Pie from Pietisserie

I eat a lot of dessert.  I eat a lot of pie.  I have strong opinions on pie.  One element I care a lot about is the quality of the crust as I'm a crust lover ... when its good.  (I also have strong beliefs that you rarely just eat a slice of pie unadorned ... I usually like my pie warm, with complimentary cooling ice cream, but, in a pinch, I settle for room temperature pie with whipped cream.  Of course there are exceptions to these rules, as I wouldn't have my banana cream pie warmed up of course).  But I digress.  The key point: I care about crust.

And Pietisserie has one of the best crusts I've found. 

"Our pies are vibrant, complex and satisfying because every recipe starts with this point of view: that the best food experiences are created from the masterful application of simple ingredients."

Pietisserie also has really unique flavors, in addition to your standard apple crumble.

My first discovery of Pietisserie was at an artisan's fair at Williams-Sonoma in San Francisco, I think in 2012. 2013?  I didn't write a blog then, but I did take notes (why? I have no idea.).  My notes weren't very specific, but read: "I tried the Okinawan sweet potato and a chocolate cream pie with pretzel crust.  Both were fantastic, well flavored, and with awesome crusts - some of the best pies I've had in ages." 

That about sums up all my subsequent tastings too - fantastic crusts, and with flavors like Okinawan sweet potato and pretzel crusts ... I was drawn in.

Pietisserie is located in Oakland however, not an area I ever venture.  I still haven't visited the shop, although, they have one.  Instead, my encounters have all been either at Williams-Sonoma, or through various forms of delivery.

2013: Williams-Sonoma

My second encounter? Also at Williams-Sonoma.

Assorted Mini Pies.

A few months later, I attended the artisan's market at Williams-Sonoma again, this time armed and ready to purchase.

I bought an Okinawan Sweet Potato on the spot, remembering how much I liked it before.

 This is the first one I tried, and I loved it.  A beautiful purple color from the okinawan sweet potato.  Very flavorful, smooth, creamy, unique filling, sweet but almost savory.  The crust was really good, flaky, moist.  Some of the best crust I've ever had.

The full size version has a lattice crust, which I'd love to try, given the quality of this crust..

December 2014: Munchery

I've written about Munchery before, a meal service in San Francisco that delivers either pre-made meals for you to heat up at home, or meal kits with prep required.  I've had a range of experiences with Munchery, and I've watched the company evolve a lot over to years to find their market (food definitely got less "chefy" and more mass appeal, they added the meal kits, they added kids meals, etc).  You can read all my reviews under the Munchery label on my blog, but Munchery ceased operations in 2019, so, you cannot order from them any long.

All of the cuisine offered by Munchery, besides the beverages, is produced by their team of chefs.  But for some reason, for desserts, they have chosen to partner with local vendors like Crumble & Whisk (amazing cheesecake, which I've reviewed before at a catering event), Petit Pot (pudding!), and ... Pietisserie.

The first time I saw Pietisserie on the menu was in 2014, for the holidays I believe.  I ordered instantly.

Black Bottom Walnut Pie. $4.25 from Munchery.

"Instead of pecans, this pie features California-grown walnuts in a butter pastry shell lined with chocolate piecrust." - Munchery

"A perfectly balanced, never-too-sweet, nut pie featuring walnuts, dark chocolate, and an all-butter crust." - Pietisserie

When I opened my box, I was a bit sad by how small the pie was.  I'm used to uh, "Parent family slices", and this entire pie was less than a single Parent family slice.  That said, it was enough for an individual, but I wouldn't recommend sharing.

Recommended served cold, or warmed up.  I thought I was the only one who warmed up my pecan-style pies?

I couldn't wait to warm it up, so I dug in immediately.

Black Bottom Walnut Pie: Inside.

It wasn't exactly "black bottom" or "lined with chocolate" as I expected; rather, the center was filled with chocolate, the bottom with standard pecan-pie like sweet filling, and the edges with the nuts.  I didn't mind this fact at all, but, I was expecting a layer of chocolate against the crust, rather than in the center.

The sweet filling reminded me of my mother's pecan pie, it was nicely gooey, and sweet, but not cloying.

The nuts I didn't like all that much, as walnuts are a bit more bitter than pecans, and I'd prefer the classic.  They also seemed a bit burnt.

But the crust was absolutely fantastic.  Super crispy, flaky, buttery.  Everything a pie crust should be.  I loved it, and can't wait to try more varieties of pies.  I eagerly watched the Munchery menu for more, but, alas, they didn't show up.

$4.25 seemed fine for a mini pie, but I do wish it included some whipped cream.  If you purchase from Pietisserie, a full sized pie is $26.

November 2016: Munchery

For Thanksgiving the next year (2015), Munchery offered min pies from Pietisserie as a special offering, but, I failed to purchase one of the very limited quantity fast enough.  I was a bit devastated, and polled the Munchery page near daily, but, alas, I missed out.

The next year, again for Thanksgiving, Munchery offered mini pies from Pietisserie, and I learned from my mistakes, getting my order in as soon as I saw them available.  The only selections were classic pumpkin or pecan, and I got one of each.

Munchery Packaging.

The pies came in cute little boxes, with a standard Munchery labels.  Like with the black bottom walnut pie, the pecan suggested warming it up, while the pumpkin did not.

Mini Pumpkin Pie. $5.95.

"Hand-made, individual pies are filled with classic pumpkin custard that's been perfectly spiced with cinnamon and cloves. Add your own dollop of whipped cream or go au natural and eat it as is. Fork optional!"

This was a very good pumpkin pie.

Yes, it was just a pumpkin pie, but it was just about as good as pumpkin pie can get.

The crust, like all Pietisserie pies, was flaky, buttery, a bit crispy, slightly thicker than standard, and really quite good.  It did seem a little dried out, and perhaps not super fresh, which makes sense, I'm sure that for Thanksgiving they bake a zillion pie crusts, and perhaps bake them off a couple days earlier?  Still, it was a great crust.

The filling was thick pumpkin custard.  It was, as the description said, "perfectly spiced".  Pumpkin spices so often wind up totally unbalanced, generally way too strong in the nutmeg department, with notes of soapiness.  I generally shutter when I think about "pumpkin spice", in pies, in cakes, or ugh, in lattes.  But this spicing was just spot on.  And by that I don't mean, "phew, I don't taste the pumpkin spices!"  There was cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves in there.  And I could taste them.  But they were balanced and accented the pumpkin beautifully.

While the pie was tiny, it didn't seem that way once I was eating it.  The custard was so rich, the crust so decadent, that anything more would have seemed like over indulgence.  And while the smaller form meant for lots of edge crust, and seemingly not a lot of filling, the pie was deeper than it appeared, and I never felt like there was too much crust.

Overall, just a really wonderful pie, with the right ratio of everything.

The $5.95 price, for such a petit pie, seemed high though, particularly compared to last time when I ordered and they were $4.25.

Mini Pecan Pie. $5.95.

"Hand-crafted classic pecan pie in delightfully mini form from our friends at Pietisserie Bakery in Oakland. Are we thinking of ordering a few extra to have for breakfast? Yes, yes we are."

This was another classic pie, done just right.

The crust was even more crispy and a bit caramelized, likely from the extra sugars that ran out of the sweet gooey filling.  It was again a wonderful, buttery, flaky, crust.  Pietisserie really makes some of the best pie crust I've ever had.

The filling was exactly what you want in a pecan pie.  Yes it was sweet.  It was gooey.  But it wasn't *just* corn syrup, molasses and vanilla helped balance it out.  And of course, the pecans.  I liked them more than the walnuts, less bitter.

A great little pie, and I'd gladly get another.

April 2017: Munchery

Fast forward to April.  Not Thanksgiving.  Not a holiday.  Yet Munchery started offering Pietisserie pies again!  Yes!

Mini Spiced Apple Pie.

Munchery only had the Black Bottom Walnut (which I had before), and Spiced Apple (apple is never a favorite of mine), but, I couldn't resist.  I love the crust too much to resist.

Mini Spiced Apple Pie.

As before, the mini pie came in a small box, however this time, it entirely filled the box.  I mentioned the pies being a bit on the small side before, but this was a legit individual pie.  If you compare the photos, you can tell the pie fills much more of the box than the pecan and pumpkin pies.

Mini Spiced Apple Pie / Cardamom & Brown Sugar Crumble. $5.95.

"Gravenstein and Granny Smith apples, perfectly spiced, in a flakey, all-butter crust. It's topped with an oatmeal and brown sugar crumble that adds a bit of sweet crunch to all those tender, baked apples." - Munchery

"Cardamom, brown sugar, and oat crumble atop tart and sweet granny smith apples." - Pietisserie

I think the depth of the pie was the same, far deeper than it looks at first glance.

As I mentioned, apple pie is not really my favorite.  But ... it is what they were offering.  Like the other non-custard pies, instructions said to eat it at room temperature or to warm it in the oven.  I of course did both to compare (ok, who are we kidding, I did both because I couldn't wait the 5 minutes suggested to heat it up, and just had to try a little cold while I was waiting.

The crust was again thicker than standard, flaky, buttery, and delicious, although again, a bit stale tasting.  I think I blame Munchery for that, I rather suspect it wasn't quite as fresh baked as I'd hoped.  This is really great crust, even when a bit stale.

Spiced Apple Pie: Inside.

The pie was loaded up with sliced apples, heavily spiced.  They don't call this a "spiced" apple pie for nothing.  The Munchery page clearly doesn't list all the ingredients, as the list is just: apples, cake flour, salted butter, oats, brown sugar, pure cane sugar, cornstarch, and ginger root.  Um, what about the spices?  At a minimum, I know there was cinnamon and nutmeg in there, but I think also some cloves?  And the description said it had cardamom, yet that wasn't listed ...

The spicing really was too much for me.  This was in contrast to the perfectly spiced pumpkin pie, so, I was a bit surprised to see the spicing so dominant.   If you like warm, winter spices, then perhaps this is the pie for you?  I did think the apples were nicely cooked (not mushy, not too firm), and the ratio of apple to "goo" was just right.  It was a well made pie, for sure, just, not spiced how I like.

And on top, sweet brown sugar and oat crumble.  I liked the crumble, it was the right amount of sweet, and the crumble chunks were a nice size.  I didn't taste much cardamom, but that was fine with me.

Interestingly, I preferred this pie cold.  In fact, it wasn't until I warmed it that the spices really got to me.  I was shocked, as I usually prefer warm pie, but here, cold was definitely the way to go.  I also really wanted whipped cream to go with it, but alas, Munchery does not offer this option.

Still, a well made pie, particularly if you like spices.

Pi Day, March 2018

Best. Holiday. Ever.  Well, if you love pie like I do ...

March 13, Pi Day.  For my work group of ~100 people, I was able to order from Pietisserie, delivery.  This meant I got to try many, many more pies, including savory and full size pies, finally!

Pecan, Key Lime, Cherry Almond, Chocolate Cream Pretzel, Chocolate Raspberry, Spiced Apple, Blackbottom Walnut.

I ordered every pie they had available, plus 2 off-menu classic pies.

My 7 types of pie used 4 different styles of crust, and totally and completely different types of fillings and toppings.  All were unique and memorable.

Whipped Cream. $6.

Since I didn't want to go buy whipped cream separately, I also ordered pints of whipped cream, $6 each.

It was fine, fluffy enough, but more sweetened that I actually prefer.  It went particularly well with the nuts pies, and the chocolate cream pretzel, which it normally tops.

Savory Pies

Pietisserie makes exactly two savory pies (ok, three if you count mini quiches): chicken pot pie and seasonal vegetable pot pie.

I tried the veggie, since I don't like chicken.

Seasonal Vegetable Pot Pie

. $36.00.

"Showcasing the bounty of local fresh ingredients from our CSA. A perfect winter dinner, this is a full sized 9-inch pie, serves 4-6."

The veggie pot pie changes every week, as they actually subscribe to a CSA and just use whatever they get that week.  I love this, even though it meant I didn't know what would be in my pie.

Given that it was early March though, and not exactly the time for bountiful fun produce, I pretty much assumed root veggies and potatoes.  And kale, because, San Francisco.  I was basically right, but that doesn't mean it was boring.

The pie *looked* stunning, a beautiful double crusted creation, golden on top.  I couldn't wait to break into it.

Oh, and it arrived hot, clearly fresh from the oven.

Seasonal Veggie Pot Pie: Inside.

It was seriously stuffed full of goodies, full to the brim.

And then, of course, there was the pie crust itself.  Double crusted.  Look at that crust, seriously.

It was so flaky, so decadent, so buttery.

This very buttery style went well with the savory pie, perhaps better than with the sweet pies, as it didn't feel *quite* as unhealthy eating loads of butter when it was with vegetables.

The contents were fabulous.

Veggies Close Up.

It was loaded with chunks of so many veggies: celery, carrots, at least 4 types of potato (colorful purple and orange sweet potatoes, red bliss potatoes, regular potatoes, mostly skin on), winter squash, some kind of greens (chard?), big chunks of mushrooms.  The vegetables were all nicely cooked, quite an accomplishment given the variety, none mushy, none too firm.  The huge chunks of mushrooms were my favorite, followed closely by the winter squash.  The gravy was flavorful and creamy.  Overall?  Excellent pot pie filling.

I'd gladly feast on this for a satisfying comfort food meal any day.

Full Size Sweet Pies

Pietisserie rotates flavors constantly, as fruits come into season, and as they feel inspired.  Two signature pies that I didn't order, because they weren't available, were the okinawan sweet potato and a grapefruit custard pie.

The pies use assorted non-traditional crusts (graham cracker crumb, chocolate brownie-like, pretzel crumb), or an all butter pie crust.  The later crust is a memorable one, it is different from most pie crusts in a way that is a bit hard to describe.  It is flaky, yet has a chew to it.  Its very rich, if that makes sense to refer to a crust.  It is flaky, but certainly not light.  The high butter content is ... obvious.  I find that sometimes I like it, and sometimes its just ... too much.  It is always considerably better when warm.

Chocolate Cream Pretzel. $26.

"This pie takes inspiration from the chocolate covered pretzel. Buttery, crunchy, toasted pretzel crumbs make the crust for this bittersweet chocolate cream pie."

This pie normally comes topped with whipped cream and pretzels, but since I was going to be serving the next day, they left the whipped cream off.

The filling was very good chocolate pudding, thick, rich, creamy.  It almost tasted like chocolate peanut butter to me, and I liked it.

The crust was made from compressed pretzels (and butter).  It didn't really hold together, and in some ways I didn't care for it because it gave a grittiness to the otherwise creamy pudding, but, at the same time, it added texture, the flavor was good, and the salt it added accented the chocolate well.  Far more interesting than standard graham cracker crust.

This was a good chocolate cream pie, as good as any I've had elsewhere, and the unique almost- peanut-butter flavor really did it for me.  Mid-range pie for me, 4th pick of the 7 sweet varieties we tried.

Key Lime. $26.

"Bright, smooth key lime custard pie. Graham cracker crust. "

Next up, a custard pie, key lime.

Since I don't generally like lemon or lime desserts, I almost skipped ordering this one, but Pietisserie told me it was one of their best sellers, so, I wanted to please my crowds.

I tried a *tiny* bite, and, as I expected, it wasn't for me.  The custard was well set, thick, rich, plenty of lime flavor.  The graham cracker crust was pretty standard, and much like chocolate cream pretzel kinda fell apart.

But not the pie for me, clearly.  My second to least favorite.

Cherry Almond. $33.

"Semi-sweet cherries under an almond custard." 

My final custard/pudding pie was cherry almond, a very unique creation.

From the top, it didn't necessarily look very interesting.  Classic pie crust, which turned out to be particularly chewy on this one.

Cherry Almond: Inside.

But once you got inside, things changed pretty dramatically.  It was unlike anything I've had before.

When at room temperature, as directed to be served, the filling was a far looser custard than I expected.  It wasn't like a pastry cream, it wasn't like a pudding, I guess like a chess pie is as close as I can come up with?  Sweet, loose, but not runny, and mildly almond flavored.  But the top, where it was baked, was firmer.  Really fascinating.  I really liked the subtle, delicate almond flavor.

And the cherries!  I loved them.  Big, juicy, flavorful cherries suspended in the filling.  They added so much flavor.  

It was almost like a cherry pie collided with a chess pie and an almond pudding.

The serving instructions for many of Pietisserie's pies include advice on serving warm or room temp or chilled, and this one was explicit that it should be room temp.  I had it that way, but I also had it straight from the fridge once when I couldn't wait, and warmed it slightly once when I was curious, and actually, room temp was my least favorite.  Warm was my favorite, not piping hot, but lightly warmed, it really brought the almond flavor forward a bit.  Chilled was my second favorite, it was much thicker, more like a creme brulee, but enjoyable this way too.

This pie did not need (or do well with) whipped cream or ice cream.  I'm normally all for pairings, but this stood alone well.

Really unique, and quite good.  My second favorite of the pies.

Raspberry in a Chocolate Crust. $32.

"With a dark chocolate crust and raspberries sweetened just enough, this pie is decadence."

Ok, talking about unique pies that don't look like what is inside, I bring you, the raspberry in a chocolate crust.

From the top, it looked more like a chocolate cake.  Or a brownie.

Raspberry in a Chocolate Crust: Insides.

But inside?  Ah, yes, raspberry filling.

Very, very seedy raspberry filling.  It was sweet, it was fruity, but for me, the girl who grew up with blackberry bushes that she hated because of the seeds, this was kind of a showstopper.  It didn't matter how good the *flavor* of the filling was, as it had all those seeds.  I tried so hard to like it, but I couldn't get past the seeds.

The "crust" though was fascinating, another hybrid I can't really describe, brownie meets cake meets pie.  The top layer was thicker than the bottom. It was intensely chocolately, fudgey, very different for a pie.

Another very unique offering, and if I didn't have a strange aversion to seeds, I'm sure I'd love this.  In this form though, my least favorite of the 7.  I wonder if I could convince them to do a strawberry version ...

Blackbottom Walnut. $26.

"A perfectly balanced, never-too-sweet, nut pie featuring California walnuts, dark chocolate, and an all-butter crust."

Next up I went for the full size blackbottom walnut, although I had the mini before, and almost liked it, but didn't quite care for the walnuts.  I wanted to give it another try, plus, I know this is one of Pietisserie's regular offerings, and I was sure the others would be interested.

Blackbottom Walnut: Side View.

I'm glad I tried it again.  It was much better than the mini I had before.

The filling was classic pecan-pie like goo, sweet, gooey, nice consistency.  The dark chocolate layer added a slightly bitter contrast with the sweet, and, as I've recently realized when my mom made a killer chocolate nut pie this past year, dark chocolate and nut pies are a match made in heaven.

The walnuts, the polarizing element for me before, were good this time, not bitter as I recalled from last time.  I'd still prefer pecans, or hazelnuts, or mixed nuts, but, they were good.

Overall, very good, my favorite pie.

Pecan. $26.

I also managed to get Pietisserie to make a pecan pie, even though not actually offered at that time.  When talking to them over e-mail to get my order together, I made a comment asking if they ever do pecan instead of walnut (per my earlier review not caring for walnut as much, and knowing they had it one Thanksgiving), and they said they could do classic pecan pies for me!

I was thrilled, and ordered several for the group.

The large format was different from the mini I had previously from Munchery, most notably, it had full pecan halves rather than chopped bits.

Pecan ... oozing.

Like many of my pies, it arrived warm.  It seemed to be having some oozing problems, with filling running out into the box, so I let it set a few hours, and then broke into it.  It ... still clearly hadn't set quite right.  Lots of liquid.  Tasty, sweet liquid, but not quite what I think they were going for.

The pie was good though, don't get me wrong.

That buttery, flaky, decadent, chewy crust.  I particularly liked the back crust on this one.  Sweet filling.  Lots of pecans, nicely toasted for a bit of extra flavor, none remotely burnt.

I do prefer a more set filling, as I like the custardy nature to it normally.

This was best when just warmed up and served over ice cream, kinda as a warm ice cream topping, with the pie crust on the side like a waffle cone chunk.  My 3th pick.

Spiced Apple Crumble.  $28.

“Cardamom, brown sugar, and oat crumble atop tart and sweet granny smith apples.”

I really wanted a fruit pie, and there were not any on the menu, besides the cherries in the cherry almond custard, and the raspberries in the raspberry chocolate.  I wanted something more fruit forward, and asked if they could do any special fruit pies.

The spiced apple crumble was my only option, which I had in mini form before, and didn't love, but, I wanted to give the full size, and fresh, version a try.

Spiced Apple Crumble: Side View.

I'm glad I did, but, the spice forward nature of this pie makes it not a top choice for me.

The crumble topping was good, and quite generous.  I love a generous crumble.  It was heavily spiced, particularly with cardamom.

The apples were well cooked, not too mushy, not too firm, but very spiced as well.

Fifth pick, and it took whipped cream well, and was best when heated.

Sweet Mini Pies

I've had many of the Pietisserie mini pies before, but I still ordered an assortment just to see what they were like fresh, rather than from Munchery.  Minis are available only for catering. 

The verdict?  MUCH MUCH BETTER.  I think Munchery was holding the stock for a long time, possibly freezing and then serving?  In particular, the crusts were great, really flaky and buttery.  They also were bigger ...

Assorted Mini Pies: $5 Each.

I ordered an assortment: spiced apple crumble, pecan, cherry almond, and chocolate raspberry.

Since I didn't care for the larger format spiced apple crumble, and I had a lot of the cherry almond, I skipped those.

The raspberry chocolate in this form I liked more than the larger format.  It was different though, rather than using a chocolate crust, it used a traditional pie crust, filled with raspberry filling, and then the chocolate top.  I liked it more, I think because I got to enjoy the awesome crispy flaky crust, and when I paired that with whipped cream, the fruity bits were more enjoyable.

I also had the mini pecan, which was different from the Munchery pecans, just like the full size, in that it had whole pecan halves rather than chopped pieces.  It was actually better than the full size pie, as the filling was set properly (the full was loose).  And the crust, awesome, and clearly more ratio of crust to filling with the minis than full size pies.

I think I might actually prefer the minis to slices from large pies, just because the crust was so good!

Read More...

Kara's Cupcakes

Update Review, 2019

Sweet Vanilla (mini).

"Vanilla cupcake with sweet Madagascar 
bourbon vanilla frosting."

Kara's catered an event I attended, with a selection of assorted cupcakes, cookies, and popcorn.  While I haven't loved the cupcakes before, I couldn't resist trying a simple vanilla one, as it had been a few years, and I wanted to give them another legit try.

The cake itself I found pretty boring, just, plain.  Very consistent texture, kinda moist, but just not ... I dunno, interesting.  And I actually like a bit of texture change, a slightly crisp top.  

The frosting I did like, very sweet, classic vanilla flavor, enjoyable.  I appreciated how much there was, a generous application on the mini cupcake.

My favorite part was the crispy white sprinkles though - I liked the unique crunchier texture.

Update Reviews, 2018

I got over cupcakes a while ago.  And cake, generally.  I just haven't been into either for years, really.  And then I went to New York, and somehow had insanely good cake many times.

My desire to start trying cakes and cupcakes was renewed, so when I was passing through the microkitchen at my office and there was a box of Kara's Cupcakes, I actually stopped to get one, knowing I had liked some of Kara's offerings before, but that was *years* ago, literally, back in 2012 when Kara's had ... not nearly as many locations, when Kara herself was often at artisan's markets and did demos, and you certainly didn't find the cupcakes at the airport!  Yes, Kara's Cupcakes has done well.

Cupcakes!

The box had an assortment, and none were labelled, so I just picked two.  It turned out, I picked poorly the first time.

Luckily for me, a month later, the same thing happened.  And I did much better that time!

Sweet Chocolate (November 2018).

"Chocolate cupcake with a sugary
 sweet chocolate frosting."

I didn't know what I was picking when I picked this.  There were several chocolate cupcakes, all decorated differently.  I assumed they were all the same, but the others turned out to be "Chocolate Velvet" with a bittersweet buttercream and Fluer de Sel with caramel filling and chocolate ganache frosting.  Doh.  I picked the boring one!

It was not a good cupcake.

The cake itself was dry.  No moisture, not a good crumb.  Barely any chocolate flavor.

The frosting looked great, fluffy, but it too was lacking chocolate flavor.  Just sweet.

The decoration was tasty?

Meyer Lemony Lemon (November 2018).

"Vanilla cupcake with a tart lemon filling
 and lemon buttercream frosting."

But more in the world of "I didn't know what I was doing when I picked this one", is this.  Lemon?  I really tend to dislike lemon desserts.  Doh.  I thought it was vanilla.

I really did not like this cupcake.  Not at all.

The cake was dry, plain.  "Vanilla", but I didn't taste vanilla.  Just plain.

Inside was the unexpected lemon curd filling, really tart, but also eggy, exactly the type of lemon curd item I really dislike.

The buttercream on top was a bit oily, too heavy on the butter, and only vaguely lemony.

Sadness, I really did not enjoy eating this at all.

Kara's Karot. (December 2018).

"Moist carrot cupcake with a silky soft 
cream cheese frosting." 

The carrot cake cupcake was better.

Very moist, loaded with shredded carrot and plump raisins, but, aggressively spiced for my taste.  The frosting was thick, rich, cream cheese frosting.

Overall nicely done, just, too spiced for me.

Red Velvet. (December 2018).

"Red velvet cake with a silky 
smooth cream cheese frosting." 

The red velvet though I *really* liked, which shocked me as I don't generally care for red velvet.

The cake itself had a real depth of flavor (buttermilk?), a bit of tang.  Great cake.

It had the same very rich, very cream cheese forward frosting as the carrot.

Success.

Raspberry Dazzle (December 2018).

"Chocolate cupcake filled with a raspberry cream filling
 and sweet raspberry vanilla frosting."

I handed this one off to a co-worker, thinking it was just a chocolate cake with vanilla filling.  Oops!

I tried the frosting that was on the edge of the box though, and it was *extremely* sweet.  I didn't taste the raspberry though, just, sugar!  It was very fluffy frosting however.

Seasonal Special: Peppermint Twist. (December 2018)

.

"Chocolate cupcake with a sweet chocolate frosting, sprinkled with crushed peppermint candies."

This cupcake is essentially the "Sweet Chocolate", just topped with the crushed peppermint candies.  I didn't like the sweet chocolate before, as the cake was dry and the frosting lacking depth, but I wanted to give it another try.

It was better than expected.  In particular, I actually really liked the sweet chocolate frosting this time, it was super sweet, but I liked that, and it was decently rich and fudgy.  I liked the peppermint candies on top too for crunch and flavor.

The cake however was till lackluster, quite dry and flavorless.

Original Review, December 2012

This past Saturday, Williams-Sonoma, one of my favorite places to watch cooking demos, hosted a fantastic sounding demo: Kara, from Kara's Cupcakes!

I've been familiar with Kara's for some time.  A few years ago, I was in charge of organizing a team bonding offsite, with a very small budget.  I looked around for options for fun things we could do, and found that our limited budget didn't cover most of the ideas we had.  But then I discovered that Kara's offered cupcake filling and decorating classes.  I was sold.  I didn't care that my co-workers were all male and may not have cared quite as much about cupcakes as I do.  And they probably had little interest in decorating them.  But ... I was in charge :)

It was a really fun event, we learned the different techniques for frosting cupcakes, and how to properly fill them.  At the end, we had a contest where we all decorated cupcakes, submitted our best works, and then voted on the best one.  The winner received a Kara's Cupcake T-shit, which he still proudly wears to this day.  I think everyone was surprised by how much fun they had.  And, we got to eat a lot of cupcakes!  I tried many flavors at the event, bought a bunch more to take home with me, but sadly don't have tasting notes from back then.

Chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting and candied walnuts. 

I also attended a demo Kara did at the Ferry Building last November, where she made chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and candied walnuts.  I didn't take notes then either, but did snap a photo and remember raving about it, particularly the delicious candied walnuts.

Anyway, back to the Williams-Sonoma demo.  I was excited to attend, but I got held up at a previous event, and didn't arrive until 25 minutes into the time slot.  I expected that she'd still be doing the demo, but as I rushed up the stairs at Williams-Sonoma, I encountered a mob of people with sticky fingers and frosting on their faces.  On no!  I turned the final corner to reveal what I feared: the demo was over.  Luckily, they still had some cupcakes and allowed me to have one, even though I hadn't seen the demo.  I'm grateful for that, and very much enjoyed my cupcake, but I wish I'd seen the demo.  She was talking about making gluten free cupcakes, and I have a number of friends who have been experimenting with gluten free diets for assorted health reasons, so I was interested to hear more about what has worked for her, since I know many people say her gluten free cupcakes are the best around.  Next time ...

Gluten Free Sweet Vanilla.  Mini.  $2.

"Gluten free vanilla cupcake with sweet madagascar bourbon vanilla frosting."

The cake had a lovely vanilla flavor to it, far better than most things labelled "vanilla", this was real vanilla, not just plain.  The cake was very uniform, which I didn't love, since I enjoy having a crispy top and moist interior, but I think this is more appealing to most people.  It wasn't particularly moist nor dry, just somewhere in the middle.  I would have never known it was gluten free.

The frosting was very sweet, fluffy.  There was a ton of it.  I actually couldn't really eat all of it with the cake, there was just too much, but I finished it by the spoonful afterwards, because it was quite delicious!

By far the best gluten free cupcake I've had, and my second favorite gluten free baked good ever (behind the crazy awesometastic good sour cream coffee cake from Mariposa).

Notes from previous tasting:  I’d never know this was gluten free!  Dense cupcake, not particularly moist, lots of frosting, ratio of frosting to cupcake was 1:1, a little much.  Frosting was very sweet.

Pumpkin Spice: Pumpkin Cupcake, Cream Cheese Frosting, Chocolate Fondant Turkey.

Kara did another demo at the Ferry Building, again in November.  She was an enthusiastic speaker, and  definitely embraced the cold, rainy Saturday morning, claiming it was a great time of year to get in the mood to bake.

The cake was not my style, but fairly moist, with some pumpkin flavor.  The frosting was delicious cream cheese based.  On top was a chocolate decoration, that was one of the more tasty pieces of fondant I've had, as it was chocolate flavored.

I didn't really love this cupcake, but I did really enjoy Kara's demo.  She was clear, well spoken, and informative.  I picked up a number of tips, particularly regarding the correct temperature of things when baking (eggs, cream cheese at room temperature with mixing, but then refrigerate your frosting before piping).

An enjoyable demo, with a fairly tasty end!

Chocolately Chocolate Peppermint: Chocolate Cupcake, Sweet Chocolate Frosting, Peppermint Candies, Fondant Logo, Mini.

And Kara did yet another demo, this time at Macy's.  This woman is a demo machine!  As in her previous demos, she was clear spoken, and really informative.  She demoed a special seasonal cupcake,  one of two peppermint varieties they are currently offering.

The cake was a nice moist chocolate cake.  The frosting was very fluffy, super chocolately, and sweet.  I'm never a huge fan of chocolate cupcakes nor chocolate frosting, so this wasn't going to be a favorite of mine, but it was nicely done.  I loved the peppermint for flavor and crunch, but didn't think it went that well with the chocolate.  They also have a "Peppermint Twist" cupcake that uses white chocolate frosting, which sounds far more appealing to me.

Chocolate Coconut Mini.  $2.

I was out shopping, and it turned out that the store I visited was having a trunk sale.  So they had champagne and custom cupcakes!  A very sweet and pleasant surprise for me!

They had a large selection of cupcakes, but none were labelled, so I had to guess what I was getting.  They all had the logo of the store on them.  I liked the fact that this was rolled in coconut, and assumed it was just a chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting, in addition to the coconut flakes.  I was right about the cake, it was their standard chocolate cake, fairly moist, but still just not my style.  The frosting however was delicious!  It wasn't just plain vanilla, it was coconut cream cheese!  It was incredibly sweet, but seriously tasty, and the extra coconut on top made it even better.  I'd seriously just eat that frosting by the spoonful.

Strawberry Cream Mini.

"Vanilla cupcake with strawberry cream filling and cream cheese frosting".

Another day, another great cooking demo by Kara, this time at the Ferry Building as part of the Saturday Cuesa market.

As always, I didn't care for the cake, it was just a simple, homogeneous vanilla cake, and I prefer to have a crispy top.  The filling inside however was amazing!  Bursting with strawberry flavor and creamy.  And the cream cheese frosting, creamy, flavorful, delicious.  And as always, I even liked the fondant decoration.  I'd gladly just eat the top and filling.

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A few months ago, a friend had a party, and someone brought Kara's Cupcakes, so I have those tasting notes below, but they are only of a few of the ones I've tried.

• Meyer Lemony Lemon.  $3.25: "Vanilla cupcake with a tart lemon filling and lemon buttercream frosting." Tasting notes: Dense vanilla cupcake that wasn’t very flavorful.  Lemon filling was tart but not very plentiful.  I thought the frosting was vanilla, as it didn’t really have lemon flavor.
• Fluer de Sel.  $3.25.  "Chocolate cupcake with caramel filling, chocolate ganache frosting and fleur de sel".  Tasting notes: Very moist chocolate cupcake, decent chocolate frosting, fleur de sel added nice touch.  Caramel filling gooey and went well with chocolate.  Not bad.

Lemonade!  $3.

What is more fun with cupcakes than another childhood treat ... lemonade!  I actually thought it was a little too much sweet to pair with a cupcake, but the lemonade was wonderfully tart and not just a sweet overload.  Pretty tasty if you are wanting a lemonade.

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Macarons from Sugarie

You know how much I love baked goods.  And I eat a lot of cookies.  Yet somehow, macarons have never been my favorite.  Not that I dislike them, but I usually would prefer something else, and I've never really understood why people obsess about them.

Until that is, I discovered Sugarie, at my local Williams-Sonoma's artisan's market.  These are by far the best macarons I've ever had in my life.  Far better than the much publicized ones from Top Chef: Just Dessert's winner Yigit Pura's Tout Sweet.  Better than the ones from the slew of La Boulange cafes all over the city.  But ... they are located in San Mateo, and don't have a storefront.  Luckily, I found out they are also sold at Cako in San Francisco.

Go get them.  Now.

Assorted Macarons.

These are the best macarons I've ever had.  In every variety I tried, the cookies were very good, the texture just right, delicate.  And all of the fillings are intensely flavorful.

• Blueberry Champagne: Nice sweet filling, great blueberry flavor.
• Black Sesame Banana: Strong banana flavor, sweet, good, nice pairing against the black sesame. [ Great banana flavor, not something I ever thought I'd want in a macaron, but perfect pairing. ]
• Dark Chocolate Peppermint: Great mint flavor, nice dark chocolate.
• Pecan Maple: Absolutely amazing flavor.  I love pecan pie.  I love maple syrup.  I was raised on those things :)  And this had all of those familiar flavors, packaged up into a perfect little bite.  So delicious.  My favorite.
• Salted Caramel: Tons of salt, really great caramel flavor, very good.

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Demo by Shelley Lindgren and Matthew Accarrino, SPQR

This past week, I attended a cooking demo for the book release of SPQR: Modern Italian Food and Wine, by Shelley Lindgren and Matthew Accarrino, held in the beautiful Williams-Sonoma demonstration kitchen at their flagship Union Square location.

I've been to many demos there, and I'm always struck by how amazing the kitchen is.  It is obviously outfitted with all the latest and greatest gadgets, but it is also bright and airy, overlooks Union Square, and has mirrors positioned perfectly so you can always see what the chefs are doing.  Definitely the best demonstration space I've seen.

The demo featured both food and wine, just like the book.  Shelley was there to talk about the wine that she generously poured to pair with the food ... and sip beforehand ... and throughout the demo.  She provided a lovely gewürztraminer that was a special treat.  She talked about how she could have paired a red wine, but picked this one instead, as the sweetness matched that of the fruit in the entree.  I'm glad she did, as it matched the mood of the rare warm San Francisco indian summer evening.  She was incredibly warm and friendly, the perfect hostess!

For the food, Chef Accarrino prepared a farro stuffed quail with chestnuts, persimmon, and dandelion greens.  When I saw what he was making, I must admit I was a little sad.  Besides the persimmon, which I'm totally in love with, these don't fall high on my list of favorite ingredients.  Quail egg, sure, but quail itself?  It has always basically been a more annoying version of chicken to me.  Luckily for me, this dish changed my mind.

The demo was very informative and organized, with the chef giving substitution tips, technique pointers, and tons of general information as he went.  He talked about which parts of the dishes you could do ahead of time, and finish at serving time, so you could host a dinner party and still be present.  He also pointed out that if a recipe didn't seem approachable enough, you could just make a few of the components, and not do the entire thing.

The aromoas during the demo were incredible ... does it get any better than garlic, shallots, and butter bubbling away?

I've only been to SPQR once, over a year ago, and I was really sick at the time.  I don't remember much about the experience, besides the fact that our server incorrectly described a dish to us, so what we received was not at all what we thought we were ordering, and I was really upset by it.  I'd like to go back now though, as the chef is clearly incredibly talented and I'd love to see what else he can do!

I'm not much of a cookbook person, but if you are, check out the book.  It has some beautiful photography, and is designed to be part practical cookbook, part coffee table book, and includes a lot of wine pairing information.

Farro Stuffed Quail with Chestnuts, Persimmon, Dandelion Greens.

There was a lot to this dish!  It reminded me of a very sophisticated version of Thanksgiving.  Instead of a stuffed turkey, there was stuffed quail.  Instead of mashed potatoes, there was chestnut puree.  There was just something so comforting and classic about it, even though it was using far more interesting ingredients.

The quail was certainly the hardest ingredient to work with.  I haven't ever attempted to get it at home before, but the chef assured us that you can find it even at Whole Foods.  He was working with a semi-boneless cut, with the ribs and backbone already removed, forming a nice cavity for the stuffing.  He showed us how to fold the wings under to form a stable base for it to set on while it cooked, and how to form it back into a cute shape to serve.  He also browned it in a pan beforehand to get a nice color on it, and then finished it in the oven.

The quail came out beautifully.  The skin was amazingly crisp and buttery, and the meat stayed moist from the stuffing inside.  I still don't love quail, nor the work required to eat around the little bones, but this was really quite nice.

Speaking of the stuffing, the quail was stuffed with a farro and country bread stuffing, a great way to use up leftover grains and day old bread.  The bread also captures juices from the quail as it cooks, soaking up tons of flavor, and keeping the bird moist.  The stuffing also had sofrito (the italian version of a mirepoix, a great thing to always have on hand and use anywhere, recipe included in the book), garlic confitura (garlic slow cooked in oil to bring out the sweetness and mellow it out, resulting in a caramelized and nutty taste, another element to use anywhere, recipe in the book), and our seasonal features: dried persimmon and chestnuts.  He explained how you could sub out the persimmon for other ingredients you liked more or were easier to find, like apricot or cherries.  He also used pre-cooked chestnuts, which you can buy in stores, rather than raw, as those can be a lot of work.

The stuffing was by far my favorite part of the dish.  It was incredibly moist and soft, had a nice crunchiness from the farro, and was just insanely flavorful.  I would have loved a giant bowl of it.  Probably the best stuffing I've ever had!

For the sides, he mostly echoed the flavors from the stuffing.  He stressed how he likes to add more textures and components, but not go overboard on adding too many flavors or too much complexity.

The first side was a salad, made from dandelion greens as a bitter contrast with the sweetness from the fruit and chestnuts.  To mirror the dried persimmon in the stuffing, he compressed persimmon slices, and added them to the salad, along with some bits of dried persimmon.  The compressed persimmon was made using a vacuum sealer, to remove the air in the persimmon and replace it with simple syrup.  You could of course just use fresh persimmon in its place.  I loved the compressed persimmon, but didn't care for the dried bits, as they were a little tough to eat and seemed a little out of place with the other fresh components in the salad.

The salad also contained sautéed chestnuts, again, mirroring a component from the stuffing.  They were ridiculously tasty, cooked in butter rather than olive oil, to give a fantastic nutty brown butter flavor.  Delicious.

There was more chestnut in the puree, my second favorite element of the dish.  He showed us how to make the puree using more liquid that you might actually need in the end, and strain it off, and then add it back in to obtain the viscosity and texture you wanted.  This made it easy to prepare without worrying about getting the ratios correct from the start.  He made the puree using a Vitamix, and like everyone I've ever heard talk about the Vitamix, he loves it.  He highlighted the variable speed control, allowing you to start off slow and then adjust so you could put in hot liquids and not have it splatter all over the place.  And he loves the wand that you can use to push down and stir while mixing.  It was clear that he wasn't trying to sell products or anything, just genuinely loves the machine.  Anyway, the resulting puree was creamy, smooth, and absolutely delicious.

The entire dish came together very well.  The moist quail, the amazing stuffing, the fresh salad, the creamy puree, and the harmony from the chestnuts and persimmon throughout was just perfect.  Like I said, Thanksgiving dinner, but about a million times more sophisticated.  A wonderful fall meal.  I suggest you get the book, make this, and invite me over :)

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Cooking Demo from Chef Lori Baker, Banker & Baker

On Saturdays, along with shopping at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market, I often attend cooking demos,  either at the Ferry Building, Macy's, or Williams-Sonoma.  Each venue has a different focus, but all host excellent local chefs, or chefs in town on book tours.

I don't often write up posts on the demos, but this one was particularly amazing, so it warranted a post!

This week, Williams-Sonoma hosted chef Lori Baker, the pastry chef from Baker & Banker.  I've been to the restaurant a number of times, once for an awesome dinner about 2 years ago, once for one of the best brunches of my life, once for a good, but not as amazing, brunch, and once for some pâté that I really can't stop thinking about.  I've also really enjoyed some treats from their adjoining bakery.

It should come as no surprise then that I was very excited for this demo, as I know chef Baker's work, and know that she makes incredible baked goods.  And ... the description of the item she' d be preparing sounded absolutely amazing (or, potentially horrible, but I gave her the benefit of the doubt!): Candied Bacon Doughnuts with Bourbon Cheesecake Filling and Maple Glaze Dipping Sauce.  ZOMG.

Chef Baker was a good speaker, and provided a number of tips naturally throughout her presentation.  I loved how adaptable the recipe was, as she encouraged that you could fill the donuts with whatever you wanted, or even use the cheesecake filling recipe to make a regular cheesecake, flavored however you wanted.  I've tried several varieties of her stuffed donuts at brunch in the restaurant, so I know she experiments with these adaptations herself.

I also had a few minutes to chat with her husband, the savory chef from the restaurant, as he was there in the audience.  He delivered some amazing news: since he can no longer serve his signature foie gras and shiitake sticky rice (which I greatly enjoyed on my first visit), he's replaced the foie gras with the next best thing, another passion of mine: uni!  I think that sounds potentially even better, as I could see the uni going really well with the cod that makes up the primary component of the dish.

I can't wait to get back to Baker & Banker.  I can't decide if my next visit will be for dinner for the new cod and uni dish, or if it will be for brunch, since they serve the best french toast I've ever had.  Decisions, decisions!

Candied Bacon Doughnut with Bourbon Cheesecake Filling and Maple Glaze Dipping Sauce.

Just reading the description of this causes the mind to race.  These are all amazing things - bacon!  doughnut! bourbon! cheesecake!  maple syrup!  But ... could they possibly all come together, into a single little magical bite?  Spoiler: Yes, yes they could.  And was this a breakfast item, or a dessert?

I was a little bit skeptical, as it sounded like too much awesomeness to pack into a donut hole, with too many competing strong flavors.  And bacon, while it can make everything better, can also just be a gimmick.  But, this totally worked.

The donut itself was studded with the chunks of candied bacon.  They added a crunch which I really enjoyed, but also some saltiness which balanced the entire dish.  The samples were given to us fresh out of the frier, so it was piping hot, and just downright amazing.  I liked this much more than the donut holes I'd tried at the restaurant, partially just because of how fresh it was.  There really is nothing like a donut fresh out of the frier.  It was also rolled in sugar, which of course, just makes a donut hole that much better :)

The filling was the bourbon cheesecake.  There was no guessing if there was liqueur in there!  There were some children in the row behind me, I'm curious if they liked this, as the flavor was intense.  I thought it went really well with all of the other flavors.  It didn't really taste like cheesecake however, more just like creamy bourbon filling.  But I'm not complaining.

And then, as if that wasn't enough, there was a maple syrup based glaze to dip the donut into.  It wasn't necessary, but just added to creating the perfect bite.  I've always dipped my bacon in maple syrup, so I found this pairing spot on.

I just saw that these are currently on the menu at the restaurant.  If these ingredients all sound awesome to you, I highly recommend checking them out!

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