Lindsay M. Ward - Illustration, Design and Fine Art

Lindsay M. Ward - Illustration, Design and Fine Art

Archives for February 2009

Fried Snickers…So Much Potential

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So last night some friends and I went out to dinner at this place (no names) that had great food but broke my heart and expectations when it came to dessert (which is the best part of the meal in the first place).  Everything we had was amazing until we ordered the Fried Snickers dessert.  Now I know you are thinking ‘fried snickers, what could be wrong with that?’ and you would be correct…because in theory it is a brilliant idea.  However, a dessert can’t be awesome in name only, its all about the execution.  My friends and I were so excited about the potential of this dessert.  In fact it was pretty much what sealed the deal for me in going to dinner at this place.  

We get our order of Fried Snickers and it was just tragic.  It could have been so much more.  Instead of just deep frying the Snickers bar, which I think would have been a better approach, it was wrapped in an egg roll style shell and then fried.  This ultimately just make it taste like an egg roll filled with chocolate and peanuts.  It was not good.  
I think the rule of thumb for fried promises such as a fried Snickers bar is to ALWAYS get them from a street fair, carnival, or boardwalk.  These three venues seem to understand the concept of frying of all things delicious.  

Sophie’s Choice

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On Sunday morning I had the pleasure of having lunch with one of my dearest friends and fellow bakery foodie at Flour Bakery, my favorite bakery in Boston.  It is tradition that when ever we go we have to have the oreos…because they are life changing.  And if we are lucky, they have their peppermint oreos out.

It was like Christmas morning…not only did they have the regular oreos out already, but they had the peppermint oreos AND flavored marshmallows!!! Just when I think Joanne Chang (owner of Flour) can’t top herself and all the amazing things she serves, she adds flavored marshmallows to her menu.  Fact: she is my hero.  So just when I think it can’t be a more perfect morning at Flour, my friend tells me that they are now serving these Nutella and banana grilled sandwiches!  (And as noted before, Nutella is one of my most favorite things in the world). 
Now if you have been to Flour before and been lucky enough to have tried their BLT you would know it is glorious, which is what I had my heart set on before the news of the Nutella sandwich was announced.  All I can say is that it was like Sophie’s Choice.  How is a foodie like me supposed to make a decision like that??!  In the end I ended up having the BLT because that is what I had been fantasizing about all morning…but next time the Nutella-banana sandwich and I will be introduced…and knowing how Flour never lets me down, I know it will be glorious!  I am continually impressed by that bakery…they can do no wrong.
Flour Bakery has two locations: 
Fort Point Channel: 12 Farnsworth Street, Boston, MA 02210
South End: 1595 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02118

A Hazelnut Rose

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Today I had the lovely experience of having a Hazelnut Rose at Tatte Bakery in Brookline.  Saying that it was glorious is an understatement.  Tatte’s makes these rolls that they call Roses because of how they look.  They are little rolls of heaven.  I have tried some of their other flavors before and they were really good but nothing compares to their hazelnut rose.  The flavor resembles Nutella (which I believe tastes good on anything…seriously anything) and has toasted whole hazelnuts hidden within the rose.  I highly recommend you go out and try a Hazelnut Rose at Tatte Bakery and pair it with their amazing homemade pear juice.  They also have plenty of other yummy treats especially if you like nuts in your pastries.  Enjoy!

Tatte Bakery is located at 1003 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA 02446

The Ultimate Cupcake

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For my birthday last year my roommate gave me one of the coolest gifts of all time…a giant cupcake cake mold!  Which just goes to show the brilliancy that is Williams & Sonoma for selling such an awesome baking necessity.  We decided to unveil the cupcake cake at our Superbowl party (mainly because we figured if we made it for a party then it would prevent us from eating the entire thing ourselves.)  

I decided to pull out the bible of all baking cookbooks,  More From Magnolia by Allysa Torey, to find a recipe.  On a side-note: you seriously can’t go wrong with this cookbook.  It changes lives.  Anyways, we ended up using the Magnolia’s vanilla cupcake recipe.  So basically we were creating a ginormous Magnolia’s cupcake.  Now I ask you, what could be better than that?
I started baking and everything was going smoothly (clearly I was in denial about the task of baking a giant cupcake).  The recipe worked great with the mold, nothing burned, all was well.  That is until I began to frost between the two halves of the cupcake.  This is the point in my cupcake adventure where an engineering degree may have come in handy.  The top kept sliding off and the frosting and I were fighting- and then there were tears beginning to well up.  It was not good.  Thankfully my savvy roommate whipped out a plan of action to save the cupcake cake involving the use of toothpicks to secure the top layer.  It was so MacGyver.  Clearly they are teaching her more than they let on in law school.
So in the end we served our beautiful cupcake cake at the party in all its glory.  It was a big hit! One of our friends even took her picture with it.  It was great.  And luckily I managed to remember there were toothpicks in the cake before anyone accidentally ate one. 
The cupcake cake was a proud moment in my baking experience.  I recommend you all go out and purchase a cupcake cake mold.  It is entirely necessary.