Cocoa-Marzipan Pound Cake For the Ages

Posted on by 34 comments

Cocoa-marzipan pound cake to wind down the year with.

I’m not ready for Christmas nor for the end of 2009.

But I’m ready for cake.

Is it me or has this year just raced by at hyperspeed?

It feels like it should be May or July at the very latest, not December, for gosh sakes.

I remember how when I was little, summer dragged on forever — but in a good way, of course. Now, hours and days zoom by, and before I know it, I’m planted squarely on a new calendar page, wondering how I got there and how the dates have already filled up so fast when I’ve barely taken a breath.

It may be a cliche that “Time flies when you get older.” But I’m feeling the years when I think 2009 is almost over — day by day disappearing, just like that, with nothing I can do about it.

That’s why I need cake.

The recipe makes enough to share.

To be sure, cake is always welcome. At least in my world.

With one forkful, it recalls the past with candles, frosting, party hats and chirpy, sing-song wishes. And it beckons the future with its sweet promises of good tidings to come.

Cake makes time stand still, at least for a moment, as we sink our teeth into something airy, festive and special that makes everything else around us disappear.

I can’t stop 2009 from coming to a close all too soon.

But I can give you cake that will make time slow to a welcome crawl long enough for you enjoy a nice, thick slice.

”Cocoa-Marzipan Pound Cake” is such a cake. It’s by esteemed pastry chef and blogger, David Lebovitz, and it’s from his book, “The Great Book of Chocolate” (Ten Speed Press).

It contains one of my all-time favorite baking ingredients: almond paste, which gives it a lightness and delicacy not found in most denser pound cakes.

Look at the color of this cocoa powder.

It also contains one of my new favorite ingredients: E. Guittard Cocoa Rouge. You can use any unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder in this cake. But when I spied this so-called rare red cocoa powder at Sur La Table, I just had to fork over $8 for the 8-ounce can to take it home to play around with.

Read more

Howie’s Artisan Pizza Delivers on the Crust

Posted on by 19 comments

Wild mushroom pizza at Howie's Artisan Pizzeria.

It’s high and puffy on the edges, with airy, rolling caverns that provide great chew and crunch.

It’s thinner, yet still crisp, in the center. And when the wheel of a pizza cutter slices through it, there’s a distinctive “crack, crack, crackle” sound.

“The pizza talks to me now,” says Chef Howard Bulka of the just-opened Howie’s Artisan Pizza in Palo Alto’s Town & Country Village.

Indeed, it does.

After decades of running fine-dining restaurants in the Bay Area, Bulka has what he has always dreamed of — a top-notch pizzeria he can proudly call his own.

It may have opened less than two weeks ago, but Howie’s is already selling up to 250 pies a day now and packing in the crowds for his version of East Coast pizza modeled after Frank Pepe’s of New Haven, Conn., which Bulka worships.

Chef Howard Bulka talks pizza.

The Rolls Royce of New York pizza ovens.

Cheese pizza made with Grande mozzarella of Wisconsin, the cheese of choice of East Coast pies.

But dough is a funny thing. It’s a living, breathing, finicky mass that can be as unpredictable as Kanye West.

“I’ve been cooking 30 years, and I’ve never been perplexed as I have been by pizza dough,” says Bulka, who invited me in for a taste last week.

He’s still making subtle tweaks to the bread flour-dough, which takes two days to mix and proof before being turned into pies that are baked in a gas-fired brick oven at 600 degrees for 5-6 minutes.

The crust is already a winner in my book. This is a pizza crust with real character. It has that nice fermented flavor of artisan bread, and there is a variance of textures that holds your interest bite after bite.

Read more


Gawking at Goat Cheese

Posted on by 19 comments

The unusual rind on Capricious goat cheese.

Take a close look at this rind. Come on. Closer, closer.

How can you not gawk at a cheese with an exterior that’s almost burlap-like in color and texture?

Have you ever seen the likes of this before? I know I haven’t.

Capricious is the name of this wondrous goat cheese.

And I have cookbook authors Mark Scarbrough and Bruce Weinstein of the RealFoodHasCurves blog to thank for this discovery.

The duo were in San Francisco earlier this year, when they stumbled upon this glorious cheese sold at the Cowgirl Creamery shop in the Ferry Building that’s made by Achadinha Cheese Company of Petaluma.

The milk for the cheese comes from the Pacheco Family Goat Dairy that’s been around since 1953. Five years ago, owners Donna and Jim Pacheco, started making cheese, too, from the milk from their 1,400-goat herd. After Mark and Bruce raved about it to me, the Pachecos were kind enough to send me a small sample of the cheese to try.

A different kind of goat cheese -- dry, crumbly and aged.

The Capricious sells for $29.95 a pound. That may sound pricey, but not when you realize all the love and work that’s gone into it.

The cheese is completely handmade and hand-rolled. Each wheel is turned daily to endure even mold coverage, then washed and rubbed down with olive oil to protect the interior of the cheese as it ages anywhere from three to 10 months, depending upon the time of year and the amount of butter fat in the goats milk.

Read more

A Peek at Palmetto Bluff’s Lowcountry Celebration in South Carolina with Tyler Florence

Posted on by 7 comments

Tyler Florence holding court on stage at the food festival.

Six hundred food fanatics turned out last weekend in Bluffton, S.C. for the third annual “Palmetto Bluff Lowcountry Celebration.”

Yours truly was among them, having been invited to partake in the feasting of all things Southern.

After all, who could pass up a chance to watch Food Network star Tyler Florence and a bevy of the South’s top chefs prepare oyster stew, shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes, fried catfish, fried chicken, fried shrimp, tater tots fried in duck fat, pulled pork sandwiches, and a mountain of crawfish.

Um, did I mention a lot of the food was fried? Hey, it’s the South. Don’t even bat an eye.

The grand Inn at Palmetto Bluff.

This was the third year of the festival, which is held at the posh Inn at Palmetto Bluff, a residential and recreational community on 20,000 acres, about a third of that set aside in perpetuity to remain undeveloped. Once home to 21 grand plantations, the area, about 20 miles northeast of Savannah, Ga., now boasts an inn with 50 upscale cottages, as well as rental homes and permanent homes.

You might already know that Florence is from South Carolina. What you might not know is that he owns a home at Palmetto Bluff, got married here, and that his brother, Warren, is the tennis pro here.

The food festival tent, set among the ruins of a mansion on the property that burned down years ago.

Praline angel food cakes to sample.

Chef Tom Condron of the Liberty in Charlotte, NC prepares seared salmon with warm potato salad.

Sizzling salmon.

The festival included a day of cooking demos and tastings by chefs such as Donald Barickman and Donald Drake of Magnolias in Charleston; Chris and Idie Hastings of the Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Ala.; Frank Lee of Maverick Southern Kitchens in Charleston; and Robert Stehling of Hominy Grill in Charleston.

Manning the fire pit full of oysters, mussels, shrimp and crawfish.

The highlight for me was the finale — a bonafide oyster roast in a very secluded, woodsy spot on the property, where an elaborate fire pit was constructed.

Read more

New Bakery, Gourmet Turkey Sandwich, Pastry Chefs Event & More

Posted on by 9 comments

Whup it up for Whoopie Pies from Susiecakes. (Photo courtesy of Susiecakes)

If you’re already drooling over those Whoopie Pies, you’ll have to wait until January 2010 to try them.

That’s when Susiecakes will open its first Northern California location in Marin at the Bon Air Shopping Center in Greenbrae.

Owner Susan Sarich opened the first Susiecakes in Brentwood in Southern California three years ago. Three others followed suit in other SoCal cities.

The home-style desserts include everything from a best-selling apple pie to Susie’s Famous Southern Red Velvet cake to homemade banana pudding to assorted cupcakes.

Cherry pie. (Photo courtesy of Susiecakes)

If you’re starting your holiday shopping bright and early tomorrow, San Jose’s Santana Row will be offering a bevy of discounts and deals. Puripan Tea Garden will offer 20 percent off all teaware and accessories. Rosie McCann’s Irish Pub and Restaurant will start Happy Hour at 11:30 a.m. with half-off appetizers, and $2 off pints, well drinks and select wines. Roux Louisiana Kitchen joins in with house wine, champagne, mimosas and draft beer for $3 from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Yankee Pier will extend its Happy Hour from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and feature $1 Skokum oysters.

Thea Mediterranean will discount your tab 15 percent if you show a receipt from any Santana Row shop or restaurant that day. Vintage Wine Merchants will serve up $3 mimosas. And the Santana Row location of Starbucks will open at a crazy 3 a.m. for caffeine-desperate early shoppers.

"Plymouth Superbird'' sandwich. (Photo courtesy of the Naked Lunch)

If you’re missing out on turkey this Thanksgiving, no worries. The Naked Lunch, the fun, fast-casual eatery in San Francisco’s North Beach has a sammie that is sure to satisfy.

Available Nov. 27-28, the “Plymouth Superbird Sandwich” ($9) features Fra’ Mani’s new turkey galantine, made of both white and dark oven-roasted meat. The sandwich comes complete with cranberry mostarda, sweet potato aioli, Hen of the Woods mushrooms and shaved celery — all on an Acme green onion slab.

Chef Doug Keane and his staff at Cyrus in Healdsburg typically have the day off on Thanksgiving.

But this holiday, they’ll be working in a different capacity. Keane, his wife, and his crew will prepare and serve a traditional Thanksgiving feast today for 120 residents of Catholic Charities Homeless Service Center, a local organization that helps homeless families.

Chef Doug Keane (center) and his staff. (Photo courtesy of Cyrus resaurant)

Guests of the shelter will enjoy a sit-down meal at Healdsburg Bar & Grill with all the trimmings, including cornbread, and apple and pumpkin pies.

“Thanksgiving is about giving thanks and giving back,” Keane says. “Rather than simply volunteering our time or donating our food to the shelter, we want to welcome these families as guests of what is, essentially, our home. We hope to provide a memorable and special dinner out- one where we can all give thanks together. ”

Meet some of the Bay Area’s top pastry chefs at “The State of Pastry in SF,” a 6 p.m. Dec. 1 program hosted by the San Francisco Commonwealth Club. They’ll be giving baking tips and talking about the latest dessert trends.

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »