Bakery Review: Noe Valley Bakery

Noe Valley Bakery - July 20, 2015

This isn't really a bakery review since I've never personally been to Noe Valley Bakery in San Francisco so I can't comment on the bakery itself.

But my team at work brought in this red velvet cake from that bakery for my birthday last month and it was so good I thought it was worth a shout out on my blog.

I love red velvet cake. I love a moist red velvet cake even more and that's what this was. It was a 4-layer tower of goodness of moist, rich cake with just the right perfectly cakey texture that marks a good cake. Even better, the cream cheese frosting wasn't too tangy and had just the right amount of sweetness. I also liked the elegant simple presentation of the cake itself.

My coworkers and I enjoyed it thoroughly. From start to finish, I think we ended up at the empty plate below in a matter of minutes. I've now added Noe Valley Bakery to my list of must-visit bakeries in San Francisco; this cake alone is worth a visit.

Sweets Handmade Candies - Truckee, CA

Sweets Handmade Candies - visited July 18, 2015

After the visit to Cake Tahoe, we took a walking tour down the main street of Truckee and came upon Sweets Handmade Candies, a cute little confectionery shop. It reminded me of the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory with the space at the front to showcase the fudge making then the rest of the shop was devoted to confections and chocolate.

I love poking around confectionery shops. My eyes get their fill of - haha - eye candy and my nose thanks me for all the mouthwatering smells found in your typical chocolate shop. And, I'm not going to lie, my taste buds sit up and start begging as I try to decide what to get. Never mind the two cupcakes I'd just bought from Cake Tahoe minutes before.

When we walked into Sweets, we were offered free samples of their homemade fudge. Fudge. We all know I like fudge, despite the sweetness. It's fudge. Sweets had a whole tray of small bits of fudge out for sampling for the customers (I think we were pretty much all tourists) milling around in the shop. I nipped up a sample to try. And I'm sorry but I wish I hadn't. I normally try to say positive things in a review and I have a pretty low bar for fudge to clear in order for me to like it. Unfortunately this didn't pass that bar. I don't know why but the flavor just wasn't there. The chocolate wasn't very chocolaty and the texture wasn't the rich smooth creaminess I expect from fudge. And I wasn't the only one who felt this way. We all tried it - my nieces and their boyfriends - and we all had the same reaction which my niece succinctly summed up as "it tastes like brownie mix fudge". Yup. Sorry.

By that token, I felt I had to buy something now so I could find something good about the shop that I liked better because I hate not being able to say something nice about it. It was a cute shop! And the Sweets counter people were very nice and friendly. But I wouldn't go for the fudge, I'm sorry.

Instead, I picked out a Sea Salt Caramel from the display case and I had one of my nieces pick out the truffle she wanted; she chose a cappuccino truffle enrobed in white chocolate.

Fudge making at the front of the shop

Fortunately, the chocolates we selected were way, way better than the fudge. I only caught a shot of the truffle as my nieces started eating it before I could take a picture ("wait!"). But they liked it.

I'm also happy to say the sea salt caramel covered in milk chocolate that I got was superb. The caramel was soft and chewy the way I like it but not too sticky or hard and the sea salt sprinkled on the chocolate was the perfect complement to the sweetness of the caramel. So you may not want to go for the fudge but if you do go to Sweets, try one of the confectionery chocolates instead.

Browned Butter White Chocolate Toffee Cookies

Browned Butter White Chocolate Toffee Cookies - made dough July 11, 2015, recipe adapted from Baker by Nature

These cookies were part of my Tahoe weekend last month with my sister, my nieces and their boyfriends. Whenever I meet up with them, I know to bring banana bread for my sister's SO as well as my niece's boyfriend. I asked my other niece what else she wanted me to bring and her answer is always her favorite: white chocolate chip cookies.

Now I could just take a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and substitute white chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate chips but why pass up a chance to try out another new recipe? Besides which, a true white chocolate chip cookie is actually different from a regular chocolate chip cookie. They lean more towards brown sugar than granulated sugar and the white chocolate pairs well with the caramel/butterscotch flavor of the cookie.

For this experiment, I went with this white chocolate toffee version but I mixed the batch and, before adding the toffee, scooped half of it into toffee-less cookie dough balls, added the toffee to the remaining cookie dough and finished mixing and portioning into what the cookies were originally meant to be. One of the boys is allergic to nuts and the commercially made toffee bits I added to the batter had a high probability of being made in a facility with nuts so I left it out of half the cookies to play it safe.

From appearances, this had all the earmarks of what I look for in a good cookie: it stayed thick, was chewy in the middle, had somewhat crisp edges and I loved the texture. However, it was a tad too sweet for me. I think it's partially because I've cut back on sugar a lot (I know, you probably can't tell from what I bake and blog but it's true) and whenever I do eat sugar, it's really sweet. I also think the toffee and white chocolate add more sweetness to the cookie since that's what they're there for. It's still a good cookie though so you could either portion them small, cut back on the toffee and/or white chocolate, add macadamia nuts for a texture and flavor contrast to cut the sweetness or just make as is and decide for yourself.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted until browned
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chocolate toffee bits

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. 
2. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat melt butter, whisking constantly, until it reaches a golden brown color; remove from heat at once. Transfer melted butter to a large mixing bowl or stand mixer. 
3. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and mix just until combined.
4. Add the dry ingredients in thirds, mixing just until combined. Stir in the white chocolate chips and toffee bits. 
5. Using a large ice cream scoop or a 2 tablespoon measuring spoon form golf-size balls with the dough. Cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight. 
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment and evenly space frozen cookie dough balls. Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating the pan for even color and baking. 
7. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Bakery Review: Cake Tahoe

Cake Tahoe - July 17 & 18, 2015

I went to Lake Tahoe for my birthday weekend last month. My sister rented a cabin for the weekend as her graduation gift to her kids and a birthday gift to me. We all met up there and I embarked early Friday afternoon, planning to get there around 4:30 or 5 in the afternoon. Google maps said the journey should take about 3 ½ hours and I left early afternoon, factoring in “a little traffic” and estimated I would get there in 4 hours. Ha. I arrived 6 ½ hours later. Ugh.

My niece’s boyfriend was grilling on the deck and since I got there later than I had planned, I was hungry enough to chew off my own arm. Fortunately, burgers were an alternative option so I indulged in one.  Or two. Okay, okay, it was two! Told ya I was hungry. I was pretty full afterward but then my nieces and my sister surprised with me half a dozen birthday cupcakes.

They’d gotten it from a local bakery called Cake Tahoe (Lake Tahoe, Cake Tahoe – get it?) in Truckee, CA. There were 6 different flavors and the 6 of us split 5 and swapped taste forkfuls from each cupcake. OMG. These cupcakes were amazing. I tried the creme brulee, red velvet, carrot, and chocolate cupcakes. The textures were perfectly fluffy and cakey as any great cupcakes should be. I’m not a frosting person but the frosting was a good complement to each cupcake to add some sweetness but also a creamy texture contrast to the fluffy cakes. If you like Sprinkles cupcakes but think they’re too “greasy” (I prefer to think of them of “moist”) then you might like Cake Tahoe’s cupcakes better because they were moist but not greasy and were even fluffier than Sprinkles.

Having enjoyed the cupcakes so much, I wanted to go see Cake Tahoe for myself and take pictures for my blog. At least that’s what I kept telling myself and everyone around me. I even brought my camera when we went the following day (see, it was the truth). It’s a cute little shop, definitely open for tourist business, at the end of the main drag for Truckee. The cupcakes were in a display case at the front of the shop where they rightfully took front and center, singing their siren song for hapless tourists with a sweet tooth. “Come to us,” they croon. “Buy me and the little cupcake next to me.”

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Confetti Cupcakes

I snapped some pics but then the inevitable happened. Since I “was there” anyway, might as well get a couple of cupcakes, right? You knew that was coming. I mean, they were singing and all.

Chocolate Cupcakes

Heath Bar Cupcake

I ended up with the Heath Bar and the Coconut cupcakes. I was full of virtue and didn’t even eat them right there. We wandered around Truckee for a bit, poked around at some of the shops, stopped off at a candy store reminiscent of the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (more on that in a future post) then I dropped my nieces and their boyfriends off at the beach and headed back to the cupcakes, I mean, cabin.

Carrot Cupcakes

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Salted Caramel Cupcakes (?)

I’ll spare you the song and dance of how long I did or didn’t resist but yes, I ended up eating both cupcakes over the course of the next 24 hours. The Heath Bar one calls for another “OMG”. Perfect, beautiful, fluffy cake texture, great flavor and the toffee added a great crunch. I even liked the frosting. I mean, hello, that’s huge. The coconut was delicious as well but if I had to be a grown up and pick because really, I shouldn’t be eating more than 1 cupcake, the Heath Bar would win for me. I think it was even better than the cupcakes I had the previous evening. Although that was due as much to not having eaten 2 burgers before eating a bite from each of 5 cupcakes but anyway, awesome cupcake.

Vanilla Cupcake

Coconut Cupcake

So if you’re ever in the Tahoe/Truckee area, stop by Cake Tahoe. They keep somewhat limited hours so you might want to time your visit but trust me, it’d be worth it. I’m already wondering when I’ll be back in the area. To visit my sister, of course. And get another cupcake.

Heath Bar Cupcake

Inside the Heath Bar Cupcake

"Perfect" Chocolate Chip Cookies

"Perfect" Chocolate Chip Cookies - made dough July 12, 2015 from Dinners, Dishes and Desserts

I put "Perfect" in quotes in the recipe title as that's what the original blogger called them but I've been making (and eating) cookies long enough to know that "perfect" never means the same thing to everyone. To me, a perfect chocolate chip cookie is chubby and chewy (no thin, crispy cookies in my universe), make with milk chocolate chips or chunks (not semisweet), no nuts, no raisins, nothing but chocolate, has crisp edges, chewy middles and is underbaked just enough that it could never be considered dry. That's perfection.

But even in the realm of perfection, I have 3 chocolate chip cookie recipes that fit that criteria and tend to be my go-to recipes of choice. Alton Brown's, Averie's and the Bakery Style one from Crazy for Crust. With the copycat Panera recipe as a 4th but still close choice. Let's be clear though - it isn't just about the recipe but the method in making it and what I look for in terms of ingredients.

First, any good chocolate chip cookie recipe should have both brown sugar and granulated sugar. I've tried recipes with all of one or the other and they never turn out as well. All-granulated sugar is too sweet and is missing the caramel overtones from the brown sugar. All brown sugar doesn't have as good a texture and is more butterscotch than chocolate chip. Most recipes vary by the amount between the two but make sure you use a recipe that has both.

Second, no matter what the recipe says, make the dough, portion it into dough balls and chill or freeze them before baking. Seriously. Or end up with flat cookies. Some cookies will flatten anyway, depending on the composition of the recipe. For the life of me, I've never been able to make the original Tollhouse cookie recipe ever as thick as the Nestle people show in their pictures. I just can't. So now I just do it my way. And third includes my way of using milk chocolate chips, not semisweet. To each, her own.

This cookie recipe turned out pretty well but it doesn't dislodge any of my top 4 recipes. Part of that could have been my fault though as I was so paranoid about overbaking that I think I underbaked it just a trifle. You can tell from the bite I had below and the cookie was still lukewarm so it looks mushy in the picture. Fortunately, once it was fully cooled, it looked and tasted better but that's another sign I underbaked it too much because the optimal chocolate chip cookie eating time is 10 minutes out of the oven. It's a good basic chocolate chip cookie recipe which flattened a little more than I would have liked but still had decent thickness. But if you haven't already tried one of my top 4 favorites, you might want to try those first.

¾ cup butter, softened
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups chocolate chips

1. In a stand mixer cream butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. 
2. Mix in the egg and vanilla. 
3. Add flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Mix until everything is combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Scoop dough into golf-ball-sized dough balls and chill, covered, for several hours or overnight. 
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space the frozen dough balls. Bake for 9 minutes, until the edge are just golden brown. The center will appear underdone. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.