Daily Sweet: Good Housekeeping Little Book of Baking

Little Book of Baking

Today, I asked my cupcake (which lives on a pony): "What do you think of this book?" It has a big name for a tiny book: Good Housekeeping The Little Book of Baking: 55 Homemade Cookies, Cakes, Cupcakes & Pies to Make & Share.

Little Book of Baking

And after reviewing it for a few minutes, the cupcake said "you should buy it."

Why is that? Helpfully, the cupcake gave me several reasons.

Grape and ginger tart

It has interesting recipes. I'd never seen a recipe for a Grape and Ginger Tart before! Helpful tips!

It has helpful tips. You never can be too educated. Yummy stuff

It has tasty versions of classic recipes. For example: hazelnut brownies; cherry-pistachio biscotti. Not crazy-different, but they might just challenge you a little bit. Tasty classics  

Why not listen to the cupcake? Find the book online here: Good Housekeeping The Little Book of Baking: 55 Homemade Cookies, Cakes, Cupcakes & Pies to Make & Share.

 

Daily Sweet: Waffles by Tara Duggan

Today's obsession: the book Waffles: Fun Recipes for Every Meal.

As the book's synopsis goes, "anyone who has invested in a specialty maker will want plenty of options and inspiration. This book shows just how versatile waffles can be."

In particular, the recipes for sweet waffles, such as Chocolate Waffle Bites with Peanut Butter Cream,  Raspberry Waffles with Lemon Sauce, and  Waffle Banana Splits, caught my attention.

Find out more here; buy it here.

Daily Sweet: Caramel Apple Cupcakes in October at Trophy Cupcakes

Something sweet is happening at Trophy Cupcakes this month. Here's what they have to say about it:

Our October feature is our famous Caramel Apple cupcake!

Nothing says fall like apples and caramel so we've created the perfect treat. Our moist apple spice cake is topped with caramel buttercream, edged in roasted pecans, drizzled with caramel then adorned with a pretzel stick and edible green leaf. Now available in all our shops throughout the month!


For locations and more information, visit www.trophycupcakes.com

 

 

Tres Delicious: Tres Leches Cake, The Pantry Restaurant, Santa Fe

Tres Leches, Pantry restaurant

Let's get one thing straight. They do not make their Tres Leches cake in-house at The Pantry Restaurant in Santa Fe, NM. Wait, don't stop reading! Because it still is legitimately a "homemade" baked good, made at home by the wife of one of the restaurant's employees. And on the day of my visit, it was extremely fresh--I was informed that this would be the first slice cut from this hallowed round of delicious. 

Pantry Restaurant

Yes, I said round. Personally, I'm more accustomed to a square of Tres Leches--what about you? But I digress. In terms of construction, the Tres Leches at The Pantry resembled a round birthday-style cake; it was frosted on the top and sides, with piped decorations in the frosting. But once cut into, the inside of the cake revealed more what you'd expect from the traditional "three milks" cake--a spongelike cake kept moist and tender with mass amounts of dairy. And indeed, this one was so saturated that it just about dripped when you tucked your fork into the slice. Yessssss. 

Pantry restaurant

The flavor of the cake was very good: milky, yes, but with a certain je ne sais quoi (look at me, acting all international!) to the aftertaste that made it compelling, and extremely easy to keep on eating. 

Pantry Restaurant

The Pantry Restaurant, 1820 Cerillos Road, Santa Fe, NM; online here.

Sweet Shots: 10 Happy Images From CakeSpy

Not that you need any MORE sweetness when you come 'round this website, but just to put you on sugar-sweet overload, here are 10 images that made me smile this week, from various places. First, above: cupcakes made by Carmen.

Second: a sweet shot of my zombie-cupcake card holder helping my friend Laurie hold her subway card in Tokyo! Wow, that little cake is well-traveled!

Source: twitpic.com via Cake on Pinterest

 

Three: a magical unicorn, sent to me by my friend who happens to own Church of Cupcakes.

Source: cakespy.com via Cake on Pinterest

 

Four: my favorite painting in quite some time.

 

Five: THIS CAKE, which I found on Pinterest.

Source: cakespy.com via Cake on Pinterest

 

Six: this cake, which I made! 

This little cupcake rode a pug

Seven: Who WOULDN'T be happy about a cupcake riding a pug?

 

Eight: Two words (or just one that I made up, I guess): UniCow!

Source: cakespy.com via Cake on Pinterest

 

Nine: I found cupcakes that resembled my character in the Northeast - I decorated them to complete the association, in photoshop!

 

Ten: since I love it when sweets look like other sweets, I found these macaron ice cream cones freaking adorable!

Sweet of the Day: Lemon Butter Crepe from Creperie Beau Monde

Lemon Butter Crepe

Crêpes are pretty sweet. Well, unless they're savory. Cos, you know, crêpes go both ways.

But on a recent trip to Creperie Beau Monde, I went totally sweet with their build your own dessert crêpe option. This one came with homemade lemon butter, lemon juice, and brown sugar.

I could try to explain the simple but exquisite pleasure of tart-creamy lemon butter paired with caramelly brown sugar and a dusting of confectioners' sugar, paired with the delicious, nutty buckwheat carbohydrate crêpe. 

But really, I'll let you look at the picture and make up your own sweet story--perhaps you'll dream even bigger than I could describe this delicious food thing. 

Creperie Beau Monde, 624 South Sixth Street Philadelphia, PA 19147 Visit them online here. 

Seeking Sweetness: Daily Snapshot, Artwork by Christopher Boffoli

CakeSpy Note: if you follow me on facebook or Twitter, you probably know I'm partial to documenting my sweet discoveries and daily goings-on. Here's where I post a daily feel-good photo, for no particular reason other than to showcase these sweet little nothings, in hopes that they'll make you smile.

 My newest obsession? The "Disparity" series by Christopher Boffoli. He is a Seattle artist who "creates miniature representations of everyday scenes using tiny model figures and foodstuffs. Christopher, who has toured his "Disparity" collection in galleries throughout the USA, says: "Coming up with an interesting image is only half the battle - a caption that will make people smile is also a big part of my work." The caption to hte piece above? "Randi and Jeff finally admitted to themselves that they were lost." Read more about the series here.

Daily Snapshot: CakeSpy Inspired Cupcake Toppers

CakeSpy Note: if you follow me on facebook or Twitter, you probably know I'm partial to documenting my sweet goings-on. Here's where I post a daily feel-good photo, for no particular reason other than to showcase these sweet little nothings, in hopes that they'll make you smile.

After I interviewed Carmen of C for Cupcake, she sent me these sweet cupcake toppers as a thank-you! It really made my day.

Seeking Sweetness: Daily Snapshot, A Banana Split's View of the World

Quote from the Banana Split Book

CakeSpy Note: if you follow me on facebook or Twitter, you probably know I'm partial to documenting my sweet goings-on. Here's where I post a daily feel-good photo, for no particular reason other than to showcase these sweet little nothings, in hopes that they'll make you smile.

Here's a sweet bit of wisdom I found in the (bound-to-be-a-classic) book I just purchased: The Banana Split Book: Everything There Is to Know about America's Greatest Dessert. Such a powerful thought! Also: there is a Banana Split Festival!?

Seeking Sweetness: Daily Snapshot, Cupcake and Unicorn Cake Pops

Cake Pops by One Wild Strawberry

CakeSpy Note: if you follow me on facebook or Twitter, you probably know I'm partial to documenting my sweet goings-on. Here's where I post a daily feel-good photo, for no particular reason other than to showcase these sweet little nothings, in hopes that they'll make you smile.

Now, here was a very sweet surprise: Heidi of One Wild Strawberry surprised me at CakeSpy Shop with some totally sweet cake pops, decorated like Cuppie and unicorns! OMG! My new favorite person!

Seeking Sweetness: Daily Snapshot, Frog Cupcakes

CakeSpy Note: if you follow me on facebook or Twitter, you know that I love posting sweet pictures. Sometimes I post a daily feel-good photo on the site, for no particular reason other than to showcase these sweet little nothings, in hopes that they'll make you smile.

Today's feature: frog cupcakes from Belmar, New Jersey. These cupcakes are a tradition that crop up around the time of the town's annual St. Patrick's Day parade (which usually takes place in Belmar before March 17--don't ask me why). They are usually vanilla, with a dollop of pink frosting, topped with green fondant and decorated like frogs. When you take a bite of the head, it's pink inside. It's awful and awesome all at once.

Seeking Sweetness: Daily Snapshot, Magical Unicorn Cupcake

Photo: GeekGirlConCakeSpy Note: if you follow me on facebook or Twitter, you probably know I'm partial to adding bits of sweetness to my daily surroundings, via sidewalk chalk, small cutouts, and the like--I call it "gentle street art". Here's where I post a daily feel-good photo, for no particular reason other than to showcase these sweet little nothings, in hopes that they'll make you smile.

This one is from a cupcake decorating event which took place recently at CakeSpy Shop! For the full set of photos, visit the GeekGirlCon Facebook page!

Seeking Sweetness: Daily Snapshot, Sugar Free Die Zone

CakeSpy Note: if you follow me on facebook or Twitter, you probably know I'm partial to adding bits of sweetness to my daily surroundings, via sidewalk chalk, small cutouts, and the like--I call it "gentle street art". Here's where I post a daily feel-good photo, for no particular reason other than to showcase these sweet little nothings, in hopes that they'll make you smile.

And this one is pretty self explanitory: that's about how I feel about THAT. 

Seeking Sweetness: Daily Snapshot, Happy Ice Cream Cones

CakeSpy Note: if you follow me on facebook or Twitter, you probably know I'm partial to adding bits of sweetness to my daily surroundings, via sidewalk chalk, small cutouts, and the like--I call it "gentle street art". Here's where I post a daily feel-good photo, for no particular reason other than to showcase these sweet little nothings, in hopes that they'll make you smile.

Here's a sweet scene from CakeSpy Shop - a new batch of happy cones to decorate the store! Shop the entire CakeSpy Shop collection here.

Seeking Sweetness: Daily Image, Cookie Monster Ice Cream

Cookie Monster Ice cream, hoffman's

CakeSpy Note: For no particular reason, other than to sweeten your day, I post a feel-good image here every now and again. Today's pick: a sweet treat I enjoyed in New Jersey recently, "Cookie Monster" ice cream from Hoffman's Ice Cream's Spring Lake, NJ location. What's "Cookie Monster" ice cream? Well, to the best of my taste buds, it's several types of cookies mashed into some blue tinted ice cream. Or maybe they just put the cookie monster in a blender? Either way, it was delicious and sweet and a very happy thing to eat.