recipes came from Veganomicon (those cupcakes are not pictured) and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

r.i.p. strawberry iced cupcakes

Today I went to lunch with my friend Liz and on the way back to my office we decided to get a treat. So we walk by The Little Pie Company and much to our dismay it was boarded up. I peaked through a tear in the paper covering the windows and saw that everything was torn out, which confirms that it's gone. How sad.

baking extravaganza

The day before Thanksgiving I baked four-dozen vegan cupcakes. Here are those photos I was talking about.

First, I got all my ingredients out on the counter.
Everything else I need on the table.

A'mixin' and a'stirrin'...

First batch into the oven.

Ding! First batch is done!

Next batch (mmmmmmmm, chocolate)

Three dozen down, one to go.

And finally, the full four-dozen waiting for frosting.

The photos I shot at home of the frosted cupcakes came out so poorly I chucked them away. But here's a nice shot, I took at work, of the very last two cupcakes from the entire four-dozen.

They turned out to be a big hit, so I'll definitely be baking these again.

A special shout-out MUST go to Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, who wrote Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. Without their amazing, little book these cupcakes could NOT have been made. And also special thanks to Stephanie, my baking inspiration.