Category Archives: Bakeries

Mic Drop For TCHO’s Limited-Edition Collab Chocolates

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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

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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

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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

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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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Lemon Espresso Pie To Brighten the Day

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Two different layers of lemony goodness, plus hot fudge sauce, and vanilla-scented whipped cream, make for one outrageously good pie.
Two different layers of lemony goodness, plus hot fudge sauce, and vanilla-scented whipped cream, make for one outrageously good pie.

After all this merciless rain — including the destruction it has wrought even as it’s vanquished our years-long drought — it’s a relief to experience some sunshine, isn’t it?

Yet even on the dreariest, gloomiest day, there’s an ideal way to brighten things up majorly.

Just bake this “Lemon Espresso Pie” that dazzles and delights with a burst of bright sunny citrus in its thick, pudding-like filling, as well as in its crowning layer of velvety lemon curd.

The recipe is the cover star of the cookbook, “Justice of the Pies” (Clarkson Potter, 2022), of which I received a review copy.

The cookbook is by By Maya-Camille Broussard, chef-owner of the Justice of the Pies bakery in Chicago and member of the deaf and hard of hearing community.

Established 9 years ago, this is a social mission-based bakery that proudly started the “I Knead Love Workshop,” which provides elementary-aged kids from lower-income communities instruction on nutrition and basic cooking.

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