I finally made it!!

This update is not about a new recipe. This entry is much more exciting in my opinion. After a couple of failed attempts, I finally made the trip to Hoboken and to Carlo's Bakery!!! To say I was excited about this trip would be an understatement. I guess you could say I made it to the "Motherland" of this blog. Being there firsthand was an amazing experience that I won't forget.

A friend told me a couple of months ago that if you order a cake ahead of time you can cut the line and go right into the bakery. Since it was my nephew's 1st birthday party this past weekend, and my Dad's birthday today, I figured it would be the perfect opportunity for this trip. I ordered 2 cakes of Devil's Food with fudge filling and buttercream frosting a few weeks ago and prepared for the "journey." To be honest, it wasn't much of a "journey" to get there... it only took me an 75 minutes from school and only about an hour to get back home.

The line was starting to go around the block when I got there, but as promised I cut the line and went right in to the store. IT WAS PACKED! There was barely room to move in there, but it was worth every second. I gave them my name, and the found the cakes. Once I was in there it was fairly easy to order other things as well. I got some cannolis, lobster tails, eclairs, crumb cake and chocolate covered strawberries for my family to try. I would say that everything was reasonably priced and everyone working there was extremely friendly!

Sightings: Danny, Mauro, Little Buddy, and Madeline. Madeline actually checked me out, and I got the chance to tell her about this little blog and thank her and her family. Everyone was so nice and it was great to see them still functioning the same way as before, despite the fame.

Review of the food: AMAZING!!! There is nothing else to say. The cake was to die for, as were the other desserts. I would happily make the trip again for any of their cakes. They really deserve all the success they've gotten.

Such a great time. I think that this trip was a step in the whole journey of this blog. I'm really starting to get into the tougher recipes soon, so hopefully I can use Buddy's model as inspiration!

Also Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope everyone gets the love that they deserve :)

xoxo
Catherine

Who doesn't love cupcakes?

Surprise! I decided to do another recipe (actually 2) this week. To get the full story I have to back up to last Thursday. I was going down to D.C. this past weekend to celebrate my birthday (which was yesterday). Two of the most amazing friends in the world were taking care of all the plans and I kept feeling badly that they weren't letting me help, so they finally conceded to let me bake cupcakes for the weekend just to get me off their backs. Wow- was it worth making these two recipes!

I want to take a second to thank everyone who helped me celebrate my birthday this year. It was easily one of my favorite birthdays in history. You are all amazing and so special to me!

So once I was granted permission to bake, I chose to do simple vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting. I was also taught the difference this past week between icing and frosting, and for my birthday I wanted frosting. Frosting is creamier and softer than icing. Both were recipes from Buddy's book, and if you have been keeping up with this blog then you know that I haven't made either of these before. For all I knew, they could have stunk, but it was something new, fun, and who doesn't love a vanilla cupcake?

After a last second run to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients I had run out of, I began what was to be my favorite recipe so far of this blog. Both the cake and the frosting were pretty easy to make. I don't know if I could have done it as well without my KitchenAid, but luckily I didn't have to worry about that this time. The frosting was rich and creamy, and the cake was like something you would find in a professional bakery. I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but they were AWESOME! I've been told so much in the past how hard it is to make a good cake from scratch, but this recipe was pretty easy to follow, and turned out way better than anything you could ever get from a box.

I don't always try things from the blog, but I finally gave in after everyone starting raving about the cupcakes and tried one Saturday night. I was shocked about how amazing they tasted. I didn't have grading sheets with me for the weekend, but whenever I asked someone who tried them the only answer I heard was an A! Some of the comments were:

"They are like a religious experience!"
"Wow!!!"- Henry
"This is better than something I could get at a bakery."
"Can I have another?!?!"

I plan on making these cupcakes many more times in the future, beginning next week with my nephew's 1st birthday party. I'd be happy to make these for anyone else who wants them too!

Thanks to everyone for making 21 a great year for me, hopefully 22 will be even better!!!

Keep reading, commenting, sending to friends, etc. I love you all :)

-Catherine

A scone-like thing?

So after having an overwhelming couple of weeks, I finally found time to bake! On a side note I had an event for a club last weekend and used a few of the past recipes that I've tried for the blog and they were once again a huge success. I love being able to incorporate these new findings in my regular baking repertoire. This project has turned out to be much more than just a procrastination tool from work. It's become sort of a way of life for me.

As promised in my last entry, I made tea biscuits, which according to Buddy are "sconelike pastries." According to the book, they were the first mixing that Buddy ever did at Carlo's. The tricky part about this recipe is that you stop the mixer before the dough looks thoroughly mixed together. Buddy describes it as "until all of the ingredients just barely hold together... the dough will look unfinished and flaky." I feel like this is a recipe that is best taught by watching someone else do it, so you know exactly what it should look like, aka how flaky is just flaky enough. Of course, I am just going off a book without pictures, so had to use my best judgment. I think that I stopped it at the right point, because the dough wasn't rubbery, but for all I know I could have stopped it even earlier! Who knows, maybe I'm developing a real bakers instinct?

My biggest complaint with this recipe is that it only yielded 12 biscuits. Usually I get at least 24 out a recipe, which allows for my testing group to be larger. The recipe still was pretty simple to make, even though I found the dough a bit difficult due to it's flaky nature. The recipe also called for a pastry icing on top, which the biscuit really could have done without. A few of my tasters commented that the icing was too sweet and a bit unnecessary. With the exception of a couple of tasters, no one knew what to expect from a tea biscuit. Most of the grading was from individuals who had nothing to compare this tea biscuit experience with.

The average grade for these tea biscuits was a B.

Some of the comments were:
"Love it!"
"Perfect! I need tea now."
"Really good, but a bit too dry for my taste."

I don't think this recipe is going to go on my list of future repeats, but it's always nice to try something new!

Keep reading, commenting, etc.

xoxo!

Do me a favor... please

Hey all,

So I've decided that I am going to make Tea Biscuits this week, but I won't have time until Wednesday night. In the meantime I thought I would ask a favor out of all of you... thanks to technology I've been able to keep track of my page views and audience. The numbers are WAY higher then I would have ever been able to hope, so for that I want to thank you! All of you have made this blog what it is or is becoming so as a result I want to hear from you. I want to know who my readers are (in some sense.)

In the comment section to this entry please tell me a little something. It could be where your from, what you like about this blog, what you don't like, something you want to see, or anything about you. I know that as a blogger I really shouldn't be asking favors from my readers, but curiosity has gotten the best of me.

Keep posted for the next recipe last this week, and thanks for doing me this little favor :) Oh and please don't feel pressured to put your name, anonymity is totally respected.

Catherine

Back to the grind

Hey readers! Sorry for not blogging regularly over the past month. Being on my last winter break threw off my schedule, but I am now back into the swing of things and that includes baking! I mentioned briefly before that I was going to visit Carlo's bakery, but like most of my plans this break the snow prohibited me from going. I am however going THIS Friday to pick up a birthday cake that I ordered for my nephew who is turning 1 this week!

As promised I attempted to make the Italian Custard Cream again over break, and guess what? It didn't work. 4 times is not the charm. I looked and compared Buddy's recipe with a bunch of others, and I am convinced that there is an ingredient missing from my book. Maybe I'll get a chance to ask Buddy or someone on Friday, if not a very confused e-mail to them will just have to do. The main reason that I am more than determined to figure out the custard cream is because a bunch of the recipes for this blog call for it as a component, and I can't let the blog down! I made a promise to bake all the recipes, and I very well intend to keep that promise to the best of my ability.

So as I mentioned before I finally got a chance to try a new recipe for the first time in quite some time (major apologies to any loyal readers I might have.) I chose to make Pecan Wedges for the beginning of this new semester. Once again, I've never made anything like these before, but it was a fun experience for me to try. It wasn't Buddy's easiest recipe, and I'm not sold that they turned out the way they were supposed to, but I made something! The directions Buddy gave were easy to follow, but the measurements for the dough didn't make sense with what my product was. Like any great baker, I improvised to make the recipe work for me (instead of me working for it.) I think my favorite part was making the pecan filling, which involved me making caramel. Pretty cool. My biggest complaint is when I was cutting up the pieces they kept on falling apart. It was only after they had been in the fridge for a little while did they maintain their shape and taste.

Overall my taste-testers of the week seemed to enjoy them. The average grade received was around an A-. Some of the comments were:
"Good, except the breaded part tasted a little dry, but pecans were just the right type of crunchy."
"Moist and delicious!"
"Yum! This is like a better pecan pie- all the flavor, but not overly sweet!"

'Nommmm."

After not baking for some time I was a little nervous to get back into the swing of things, but once I dived in it felt great! Besides for the messiness and the fact that I don't love nuts, this was a fun recipe to make. I'm not sure I'll add it my repertoire of baking for the future, but I accomplished something new and that's always good to be proud of.

Keep posted to the blog for a full update of my trip to Carlo's Bake Shop and more recipes to come in the near future! Also don't forget to comment and tell your friends.

xoxo

Update

I hate Italian Custard Cream. Attempt 4 was still a failure. On the bright side I'm going to Carlo's Bakery on Friday. Maybe I can ask them for some tips on what I am doing wrong? Oh, and Happy New Year everyone. Hope 2011 is awesome!

Stay tuned for more recipes coming in 2011, an entry on my trip to the bakery, and maybe sometime in 2011 I will finally get the Italian Custard Cream.

A Basic Vanilla Cookie?

Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay of a new post. I just got back from Washington D.C. where I brought my newest baked goods for the blog to be tested out. Before I go into this week's baked deliciousness, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Holiday and New Year! This is one my favorite time of year, with everyone in good spirits and so much promise of the future. Unfortunately, there probably won't be another blog update until after the New Year, because I am going to be spending my New Year on an incredible trip to Israel! Well enough about me, because as we all know by now, this blog is dedicated to Buddy and his recipes.

So the recipe that I made this week was originally planned to be my first recipe for the blog. The reason that I scratched it in the first place was that it called for pastry flour, which I didn't have. Buddy says in the recipe that all-purpose flour can be substituted, but I was being stubborn. After I realized how difficult it is to find pastry flour, and how expensive things would get by ordering it, I gave in and decided to go with the all-purpose flour. The recipe was for Taralles, which is a vanilla cookie. Overall I thought the result was good. The dough was simple, and it yielded a good amount in the end.

My biggest problem was the presentation of these cookies. They are supposed to be circles that look like rope. I could not make them look like rope, no matter how hard I tried. So they basically were just circles. They took a little bit longer to bake than the recipe said, but that also might be the oven that I used. This was the first recipe that I didn't make in my apartment, but rather at my mother's house where the appliances are different. Overall the cookies were well received. The average grade was about a B/B+. They were a very simple cookie and comments I got reflected that:

"Needs to be slightly softer, but perfect level of sweetness."
"Tastes like a hamantaschen, without the filling."
"Delicious!"
"Amazing!"

I definitely agreed with the hamantaschen comment. If you've never had a hamantaschen make sure you try one as soon as you finish reading this entry. I personally enjoyed the flavor and texture of the cookie, and it's a possibility that I would make them again. I think they are a good holiday cookie, and maybe with some cinnamon sugar on top could be excellent. Overall Buddy hit the mark with this recipe, now if only I can figure out how to make it look the way it should...

My poor attempt...

So I'm not sure what will be next. I think I'm gonna try to master the Italian Custard cream over the few days that I am home over break. Happy New Years everyone!

Comment, subscribe, send to friends, etc. You all know the deal by now! :)

xoxo