Category Archives: Bakeries

Discover the Produce Peddler in San Francisco and San Mateo’s Thriving Downtown

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Fresh, organic Yolo County Farms' produce now featured a select neighborhood corner stores in San Francisco. (Photo courtesy of Brian Collentine)

Corner markets aren’t the first places you’d normally seek out produce — unless you need something basic and fast.

Brian Collentine is seeking to change that.

When the economy fizzled, the freelance creative director found he had too much time on his hands. So he came up with the idea to set up displays of fresh, organic produce and flowers inside San Francisco neighborhood bodegas where you’d normally be hard pressed to find a squishy onion amid the six packs and cigarettes.

Instead of jumping in cars to shop at supermarkets miles away, city dwellers in certain parts of the San Francisco now can walk around the corner or a mere block away to buy just-picked potatoes, peaches, and figs from Yolo County farms.

Read more about Collentine’s fresh and delicious endeavor in my story in the October issue of San Francisco Magazine.

While you’re perusing the magazine, also check out my other story on San Mateo’s lively downtown, which has managed to thrive when other downtowns on the Peninsula have suffered untold business closings this past year.

Fancy soap from a 1905-era hardward store in San Mateo.

With its sprawling 70 blocks, downtown San Mateo is an intriguing mix of centuries-old businesses (Wisnom’s hardware store opened its doors in 1905) and new, unique attractions. It’s where both YouTube and Napster got their starts, too.

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You Won’t Believe How Much Ginger Is In This Scone

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Tender, cakey ginger scones to start your day with.

You all know by now that I have a thing for ginger.

Big time.

So when I spied this recipe for “Ginger Scones” in the Los Angeles Times’ food section last year, it was only a matter of time before I made these lovelies.

They tempted me with their 1 cup of diced crystallized ginger, and their 1/2 pound — yes, you read that correctly — of fresh ginger.

Just how much fresh ginger is that exactly? See that pile below? All of that — yes, indeedie — went into making a mere 10 scones.

A whole lotta lovely ginger.

Don’t let that scare you. It may seem like a lot of ginger, but I promise that your throat will not be ablaze. This is no four-alarm bowl of chili. This is far more nuanced and measured. It’s subtle heat that merely tickles.

The recipe comes from Chef Hans Rockenwagner, who bakes these scones at his Rockenwagner Bakery in Los Angeles and 3 Square Cafe + Bakery in Venice.

The scones bake up crisp on the outside. The interiors are not crumbly like traditional scones, but more tender, moist and cakey in texture. Bite into one, and you get the sugary-tingling hits of candied ginger immediately, followed by a warm, soothing, noticeable yet surprisingly moderated burn of fresh ginger at the every end.

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Kara’s Cupcakes Take To the Road

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Kara's Cupcakes go mobile. (Photo courtesy of Kara's)

If you miss the debut this weekend of Kara’s Cupcakes‘ new van as it makes the rounds of the Eat Real Food Fest in Oakland, have no fear. You can still catch the sugar bomb on wheels at other locales in the future.

Yes, the San Francisco-based cupcakery is going the way of Korean taco trucks and salumi bicycles — announcing its Bay Area stops via Twitter.

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Sweet Passions Cupcakes New to Valley Fair Mall

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Chocolate cupcake with mocha cream from Sweet Passions cupcake kiosk.

I have loyal FoodGal reader, Ann, to thank for this.

Seems she got wind of a new cupcake stand, Sweet Passions, that opened at Westfield Valley Fair Shopping Center in San Jose three weeks ago.  Of course, she wanted me to try it first before she made the trek.

So, Ann, your wish is my sweet command.

Sweet Passions Bakery actually is a full-fledged bakery that’s existed in San Jose’s Alum Rock neighborhood for about 22 years. It makes only cakes — for weddings, quinceaneras, birthdays, or everyday occasions. It was started by Dilanthi Perera, who used to impress her friends with her homemade cakes, before she started her bakery.

At Valley Fair mall, you’ll find the Sweet Passions kiosk in the middle of the mall between J. Crew and the Body Shop. No baking is done on site. Instead the cupcakes are trucked in directly each day from the Alum Rock bakery.

Unlike cupcakes at other shops, the ones here are refrigerated. That’s because the cupcakes are not only cream-filled, but heavy cream also figures prominently in the frostings.

There are 44 flavors (take that, Baskin-Robbins), but only about six are available each day.

The cupcakes come in two sizes: mini ones for $1 each; and huge, jumbo muffin-tin-sized ones for $3.50 each that come already packed in individual, plastic clam-shell containers.

Carrot cake cupcake.

I decided to buy a Chocolate with Mocha Cream, a Carrot Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese, and a Banana with Vanilla Cream. I had high hopes for the cupcakes since they were from a bakery that specializes in nothing but cakes.

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Half-Price Cheesecake Today at Cheesecake Factory

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Red Velvet cheesecake for a good cause. (Photo courtesy of the Cheesecake Factory)

In honor of National Cheesecake Day (who comes up with these things??), all 146 Cheesecake Factory locations are offering any slice of cheesecake for half price.

Choose from more than 30 varieties to satisfy your sweet tooth. But you do have to dine in the restaurant to take advantage of the offer.

Also today, the restaurant chain will debut a new cheesecake, “Stefanie’s Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake.” It features layers of vivid-colored Red Velvet cake and original cheesecake, all covered with cream cheese frosting.

The cheesecake is named for Redondo Beach, Calif.-resident Stefanie Gaxiola, who was chosen from nearly 10,000 other contestants in the “What’s Your Flavor” cheesecake contest earlier this year. She won the right to have her cheesecake creation named after her and featured on the menu for one year.

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