Who's The Boss?

So me, the wee and a friend of thee decided to hop on the PATH train and headed on over to Carlo's Bake Shop in Hoboken, NJ. Carlo's, a long time Hoboken institution. It's proprietor Buddy Valastro are now receiving notoriety from the show The Cake Boss on TLC.

Known for their specialty cakes Carlo's also has a decent assortment of the traditional Italian specialties you'd expect. Being a bit of an Italian pastry snob I was most excited to try the following (pictured from top left) sfogliatelle, pignoli tarts, hazelnut tarts, pasticutti vaniglia, pasticutti ricotta and cannoli. They were also famous, and with good reason, for their crumb cake so of course I had to get some of that as well. You'll notice that I had to sample the corner of it promptly after leaving the shop. The crumb cake was dee-licious!
All in all I thought the pastries were alright. Certainly not the best I've had. One of the things that most surprised me was how small they were. They were miniature. I did like that they fill the cannoli shells with the cream when you order them so that the shells don't get soggy. However, when I got home and tried them I realized it's necessary for them to do so because of the runniness of the filling. It was just oozing out. I was also disappointed by the lack of decoration on them. Not only did they look blah they tasted kinda blah too.

My go to bakery is Villabate-Alba in Brooklyn, NY. Bar none they have the best tasting Italian Pastries you'll find in the States. They have an enormous selection. The pastries are at minimum twice as large and are less expensive! You seen the Carlo's Cannoli, now take a look at the Villabate cannoliSee what I mean? No contest. And yes, they taste as good as they look.

Would I go back to Carlo's? Sure, if I needed a cake like a firetruck but so far as the pastries go I'm still sticking with Brooklyn. You don't need a TV show to make a good pastry.

Let Them Eat (Kitty Litter) Cake!

Being rather sickly pregnant this year didn't really have me feeling too creative with the Ghoulish Halloween Baking. So, I thought I'd share last year's ghastly creation with you.

(click picture to enlarge for detail)

Kitty Litter Cake

Last year my husband and I were the "new neighbors" and were invited to a Halloween Party next door. Being that it was going to have it's fair share of children and we were known for having a just a few kitties in residence. I decided my contribution would be to treat the revelers to a hearty scoop of Kitty Litter Cake.

Yes, I assure you it is cake and entirely edible. No, my cats didn't help to "create" this in any way other than my calling J-Kun over to model next to the finished product.

(click picture to enlarge for detail)

Since I wasn't blogging at the time I didn't take a series of pics so you could see the process but it's really quite easy should you want to make it yourself.

You'll need:
- A new litter box and plastic litter scooper (wash them).
- 4 boxes cake mix (your choice)
- 5 packages instant pudding (your choice)
- 4 large package of vanilla sandwich creme cookies (Get the extra large generic store brand packages because if you get Vienna Fingers you'll need at least 6 packages).
- 1 bag Tootsie Rolls.
- green food coloring

1. Bake the 4 cakes as sheet cakes (1''- 1.5'' tall). OR as rectangular pan cakes. If you make them in rectangular pans once they have fully cooled slice them through the center with a long bread knife so they are half their original height (1'' - 1.5'' tall).
2. Crush 4 packages of cookies in a food processor or smash them by hand in a plastic bag with a mallet (rolling pin).
3. Set aside some, about 1-2 cups, of the crushed cookies and dye with green food coloring to make the "chlorophyll litter".
4. Mix the 'chlorophyll litter' back in with the rest of the regular litter.
5. Make the 5 packages of instant pudding.
6. Begin by laying one layer of the cake into the box. (personally, I lined the box with parchment paper before I laid down the cake but I suppose it's really not necessary). Hint- you'll also want to keep a bread knife handy to trim the cake to fit the box as you layer.
   
7. Lay down a layer of pudding.
8. Sprinkle with cat litter (crushed cookies). Just please make sure you save aside plenty for a generous top layer!!
9. Repeat this until you end with a layer of the cookies.
10. Unwrap and place the tootsie rolls (not all) on a plate and place in the microwave for 30 seconds (time varies). You just want to make them soft enough to handle but not melted.
11. Roll/mold the Tootsie Rolls to form the chocolate 'turds'. Spray your hands with cooking spray or wipe with some butter (something to stop them from sticking).
12. When placing the turds on the cake roll them in the crumbs a bit so the litter sticks to them (for authenticity purposes).

Serve with kitty litter scooper to frightened children and sickened adults.

A word of warning- You may have to be the one to eat the first 'scoop' because until people see that it's actually cake most of them really don't want to indulge. Can you blame them?

P.S. Don't judge my ugly (bathroom tile) back-splash replete with dark putty colored grout that the previous owner installed (who chooses a grout color that ALWAYS looks dirty??). I absolutely despise it and have it on the ever growing "to be replaced" list!

Chocolate Espresso Cookies

for K.O...
Ingredients

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 teaspoons instant espresso
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar, for coating

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, espresso, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg until well combined; mix in cooled chocolate. With mixer on low speed, gradually add dry ingredients; beat in milk just until combined. Flatten dough into a disk; wrap in plastic. Freeze until firm, about 45 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place confectioners' sugar into a medium bowl; working in batches, roll balls in sugar twice.
3. Place balls on prepared baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies have spread and coating is cracked, 12 to 14 minutes; cookies will still be soft to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

SILPAT

Do you bake? No? Well, do you sometimes reheat leftover pizza or make the biscuits that come packaged in a cardboard tube? Gotcha!

You need to get a SILPAT, a non-stick baking mats made of fiberglass and silicone that can be re-used thousands of times. They're especially great for working with sticky materials such as gooey batters, taffy or caramel, nothing sticks to this thing. It will save you a lot of time cleaning as there are no more sticky baked on messes to scrub off your pans! It never needs greasing, which saves both time, money and maybe a calorie or two.

My mom got me my first one over 10 years ago and now I have several on hand as I won't use a cookie sheet without one.

You can get yours at Bed Bath & Beyond. It'll be the best $20 you'll ever spend. Alright, maybe not the best but I promise you won't regret it!

Now THAT's a babka!

I was going through some photos and came across this one (I'm the cute chick on the right). Surprisingly, I remember this day. My mom is an amazing cook but she particularly loves baking. My dad went out and got her Kitchen Aid Mixer. It was a big deal because money was never in abundance and this was a big splurge item. Well, of course she had to give it a test drive (results seen at left). Can't you just smell the fresh baked bread? Mom still has this mixer (30 yrs old!) and it still makes great bread. She brought over a loaf of potato bread two weeks ago and we savored every single slice.

Love you mom!