Amo el helado!

Image from : buycostumes.com

The trees have blossomed, buds are popping out of the ground and it is finally warm in New England! Boston does not have much of a spring. April can be plagued by snow storms, so I’ve learned to appreciate the good days more than I can even put into words.

Nothing says spring and signals the coming of the summer like soft serve ice cream. At work last week we bolted from the air conditioning to enjoy the sun and headed to Dandilyons in Reading, MA.

Just around the corner from my office, the local soft serve stand is already a bustle of activity. This week is school vacation week so it was more populated with little kids than normal. Usually our group’s visit raises the age of patrons by at least 10 years.

Owned and operated by Overbrook Ice Cream, the little shop serves more than 40 flavors of cult-favorite Richardson's Ice Cream including Toll house, black raspberry and, as this is New England, the Green Monster.

My favorite is a vanilla kiddie cone (proper serving size) with sprinkles (Jimmies if you prefer). If I am feeling particularly daring I might go for a heath bar flurry. The mix of the salty brittle, chocolate and vanilla ice cream reminds me of my mom (tear).

I haven’t been so daring as to try, but the shop serves ice cream cannolis (my Italian side would die) and ice cream cookie sandwiches.

All I can do is toast my ice cream to the gods… thank you for the sun!

Stick 'Em Up!

On Saturday, I threw a surprise birthday party for the BF at an Irish pub in Nashua, NH. I was really excited that so many people could attend. In addition to the guest of honor, the scene stealer of the night was the birthday cake. Let me tell you the story…

Two weeks prior to the party I contacted several bakeries through the internet to get a quote for a custom cake. I received confirmation from a bakery in Brookline, who I frequent for their cupcakes. A week after the order was placed and into my scheming, I received an email from the shop saying that the head baker was uncomfortable making a cake with a gun. I was looking for them to make me a cake shaped like a Glock handgun. An unusual and slightly creepy request, especially coming from me…but hey it’s just a cake!

I scurried the internet to find someone who could help me in less than a week! I found my angel—Cakes by Terri, formerly Terri-Me-Sue. After a fire burned her shop in East Cambridge, Terri (the owner and baker) has been baking out of her house. A bubbly woman answered my panic phone call and said, “Sure!”

I even had the option of making the cake half chocolate and half vanilla for no additional cost. She explained that she would cut down a sheet cake into the shape of the gun no problem and for only $45. I had been quoted twice that at other shops.

I sent her pictures I had found on the Internet. Some were even of other gun cakes…there are a surprising number of grooms cakes out there shaped as armory.

The anticipation bubbled over until I was able to go pick it up on Saturday. Hopping into my little yellow car I zipped a couple of blocks to Terri’s house. The walk to the two-family was covered in Easter eggs and bunny mobiles and wind catchers. And after a knock at the door, Terri, a petite salt and pepper-haired grandma, descended her front steps wearing a purple apron and carrying a large white box.

“Do you want to see it?” she asked.

“Of course,” I responded, leaping out of my skin.

She revealed a large black gun just as I had ordered.

“I hope it is okay,” she giggled and wiggled to my car and squeezed it onto the floor of the front seat.

Thanks to the lower heaters in my car, the drive to Nashua was perfumed with the sweet scent of cocoa. My car became a giant chocolate inhaler. The cake’s icing, which was responsible for the smell, was jet black and laced with richness.

I am still eating cake for breakfast and having dreams about Terri.

Tewksbury Tweets

I went to the BF’s parents' house for Easter. I love Easter and all the sugary celebrations it brings. But between the courses of cakes and brownies I was introduced to a regional favorite: Tewksbury Tweets.

With a cultish following, these no-bake cookies are a yummy cluster of oatmeal, chocolate and peanut butter. According to what I was told in my introduction, they were/are served in public-school cafeterias around Tewksbury, MA. Just imagine a plop of fudge with texture.

I hunted down the recipe- super easy! No bake!

Ingredients
2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups oatmeal
Waxed paper

Directions
In a heavy saucepan bring to a boil, the sugar, cocoa, butter and milk. Let boil for 1 minute then add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. On a sheet of waxed paper, drop mixture by the teaspoonfuls, until cooled and hardened.

Chocolate of the Future?

As much as I enjoy chocolate, there is one small problem... how quickly the calories can add up. But a miracle has occurred in the labs of Harvard… a chocolate inhaler.

Biomedical engineer and Harvard professor David Edwards has adapted a medicinal inhaler to engage the sweet tooth.

Le Whif shoots a light chocolate mist into the consumer’s mouth to saturate taste buds with the luxury of chocolate without the need to chew… or to feel guilty.

The price is right too- just 2 bucks for 4 inhalations. Hey that’s the price of a good candy bar!

According to the Boston Globe article (which brought this brilliant invention to my attention), the inhaler works by allowing chocolate particles to shoot out of the lip-stick sized inhaler. But don’t worry about having a Willy Wonka asthma attack; the particles are too large to make it into your lungs.

I am a little creeped out by the comment Edwards makes about inhaling being an evolution to the culinary world, but I guess we will just have to see.

"Over the centuries we've been eating smaller and smaller quantities at shorter and shorter intervals. It seemed to us that eating was tending toward breathing, so, with a mix of culinary art and aerosol science, we've helped move eating habits to their logical conclusion. We call it whiffing," says Edwards on the product’s Web Site.

It really reminds me of one of those inhalers that smokers use to stop the addiction… I wonder if this could have the same benefit for the world’s obesity issue.

If you are so daring as to try, you can purchase your own inhaler online for €1.80. The chocolate inhaler has been available in Paris for a few months.

Whoopie!

The North End was calling on Friday night and R and I ventured into little Italy for carbs…and pastries. While tourists flock to Mike’s Pastry, hidden away just around the corner on Salem Street is Bova’s. Open 24-hours, this patisserie is the answer to late night cravings and massive variety.

The smell of anise catches you at the door and like Pavlov’s dog salivation is almost immediate. The bakery is dived into six glass counters: cookies, savories, deli, classic Italian, and cakes. Click here for a peek.

While the cannoli is always a good choice, calling my name was a Whoopie pie large enough that it needed two full hands.

The Whoopie pie is definitely making a comeback and I don’t need the NY Times to tell me that. I’m not sure if I would have ever tasted the New England treat.

Two round and soft chocolate cakes hug a layer of lightly-whipped vanilla cream flavor. It was so hard to control myself that I spilled crumbs onto my coat… some patches of chocolate and filling even making it to the back tail…I have no idea how this is even possible.

The Times sites that the tough economy is cause for diners to bring back the popularity of the pie/cake. They are a bit of nostalgia and comfort in cake form. I am not one to argue. The recipe for Whoopie pies is universally traced back to the Amish (yea bonnets!), where children were given these treats in lunch bags and would shout “Whoopie!”

New Englanders one-upped the drunkards by adding marshmallow fluff in between the cakes instead of crème…and it became a cult hit.

Bakeries are turning out new fancy flavors like pumpkin pie, banana, or even espresso. But for now I’m satisfied with the leftovers on my coat and classic chocolate.

For those of you not close to heaven (Bova), here is a place that delivers…and a recipe:

http://www.wickedwhoopies.com/

Whoopie Pie Recipe:
Time: 1 hour



FOR THE CAKES:
1/4 pound (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup buttermilk



FOR THE BUTTERCREAM FILLING:
3 large egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 pound butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon sea salt.



1. For the cakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until light and creamy. In a separate bowl, whisk together the baking soda, salt, flour and cocoa. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in three parts, alternating with buttermilk, and combining well after each addition.



2. Using an ice cream scoop or a spoon, scoop out 12 1/4-cup mounds of batter and place about 6 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until tops are puffed and cakes spring back when touched, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely before filling.



3. For the buttercream filling: For best results, follow directions carefully, paying attention to required temperatures. Fill bottom half of a double boiler (or a medium saucepan) with an inch or two of water, and bring to a boil over high heat. In top half of double boiler (or a metal bowl), combine egg whites and sugar. Place over simmering water and whisk just until sugar is dissolved and temperature reaches 180 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.



4. Using a whisk attachment on a heavy-duty mixer, whisk egg whites and sugar on high until they double in volume and become thick and shiny. Continue to whisk until cool. Reduce speed to medium and begin to add butter about 1/2 tablespoon at a time, until all the butter is incorporated. Add vanilla and salt. If mixture looks curdled, continue to whisk until it is smooth. Increase speed to high and whisk for 1 more minute. Use immediately or place in an airtight container and chill for up to 3 days, whisking buttercream again before using.



5. For assembly: Using an ice cream scoop or spoon, place 1/4 cup buttercream on flat side of each of 6 cakes, spreading it to edges. Top filled half with another cake to sandwich the buttercream. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or wrap individually and freeze for up to 3 months.

Serious Candy Addiction Rocking Middle Schools

What is happening to kids these days? A Wall Street Journal article published this past weekend reported that middle school children in Frisco, Colorado are smoking Smarties.

That’s right… the little dummies are crushing the small little candy pills into powder and blowing the “Smarties’ dust” out to mimic a smoke cloud.

The article continues to follow other candy misuse. There are videos with instructions on the Web. Some kids go so far as to exhale the powder out their nose.

It gets worse. Oren Friedman of the Mayo Clinic is quoted in the article as saying that it is possible that students can get not only infections in their nose, but maggots! I have no idea how this is possible.

I remember hearing a story once while riding the school bus (this is an important location for collecting the juicy gossip) of a kid in elementary school snorting pixie sticks. I can’t imagine how that would burn. One would think that the citric acid used in Smarties would be a deterrent.

I wonder if this is what it means to really be addicted to candy. Are Smarties a gateway treat to harder substances such as Pop Rocks… or Big League Chew?

Whatever happened to pretending to smoke candy cigarettes?

A Trip to the Tropics

The smell of suntan lotion; soft touch of the tropical breeze in my hair; taste of coconut on my tongue. No I'm not at the beach, but in love with the latest Hershey's Kiss.

I discovered Coconut Creme Hershey's Kisses during my candy hunting round at work (yes, this happens daily). Their shiny blue wrapper called out to me.

Continuing their limited edition line of flavors, Hershey's has answered my prayers and made mini-mounds. I was definitely a fan of the cherry flavored kisses, but now I'd like to add Coconut Creme to my buy recommendations.

The new kisses have a creamy, coconut filling with real coconut bits. Imagine a macaroon melted down into just YUMMY!

I can only imagine one thing making these better... an almond!