Category Archives: Bakeries

Sink Your Teeth Into Dreamy Scallion Pancake Biscuits

All the deliciousness of green onion pancakes in biscuit form.
All the deliciousness of green onion pancakes in biscuit form.

Imagine biting into a heavenly allium-scented Chinese scallion pancake — only one that’s loftier, super crunchy on top, and built majestically like your favorite buttery Southern biscuit.

“Scallion Pancake Biscuits” truly are the best of all carb worlds.

This impressive recipe is from “More Than Cake” (Artisan), of which I received a review copy.

It’s by Natasha Pickowicz, a New York city-based chef and writer behind the popular pastry pop-up Never Ending Taste.

Her Chinese and California heritages are on full display in the 100 recipes, many of which showcase seasonal fruit and/or imaginative riffs on classic Asian treats or ingredients.

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Mic Drop For TCHO’s Limited-Edition Collab Chocolates

TCHO chocolate bars (front to back): The Perfect Matcha, Grizzly Berry, Deep, Dark & Salty, and Hoppy Hour.
TCHO chocolate bars (front to back): The Perfect Matcha, Grizzly Berry, Deep, Dark & Salty, and Hoppy Hour.

Berkeley’s TCHO Chocolate has just debuted three brand-new, limited-edition bars in partnership with three local icons: Third Culture Bakery, the Oakland Zoo, and Berkeley’s Fieldwork Brewing Co.

Like a Supreme drop, these are small-batch productions that wait for no one, meaning once they sell out, you’re out of luck.

I had a chance to sample these creations that sell for $9.99 per bar on the TCHO web site. The respective bars are also sold at the three partnering businesses: Third Culture Bakery’s Bay Area locations, Oakland Zoo, and Fieldwork Brewing Co.

The new, limited-edition bars.
The new, limited-edition bars.

The Perfect Matcha was inspired by Third Culture Bakery’s popular strawberry, lychee and matcha latte.

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The Marvelous Spirals At Marvel Cake

The famed spiral croissants at Marvel Cake bakery.
The famed spiral croissants at Marvel Cake bakery.

It seems that just about everyone has wound themselves into a tight tizzy over spiral croissants.

Ever since the original “Supreme” was launched in New York City at Lafayette Grand Cafe & Bakery, the lines have grown legendary for the tightly coiled laminated pastries that have a hidden filling and a fanciful drizzle of glaze on top.

So, it’s no surprise that when Campbell’s Marvel Cake started turning out a similar version called the “Spiral Croissant,” it started drawing fans near and wide, with queues the norm.

I’m happy to report, though, when I took a chance last Tuesday and showed up five minutes before the bakery opened at 10 a.m., there was no line at all. Hallelujah!

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Grilled Chicken with Garlic and Rice Vinegar — Taiwanese American-Style

The secret to this bright and zesty chicken? A marinade full of flavorful ingredients.
The secret to this bright and zesty chicken? A marinade full of flavorful ingredients.

Make your Memorial Day cookout a tasty Taiwanese American one.

Forget the burgers and sausages. Make room for “Grilled Chicken with Garlic and Rice Vinegar” instead.

Super moist, delightfully garlicky, and full of smokiness and brightness, this easy recipe is from Win Son Presents: A Taiwanese American Cookbook (Abrams, 2022), of which I received a review copy.

The book is by Josh Ku and Trigg Brown, co-founders of the wildly popular Win Son and Win Son Bakery, both in Brooklyn, with an assist from noted Brooklyn food writer Cathy Erway who’s the author of “The Food of Taiwan” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015).

Brown, who had cooked at New York City’s Craft and Upland had a Taiwanese American mentor, Pei Jen Chang early in his career. He teamed with best friend Josh Ku, a former property and construction manager whose parents grew up in southern Taiwan, to open the restaurant. It is named for the sweater manufacturing company, Winsome, which Ku’s grandfather started in Taiwan. Its name roughly translates from Chinese to “success and abundance of profit.”

It proved prophetic given the throngs now flocking nonstop to both Win Son and Win Son Bakery.

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The Fried Bacon Hack

Like deep-fried bacon -- without actually deep-frying.
Like deep-fried bacon — without actually deep-frying.

This is probably one of the shortest — and easiest — recipes around.

And definitely one of the most delectable.

If you are a bacon fan, this method will blow your mind, as it results in the crunchiest bacon that will decidedly up your morning breakfast or BLT game.

“Joe’s Famous ‘Fried’ Bacon” is a recipe from “Food52 Simply Genius” (Ten Speed Press, 2022), of which I received a review copy.

This handy-dandy cookbook is by Kristen Miglore, a founding editor of Food52, the online portal for recipes and culinary content.

Food52 cookbooks are usually thematic, and this one is no different, centering on genius tricks, tips or methods to make cooking easier, quicker or more scrumptious.

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