Now, if you’re using store-bought cake mix you can take that recipe and tweak it to your heart’s content. German chocolate was always my favorite, but I’ve had success with banana cake mix, coconut and walnuts and lots of other combinations.

Since this is a gourmet cake mix, made with actual flour and sugar instead of whatever the balls cake mix is made of, we tweaked my family’s favorite recipe a bit.

We used:

• French toast cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup quick oats
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup milk

Basically, you mix everything together and bake it for about 12 minutes. Not too tough, but Teno and I made a video to show you how. After you watch, keep reading to find out how you can bake along with Stefanie when she competes on Food Network’s Cupcake Wars July 27th.

That was a family production, by the way. Tony was our camera man. And yes, Teno says bad words and I’m trying to make him stop so just don’t encourage him please.

So – ready to bake along with Stefanie? Awesome, because she’s going to send one of you her Cupcake Wars Surprise Pack! The pack includes mixes for the four recipes Stef used in competition – did she take home the $10,000? You’ll have to tune in to find out! Leave me a comment about the first thing you ever baked all by yourself and I’ll choose one random winner to bake along with Stef with their very own Cupcake Wars Pack. (I’ll pick a winner one week from today. Open to US addresses only, please!)

Thanks everyone! Congrats to our winner Samantha!

Most of the time I steer clear of these online cake blog cliques A) Because I’m already in a food gang, and it’s called BrutalSnack, and B) They’re usually an elaborate ploy by some conglomerate to post advertising on my webpage thereby tapping into my “alternative” readership. While I’m sure TLC is thrilled to finally have an audience that listens to grindcore and watches Married With Children re-runs, I was actually very impressed with their “you don’t have to write about the Little Chocolatiers” policy – and especially with the group they put together. (Hello, Cakespy and Bake It Pretty?) Plus, they do awesome stuff like send me a Flip Cam and challenge me to make a summertime treat on camera!

So for this particular challenge, I took one of my most popular cupcakes – the Vegan Elvis Comeback Special – and turned it into a tall, frosty milkshake. My fellow Cake Crew bloggers and I are all making videos in hopes that they’ll be posted on TLC.com and chosen the winner by a team of judges who will award one of us with a 15 minute phone conversation with Buddy Valastro – yeah, the Cake Boss. I hope you realize the level of awesome that a phone call between Buddy and myself would be. I worked in an Italian bakery for years – I can yell about zabaione with the best of them! Judges are looking for creativity, appearance and online feedback – so please leave me all your feedback, comments, criticisms, and jokes about my Elvis-meets-the Honky Tonk Man-impression because it all helps my chances!

Bake and Destroy: Cake Shake, Rattle & Roll from Natalie Slater on Vimeo.

Because the ice cream requires several hours from start to finish, I made mine one day ahead.

For the dairy-free peanut butter ice cream you’ll need:

• 2 cups coconut (or any other non-dairy) milk
• 3/4 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (or DIY it with this recipe)
• 1 Tbs pure vanilla extract

Then you:

Stir the milk, peanut butter and sugar together over medium heat in a medium-sized sauce pan. Everything should melt together as you stir – bring it to a boil and stir briskly to make sure all the sugar melts. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Refrigerate for 2 hours, or until chilled. Follow the directions on your ice cream maker to freeze. I use the KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment so it takes about 20 minutes to churn. Stick that in the freezer to firm up.

For the cupcakes you’ll need:

• 1 mashed ripe banana
• 1 & 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup non-dairy milk
• 1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/4 cup finely chopped dark chocolate or vegan chocolate chips, chopped

Then you:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your pan with paper liners. (You don’t have to make cupcakes – you can also bake this batter in an 8″ square pan or 9″ round.)
Smash the banana with a fork – it just needs to be smooshed, but it doesn’t have to be liquid.
Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar into a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the oil, milk, vanilla, almond and mashed banana. Stir or fold the wet ingredients into the dry, but don’t over mix or you’ll get tough cupcakes. Small lumps are fine. Finally, add the chocolate, folding gently. (You could also leave the chocolate out of the cake and add it to the shake at the end.)
Fill liners 2/3 full. Bake 20-22 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Finally you:

Throw one cupcake in the blender along with 2-3 scoops of ice cream and a splash of non-dairy milk. I went with coconut throughout because it adds a nice sweet flavor. I topped mine with Soyatoo Vegan Whipped Cream, although Melisser tells me that the mix is better because you can add sugar to taste. Topped with a cherry and poured into my Cake Boss pint glass this was a dessert fit for The King.

Thank you, thank you very much.

We had lots of fun clearing up the Great Macaron Misunderstanding of 2010 and giggling about “other uses” for a yucca. (My friend Lisa put it best, “That yucca could be a home wrecker.”)

So here’s the clip for my non-Chicagoan friends, I actually haven’t watched yet so I apologize in advance if I made a weird face or pronounced anything wrong. I know for a fact I pulled one boner move and forgot to wear my Lucky Cupcake Hairclip I had all picked out for the show! I was in a mad rush to get to the studio and I left the house with a naked head. Today I am wearing two bows as penance.

We did a little Q&A with viewers after the show and one great question I got was “Where can I find macarons in Chicago?” Well, I’d definitely check out Fritz Pastry‘s 100 Macaron project – 100 flavors in one year. They have something different every time I visit and they make a mean macaron. (Fritz supplied the macarons I had on the show.) I had my first macaron ever at Vanille Patisserie and you can’t really beat a French confection made by a World Pastry Cup champion, now, can you? Alliance Bakery in Wicker Park has a nice selection of macarons, and of course Macaron Chicago subscribes to the “do one thing and do it well” philosophy. Those are all the macarons I’ve eaten in Chicago – did I miss any?

Another question was “How do you make a French macaron?” Well, there are lots of recipes and theories to be found, but if it’s your first go at it, you might want to check out this video my friend Lisa and I made for our video blog, BrutalSnack.

Oh, and I also got a few questions about where one can score a salted caramel cupcake. I cannot stress enough how amazing the salted caramel cupcake from More Cupcakes is. When Cupcake Wars aired I invited the snobbiest of cupcake snobs over for a viewing party and reveled in watching them melt upon taking their first bite. Transcendent. Truly.

I believe the three of us have become WTTW staples – I can’t wait to go back!

PS My fabulous Chicago flag bowl was from Circa Ceramics!

The Early Bird Special

If you were to walk by the Chicago Tonight green room last night you would have seen what appeared to be three very different women nervously making conversation over a basket of peanut butter cookies. Had you come inside with us, though, you would have met three people on a similar mission – to de-stigmatize eating and food. To wake people up to the fact that eating for pleasure doesn’t have to be gluttonous or unhealthy but that rather, a passion for cooking and eating can only lead to a healthy relationship with food.

Of course, as I write this, I am eating one of the peanut butter cookies Angie of Angie’s Pantry supplied us with back stage so… don’t cross me off the glutton list too quickly. Seriously, though, meeting Angie and meeting Dana Joy Altman of Real Food Rehab just reinforced what I’ve been feeling for the past few years, since becoming a food blogger myself – food is more than fuel for your body. It’s a unifying force, an expression of love and passion, and it’s a giant ball of yarn for curious cats like me.

Anyway, it was loads of fun to wander the WTTW hallways. For a kid who grew up watching Bob Serat on the morning news it was a total “look, ma, I really made it” moment. You can watch the segment below – and for the record, 2010 is the year of the French macaron, not the coconut macaron. Although I will not say no to one of those, either. (More on that soon when I post my interview with the folks behind Fritz Pastry!) You can findthe recipes for my retirement village-inspired trip of desserts, the Early Bird special on the WTTW site.

Special thanks to Lucky Cupcake Hairclips for my cute red bow and Circa Ceramics for the Chicago flag dinnerware.

PS Tony doesn’t use recipes, so don’t expect his soup recipe anytime soon, sucka.

Cupcake by Two Parts Sugar

I wasn’t going to pester you guys with any more Cupcake Wars posts – at least not until Food Network called me to say they loved the show and want to bring it back as Natalie Slater’s Cupcake Wars Starring Natalie Slater. But as I was live-Tweeting the show last night I realized you guys had a lot of questions about the show, so I thought I’d do one last CW post to address those questions. (I also read lots of crappy comments about the show, and I actually have some insight as to why it wasn’t 100% up to your standards.) I’ll organize the best I can. Unlike judging cupcake shows, organizing is not my specialty.

General info & background stuff

If you want to know how I ended up on the show, check out a previous post I did. There are a few videos from a few of the days I was in LA as well – you can click through to those from that other post. That post will also cover questions you might have about why I was dressed like a Mormon and also, why I was so reserved when – as any of you know me in real life can attest to – I am generally pretty loose with the snarky remarks. We’ll get back to that later.

A lot of people asked about the host of the show and the other judges, so let’s cover that. The show was hosted by Justin Kredible. Justin’s been on a bunch of TV shows including Rachel Ray, but more importantly, he put my iPhone inside of a balloon right in front of me using magic. Yeah, because he’s a magician. Well, he’s “like a magician, only cooler.” He also did a card trick that totally freaked out the next person I want to talk about – Jane Lockhart.

Jane owns Sweet Lady Jane on Melrose Ave. I admit that I hadn’t heard of it until I landed in LA, but once I was there almost everyone I spoke to said “You have to get the triple berry cake at Sweet Lady Jane!” I looked it up, and apparently there are lines out the door every day for Jane’s fine desserts. She has the most gorgeous eyes I’ve ever seen, fabulous clothes, and she’s the best story teller I’ve ever listened to. She told me a story about a break in she experienced – in broad daylight – that gave me goose bumps.

On the other side of me at the judge’s table was Candace Nelson, founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes. As in, every-celebrity-you’ve-ever-read-about-and-then-pretended-you-didn’t-really-care-about’s favorite cupcakes Sprinkles Cupcakes. Justin said it in her intro – she put cupcakes on the map. I’m repeating myself, but she was so easy to talk to and fun that I forgot all about the zillions of cameras pointed at my face.

And then of course there were a slew of rotating judges… but no one asked me about them. So apparently there’s nothing more to say about that.

FAQ

These are all the questions I can remember that more than one person asked me.

Why were you all covered up?

Short answer: I don’t know. Long answer: Read the post I mentioned above. If your next question is why was Dave allowed to show his tattoos but I wasn’t – beats me! No idea.

Who did you really think should win?

Remember that time I was a judge on a cupcake show? And remember at the end when I was one of the four people who chose the winner? Yeah. I thought Elfie should win, that’s why I picked her.

Did you really pick Elfie based on her display?

No. If you recall, Elfie also won the tasting round at the very beginning. In fact, after the show wrapped, Candace and Jane quizzed her about her cupcake recipe because it was amazing. He cupcakes tasted delicious and her display was a show-stopper. Does that mean Erica’s cakes and display weren’t also great? Of course not. But we had to pick a winner and Elfie edged it out with her combo of yumminess and glamour.

What up with white Carmen Miranda?

Good question. I asked that too, but it was cut. Apparently “Carmen” was a friend of Elfie’s and the only person who could…uh, stand in a table…last minute. Paula Garces actually offered to be Carmen next time. I would have loved to see that.

How could you send the pregnant girl home first?

Dude. That was so hard. First of all, I loved Monica’s idea. Everyone else went spicy sweet and she was like – eff it, I’m making a churro cupcake. The cake and the fried tortillas were perfect. The frosting, as Candace mentioned, was thick and too sweet. It happens to everyone – if you’re reading this, you’ve botched your frosting. It sucks that it happened to such a sweet girl during the competition. Was it the worst cupcake I ate during the contest? No way. This got cut too, but Dave’s first batch that we tasted was really over baked. I’m kind of a pig, so I just dove in, but it really bothered Candace. His cupcakes were gorgeous, but the tasting batch was pretty dry and compared to Elfie’s, it didn’t knock my socks off. If I was the only judge that might have been it for Dave – as nice as he was. But I was one of four, and majority ruled.

You should also know that unlike Top Chef, we had like, three minutes to make decisions. The contestants were standing outside the test and producers were waving their arms at us and telling us to hurry. Still, when Monica was leaving and told me she reads my blog I pretty much wanted to punch myself in the face.

What else got cut?

Oh, lots of stuff. The scenes were the judges walked around ala Carrie Vincent and asked all kinds of questions. The part where Dave got flustered and dropped his poster board on the ground. The part where Elfie’s table broke with White Carmen Miranda still inside. The part where I asked why she was white. That’s how it goes!

Why was it so bright?

I don’t know. I write a baking blog. Go read a TV production blog.

Retorts to shitty comments I read

That show looked low budget.

Well, as pilots go, it really wasn’t. There were like, 50 crew people running around – all paid well I’m sure – we got paid, we got fed, some of us got flown in from Chicago and put up for a few nights on the UCLA campus. Yeah, it’s not Diners, Drive-ins and Dives or whatever – it’s a pilot. Pilots are cheaper than real shows. If it makes you feel better, Candace had like $40,000 worth of diamonds on. Does that makes you feel better? No, I didn’t think it would.

It sucks they picked Elfie even though Erica’s cupcakes tasted better.

Erica’s cupcakes tasted good. Her display wasn’t red carpet-worthy. Elfie’s cupcakes were dope and her display had everyone talking. I think what people are getting hung up on was Paula’s comment that she preferred Erica’s cupcakes. Again – that was one person’s thoughts among four who were making the decision. Personally, I would have liked to see Monica’s display because James (who you might recall as the giant “master carpenter”) said she was the only one who hadn’t planned on making a giant dress.

I fell asleep.

Yeah… the show needs some tweaking. If Food Network picks it up I think they can make it the next Cake Challenge, though. Cupcakes are small, there isn’t a lot you can do. But they could throw curve balls like requiring that all the cakes are vegan – or introducing mystery ingredients ala Iron Chef. And most of all, they could have me back on and not make me wear a crazy Mormon outfit.

You don’t eat cupcakes with a fork.

You do when you’re on TV. Do I eat cupcakes with a fork at home? No! I’m not a crazy person! But we were tasting so many at a time, it was the only non-disgusting way to do it.

Other questions you asked

My grandpa wanted to know what we did with all those cupcakes. The ones that didn’t go to the Alma Awards were eaten by the cast and crew. Yeah, that’s right. We ate them. We’re on a show called Cupcake Wars! We obviously enjoy eating cupcakes!

Who cuts your hair?

Seriously. People asked me that a lot. The answer is, my friend Shannon cuts it at Lather Salon in Chicago. She and I are working on a video blog together so stay tuned for that hotness.

Skin secrets. Spill them.

Not to sound like an acne medication commercial, but never in my life did I think women would want my skin secrets. Well, the truth is, I’m a vegetarian, I drink lots of water, get plenty of sleep, I don’t drink or smoke (ever, ever) I stay out of the sun (always) and I wash my face twice a day with AcneFree. I know that sounds like a commercial, but that’s what I do, so shove it. I also bathe in the blood of virgins – but that’s like, once a year, so I don’t think that’s it.

Where did you get that dress?

I actually wore that dress on the plane and never intended to wear it on air. I bought a super cute dress to wear on air, but it showed about 2″ of wrist tattoos so it was banned. To answer the question, it’s a $14 dress from Marshall’s. It’s falling apart right now. Monica has offered to have it turned into a cute apron for me, but I kind of feel like it’s my unlucky lucky dress. I might wear it until it disintegrates.

Would you do it again?

You bet your sweet ass I would.

Even if you had to cover up all your tattoos again?

I just got a giant neck tattoo – so good luck with that!

How can I tell Food Network what I thought about the show?

Good question! You can email them here!

In the end, the best part of watching the show was reading all my friends’ comments via Twitter and Facebook through the whole thing. From the impatient “There seems to be a severe lack of Natalie” from the people who thought I was competing to “Yeah, there’s Natalie! And I can see her knuckle tattoos!” I really appreciated that you guys hyped the show, tuned in, Tweeted along, and continued to write sweet things after it was over. You guys are on my “do not stab” list for sure.

I know I left things out, so if you still have questions or comments just post them – I’ll answer everything I can!

Head angel Stephanie Samuels

Way back before there was a Teno – or a Bake and Destroy – Tony and I were watching Sugar Rush, a short-lived Food Network show that I’m guessing would do much better these days than it did then. They covered an adorable place called Angel Food Bakery that did quirky wedding cakes, cute cupcakes and – the item that really caught my attention – homemade Twinkies (or, Airstreams as they are called round these parts.) Dang, I wish we had something cool like that in Chicago! I headed for the computer, Googled, and nearly fell off my chair. Not only was this cute-as-a-button shop in Chicago but it was in my own neighborhood! (Keep in mind this was long before the pushing-the-stroller-everywhere-days.)

Back in the mid 80′s I was a pastry chef at the now gone (but not forgotten) Metropolis Cafe in Old Town. Leaving  after 6 years, after traveling a bit and playing hippie in New Mexico for a while, I came back and got myself into the world of food styling, staying with that for about 12 years.  That was a great way to combine my sculpture background with my love of food.  I also had a custom cake business on the side – I worked and lived in a funky storefront apartment .

Nope.  I have a BA in Studio Art, and a minor in Museum Studies from a  small liberal arts college in Wisconsin.  After graduating, I found a job as a bread apprentice, and pretty much learned pastry by the seat of my pants after Erwin Dreschler  had enough faith in me to hire me at Metropolis.

Airstreams photo from monkeydish.com

What did you want to be when you grew up?

Always an artist.  For a while there, it was also archeology.  I liked the “treasure hunt” aspect of that, and touching things that no one had handled in hundreds of years before I unearthed them.

I’m a child of the 60′s and 70′s, and remember getting to have those special treats once in a while.  They were doled out rather sparingly, and it was always a exciting event when we got one.  Working on the menu, I looked at other bakeries in town, and really wanted to do something a bit different.  I know that it’s important to have a “schtick” to be set apart a bit.  I wanted to focus on individual, cool looking desserts that reminded people of past “mouth memories.”

I like to make things that people normally don’t think about as being “homemade”.  Taking a well known product and recreating it with good quality ingredients – and tweaking it a bit.  I find that it’s a challenge, and it’s a fun thing for customers to experience.

Photo by Flickr user PopElegantiarum

When did you start collecting Easy Bake Ovens and how many do you think you have now?

I started to collect a few here and there over the years, but when I was designing this space I thought about putting a display shelf around the whole perimeter and putting toy ovens on it.  It was in line with the feel that I wanted for the place – fun, funky, homey.

I DIDN”T!!!  I had to go to my friend Valerie Lapin’s house to play with one.  Between that tragedy, and a touch of OCD, I now have all the Easy Bakes I want.

I have played around a bit (when I had more time!)  and found that it can actually be good for drying things out, like fruit leathers.

It did.  I was lucky enough to be on three different shows.  The first was Recipe for Success, a 1/2 hour show about business start ups.  The second and third, Unwrapped, and Sugar Rush, focused mostly on the retro items.  I have to say that I did get quite a bit of business after those shows, and also get a bit of a bump when they re-run them, which is always nice.  Probably the most surprising thing that came out of them was the outpouring of support from viewers.  I received a lot of emails, and hand written notes telling me to hang in there.  It really touched me.

Choco-wrap cake by AFB

I read a Facebook status update from you that cracked me up – about how FN’s Cake Challenges are sort of influencing people’s idea of what they want in a custom cake. Have you noticed an increase in outlandish cake requests?

UGH!  I have a lot of mixed feelings about those shows.  The competitions I love to watch, because I know how difficult that work is, I usually learn something in the process, and I’ve known a few of the folks on them, which is fun. The shows that bother me most are the “reality bakery” shows.  I think what it’s done is give people the impression that these kinds of cakes are made in a 1/2 hour, because that is how long the show is, and that they’re not going to cost that much.  I do get a lot of crazy requests, and I try to fill them, but I do give folks the option of a 3D design with it’s price tag, and another option that can be equally as creative, but easier on the wallet.  I am also the only one here that makes the cakes, and does the decorating, so in addition to running the shop and all that comes with it, I have to factor in the time it takes to give all the detailed attention deserved to a big cake project.

I know!  I can’t believe it.  I’m  lucky that I didn’t have much of a business background, because if I did, I probably should have closed down by now because of the amount of overhead vs. what comes in the door.  But I’m hanging in there.  Magically I manage to get the bills paid on time.  I really owe it to the community.  The neighbors have been so supportive, and many have become friends.  To me, the true success is that a real community has grown up  around here.  I’ve seen families change and grow.  Some have moved, and new ones have come in.  I’ve become involved in their lives as well as they in mine.

The crazy cakes are always fun, but right now with all the fresh fruit available, I love to make pies and tarts.  Now, it is getting into holiday season, and that means I start my CANDY production.  I’m a bit of a candy freak, and I always have some staples that I make – sponge candy, marshmallows, nougat, gum drops – and I try to fit a few new items in.  I like to take well known candy bars, and make them in house.  Last year’s was York Peppermint Patties.  This year I’m thinking about Milky Ways.

My cook Oliver has been with me since day one.  My old boss Erwin sent him over to help me as a dishwasher/prep guy, and after a couple weeks, I started to teach him basic cooking and bread baking, and now he’s in complete control of the savory menu.  I bring up items I’d like to try, we work on them together, and he takes off with it.  I really count on him, and he’s been terrific.

I started mostly with the bakery items, with a few savories thrown in like the “bacon and egg” deviled eggs, and savory foccacias.  Very quickly though, we started our lunch menu to get folks in here mid-day.  Soon after, Sunday brunch followed, as did the weekday breakfast.

Again, I find something that I like and try to figure out how to make it.  I usually research a bit to get the basics down, and then just dive in.  I’m really into the pickles. Some of the savory items that we feature harken back to my childhood as well.  The pot pie, which was always a big treat in our house (frozen Stouffers, of course), the “Friday Night Brisket”, the tomato soup with grilled cheese, which my mom cut up in the soup and called a “soup sandwich”, and the “egg in a hole.”  Almost everything here is made in house, breads, soup stocks, dressings and of course the baked goods.  The only exception would be some unique ingredients that I can’t make myself.  We also try to use as much local products as possible, which is much easier during farmer’s market season.  My partner’s family has a farm in NW Illinois, and we are starting to grow some items for the shop out there, as well as keeping bees. This July we harvested out first batch of honey, which we are selling in the shop.

Everyone loves cupcakes!

When I’m describing your bakery to people I always mention the Easy Bake Ovens, the malted milk cupcake and how cute you are. Where do you like to shop for clothes and accessories?

Gee Thanks!  When I had a “real” job, and actually made a living wage, I liked to frequent friends of mine that were  Chicago designers, like Amy Rigg (R.I.P.), Robin Richman, Suzen and Lucy Domino. I still have a lot of their clothes – luckily the designs are pretty timeless and I can mix them up with today’s items, as well as vintage stuff, which I also love to wear.  These days, if I want to treat myself, a friend of mine owns two shops in Evanston that I go to – Asinimali and Cou Cou.  I have to say, I find a lot of cool stuff at The Brown Elephant too.  People give away the best things!  Since I’ve started the bakery and I wear chef pants and t-shirts all the time I’ve splurged on cool eyeglasses just to give myself a bit of a boost.  For accessories I can always count on my friend David Vale’s store Hazel, down the street, and of course Etsy.  I always say that I’ll know I’m successful when I don’t have to by underwear in a 3 pack anymore.

I have to say that the cupcake phenomena has gotten so big since I’ve opened, that I find myself constantly working on traditional and new items.  It seems like it is an endless void, and they keep me pretty busy.   Because they re-run the food network shows every so often I’m known for the “snack cake” recreations, and a lot of folks come in for those.  There are still several old school desserts to recreate.  I was making pop tarts for a while, which I was calling “Flatbeds”  I’d also like to work on a cool mini jello mold.

I wish I had gotten my act together when I was ten years younger.  It is exhausting, but I knew that.  I think that the hardest thing, besides wondering where all the customers are on slow days or “why is that place so packed, and we aren’t?” The fact that I can’t pay my employees what I’d like to pay them.  I’m sure that any small business suffers from this.  Everyone works so hard, but there is only so much coming in, and I can’t always spread it around the way I’d like.  The city and the government don’t make it easy for us little guys.  I also have learned that I can’t please everyone.  Some customers just aren’t going to get what I’m doing, or have different tastes.  I can’t take all of that personally.  I can only try to put out the best product I can, every single day, and hope for the best.

Just seeing all that I’ve done here, putting the product out, watching people enjoy it and having them come back for more!  That is so so great.  The creativity is one thing, but running the business gets in the way sometimes, and I don’t always have time or energy to make all the things I want to, but as I do, and they get bought up and enjoyed, it’s really quite satisfying.  Also, the fact that the shop has become a neighborhood place, and kids know me, and stop in to say hi, or show me a report card, or bring me a dandelion makes it all worth it.

It really depends on who is manning the iPod.  I’ve got a very eclectic mix on there, and whoever is in front controls it.  Although Oliver does sneak out there sometimes, and puts on Senor Coconut, Celia Cruz, James Brown or Abba.  When we get control, it could be anything from funk, to Hank 3. Lots of old school rock and blues.  You can find pretty much anything here except for metal and rap.  When I’m by myself, it could be Macy Gray, Lenny Kravitz, Lily Allen or Joe Cocker!  A lady has the right to change it up.

I don’t have as much time as I’d like to go and check places out, but I do have my favorite restaurants for when I want to just hang and have a good meal.  Sunshine on Clark street is my all time favorite.  It’s a mellow, country Japanese-style place.  I’ve been going for years.  I also like riding down to the Skylark, a funky bar in Pilsen with cheap beer and a good menu.  I still go to Erwin for 1/2 price martini night, and if I want a special time, my good friend owns the Publican and I try to treat myself over there once in a while.  I have to say for bakeries or desserts, I keep it simple, and I’m truly happy with a soft serve cone or a bag of gummies.

Easy does it

What about outside of Chicago?

There is a great Italian bakery in Boston’s North End called Modern Pastry.  The staff is of course very rude (it’s Boston!), but they have several kinds of chocolate covered nougat that is to die for.  In downtown Milwaukee, there is the “Doughnut Man”  who has a little cart that he cranks out fresh doughnuts on – amazing.  I am ashamed to say that I haven’t been to New York in quite a while and I am long overdue for a food trip.  There are a thousand places I want to try.

I certainly try to.  They are so many out there, most a pretty good, some aren’t.  Once you weed them out , there is a lot of information and feedback that I can get from them.  It’s pretty incredible how connected the world is now.  Anything and everything is out there.  If I’m trying to find out about something food-wise, chances are somebody has already tried it, and I can check it out.  As for the “review” blogs, they are also good to read to keep up on how others may see you, and what might need correcting, but a grain of salt is always needed, as is a thick skin at times.

Probably something to do with kids, art and food.  Dan and I really want to start an “agri-cultural” center out near the farm, where we could be connected with non-profit organizations and work with kids, agriculture, art and healthy food production.  I’m already talking to Common Threads, Angelic Organics Learning Center, Hull House, Gallery 37 and the Inspiration Cafe to try and make connections and garner interest.  Dan was at the Field Museum for years, and the thought of doing specimen collecting workshops, or scientific illustration programs is exciting as well.

After 5 years, I do feel like there needs to be a little re-inventing.  With all the interest in local food, slow food, etc., I have been considering making the bakery a bit of a co-op, where customers can pick up items that are produced locally.  We do carry some organic eggs that the son of a friend of ours raises as a home school project, and they have been a big hit.  I was carrying Trader’s Point yogurt and milk for people, and as I said, we are selling our own honey.  I think that to bring in more products like that would be exciting.  I’d also like to do more workshops here.  Not just baking, but pickling, preserving, and cheese making.

Stephanie – I love you, I love your cupcakes and I love your bakery. Congrats on 5 years and we’re all wishing you the bet of luck on all the amazing things you have planned!

vegan potato pizza

Originally uploaded by Bake & Destroy!

When I worked at Letizia’s Natural Bakery I was vegan. Tragic, I know, but Letizia always made sure to have homemade vegan soups for me, and sometimes she made this amazing potato rosemary pizza rustica. Tony and I saw Toni Fiore make this pizza on Delicious TV and couldn’t wait to make it ourselves.

You can use the recipe I posted here for dough, or just do what we did and go to a good pizza place and ask to buy some dough.

You’ll need:

• 1lb. pizza dough
• 3 medium baking potatoes, cooked until fork tender and sliced fairly thin
• 1/4 c. fresh sage, chopped (or any herb you like)
• Olive oil
• Salt and Pepper

Then you:

Preheat a pizza stone in the oven at 500 degrees for at least an hour.
Have your potatoes, sage, and spices prepped and ready at hand.
Break dough in half and begin stretching your dough to desired size.
Place on the hot stone, sprinkle with olive oil and bake for 4-5 minutes until slightly dry. Add the potatoes in a circular pattern, then add sage, additional olive oil, and salt and pepper.
Bake pizza for 10-15 minutes until the edges are nicely browned.

It’s vegan, but not in a way that will scare your dad, really filling and great for shitty winter nights. And best of all, Teno hates it. Toni Fiore claims it also works cold for breakfast, but Tony’s going to be the one to test that theory. I think anything besides pancakes for breakfast is a communist conspiracy.

Pizza Margherita

Originally uploaded by Bake & Destroy!

Tony and I have taken to watching Delicious TV lately. I love Toni Fiore, she’s like a vegetarian Carmella Soprano. We watched the pizza special the other day and couldn’t wait until the week end to make pizza margherita. Our Aerogarden supplied us with fresh basil and the pizza place literally one block from our house, Manzo’s, supplied us with the dough- only $2 for a pound of it! Also, when we were at whole Foods to buy the mozzarella, it was like a free sample extravaganza. I had artichoke dip, pineapple and a little cup of cake. I knew skipping lunch was a genius idea. This pizza is super easy to make, especially if you buy the dough from your local pizza joint, but if you’re too fancy for that you can make your own with the Delicious TV recipe below. I also wanted to mention that today when we were talking about making the pizza Tony mentioned that Toni Fiore kept “dicking around” with the pizza while it was cooking. This made me decide that “dicking around” is the most white trash saying ever.

For the pizza will need:

• 1 lb. pizza dough
• 1-1 1/2 c. crushed tomatoes, fresh or canned
• 3-5 Ovolino of fresh mozzarella*, sliced and patted dry
• Fresh basil
• Extra Virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper

For the dough you will need:

• 1 pkg yeast
• 2 Cups Lukewarm water..( 105-115 degrees)
• 1 Cup pastry flour or triple OO flour**
• 4 Tsp. salt
• 5 1/2- 6 cups unbleached white flour

** If you don’t have pastry or OO flour , just substitute with your all purpose flour.

Then you:

In a bowl stir ( either by hand or with a mixer) the yeast and water until dissolved. Add pastry flour and salt..mix well…add all purpose flour one cup at a time until dough is smooth not sticky. Shape dough into a ball…place in a lightly oiled bowl..turn to coat…cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until doubled…Punch dough down…and divide into 6 balls for individual pizzas or 2-3 for a larger pie…let dough rise again for 45 minutes..or until doubled…keep dough cool before using…

To make the pizza you:
Preheat oven with pizza stone in it for at least one hour at 500 degrees.

Have your tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil ready to put on top of the pizza, then set it aside.

Break the dough in half and begin preparing by pressing and hanging alternately until the desired thickness is achieved.

Place the dough base on the pizza stone and sprinkle with olive oil and salt. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the surface looks a little dry, then add your toppings: sauce, cheese, basil, and salt and pepper.

Bake until done around the edges, a little well done is the preferred texture. Remove from the oven, top with extra virgin olive oil and fresh black pepper.

On her website Toni says you can substitute soy cheese for dairy, just add it at the very end. We added roasted garlic to our pizza because we just can’t help but dick around with everything. (^_^)

blueberry muffins

Originally uploaded by Bake & Destroy!
I never really post muffin recipes, even though I bake them pretty often because they aren’t as sweet and cute as cupcakes or cookies. But they are tasty, and really if you think about it, they’re cupcakes that you’re allowed to eat in the morning without anyone saying to you, “Are you seriously going to eat a cupcake for breakfast?” My mom passed this recipe on to me in hopes of changing my opinion of Ina Garten. I still think she’s pretty dull to watch, but her recipes are quite amazing. These are from Barefoot Contessa Family Style; they’re light, fluffy and Teno-approved.

You will need:

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 8 ounces (about 1 cup) sour cream
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 half-pints fresh blueberries (2 cups, although I used 3 cups)

Then you:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place liners in muffin pans.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, sour cream, and milk. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just mixed. Fold in the blueberries with a spatula and be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling each cup just over the top, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the muffins are lightly browned on top and a cake tester comes out clean.

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For Jessy

Originally uploaded by Bake & Destroy!
I have the same taste in cupcakes as your average four-year-old. I like yellow, as buttery as I can get, with vanilla buttercream and sprinkles. Basic, cute and sweet. This recipe might be the best-reviewed cupcake recipe of all time. Every baking blog raves about it, so who am I to disagree? I even forgot the butter until the last second and had to try to mash it in there without overmixing the flour and they still turned out fluffy and yellow and buttery as ever.
I topped mine with, in the case of these fluffy pink cupcakes, with left over vegan buttercream dyed pink and topped with cherry candies. I also topped some with whipped cream and fondant shark fins, which you can check out in my Flickr pictures.
Anyway, for the millionth time on the Internet, here’s the recipe for Billy’s Vanilla Vanilla Cupcakes:

• 1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Then you:
1. Preheat oven to 325°. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.
2. 2. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.
3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about two-thirds full.
4. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.
5. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter.

I still have a dozen in my freezer, and I read they keep well in there if they’re wrapped properly. I’m going to decorate them with my niece this week end. Really you could top these with anything, but I think your favorite chocolate or vanilla buttercream would be best.

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